Page 79 of Blood and Thorns

I haven’t seen his mum in a few days, which was leavingme with a very small pool of people to communicate with. Especially considering the cleaners were still actively ignoring me. Seriously, I should start leaving little passive aggressive notes for them to find.

Chip’s smile was a little crooked. “Good, you’re still up.”

“Up? What’s going on?”

“You’re being summoned, but first I need to do a quick security check.” Before I could respond he began to walk towards the west wing, looking back over his shoulder to see whether I was following. “You coming or what?”

I fell into step beside him, unsure when he took out a keycard and slotted it into the one door that was always locked. “Chip, what are you doing?”

“I’ve already told you, a security check. This is Mr Devereaux’s study.” He unlocked the door, revealing a relatively empty room save for a wall of screens, an unnecessarily large terrarium, and a desk. On it was a computer complete with keyboard and mouse, some pieces of paper, and a strange looking pen.

Chip waved, and his image waved back across three of the screens.

“He really does have the whole place on video?” I asked, studying the wall before I moved to the terrarium. My skin crawled at the spider that sat content inside, half hidden inside its cave.

“Yep, and he records it too.” Chip walked across the space to sit at the desk in the corner. “Watch,” he said, clicking some buttons.

I looked over my shoulder. “Are you allowed to do that?”

“He won’t know.” A few more buttons, then suddenly all the screens along the wall revealed my bedroom. Hebegan to rewind it, and I watched myself move in reverse as I wandered around with my notebook.

“Stop!” I said when I started to undress.

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound particularly apologetic as he continued to reverse at a faster speed that blurred the image so you couldn’t see the details. After a moment a dark shadow appeared, showing me Sebastian standing in my room while I was fast asleep. He hovered by the side, his fingers gentle as he brushed hair from my face as I slept.

“You needed to see this,” Chip said quietly. “He barely sleeps. A couple hours at most, then he watches you almost every night.”

“Why did you show this to me?” I asked, my voice flat.

“Because we’re friends,” he said gently. “And I don’t want you to get hurt.”

The footage rolled on for a few more minutes. Sebastian lingered, motionless, before finally turning and slipping out of the room.

“Turn it off.” I walked out, unsure how to feel.

Chip hurried after me. “Hey, what’s wrong? I didn’t mean to upset you; I just wanted to make you aware so you can–”

I spun around, stopping so fast he nearly collided with me. “Aware of what?” I snapped. “That I have no control over my own life? That I’m being watched while I sleep?” My voice shook, but I didn’t back down. “Trust me, Chip. I’mpainfullyaware.”

Before he could comment, the lift chimed, followed by the sound of deliberate, heavy footsteps.

“She was just freshening up,” Chip said quickly, smoothing his tone just as Langdon stepped into view. “I’ll meet you both at the car, Sir.” Chip gave a respectful nod, slipping away.

Langdon turned his hard gaze to me, his hands signing far too fast for me to even attempt to follow.

“Erm…” Seriously, I’d only just started to learn. Give me a break. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”

Langdon released a wispy sound of frustration before reaching for his phone.

Sebastian needs you.

I didn’t think I’d ever get used to watching Sebastian fight. Every blow made my body tighten, and I knew I should simply look away, but I found I couldn’t.

Neither Sebastian nor Caden seemed to notice we’d arrived, too consumed by the brutal rhythm of their brawl to care.

I felt a touch on my shoulder, and I turned to find Langdon watching me rather than his friends, a frown creasing his brows. “Has he always fought?” I asked, aching to know just a little bit more about my captor.

Bas first got his name in the underground fights. A champion, it’s how he first made some real money,he typed on his phone.He’s always been good with his fists.