Page 22 of Hunted By Fear

We walk for a while in silence, long enough that I don’t think he is going to answer me as I fidget with my fingers, twisting them together and apart as I worry I’ve made the wrong choice.

Should I have refused and stayed in the room? Would that have really done anything? If he wanted to, this beast of a man could have thrown me over his shoulder and taken me wherever he wanted without breaking a sweat.

“Calls don’t go through here.” His voice catches me off guard, and I trip, almost tumbling down the stairs. I reach out, gripping the rail and saving myself the embarrassment and probably a few broken bones and maybe a concussion based on the cold feel of the stone beneath my bare feet.

“A–and where might that be?” I ask, unable to stop myself now that he’s given me something. I mentally berate myself for the stutter, hating how weak I must sound to him, but if he notices, he doesn’t show it. He glances back at me as he reaches the bottom of the stairs. I’m still a few stairs behind him, and I have to fight against the urge to freeze under his gaze.

This time, he doesn’t answer; instead, he simply rounds the banister and heads down yet another hallway.

I really should have been paying better attention to where we’d started and how we got here. Reaching the bottom of the steps, I pause to look around, and holy shit, this is a castle.

It’s beautiful. A red carpet runner is the only real pop of color; the rest of the castle is the same dark brick that gives it a gothic vibe. Candles are still the only source of light I see; between the chandelier that’s easily five times the size of the one in my rooms and candelabras scattered all over the place, I can make out most things, though I’m sure the finer details are lost on me.

We’d come down the set of stairs that branches off the main set and goes to the right, but from here, both sides look the same. But the most breathtaking part of the whole room is the enormous windows that span the wall behind the stairs. Reaching from the floor all the way to the ceiling, they have an old church vibe, but instead of bright stained glass, every one of these is red.

I stand in awe and quickly realize I could happily explore this place all day, getting lost to see the wonders.

“Wow…”

“I’ve never really stopped to appreciate the castle, but I can see how you might find it a marvel.”

I whip around to find Mr. Terrifying a lot closer than he was only a moment ago. In fact, hadn’t he walked down the hall? When did he come back, and how did he get so close without me noticing? He’s not exactly small.

I stand frozen, my neck craned back to watch him as he looks up at the high ceiling, the chandeliers, and…

His gaze snaps down to meet mine as if he can feel my eyes on him, and I glance away, seemingly very interested in the stone floor at our feet.

I can’t bring myself to look up even after I feel his eyes leave me. It’s not until I see him move away that I even dare move my eyes up enough to follow him.

The room he takes us to is more like a sitting room than anything else. A large fireplace with high-back chairs and large cushions, and food and drinks scattered around on smaller tables. It’s almost like a party, except there are only five people total here, and nobody looks particularly happy.

The light blonde-haired one smiles at me when I move into the room—Bast, I believe his name was—and I can’t help but return his smile even if I’m not sure why.

Maybe I’ve lost it? I mean, what kind of person feels happy to see their captor?

Was he nice to me? Yes.

Am I still being held here with no information after being taken from my house in the middle of the night? Also yes.

Yeah, now that I’ve put it like that, it’s the only thing that makes sense.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head, Darling?” The silver-haired one says, pushing off the desk he’d been leaning against to stalk toward me, a smirk pulling the corner of his lips up as he watches me.

It’s predatory, and I fight the urge to run. I feel like one of those baby gazelles who know the lion is coming but know they can’t possibly outrun it.

Doesn’t mean I can’t try, though, right?

“Talian.” Damn, that’s his name! It was on the tip of my tongue. “Leave her alone. Now isn’t the time for games.”

Talian rolls his eyes at “big and scary,” but stops a few feet from me. His eyes remained fixed on me, but at least I don’t feel like he’s about to eat me anymore… No, now I feel like he’s mentally undressing me.

“I was simply asking a question,” he says, raising a brow at me as if silently telling me he’s still waiting for his answer.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve gone insane,” I tell him honestly, and feel proud when my voice doesn’t tremble.

Fuck yeah! One point for me.

“Because you're in a castle in Hell or…” Talian doesn’t finish his sentence, but he doesn’t need to.