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Chapter Five
I spent a miserable night on the cold, hard floor, huddled in the corner of my cell. The only warmth I had was from my cloak, which offered no insulation between me and the stone. Throughout the night, the fireplace burned lower and lower, the air growing so chilled I could see my breath in front of my face.
I called out to Wicked to stoke it with more logs, but either he ignored me or didn’t hear, because he didn’t stir from his bed on the far side of the room. I stared at the wide breadth of his back while he slept, hating him. Loathing him. He’d taken my entire life from me, and I would find some way to make him pay.
Plagued by murky dreams of the ogre and Wicked’s perverse intentions, I drifted in and out of sleep. Eventually, I must have drifted off because the sounds of movement and the glare of sunlight woke me. Wicked stood in the kitchen, something sizzling on the cooktop. It smelled so intensely good; I sat up, wondering if he was pla
At my movement, he turned to eye me, one of his dark brows already arched in disdain. “Hungry?” he asked, and tension loosened in my stomach.
Perhaps I had a bit longer yet to live.
I nodded, and he turned away, continuing what he was doing. While he finished cooking, setting the table and piling eggs and bacon onto a plate, I watched. The scent of coffee tickled my nose, and I scooted forward, pressing my face between the bars of my cage as I inhaled. After the miserable night on the floor, the reminder of these comforts felt like tiny jewel-encrusted lifelines.
When breakfast was ready, he approached my cage and unlocked it. The keen gleam in his eyes told me he wasn’t about to let his guard down. With my gaze on my feet, I shuffled out of the cage, trying to look appropriately cowed. I had to trick him into underestimating me.
The derisive snort that followed in my wake suggested I hadn’t fooled him for a moment. I tossed a piercing look over my shoulder that I hoped conveyed the vast depth of my acrimony. He ignored it and skirted around me to sit at the table, tucking into his food. My stomach growled, and I did the same after dropping in the chair across from him.
I took a bite of eggs and nearly moaned. It turned out this rogue Fae in the forest was a surprisingly skilled cook.
“Good?” he asked, catching my expression.
“It’s fine, I guess. Not the absolute worst thing I’ve ever eaten,” I said with a shrug. He smirked before he focused again on his plate. “So, what’s on the schedule for today?”
When he looked up at me, I noted his eyes weren’t black like I’d supposed last night. They were the deepest green, like the stinging needles of pine trees, sharp enough to slice through skin and draw blood. How appropriate. “You’re going to stay here while I go scouting for a suitable location.”
My stomach dropped. “A location for what?” I asked, my voice a whisper, knowing I should stop asking questions I didn’t want answered.
“I’ve been tracking the ogre through the foothills of the Wasanan Mountains for the past three weeks. That will be a good place to set up tonight.”
The rock in my stomach expanded, filling my limbs with dread. “Tonight?”
When Wicked had said I wouldn’t be here long, he hadn’t been exaggerating.
“Tonight,” he repeated, his dark gaze meeting mine without flinching. If he felt any guilt about his plans, he was doing a very good job of hiding it.
Why would he feel any remorse, though? I was no one to him.
“Can’t I come with you?” I asked. I didn’t want to spend the entire day here alone in my prison, and if I could get some sense of my surroundings, maybe I could formulate an escape plan.
“No.” His tone brooked no argument. “I don’t need you getting in the way.”
I pouted and tried to look pathetic, but that didn’t move him at all. My appetite soured, I pushed the food around on my plate. He studied my motions like he was trying to read my thoughts, but said nothing as he rose and deposited his dirty plate in the sink. I did the same, standing up from the table and carrying it over to him.
He took it and looked down at me. I thought I saw a flicker of hesitation, but a moment later, he dumped the plate and then pointed to my cell.
“In you go.”
“I need to use the bathroom,” I said, trying to buy myself some time, and because I really needed to pee. He sighed, ru
“Right. Let’s go.” He opened the door and cocked his head for me to follow. I hesitated at the icy wisps of air that curled up my skirt and around my bared throat, making my skin dimple. “It’s this or you go in the cage, Princess.”
I nodded with my chin held high and followed him out into the cold, hating everything. When we were done, he ushered me inside and once again pointed to my cage.
I didn’t bother protesting, already knowing it would be no use.
Wicked stomped through the room, collecting his weapons and shrugging into his thick coat. As I stood in my cell watching, he approached and closed the door, locking it, not meeting my eyes. He then do
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” he said, still not meeting my gaze. Tears burning the backs of my eyes, I nodded. This was really happening. He was going out to choose the ideal location to offer me up as a sacrifice for a monster. The edges of my vision smeared as I watched the future I’d envisioned shrivel away.
I wondered what Ellis was doing and if he’d found a way to get me out of this. Even if he did, I knew it would already be too late when he arrived. And that was supposing he could find this forlorn castle buried so deep in the woods.
Just as Wicked was about to leave, he stopped and looked at me before stomping over to the smoldering fire and adding another stack of logs, muttering to himself as if he was angry about doing so. He then gave a tip of his chin to no one and tossed me one more look before he swung open the door and slammed it behind him.