Chapter 6 The Rules of Survival

Elena untied him at dawn, not because she trusted him because her conscience wouldn’t let her leave a wounded man bound to a radiator any longer.

She stood there for a long moment, staring at the knots, the bras looked ridiculous now in daylight. Purple and black against cold metal, proof of a terrible decision she couldn’t undo.

“Don’t move,” she said.

Pierce lifted his head slightly, his eyes were sharp despite the pain. “I can’t.”

“Good.”

She crouched behind him and worked at the knots, her fingers hesitated once, just once, before pulling the last loop free, the fabric slid away, his wrists dropped to his sides, He didn’t move.

Elena backed away immediately, putting the couch between them, her heart skipped, she hated that her body remembered fear before logic.

Pierce rolled his shoulders slowly, testing, he winced, blood had soaked through the bandage again, not badly, but enough.

“You could’ve left,” he said.

“So could you,” she shot back. “While I was at work.”

“I didn’t.”

“That doesn’t earn you a medal.”

A beat passed.

“Why didn’t you call the police?” he asked.

She crossed her arms. “Why didn’t you kill me last night?”

Pierce moved, bracing one hand on the floor as he pushed himself upright, he was careful, still dangerous even wounded.

“I gave you my word,” he said.

“You gave me a fake name.”

“That too.”

Elena exhaled and turned away, heading for the kitchen, she needed space, needed something normal, she grabbed the kettle and filled it with water, hands shaking just enough to annoy her.

“You’re still bleeding,” she said without looking at him.

“I’ve had worse.”

“That’s not comforting.”

She set the kettle on the stove and leaned against the counter, finally facing him again, he was sitting on the floor now, back against the couch, one knee bent, shirtless, bandages wrapped tight around his ribs.

She looked away first.

“This is how this works,” she said. “You heal, then you leave.”

He watched her closely. “I can’t.”

“You said you would.”

“I said I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“No,” he agreed quietly. “It’s not.”

The kettle began to whistle, Elena snapped it off too hard and poured the water into a mug, sloshing some onto the counter.

“You leave,” she repeated. “You go back to wherever you came from, you forget this place exists.”

“And you get followed,” he said.

Her head snapped up. “What?”

“You already are,” he added calmly.

 “Don’t lie to scare me.”

“I don’t need to scare you,” he said. “You’re already scared.”

She hated that he was right.

“I noticed the men last night,” he continued. “Before I got shot, they weren’t police.”

She set the mug down slowly. “You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“You stay,” Elena said finally, the words tasting like defeat. “On the couch, you don’t touch anything, you don’t bring anyone here, you don’t leave unless I say so.”

Pierce lifted a brow. “You’re giving orders now.”

“I’m setting rules.”

“And if I don’t follow them?”

She met his gaze, steady, exhausted, furious. “Then I call the police and I tell them everything.”

He gazed at her for a long moment, then he nodded once.

“Fine.”

That simple agreement unsettled her more than resistance would have.

She handed him the mug. “Tea, drink it slowly.”

He took it carefully, their fingers brushed, she pulled back instantly.

“Your wound needs rest,” she said. “No moving around, no heroics.”

“Disappointing.”

“Not my problem.”

She grabbed fresh bandages and knelt in front of him again, ignoring how close that put her, her hands were steadier this time, familiar motions. Control through skill.

“You’re lucky,” she muttered.

“People don’t usually say that to me.”

“The bullet missed anything vital,” she continued. “Another inch and you’d be dead.”

When she finished, she stood and stepped back. “Sleep. You need it.”

“And you?”

“I have work tomorrow.”

“After this?” He gestureds vaguely around the apartment.

“Yes,” she said. “Because my life doesn’t stop just because you crashed into it.”

He almost smiled at that, she disappeared into her bedroom and locked the door behind her, sliding down against it once she was alone, her chest hurt, her head throbbed.

This was temporary, she told herself that like a prayer.

she woke to silence, no gunfire, no shouting just the hum of the fridge and the soft padding of cat feet, Elena stepped out cautiously, Pierce was still on the couch, asleep, one arm draped over his eyes, breathing slow and peaceful.

Suzie was curled against his thigh, traitor said.

Elena moved to the kitchen and started breakfast, eggs, toast, simple and normal.

The sound of a pan seemed to wake him, he shifted, then sat up too fast and hissed in pain.

“Careful,” she said without turning. “You’re not indestructible.”

“News to me.”

She slid a plate across the counter. “Eat.”

He eyed it. “You feed all your captives?”

“You’re not a captive.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“Eat,” she repeated.

He did, they ate in silence, it was strange, domestic, too normal for what he was and what he represented.

“I’m not staying long,” he said finally.

“You said that yesterday.”

“And I mean it today.”

She didn’t look at him. “Good.”

“But not yet.”

Her grip tightened on the mug. “Define not yet.”

“Until the eyes on you disappear.”

“And when will that be?”

“When I make it so.”

That scared her more than it should have.

“You don’t own me,” she said.

“No,” he replied evenly. “But right now, I’m the only reason you’re breathing freely.”

She stood abruptly. “That’s manipulation.”

“That’s reality.”

They stared at each other across the small kitchen, tension humming between them like a live wire.

“You should be resting,” she said finally.

“And you should be sleeping,” he countered.

Neither of them moved, outside, a car passed slowly, too slowly, Elena felt it in her bones before she saw it, the wrongness, the sense of being watched.

Pierce’s gaze flicked to the window. 

“There,” he said softly.

 “You see it too.”

“Yes.”

She said. “So what now?”

He turned to her, voice low. “Now we survive the next few days.”

“And after that?”

“We’ll see.”

Elena wrapped her arms around herself, staring out at the street she’d once thought was safe. She had let a monster into her home, and the worst part was, she wasn’t sure she wanted him to leave.