When she faced him again, he laughed a little, and then backhanded her other cheek. She would have fallen out of the chair if it weren’t for the cuffs, and the taste of copper in her mouth told her that her teeth had cut her cheek. This time it took her longer to steady herself, but she sat up again.
She wasn’t going to betray them.
If she did, she’d be no better than her father.
“Well, you’re a lot tougher than you look.” He planted his hands on the arms of her chair, leaning close as his eyes moved down her body purposefully. “I bet there’s a few other things we could do that would get you talking.” He lifted one hand and cupped her breast through her shirt, squeezing and kneading it, and she closed her eyes tight.
A loud series of knocks came at the door and then the door opened. “Sergeant!” There was a younger man in the doorway, dark haired, and he froze when he saw the man touching her, but quickly averted his eyes. “Sir, the other one says she can point out the village on a map. Should we give her one?”
The sergeant gave her breast one more hard squeeze and then he stood up slowly, towering over her as she tried to hide her trembling. “Yes, we’ll show her a map. Tell the men I want Miss Daniau cleaned up.”
“Yes, sir.” The young man nodded and then the sergeant left. He looked over at her, but she dropped her chin back to her chest, biting her lip hard to try and hold back the tears. A moment later she heard the door shut, but she was shocked to hear the man’s footsteps coming towards her.
Her whole body shook, and she wished her hands or legs were free so she could hit him, or at least try to defend herself.
“Are you okay?” His voice was quiet, but she lifted her head to glare at him, and he shook his head. “I’m sorry, that was a stupid question. I just —” He cursed. “I need to know if something the other woman said was true.”
For a moment, Emmie contemplated spitting in his face, but then she saw the fear in his own eyes and it made her pause.
“She said you were with a man named Mathias?” His voice shook when he asked, and when she didn’t respond, he pleaded, “Please, you don’t have to tell me anything else. I swear, I just… I need to know.”
Emmie swallowed slowly, her throat uncomfortably dry. “Yes,” she whispered.
The shock on his face couldn’t be faked. Color faded from his cheeks as he sat back, one hand pushing back the hair from his forehead. “Was it – was it Mathias Stone?”
“I never heard a last name,” Emmie growled out the words, but the young man suddenly laughed, his voice growing more excited even as he stayed quiet.
“But you were with him, she said you spent all your time with him and some man named Lucian.”
“So?” Emmie asked, the bitterness unable to leave her voice.
“She says you know everything about the village, about how they run it.” His excitement was increasing, and he leaned forward towards her.
“I don’t know anything.”
“But – but you were with them!” He sounded desperate, and something about him tugged at her, but she was in enough trouble all on her own without borrowing his.
“I spent the whole time on my back. Trust me, they weren’t telling me any secrets.” The words came out harsher, angrier than she had meant them to, and his head snapped back like she’d struck him. Color rushed back into his cheeks.
“I’m – I’m sorry.” He shook his head, sighing. “I just thought – I hoped…”
“What?”
“I thought you might have been sent back on purpose. To tell us something.” He shrugged.
Her anger evaporated as the pieces clicked into place. “How do you know about Mathias?”
“I just do.” Now he sounded defensive, and she had to bite her cheek so she didn’t smile.
“Do you like to write him?” The expression on his face was priceless. Shock, fading to confusion, then excitement and recognition.
“You?” The man scooted his chair closer, lowering his voice to barely a whisper. “Have you been writing? The latest ones?”
“Yes.”
He let out a quiet cheer, blowing out a breath as he rubbed his hands together. “Okay, so what’s the plan? When are they coming? What did they —”
Emmie shook her head. “They have no idea I’m here. She took me because she figured out who I was and knew you would let her back in the city if she had me.”
His sigh was heavy, and he looked away from her. “I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “I wish I could help you, but even with the other sympathizers here right now… I can’t get you out.”
She nodded. There had been a fleeting moment where she’d had the hope of that, but it was impossible. It would ruin everything, and her father would never stop hunting her anyway. She forced a smile. “It’s okay. I’m tougher than I look.”
He cringed. “You don’t know what they —”
“I’ll be fine.” Emmie straightened her back and he sat up as well. “You need to warn them. Put out another letter, and – and say that the little bird is back in her cage, and they have to run.”
“What?”
“Listen to me. You need to say this exactly or they won’t understand. The little bird is back in her cage, and they have to run.” She sighed. “Repeat it back to me.”
“The little bird is back in her cage, and they have to run.” He nodded. “Okay, I’ll write it up today and have someone take it out.”
“And you need to write larger, more clearly. He… Mathias can’t see as well.” She swallowed and he stood, pausing for a moment.
“Was he nice? The other woman said he’s one of the leaders out there.” He fidgeted. “I mean, is that true?”
Emmie smiled a little. “What’s your name?”
“Brendan.” The man’s cheeks were red, and she shook her head, taking a deep breath before she raised her eyes back to his familiar, dark ones.
“He’s a great man. He has saved a lot of people, and he’s never given up. They’d all be lost without him.” As she spoke, Brendan’s smile grew wider, and finally he nodded.
