Chapter 7 SEVEN

༺ VAELIA ༻

Nausea surged into my throat, darkness crowded the edges of my vision. I thought I was going to die right there on the filthy floor.

But suddenly, a violent surge of adrenaline flooded my veins, removing the panic and replacing it with pure, unadulterated rage.

"You!," I hissed, my voice trembling with a hatred so deep it felt like it was poisoning my blood. "You were the one after me! This was all your doing!"

He didn't say anything. He just tilted his head slightly, his dark eyes tracking my every micro-expression.

"What business do you have with me?" I screamed, the tears finally started spilling over my lashes. "What the fuck do you want from me? Why did you have to kill someone innocent? She was just a woman who had nothing to do with our worlds! She was getting married very soon to the love of her life! Why did you have to take away her dream like that?" 

I was going to slap him. I was going to claw his eyes out right there. I didn't care if he pulled out his gun and blew my brains out right then and there. Being in front of him meant death anyway. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted him to feel even a fraction of the agony tearing me apart from inside out.

But before my hand could even graze his cheek, he moved. It all happened fast. His hands came up quickly and grabbed my wrists while they were still in the air; it was like he was specially prepared for this moment. His hands were like a trap, they caught my wrists and held on tight.

The impact jarred my shoulders, but it was the feeling of his skin against mine that shocked me. His hands were massive, calloused, and brutally strong. The strongest hands I had ever felt. They clamped around my wrists like iron vices, completely immobilizing me.

I struggled, kicking out, trying to twist free, but he didn't even budge. He just looked down at me, his grip unyielding, his dark eyes locking onto my teary, furious ones.

"I'm happy to see you're as active as I imagined," he said. A cruel, dark smirk touched the corner of his mouth. "It wouldn't be any fun if you were boring, Vaelia."

Before I could process the words, he twisted my arms behind my back and slammed me hard against the wall.

"Fuck!" I shouted, a bad pain shot down my spine when my chest hit the hard concrete. 

He stepped into my space, his body caging me in,  and his chest brushing against my back. He reached up, his large hand wrapped around my jaw, his thumb and forefinger digging into my cheeks as he dragged my chin up, forcing me to look at him. 

“Let me save us both time,” he said quietly. “Let me save us both time,” he said quietly.“Don’t you ever—in your little, miserable, insignificant life—touch me again. If your hand so much as grazes my jacket, I will break the fingers you used to do it, one by one. You will not speak unless I ask you a direct question. And you will not, for a single fucking second, mistake my patience for permission, you bitch." 

I glared at him, my chest was heaving and my face was inches from his. I could smell the expensive scotch and cedar on his breath as I looked at him with pure, unfiltered disgust. 

"I hate you," I screamed with all my might. "I fucking hate you! I will make sure I am the one to kill you, Kaelith Vespero!, with my two bare hands!  I will make sure you feel even more pain than you're making me feel right now! You are a monster! A fucking monster!"  

He did not flinch. He did not even blink. The smirk on his face just got wider. It was a scary thing that made my stomach feel like it was dropping.

"I'm glad we're on the same page," he said softly.

I gnashed my teeth, my jaw aching from the force of my hatred, my chest burning from the pain of the wall against my ribs. I wanted to scream more, to fight more, but my body was trembling so violently I thought my bones would snap any moment from now. 

He slowly released my jaw, his fingers trailing down my neck for a fraction of a second before he stepped back, letting me slide down the wall until my feet were flat on the floor. I stayed there, slumped against the bricks, gasping for air, my wrists throbbing where he had grabbed me. 

"Get some rest," he said, adjusting the cuffs of his jacket as if he hadn't just violently assaulted me. "And you'd better eat the next time food is brought to you. You're going to need the energy to survive what's coming." 

He turned his back on me and walked toward the door. 

Panic flared in my chest again, hotter and more desperate than before. I couldn't let him leave. I hated him more than anyone in the world right now for what he did to Lily but I couldn't let him walk away without knowing the full details. I pushed myself off the wall, with my legs shaking so badly I almost collapsed, and looked up at his retreating back. Tears kept streaming freely down my face, dripping off my chin. 

"Just tell me this. Is she really alive or dead?" I choked out, my voice was barely a whisper in the damp cell. 

Kael stopped. His hand rested on the iron handle of the door. He didn't turn around right away. He just stood there. Then slowly, he looked back at me over his shoulder. His dark eyes were unreadable and still cold.

"She's in a coma," He said flatly with no sympathy,  "And she can die any moment from now. It will be better if she just dies now to save you the stress of overthinking, right?" 

“psychotic bastard!” I muttered to myself. 

My knees buckled as I grabbed the edge of the rusted metal cot to keep from falling. A sob tore its way out of my throat.

He paused watching me crumble, and then spoke again, "But I have the best trauma surgeon in the state on retainer. One phone call from me, and she gets the surgery that could save her."

My head jerked up fast. I looked at him with my blurry eyes from crying and my heart was beating hard against my chest, it felt like a bird was stuck in there trying to get out.

"What..." I swallowed hard, my throat was  dry and aching for many reasons.  "What do you want?"

Kaelith Vespero turned around to face me. His eyes had this scary glow like he wanted to own me or something. It made me feel totally exposed.

"You," he said simply. "Give me your obedience, Vaelia... And I'll save your friend."