| |
Cyn groaned and shifted in the chair. It must have been hours she’d been sitting there. At first she’d been so panicked that it had been difficult to think. Her mind had raced in a million different directions. And when Nathan had dumped her purse out in the van and found that portal...she’d never been so afraid in her life. Her heart broke when Nathan contacted Fallon and told him to come alone. Cyn was scared, because she knew Fallon would do exactly that. He was too proud, too in love with her to listen to reason. And even though the rest of the Realm was sure to be up in arms about her disappearance, Fallon wouldn’t be able to hear anything that anyone had to say. His pain surged through the mate bond and his heart was clear to her.
She sighed softly. That was Fallon’s way—stubborn to a fault. Her heart pricked with guilt as she realized he would do anything and everything for her, to keep her safe. Cyn thought of the baby in her belly, and winced. And our wee one. If something happens to our child... She wasn’t sure which would break Fallon more.
No, Cyn couldn’t think about that. Not right now, not when the situation seemed more dire than ever before. She took a shaky breath and tried to stretch. After the horrific van ride to God-knows-where, the arseholes had grabbed her and dragged her into a house. Cyn hadn’t resisted. If she hadn’t been pregnant it wouldn’t matter if she swung and kicked, but now it might be bad if they decided to kick her back. Cyn tried to remember everything Felicity had told her about pregnancy—about how it was actually really hard to have a miscarriage. That hadn’t made her feel any better when the men had shoved her into the van. Cyn didn’t have access to her mobile to check the time, but it had been long enough that she had to pee. On top of that, her bum hurt from sitting on the hard wooden chair, and her legs ached. I wish they’d let me get up and have a walk. She shifted in the chair. That’s the bloody least they could do after this bollocks.
Cyn’s head tilted up as she heard the door swing open. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or angered when she saw Nathan and not one of the thug arseholes who’d taken her off the street.
“’Ello, Nathan.” She swallowed. Her mouth felt unbearably dry. “Wot’s all this about, eh?”
Nathan walked closer. His hands were twisting behind his back, and his mouth was set in a firm, angry line.
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered.
Nathan was deadly pale, his face grimacing and contorting into an angry snarl. Cyn’s heart beat faster, and the rush of anxiety coursing through her was only matched by the painful thought that her former best friend had kidnapped her and placed her in some manky basement!
“You had no business choosing a púca over me,” Nathan said quietly. Cyn could barely hear him; she had to lean forward in the chair and strain her ears just to make out his words.
“What?” Cyn squinted. “Why’s that?”
“You should have stayed with me, Cyn,” Nathan said.
His voice had the same eerie, dead quality. It made Cyn shiver—she’d never heard him like this before. He’d always been cheerful and exuberant. In fact, Felicity used to tease that Nathan was a perpetual optimist—the exact opposite of Cyn. More than once, Cyn had made a sarcastic joke only to be rebuffed by Nathan. His new cold attitude, combined with his deadpan face, were uncanny and alarming.
She shook her head and swallowed. “Nathan, we were just mates. There was never anything between us. You know that.”
Nathan’s cold silence was making her really nervous. How could she have not known or seen how crazy he was before? Was it her fault? Did she make him this way? Tears blurred her vision, and she blinked, desperately wanting to avoid crying in front of the man she now hated.
“And furthermore, if you love me so bloody much, why the hell did you kidnap me? You’re a selfish arsehole, Nathan. If you could do something like this to me...” She trailed off, suddenly feeling like all of the energy and will to fight had left her body. You never loved me, did you? I was just a crazy obsession. The thought sent dread down her spine. She hoped like hell that Fallon would be smart enough to stay away. No sense in this ending badly for both of them.
Nathan stepped closer. He was no longer scowling, but looking at Cyn as though she were made of the world’s most delicate material and could break at any moment. He frowned again. “Something like what? Cyn, wot’re you on about now?”
“If you could do something like this to me, then you don’t know what love means.” Her heart thumped in her chest and she swallowed a metallic, tangy taste of fear. “You never even cared, Nathan. All you care about is yourself. You’re a right selfish git.”
Nathan stared at her. “You don’t mean that. Cyn...Cyn, are you worried that these men are going to hurt you?”
Cyn gaped. “Are you bloody kidding me? Of course I’m bloody worried!” Her voice rose to a fevered pitch. “There’s no way these arseholes are going to let me go.”
He started to shake his head. There was clearly no point using logic, but she still had to try and convince him to do the right thing. If there was a shred of goodness or love left in him, then maybe she could get him in her corner. And if there was ever a time to put her acting skills to good use, it was now.
Her voice broke, and her eyes filled with tears once more. “Nathan, these gits see me as a bloody traitor to my own kind. You know that, right? They’re never going to let me go just because Fallon shows up. It’ll be a two-for-one bloody special.” And because I’m preggers. She tried to avoid glancing at her stomach. She felt vaguely nauseous, and for once, she almost hoped she’d be sick. Maybe that would rip some sympathy out of him. Maybe then he’d feel right awful about what he’s done.
