Ten

 

Liv

 

I woke up in the early morning to something crawling up my arm. I opened my eyes slowly, dozing as I took in something yellow and fuzzy, with too many legs to count, crawling along my inner arm. At first, it was a slow wake up. I felt like I was half-dreaming, half-awake. But the more conscious I grew, the more I felt the legs running up my skin. My eyes flipped open, making contact with the fuzzy, yellow thing.

A monstrous looking thing.

A disgusting looking thing!

My heart jumped to my throat.

I shrieked at the top of my lungs, rolling off the bed. I shot to my feet, running my hand down my arm, flicking off whatever the hell it was. Then I fled to the other side of the room and stared at it quickly crawling across the floor. I shuddered, feeling a wave of disgust wash over me.

What the hell was it?

I’d never seen anything like it in my life.

Andres’ face appeared at my window, looking alarmed and tentative. He scanned the room in alert, and then he dropped his gaze to the insect I was still glaring at. With a more amused face, he called out something behind him, and raucous laughter followed.

Assholes.

“Princesa,” he remarked, tears of laughter running down his cheeks.

Seething, I rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me. I could still hear their laughter. A hot wave of anger hit me. I fucking hated this place. I didn’t get out until it died down, and even then, I waited longer. Humiliation was a bitch of a thing, wounding me more than I would have liked to admit.

Princesa.

I’d slept with cockroaches crawling over my body. I’d had mice scurrying past my head. I’d shared a tent with a disturbed old lady that viewed me as her pet. I’d even slept next to my dead mother’s body for two days. But sure, call me Princesa. What did I care anymore?

I washed my inner arm with the crippled soap, trying to rid the sensation of that nasty thing. I brushed my teeth with the toothbrush the blondie had dropped off with the tiny travel size toothpaste. I brushed hard, wondering what Sonja was up to, and whether she was secretly locked inside a dungeon too with nothing but a tray of food, yellow fuzzy insect beasts crawling over her, and a marriage contract to a jungle man.

Just thinking of marriage again made me feel stifled in this wedding dress. In futile, I struggled to unbutton my wedding dress from behind, knowing it wasn’t going to work without someone’s help. And I’d sooner eat rusted nails than ask for help around here. The dress was staying on so long as my stubbornness continued, and that meant forever at this rate.

Breakfast was delivered shortly after by Christy. Another tray with the same food as before. She didn’t look pleasant. Gone was the wonder from yesterday.

“Don’t do what you did before,” she told me before she left. I was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, waiting for her to go when she’d spoken. She didn’t sound as kind as before. Her lips were pursed, like she was pissed.

My spine tightened at her bitchy tone. Levelling her with a cold stare, I retorted, “I’m not marrying him.”

She huffed, crossing her arms as she looked at me like I was a child. “Reaper’s the real deal, honey. He isn’t some wanna-be criminal. The man has gone through hell and back, and he’s lost his soul in the process. You need to remember that when you see him next, or expect to be squeezed next time.”

My head jerked up.

Squeezed next time?

She had seen what he did. She’d known he hadn’t squeezed my throat. I glanced at the window, realizing she must have watched it right after he dismissed her. Was that why he’d looked toward it? Had he sensed her?

“Does our soulless man know his translator’s snooping through the window?” I wondered, narrowing my eyes at her. Slowly, her face whitened. “Oh, I guess not.”

Looking rattled, she turned and hurried out. I heard her footsteps outside the room, fading away. It was slightly amusing, given she’d looked so goddamn cocky standing next to him.

I re-joined the bed and made slow work of the food this time, thinking about what she said. He’d lost his soul? That meant he had had one to start with. There was no shred of humanity in his gaze when he looked down at me last night. It was hard to think a soul could have ever lurked there.

I chewed slowly, watching the nasty yellow looking thing climb up the wall. I was willing to give the repugnant thing the other half of the room so long as it stayed there.

“It won’t bite,” came a familiar voice.

