She wet her lips and looked him in the eyes. “There is no way I am taking any medicine that you give me. That’s, like, hostage survival one-o-one.”
“Unless you want me to shove them down your throat and block your air passages until you swallow,” he replied casually. “Then I would suggest you take them.”
Odette sat up a little straighter, looking between him and the pills. “I don’t want to.”
“Oh well, that changes everything, doll,” he said sarcastically. Claude shoved the tray forward and the water sloshed against its cup.
With a shaky hand, Odette tore her bread into smaller pieces and began to pop them in her mouth one by one. Claude wouldn’t look away, he just watched it all with interest or a perverted fascination, Odette couldn’t distinguish.
Soon, there was nothing more to eat. Her bottom lip trembled and she glared at the man. Her silent refusal irked him and his once playful expression darkened into something more deranged.
“Odette,” he sang. “Are you testing me? Are you trying to see if I won’t do what I said I would?” His fingers tapped out a haunting beat on the tin table, his nails scraping against it. The hair on the back of Odette’s neck rose with the irritating and shrill sound, watching him carefully as he stood up from his spot.
Claude knelt down beside her, smiling kindly but it didn’t meet his eyes. He looked scarier than Grayson in that moment. His hand was quick to shoot out from beside him and he gripped her jaw with a bruising force. His fingers dug into her cheeks and forced her mouth to open wide.
One by one, like the pieces of bread, he dropped the bitter pills into her mouth before he shut it. Odette tried to take a large breath of air through her nose but Claude cut it short by pinching her nostrils close with the same roughness he used before.
Odette’s eyes bugged out and she fought against him, screaming and trying to force her mouth open. She didn’t know what the medicine actually was; it could have been anything. Her throat contracted and she involuntarily swallowed all of the pills that he shoved into her mouth. Still, Claude did not let her breathe.
She was choking; she needed to cough. She needed air. Odette tried to convey to him just through her eyes that she was sorry and that she had done as he asked, but it didn’t move him. Claude’s eyes sparkled with delight seeing Odette suffer. He was smiling again but it was only a slight upturn of the lips. It was just as creepy as his other one.
Finally, he did rip his hands away from her face and made her fall onto the floor. Odette coughed violently, wheezing and panting loudly. Her head was pounding and the lack of oxygen had amplified all of her aches and pains.
Claude giggled from somewhere behind her. “That was fun. You must be a little masochist, doll, ‘cause you need pain to motivate you to do things. This just makes you even more fun!”
Odette wanted to argue with him but she couldn’t. He had won that round and done it far easier than Odette wanted to admit. What could she do about it now, though? Nothing but glare at him from the floor and curse at him.
“Yo-you’re as bad as him,” she rasped, her throat raw. The pills that she had swallowed dry were sitting uncomfortably inside her. “No, you’re worse!”
“Aw, wouldn’t that make him happy?” he cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice.
Odette wanted to just lay on the floor and fall asleep, but she wouldn’t allow Claude to have the satisfaction of knowing he hurt her that much. She lifted herself up onto her hands and knees and crawled at an agonizingly slow pace to the bed chained to the wall. She could feel him watching from the door, enjoying her pain to the fullest extent. As soon as she was laying on the “mattress” the door slammed shut and she was finally alone again.
It was a hazy summer day in her dream. White butterflies fluttered past her eyes, dancing together in a small cloud. The garden that she was in was the same one that belonged to the Mages family, and the same one that she had visited before in a previous dream. There were many people there, all of them looking like death dressed up for a tea party.
Odette swallowed back a scream, pressing back against the stone bench she sat on. None of them paid attention to her; they just went about their business and talked or ate with each other. But they weren’t normal people—they were zombies.
“It sure is a beautiful day, princess.”
An icy tendril of dread ran down her back. Odette looked to the side only to see Grayson. He seemed cheerful, not bored or insane, and he most definitely was not dead. His face was bright and lively, his lips pink and in the shape of his gorgeous smile, but his attention was trained on the party.
He wore a white suit with a blue bow tie, his amulet sitting in the center of it. His hair had been slicked back nicely and there was a small blue rose in the breast pocket of his coat. What drew Odette’s attention, however, was the silver ring he wore on his left hand.
“What’s going on?” Odette cried, narrowly avoiding having someone’s intestines fall onto her lap.
Grayson laughed at her, caressing her cheek. “Well, this is generally the part of the wedding during which the guests eat and wish us well.”
“Wedding?!” It made sense why her dress was fancier than their “guests” now. “I don’t want to be here.”
“Are you not feeling well? Do you need to go inside?” His concern was stifling. It looked so genuine and she supposed that it would be if he claimed to love her as much as he did. “Is it just nerves? You’re so cute, Odette. Greer told me that, sometimes, girls get cold feet before the wedding, but to still be nervous after … it’s endearing.”
Odette’s eyebrows twitched and she snarled. “This isn’t ‘cold feet’ and I am not ‘endearing’! I don’t want to be here with you.”
She sprung up from the bench and took off running, her skirts gathered in her fists. Strangely, she couldn’t run. It was like she was the only one in slow motion and, every time she tried to push herself faster, she only got more tired and irritated. Odette still managed to put a good distance between her and the morbid wedding reception, but not enough.
