“Kairus!” I shouted. “Kairus, I know you can hear me! What the hell is going on!”
Wildly, I shifted my eyes around. My muscles were tight. I waited to see if someone would come into the room, but I was met with silence. There were no windows in the room, nothing but the bathroom. Memories of when I was first taken andthrown in here flashed through my head. I closed my eyes and pushed out a shaky breath.
The tightness inside me grew, my throat felt sore.
“What did I do?” I whispered brokenly. My shoulders fell forward and dread passed through me. When I woke up, my heart was full of joy. I was happy. Things were moving in the right direction. Out of nowhere that all changed and I had no idea why. I tried to think of something I could have done to upset him but kept coming up blank.
Finally my legs gave out and I fell to the ground. My eyes went to the newly added ink on my finger. My chest squeezed tighter. He branded meagain. Why would he do this just to lock me up?
Balling my hands again, I dropped my chin to my chest and slowed my breathing. The blood swirled like a hurricane in my head. Pressure built in the back of my eyes.
Nothing made sense to me.
“What did I do?” I repeated, this time in defeat.
Silence.
No one came down here to explain. I knew he was somewhere in the house. I could feel him. He wasn’t in the room, but I felt his eyes burning into me from wherever the cameras were in the room.
Dropping to my butt, my body suddenly felt too heavy to support itself. Nothing made sense. All the progress we made had been washed away.
I squeezed my eyes tighter as I curled into myself, attempting to hide in the blanket on the bed.
He was in the room, I felt him and it woke me instantly. Kairus seemed to be in my skin now. I easily became aware of his presence when he was near. He was silently looming over me, watching me. My back was to him and I made no attempt to change that.
I pressed my lips together, partially opened my eyes, and stared at the wall.
“I know you’re awake,” he murmured.
Silence.
When he touched my hair, I flinched out of his reach.
“Azeira.” My name sounded like nails on a chalkboard falling from his lips.
My tongue went across my lips. Tears pooled in the bottom of my lids. I was angry that he had drugged me and locked me away, but more importantly I washurt. I thought me and Kairus were past this. He was opening up to me, showing me a side he kept locked away from even himself.
“Look at me.” He yanked my shoulder, forcing me on my back. Blinking through my tears I stared at the man who stole my common sense and someone crept into my heart and locked it away from anyone else being able to have it.
His lips pinched together and his eyes were hard but held indifference in them. He raked them down my blanket covered body. I pulled it tighter around me, wanting to hide myself from him.
“You tattooed your last name on my finger,” I said, my voice low and slightly raspy from yelling and crying earlier. I was sure my eyes were swollen.
“I did,” he replied calmly.
“Why? I didn’t give you permission to do that.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Is it not clear? It’s because I need everyone to know who you belong to.”
I choked out a laugh and closed my eyes.
“You act like I’m your property. Is that why you locked me back up down here?” The muscles in his jaw flexed.
“You being down here is a necessity right now,” he replied tightly.
Snorting, I fluttered my eyes open and stared at him. My stomach twisted and the aching from earlier returned intensified.