I looked to the window to find Green Eyes peering in at me, an amused smile on his face. A strange flutter went through my chest. His familiarity gave me the false impression of safety. Which was foolish. Just because he was kind to me that one time didn’t mean he was a good guy. Ignoring him, I looked down at my plate and took a bite of rice. Truth be told, after last night’s encounter with that man, my appetite was back to nil.

Funny what fear could do to you.

And a hand around your throat.

I shuddered.

“I imagine you’re a biter, though,” he continued, chuckling. “Christy isn’t easy to piss off, and she’s got her tail between her legs right now. What the hell did you say to her?” I fought the urge to smile. “Ignoring me? After all I did for you?”

“What exactly did you do for me?” I retorted, unable to stop myself.

“Picked your curvy ass up when you could hardly walk. You came in one piece.”

I scoffed, glancing at him. “Hardly.”

“Hardly?”

“My body is broken.”

“Well you were tied up for a long while.”

On that note… “Who piloted that plane?”

He straightened himself, smiling proudly at me. “You’re staring right at him.”

I pointed the fork at him. “You could have killed us.”

His smile dropped instantly. “I did a good job.”

“We practically nosedived before we landed.”

“I live on the edge.”

“Keep living on the edge and you’ll be ashes soon.”

“We’re all ashes at some point, baby.” He had the nerve to add, “It only stunk for you because you were stuck in the back.”

“On the floor,” I reminded him sharply. “And don’t call me baby.”

“Yeah, on the floor,” he acknowledged. “And I say baby to every hot chick, so don’t flatter yourself.”

“How am I flattering myself?”

“By thinking I’m hitting on you.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

He made a face like he disagreed. “I’m irresistible, so I don’t blame you. I even got the men’s heads turnin’ around here.”

I didn’t know if he was serious, or if he was joking. Honestly, I didn’t have the time or patience to find out. I grated my teeth. “If my kidnapping was for show, why tie me up so tight? Why blindfold me?”

He shrugged again, casually. “In case your father set us up. Couldn’t be too sure. Plus, it wasn’t for show when you were taken. Had to make it look credible to your fiancé. Or ex, I’d say, given life has a funny way of changing, huh?”

Tony. “Is he looking for me?” I wondered, quietly. I didn’t know why it mattered to know, but I was curious anyway.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “If you haven’t noticed, news doesn’t travel very fast around here. You kind of need an internet connection, and man, if I had one, I wouldn’t be standing here, talking to you. A man gets tired of the same mags, if you catch my drift.”

I ignored that disgusting bit of information. “Where is here?”

“Nowhere. Anywhere. That’s the whole point.”

I focused back on my meal. I caught the tone in his voice. He wasn’t very happy about here. So where was he from then? And how did he get here?

“Does my father at least know where here is?” I asked, curiously.

“That’s not business I’m allowed to discuss with you.”

“I’ll take that as a no.” It made more sense my father didn’t know where I was just yet. If Reaper was smart, he would make sure no information of my whereabouts made it to him or to anyone outside of here. That would be a loose end. If Tony was still hanging around with any kind of muscle with him, he’d know about the betrayal very soon, and he’d be kicking down my father’s door trying to get to me.

“My name’s Logan,” he then said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I’ll be kicking around in case you need me for anything…”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Things.”

I raised a brow and gave him a wry look. “Things?”

He took a moment and then his eyes widened. “No, no, not anything sexual. I’m not looking for a fucking death wish. You’re hands-off, and I like my life.”

My mouth fell open. Was this guy serious? “I didn’t…” I started, shaking my head at him. “I didn’t mean it like that…”

“You don’t ever fuck with Reaper,” he continued, backing away from the window. “Dead men tell no tales, ain’t that the saying?” He glanced around quickly, like he was freaking the hell out. It would have been comical if I was in any other situation. “See ya later, princess.” He was gone.

It was evident everyone was afraid of Reaper. So, what the fuck was going through my mind when I talked back to him? I thought of the way his hand wrapped around my neck and the look of pure power in his gaze as he dropped his head to look at me, warning me. But while he did terrify me, I felt something else. A feeling I’d encountered him before, though for certain I knew I hadn’t.