Grayson’s hand wrapped around her bicep and pulled her to his chest. “You were trying to run away from me. Why would you do something like that?” his voice was broken. She could feel his tears falling onto her face.
“I don’t want to be near you, Grayson! Not after what you’ve done to me!” She was glued to him. “You’ve ruined my life—you and your sister! How can I ever love you after all of the killing you’ve done?”
She couldn’t see his face at all, like she was physically incapable of looking at him. All she knew was that she could feel his emotions go through her and he felt angry.
“There are many ways I can make you. It doesn’t even have to be done with magic; I can do it with my words and my actions. You are meant to be mine, Odette; all of those other girls in my past were nothing. The two of us have to be together for the world to make sense, and I promise if you just love me back, it won’t hurt you.”
“You mean you won’t hurt me,” Odette snapped. “You just want me to be a mindless doll. When I came to town, you saw someone you could easily manipulate and you lunged at the chance. I don’t think you even love me for who I am.”
“But you want me to.”
In the corner of her eye, Odette spotted a splash of silver against the green landscape. Her head snapped in that direction but she didn’t see anything or anyone. “Thorn?!” Odette called out.
Grayson’s arms tightened around her. “How dare you yell for another man!”
“Thorn?!” she shouted again.
“How about I cut out your tongue, huh?” Grayson threatened. “How would you yell for your precious Thorn then?”
If he’s really in here, maybe he can save me from Claude.
“He doesn’t deserve you, Odette!” Grayson continued. “No one deserves you! No one can love you like I can!”
Odette ignored his words, twisting even more to find the angel. “Thorn, please! I need help!”
The world tilted and swirled, the scenery changing from the Mages’ garden to an entirely blank room. It didn’t even look like a room; it was just pure white as far as the eye could see—on the ground and in the sky and all around.
“Miss Odette, are—are you safe?” Thorn cried from behind her.
She turned around and sighed. It was an odd feeling of relief seeing him but he was her only hope. “No. Not even close. Some insane man has me locked up in a cell. He wants to use me as bait for Grayson; he’s after the twins’ amulets.”
Thorn moaned, tearing at his hair. “Th-this isn’t good!”
Odette nodded, her breathing ragged. “I figure that Grayson won’t give up the amulet anyway—”
The angel shook his head. “N-not that, miss. The amulets … the amulets will b-be useless to your c-captor. You b-being trapped is terrible! I-I would help you if I could b-but I-I-I can’t!”
“Can’t you track me down?”
Thorn shook his head, “N-no. I-it would be dif-different if yo-you had an amulet th-that worked. Un-unless, y-you kn-now where you are?”
“No ….” Even if she did, what would happen? She would tell Thorn and Grayson would come “rescue” her. She needed strength she didn’t readily have if she was going to survive. She sighed, running her hand over her face. It wasn’t like Claude would just spontaneously fall over dead.
Odette had an idea.
She took the angel by the hand. “Thorn, why don’t we make a deal?”
XXV
“I have more pills for you!” Odette heard Claude before she saw him. When the door swung open, he had yet another tray in his hands. “Are we going to have more fun today or are you going to take them like a good girl?”
She glared at him, her rage burning hot in her chest. “I’ll be good.” Probably a lie.
“Ha! Okay then, I’ll have to find some other way to punish you then,” Claude said offhand. “Don’t worry about that yet, though. Live in the moment.”
The cell door opened up and he stepped in, going to the table like he had the day before. Odette got up and joined him, smoothing out her nightgown before she sat.
“Did you sleep well?” she whispered, picking at the bread that he brought her. He certainly looked better than he had the day before, his face cleaner and he smelled better too.
Claude crossed his arms over his chest. “Aw, are you developing a little bit of a crush on me so soon? Can’t say I’m surprised, I am devastatingly handsome but I think that I’m a little out of your league, kiddo.” He was egging her on again. It was working but she had wanted to punch him pretty much since the moment they met.
Odette couldn’t help but wonder what he would do if she did. Maybe he would try to strangle her again, or maybe he would try something different like slap her or just hit her in general.
“No,” she said finally. “I’m not. I was just curious.”
Claude hummed, his foot tapping against the floor. He was watching and waiting to see if Odette would put up a fight about her pills again. She didn’t. As soon as she finished her “meal,” she took the medicine slowly, making eye contact with him the whole time.
Each pill that she dropped into her mouth felt like it weighed her down even more. Each pill that she dropped into her mouth made the madman smile larger.
“Happy?” Odette asked.
He chuckled. “Can’t you tell?”
“So, tell me,” she shifted forward in her seat. “Have you contacted Grayson or are you just running on faith that he’ll miraculously find out where I am?”
There hadn’t been anything that gave a hint to where she could be but she assumed that it was still somewhere in Sunwick Grove. But would he be that bold? Keeping me right under their noses? He seemed pretty narcissistic, so that gave her a good idea that he might try something like that.
