Page 5

Chapter five

Astria Zielle

The man sat across from me and stared like he was solving a difficult problem. Men.

His long black hair had fallen out of his ponytail and hung in curls that I couldn’t help but be jealous of.

I couldn’t think of one woman that had prettier hair than he did. Other than maybe my best friend, Elizabeth.

It added a softness that didn’t belong against his sharp, masculine features. I bet he wore it back so he could look meaner. Or so it wasn’t in the way when he killed someone. Either seemed plausible.

“Kill me or don’t. Stop thinking so hard.”

He chuckled. “Do you want me to kill you?”

The word ‘yes’ sat right on my tongue, but I didn’t let the impulsive word win. Kylie. I failed my last chance. I had to get out of here. Dying wasn’t an option. That said, I wasn’t sure what was at this point.

“Not exactly.” I leaned my head back on the bars. “But the odds aren’t exactly in my favor.”

“No, they aren’t,” he agreed.

“If you’re going to kill me, get on with it. No need to drag it out.”

If they’d given me my magic, I could have finished the job. Then I’d be out there with my baby. Instead, I was still in jail.

I stood up and the guards on the balcony followed me with their guns. I leaned on the bars as I stretched. Up top, eight feet above me, the bars were wider. Could I climb up and squeeze through? No, they’d kill me before I got an inch off the ground.

“Sit the fuck down, Astria,” Bunson’s gravelly voice warned from behind me.

“Give me a break. What am I going to do?” I wasn’t sure who that question was for. How could I get out of here?

“Now,” he yelled. “Or do you want to go back in the box?”

I put my hands up and slid back to my spot.

“You’re lucky I’m in a forgiving mood.” Bunson chuckled, and it rubbed everything inside me the wrong way. “Make sure you thank me for the room upgrade.”

“Thank you.” I wasn’t going to give him a reason to come in here. It was bad enough that this was right next to Bunson’s office and anyone would get a three-sixty view of what he did to me.

“Watch that smart ass mouth, bitch.” His boots clopped loudly on the stone floor, announcing that he was coming up behind me, but I didn’t turn to look at him. Giving him attention only made it worse.

“I appreciate your patience with me, sir. It’s more than I deserve.” My lips felt numb as I said the words, but it was better to eat some pride now than encourage him.

“I don’t need a reason, Astria.” His hand played with my hair through the bars. I didn’t move. Didn’t yank away. Even when the grip turned painful.

I ignored him well enough that eventually Bunson released me. “You boys know the rules. That door doesn’t open without me present. She’s dangerous.”

The door to his office closed again, and I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The burn in my chest reminded me that it couldn’t take much more abuse today.

“I thought the guards were for me,” my cellmate said.

“Nope.” I closed my eyes. I had to get out of here.

I didn’t think killing the man now would account for anything. They weren’t in the habit of accepting late work, and for whatever reason, they took us alive instead of killing us both when they had the chance.

“Why would they put us in the same cell?”

“I assume it was so you would kill me and save them the effort.”

“Then what about me?”

“No clue.” None of this made sense.

“Have you considered you were supposed to finish the job?”

“I considered it,” I answered honestly. “But since the benefit of killing you has expired, I don’t see a point.”

“You cut a deal with someone.” He studied the room. “What was worth my life?”

“You wouldn’t understand the answer.” Men never did. He would think it was just about saving my skin. Dying here would benefit me greatly, but it wouldn’t benefit Kylie.

“Try me.”

“You only care, so you can cut a deal of your own. With the perfect bargaining chip, of course.”

He smirked. The whites of his teeth stood in stark contrast against the deep bronze tone of his skin. It made it hard to look away from the pointed incisor that was ready to turn its next meal to shreds. The dark pools of his brown eyes reminded me of all the women who wouldn’t go near him.

He was a predator, and that aura oozed out of his pores.

“Fair enough.” The rumble of his voice set every survival instinct I had alive. Danger. Danger.

I pried my eyes away and searched for an escape. Instead, I found a load of men bringing in a screaming girl covered in blood. The girl was twelve now. Her father sold her a couple of weeks ago. I guess she wasn’t adjusting well.

I stared at the bars over the man’s head, letting the world fall away. If I died here, they would sell my daughter even sooner than they should. This would be her life.

I couldn’t think about that if I wanted to function. So her screams went in one ear and out the other.

“Calm,” I reminded her gently, but didn’t dare to look at her. Right now, Kylie had about eight more years. How many would she lose if I couldn’t get out of here? Three?

All of them.

My empty stomach twisted. No, that couldn’t happen. My eyes landed on the man. Was there really no favor left to buy? If there was even a sliver of a possibility, didn’t I owe it to Kylie to find out?

He watched the scene with eyes that unnerved me. Most men watched with mild curiosity or desire. Instead, he was numb, like so many of the older women I knew. It was an unavoidable part of life, and at some point, it stopped being horrifying.

If a person lived long enough to get to that point.

Most of us didn’t.

“Kill me or don’t. Stop thinking so hard,” he said, without ever looking away from the scene before him.

“I guess it’s complicated for both of us.”

“Must be,” he agreed solemnly. The first glimmer of sadness glossed his eyes, but he rubbed them and the emotion was gone. Was he feeling for a woman?

I blinked, and I realized the screaming had stopped. I finally glanced over at her tattered body. She went to get up.

“Stay down,” I told her. “Don’t move.”

She sobbed, but listened to me.

“Let them think they’ve won. If you get up too quickly, they’ll know they didn’t get all the fight out of you.”

“Okay.” The way her voice broke tore at me. They’d taken a good chunk out of her soul. “That’s not what you’d do.”

“Whatever you think I would do, do the opposite,” I told her. “Don’t be like me, baby girl.”