“Cyn...” Nathan stepped closer, twisting his pudgy hands in front of his round torso. “Cyn, they wouldn’t hurt you. They’re going to let you go—they just want the púca, that’s all!”
Cyn bit her lip, ignoring the way Nathan spoke of her mate. “Nathan, no, it’s not going to be like that. These arseholes are convinced that I’m a bad human or whatever they call sympathizers. They’re going to punish me.”
“I would never let them hurt you. I can’t believe you’d even think I’d let that happen,” Nathan said.
“They’re not going to let me go alive. They’re barmy arseholes, Nathan,” she said in a soft voice. “They’re not rational people.”
That was the truth, even if he was too crazy or stupid to see it.
“Cyn, it’s not like that. No one’s going to hurt you! No one at all! As long as you cooperate, and give them what they want, they won’t hurt you!” Nathan sighed. “They promised me they wouldn’t hurt you.”
Cyn exploded into bitter laughter. “And you believed them?”
His face was blank, and held nothing, but open trust for the cult-like hate group.
“You actually believed them?” Cyn said again, sounding astonished. “I can’t believe you, Nathan. Of course they’d lie to you. You were of use to them!”
“You don’t understand, Cyn. We have the same goals. I want you to be happy...safe. Fallon isn’t good for you. It’ll be okay. I promise they won’t hurt you.”
She shook her head, her mouth filled with the metallic taste of fear once more. “It’s rubbish of you to believe them. And you’re an even bigger fool for thinking you can get away with this.”
Nathan frowned. “What’re you going on about? Cyn, you’re talking crazy—”
“I’m not,” Cyn said confidently. She sat up straighter in the wooden chair and fixed Nathan with a stare. “Fallon’s not going to let you live. He’s going to punish you for putting me in danger. I’m not sure you realise this, but you’re already in trouble. You were fucked from the moment those arseholes grabbed me off the street!”
Nathan shook his head. “Cyn, I’d never do anything to put you in danger. Don’t you know how I feel about you? I love you.”
Cyn bit her lip. I know, all right...in a crazed, fucked-up version of love. She shook her head. “Fallon’s not going to be happy about this. In fact, he’s probably preparing an army to come and rescue me. And then you’ll have a bloody lot of púca to deal with.”
Nathan blinked. Cyn couldn’t tell if the lie had worked or not, but he was starting to look less confident with each passing second.
“That’s right,” Cyn said, growing more confident in turn. “Fallon’s going to come here and kill you. He might be quick about it, but maybe not. After all, he’s going to be really, really angry.”
“Cyn, I—”
“And even I’m a little afraid of him when he’s that worked up over something.”
Nathan stared. He opened his mouth, but no words came out, just a quiet stammer. Cyn felt a flicker of satisfaction. Her stomach twisted as she thought of the uncomfortable lie. She could practically hear him fighting with the clan through the mate bond. She’d never been able to sense anything stronger than the fear and resolve of her mate right then. Fallon’s not bringing an army. He’s coming alone. He doesn’t want to hurt me, and he’s going to sacrifice his life for mine. Cyn flicked her eyes over Nathan. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let anyone hurt my mate.
“He’ll kill you.” She made her voice strong and loud. “He’s not going to let you live after taking me, Nathan. You’re going to learn a lesson. You don’t mess with our clan.”
Suddenly the door burst open, and a large, bulky man strode inside. He glanced coldly at Cyn, then turned to face Nathan.
“What’s all this?”
“Master, we were just having a bit of a chat,” Nathan said. He turned toward the man, clearly eager to please. The man ignored him, stepped closer to Cyn, and raised his hand. Before she could even flinch, his fist connected painfully with her jaw and lip. Cyn cried out involuntarily, blood gushing from a cut down the centre of her bottom lip. Her mouth was already sore and swollen. When she pushed her tongue against her teeth, she noted with dismay that one of them was loose.
“You’d best shut it,” the man said to Cyn in a nasty voice. He wiped his hand on his pants, then looked at the blood stain with disgust. “I don’t like liars in my house.”
“I didn’t lie,” Cyn said defiantly. “I meant everything I said.”
This time, when he held his hand up in the air, she lifted her chin. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, then finally the Master lowered his hand to his side and turned to Nathan.
“Come with me,” he said sharply. “I need a word with you in private.”
If her face hadn’t been busted and bleeding, she would have grinned. Cyn watched in satisfaction as Nathan followed the bulky man out of the room. When they were at the door, Nathan called out to his Master.
“You go ahead,” Nathan said. “I’ll be right there. I left my mobile...”
The Master snorted. “You’re a bloody fool.”
The eerie echo of Cyn’s words made a tremor pass through her body. She was glad when the Master left the room. Nathan was nothing more than a henchman, and had no say in what happened to her. He turned back to her with a sympathetic look.
“You’d best watch your tongue,” Nathan said, when he was close enough to whisper. “If you keep saying rubbish like that, it’ll only get you into trouble.”
Then he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving Cyn alone. Bloody hell. The door slammed shut behind her ex-best friend. She had a really bad feeling this wasn’t going to end well.