“No, I’m relying on you to get in touch with his demon—or is it an angel? Those two are always so hard to tell apart … especially when they’re enslaved. Anyway, there is no way that your lover boy wouldn’t leave you unprotected. Someway, somehow, it will happen.” Claude’s eyes were boring into her own, his bushy eyebrows raised and his tongue peeking between his lips.
How did he know? What does it matter?
Odette’s eyes widened but she flexed her jaw and looked down. Tears pricked at the back of her eyelids. “Too bad for you. He can’t help because I’m not family, so your plan just fell through.”
Claude grinned, showing off his overly whitened teeth. “So, he has contacted you?”
She slammed her hand against the table, throwing the metal tray against the bars of her cell. The sudden outburst startled her captor. “What part of ‘your plan just fell through’ do you not understand?! They aren’t coming for me because Thorn can’t get to me!”
“The whole bit, so explain it to me,” Claude pressed. “Can’t the slave tell Mages where you are? Surely it can do that much?”
“I don’t even know where I am! How can I tell him where to find me if I don’t know where I’m being held?”
“You’re in the lighthouse, you stupid girl! Contact the thing right now and tell him! Tell him!” He slammed his hands on the table for emphasis. It reminded Odette of a child throwing a tantrum.
She hated that he was getting to see her so vulnerable, so weak. “I can’t. Thorn is the one who controls when I see him; I can’t summon him at will. And he only comes in dreams.”
“Well then, I’ll just put you right to sleep, huh?” He cracked his knuckles and Odette recoiled.
“It won’t work! He’s the one who has to enter my mind, why can’t you understand that? He’s not always waiting around for me; he’s with the Mages during the day doing God knows what.” It took all of her willpower not to cower any more than she already was.
The man gripped the table harshly, his knuckles turning white. Claude’s composure was slipping right before her very eyes. It wasn’t the same as the night before when he had turned dark and lashed out at her. Now, it was a raw and untamable anger that made his lip twitch and his eyes narrow. Long gone was his smile; now, he was snarling and seething, his face turning maroon.
“Tell me exactly what this creature told you,” he ordered, his voice shaking with the effort to keep it even.
Odette sniffed, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. “He said that the amulets would be useless to you. He said that, unless you were a part of the Mages family, they would just be pendants. Think of them like an electric guitar, without the amp, it just makes a little noise. The amp would be Thorn, and if you had him and the amulets, only then would you be able to work it.
“I-I tried to make a deal with him … I tried to give him whatever he wanted in order to power up my ring so I could escape from you … but … but he said that I wasn’t family either…”
Claude screamed, tearing at his hair. It seemed that he finally understood. He ripped himself away from the table and kicked the metal tray repeatedly, hitting the bars with all his might.
“NO! NO, NO, NO, NO!” he roared. Quicker than Odette had anticipated, he turned to her and crossed the space between them. He threw her to the floor and began to strangle her. “NO! THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! I HAD EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT AND IT HAD TO BE RUINED BY YOU!”
Odette wheezed, feeling like her eyes were about to pop out of her skull. Something was popping under his grip and she wasn’t sure what it was. She clawed at his hands, making them bleed but not making them loosen up from around her airway.
“S … s … t … op!” she begged him, pressing her hand against his face. She pushed against him but it wasn’t working. She was beginning to become lightheaded and weak but she had to get him off of her. She didn’t want to die being strangled by a madman.
Claude released her neck, frowning. He wasn’t looking at her but through her as he began to think. He pushed himself off the floor and began to pace back and forth, smoothing his now messy hair back with his hands.
“No, no. I can work with this. I’ll just up the price for you. They’ll have to give me their creature too, they will … yes. I suppose making you look so beaten up will help me out after all, tug on ol’ Graysie’s heartstrings,” he murmured to himself.
Odette scooted herself back towards the wall. Her heart was beating too fast and she wanted to scream but her throat hurt too much for that. She just wanted him to leave; she regretted ever provoking him.
Claude turned his head slightly, smirking at how she cowered. “Are you terrified of me now? Good. I like that expression on your face. It’s nice and pathetic.”
Her body shook with each step he took towards her and she winced, turning her face away and shutting her eyes. Two fingers were forced under her chin and turned her head back towards him. Odette’s skin crawled just having him touch her, it was revolting.
Claude backhanded her, the pain exploding in her cheek. Inside her mouth, she could taste blood from where her teeth cut into the inner cheek. She whimpered softly, her hair serving as a curtain over her face.
“Hmph. Get some rest, doll. You look like crap.” The man retreated from her cell, making sure that he had collected the battered tray and cup from the floor. He slammed the door hard, rattling the entire room.
Odette didn’t want to cry anymore. She had done it so much and she didn’t want to give that man the satisfaction of knowing that he had succeeded in breaking her. Her entire body just felt numb to the pain, like she had turned it off with her mind. She had her knees pressed against her chest, relishing in the warmth they provided. Her mind had been wiped clean of all thought and she just stared at the bars of her prison with dull eyes.
The day passed like that with her sitting absolutely still and doing nothing. She yearned to sleep but she was too tired to do that. The only thing that she had become aware of was the warmth in her stomach, the bubbling anger that she longed to unleash. It continued to climb throughout her body, spreading through her veins like liquid fire.
Violent Delights Page 28
