Page 21 of Cruel Possession

My head feels like a few sledgehammers decided to have a mosh pit in there, and trying to turn it to look down at what’s around my ankle only sends my mind spinning.

Bile rises in the back of my throat as I blink, trying to clear my vision.

I open my eyes as little as I can so that I can look, and it’s then that I see the shackles wrapped around my right ankle, keeping me chained to the wall.

Aiden smirks from the chair he’s lounging in. “It’s good to see that you’re waking up. For a second, I thought I might have bashed your head a little too hard on the ground.”

“Sick bastard.” My words come out slurred. “I’m going to kill you for this.”

“I know.” He shrugs and leans forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. “It really is a shame that this is the way things have gone between us, but I don’t see another way forward. Do you? You don’t want to negotiate. You keep murdering my people. Somehow, this has to end.”

My tongue is thick in my mouth as I swallow hard. “What did you do to me?”

He glances at the tray with the syringe beside him. “Knocking you out didn’t seem like enough. Figured you might need a sedative while you get accustomed to your new life here.”

“Bastard.”

“So you’ve said.” He looks down at the gold watch on his wrist. “Looks like it’s time for your next dose.”

“You want to negotiate?” I pull on all the strength I don’t have at the moment and sit up on a small single bed with a quilt on it, tilting to the side. “Negotiate this.”

I hold up both middle fingers, and he snorts, shaking his head.

I have an entire criminal organization at my disposal, and the most I can muster at the moment is flipping him the double bird.

Real intimidating, Zoe.

But it’s as if I’m moving through molasses, so there’s nothing else I can do.

Aiden rises from his chair and grabs the syringe as two other men enter the cell.

They’re men I vaguely recognize from meetings I’ve had lately.

Aiden flicks off the cap. “You might have your spies, but I’ve had mine too, and they’ve told me some interesting things about you.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Promises, promises.” He nods to the men, and they surge forward, each one grabbing an arm and holding me in place.

There’s no way I can fight my way out of this even if I want to. And boy, do I want to.

So, I try. Like a feral cat, I thrash and try to work my way free, twisting and turning, desperate to get loose. But I’m still too groggy, head still pounding, and nothing I do works.

The men hold me tighter, one taking my head and hauling it to the side, exposing my neck.

Aiden smiles down at me, but there’s nothing kind about that smile. Nothing that would suggest I’m ever going to be let out of this room again.

He presses the tip of the needle to the side of my neck. “I hope you enjoy spending time in your cell.”

The needle slides into my neck, and he presses down the plunger.

My tongue gets heavier, and my legs go numb.

I glare at him with everything I have, hoping he knows that the at first chance I truly get, I’m going to kill him.

Aiden nods to the bed, and the men lower me down onto it.

He looms over me for a moment. “I’m going to cut down your entire family, and then I’m coming back for you.”