“Um, that’s good. I’m glad they have him.” He stumbled back towards the door and then froze again. “I am sorry, Miss Daniau. I wish I could help you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Thank you. From all of us, thank you.” Brendan pulled open the door and slipped out and Emmie couldn’t help but laugh to herself.
She had finally got a thank you.
Chapter Sixteen
They tossed Emmie back into the interrogation room, her hair still wet and her body shivering because the thin shirt and tie pants they had given her weren’t enough to keep out the chill in the air. She pressed herself back into the corner and hugged her knees, trying to block the images slamming into her.
The way they had stripped her, taken turns holding her while they washed her with a rough cloth. Slipping their fingers between her thighs, inside her. Pinching and twisting her nipples. After the first of them had pulled out his cock, forcing her mouth onto it while the others continued to torment her, there was no stopping them. They each had a turn, and the sergeant had insisted on coming on her face as he held her hair in his fist. Then they had washed her again, tossing a towel at her as she scrambled to dry off, but when she’d used it to cover herself, they ripped it from her hands before she could use it on her hair.
Part of her was grateful that none of them had fucked her, but she was sure her father had laid some ground rules to how they could treat her.
The fucking bastard.
Her jaw ached, and her throat and lips felt raw. She wanted to cry but the tears wouldn’t come. The only consolation was that she hadn’t told them a thing. Even when they had threatened to hold her down and take her one after the other. When she had told them all to go to hell, she had heard one of the men talking about Clara, and it seemed like she was getting it even worse. Emmie knew she should feel sorry for the girl, but there wasn’t enough energy left inside he
r to care.
Curling up on her side she used her arm as a pillow, trying to think about anything other than the last few hours. Instead she tried to remember the sound of a waterfall, light reflecting off a pool, and swaying trees against a blue sky.
“Your escort has arrived!” A man’s booming voice tore her from sleep just before the door banged into the wall as it was pushed open.
Emmie shoved herself to a sitting position, keeping her back in the corner as the sergeant walked towards her. She hated that she trembled, but she wouldn’t cry or beg. She’d made it through everything before without pleading.
“Come on, Miss Daniau. Your father has missed you.” The sergeant pulled her from the floor with an iron grip on her arm and she stumbled towards the door with him. He dragged her down a long hall and to the main entrance. Near the doors stood Geoffroy, the butler for their house, and his permanently stoic expression didn’t even flicker when she appeared.
“I’ll take her from here, sergeant. Thank you for finding her. Master Daniau will reach out soon, I assure you.” Geoffroy’s voice was elegant, and the sergeant just laughed.
“She was a pleasure to have.” His words sent a shudder over her skin, and she was glad to leave when Geoffroy gestured at the door. In a moment, they were inside a carriage, and he handed her a thick blanket, which she lunged for to wrap around herself.
“Your father has been searching for you, he’s been very concerned.” Geoffroy was always careful with his words. He had not survived over twenty years in her father’s employ by being careless, and Emmie knew she would need to brush off her political language to get any information from him.
“He searched for me?” she asked, trying her best to keep her voice light.
“Of course he searched for you, you’re his daughter.” Geoffroy huffed. “He never thought for a moment you’d be so foolish as to leave the city, but he’s had the guards searching night and day for you. He even had the guards speak with your friends trying to discern your whereabouts.”
Emmie flinched. She knew firsthand how the guards spoke with people, she only hoped that they wouldn’t dare be so brazen with the other aristocratic families. None of their parents would have given permission for those things. It was a gambit, but Emmie forced herself to ask the next question calmly. “Was anyone hurt?”
Geoffroy tilted his head to look at her, his silvering hair was neat and tidy, his suit crisp. She knew she was a mess, and she was pretty sure Geoffroy knew why. He was loyal to her father, but he wasn’t blind. The man let out a breath. “Just your cousin, Andre. He punched your father when Master Daniau went to his house personally to seek you out.”
“What did he do to Andre? Geoffroy, please, tell me.” The question had been too accusatory, too forward, and she could almost see the walls come down inside the older man.
“Your father did nothing. Don’t be ridiculous.” He sat up straighter, turning away from her as they continued through the streets. A little while later he spoke again, “We’re here.”
The house had been eerily silent as Geoffroy had led her in, taking her to her father’s massive study. She had been sitting by the fire for several minutes, doing her best to warm herself, when she heard the familiar heavy steps of Jules Daniau.
He appeared in the doorway, a hulking figure that still made her feel like a small child. Shaking, she forced herself to her feet. “Father.”
“Emeline.” He walked in slowly, and she wanted to beg him for mercy, but knew it wouldn’t help anything.
“Where’s Gabrielle? I- I haven’t seen her.”
“Ah, so suddenly you’re concerned about your family? You’ve been gone nineteen days. I was quite sure you’d forgotten about your responsibilities completely.” His voice was cold, and she felt her heart rate pickup.
“I’m sorry, father.” Emmie tried her best to sound contrite instead of terrified, but it was difficult.
“Sorry that you left, or sorry that you got caught?” He made a noise in his throat as he walked towards his desk. “I’m sure that the guards who found you treated you like the very special guest you were.”
She flinched, tears threatening in her eyes as he confirmed that he knew. He knew what they were going to do with her. With the memory of their hands still fresh on her skin, she couldn’t hold her tongue. “I hate you.”
Jules Daniau lifted his eyes to hers, hazel like her own, and he smiled. “Well, dear, then we’re on even footing, because I don’t much care for you at the moment either.”
“You told them they could have me!” she screamed at him, and his only reaction was a slight lift of his eyebrows.
“I told them that they could do certain things to you, but no, dear, they were not allowed to have you. You belong to someone else, remember?” He turned and walked to the wall, pouring himself a large glass of amber liquid. The kind that burned like fire on the way down. He took a small drink, and then tossed the rest back and slammed it down on the desk beside him.
“I don’t belong to anyone.” She hissed.
“Tsk tsk, Emeline.” Her father undid the cuffs at his wrists, rolling up one sleeve at a time. “We have to address your behavior. You embarrassed me. You embarrassed Bastien. I had to create all kinds of explanations for your absence. Illness, exhaustion. It was completely ridiculous.”
Emmie looked back at the doors for a moment, wondering just how far she’d get. When she turned back, he was opening a drawer in his desk and she whimpered, shaking her head. “No, father, please.”
Jules Daniau lifted out a thick piece of leather and snapped his fingers, pointing at the front of his desk. “Come here.”
“No!” Emmie screamed and took several steps back, and his face changed.
“You can either come here on your own, or I can make you. You know how this goes.” His voice was a low growl, but Emmie shook her head. She ran for the door, and her father’s voice rose up. “Geoffroy!”
The man appeared in the doorway almost instantly, and Emmie had to scramble to a stop. “Please, please let me go, Geoffroy.”
“You can shut the door.” Her father snapped his fingers and Geoffroy leaned into the room and took the handle on the door, pulling it closed in front of Emmie without so much as a glance at her.
The tears finally came then, and she turned around to find him walking towards her. She dropped to her knees, begging, but he didn’t care as he grabbed her by the arm and threw her farther into the room. The first lash from the strap caught her on the upper back as she tried to push herself off the floor, but her arms buckled as the sharp pain radiated. When she lifted her arm to try and block it, the strap caught her forearm and she screamed, tucking her arms under her and burying her face against the carpeting. “FATHER! PLEASE!”
“You lost the right to beg me when you fled the damn city to avoid your marriage pact!” He brought the strap down again over her back, and the thin shirt she’d been given did nothing to dull the blow.
They kept coming until she wasn’t able to speak through the sobs. His blows made Lucian’s seem like nothing. Lucian had been trying to teach her a lesson, but like he’d said – it had been about the punishment, and not hurting her. This was what it felt like when someone wanted to hurt her. The strap wrapped around her side, catching the tender skin of her arm, and she screamed.
“Shut up, Emeline. I’ve already called your husband and he’s on his way to collect you.” Her father threw the strap against the wall and she tried to stifle her sobs.
Husband?
When she finally pushed herself up, she saw him at the other end of the room, downing another glass of the amber liquid.
Emmie sniffed, scrubbing at the tears on her cheeks. “What husband? You can’t mean Bastien —”
“Who else would I mean, Emeline? You signed a marriage pact with him. You asked to marry him. Just because you decided not to be here the day you were meant to say the words publically in front of the council doesn’t mean you didn’t agree to be ma
rried.” Her father laughed. “Was that your plan, you foolish girl? To leave so you wouldn’t marry Bastien?”
“You can’t just marry me off to someone without me even there!” she shouted.
“Really? It seems like no one else felt that way. The paperwork is already filed.”
Emmie screamed, her frustration and anger making her border on sobs again. “What the hell have you done with Gabrielle?” She was seething, enraged by all the things this man had done to her. To Gabrielle. To his own children.
“She’s been locked away since you left. I was sure she knew where you had gone, but it seems she didn’t.” He shrugged. “And here I thought you two were always so close.”
“I hate you!” she screamed, and he laughed.
“You say that like you think it matters to me.” He set his glass down again, and started to unroll his sleeves as he moved to the door. “You’ll stay in here until Bastien arrives for you. I’m sure the next time I see you… you’ll be much better behaved.”
Emmie lunged for one of the books on the shelves and threw it at him. She missed, and he opened the door just as she threw another one, and it hit the wood instead. The sound of the door locking came next, and she started to pull the many volumes off the shelves, throwing them until her body gave out and she collapsed into tears.
She crawled over in front of the fire, grateful to at least be warm for the first time in a couple of days. It was like she was in some horrible nightmare, all of her worst fears coming true. She was back in the city, and the village was probably learning the truth of her. Her sister had been suffering the entire time she was gone – and her father had made sure there was only pain and humiliation waiting for her.
And the next stage of his vengeance was on his way to get her.
Taken by the Enemy Page 21
