Chapter 169
Then I took a deep breath and started trying to compress my hand enough to slip it through the metal circle that was holding me to the wall.
The pain was immediate and intense and I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming because I didn’t know if anyone else was in the building and I
couldn’t risk alerting them to what I was trying to do.
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I could feel bones shifting in my hand and wrist and I knew I was doing serious damage but I kept pushing and twisting and trying to force my way out
of the chain because this might be my only chance to escape and I wasn’t going to waste it.
The wolfsbane was making everything worse and I could feel my vision going dark around the edges but I forced myself to stay conscious and keep working because passing out now would mean giving up and I couldn’t do that when so many people were counting on me to survive this.
My thumb popped out of joint with a sound that made me want to vomit but suddenly my hand was smaller and I could feel it starting to slip through
the metal and I knew I was almost free.
I pushed harder and twisted my wrist in a way that sent lightning bolts of pain up my arm but finally, finally, my hand slipped through the chain and I
was loose.
I sat there for a moment holding my broken hand against my chest and trying to catch my breath while waves of pain washed over me. My wrist was definitely broken and probably my thumb too but I was free from at least one chain and that was progress.
The other hand was going to be even harder because I would have to use my broken hand to work on the bolt and I wasn’t sure I had the strength or the pain tolerance to do it but I didn’t have a choice.
I was just reaching for the other bolt when I heard footsteps on the stairs and I froze in place with my broken hand still pressed against my chest. Someone was coming down here and I needed to hide what I had done or they would chain me up even tighter and I would never get another chance to
escape.
I quickly moved back against the wall and positioned my broken arm so it looked like it was still chained up and I closed my eyes and tried to look unconscious so whoever was coming wouldn’t suspect that I had been working on getting free.
The footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs and I heard the door open but I kept my eyes closed and my breathing steady even though my heart was pounding so hard I was sure they would be able to hear it.
‘I know you’re awake Athena,” a female voice said and my blood ran cold because I recognized it immediately even though I had been hoping I was
wrong.
I opened my eyes and looked toward the door and there she was, standing in the dim light like she belonged here.
Seraphine.
‘Surprised to see me?” she asked and her voice was different now, colder and more confident than it had ever been when she was pretending to be the broken victim who needed Tristan’s protection.
“You,” I said and my voice came out as barely a whisper because I was so shocked and confused and terrified all at the same time.
“Me,” she confirmed with a smile that made my skin crawl. “Did you really think Daxon was doing all of this alone? Did you really think he was smart enough to fake his own death and set up this whole elaborate plan without help?”
I stared at her and tried to process what she was telling me but it didn’t make sense and I couldn’t understand why she would be working with the man
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Chapter 169
who had nearly killed me.
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“Why?” I asked because it was the only word I could manage to get out.
‘Why?‘ she repeated like she was surprised I had to ask. “Because Tristan was supposed to be mine and you stole him from me just like you steal
everything else you want.”
Her voice was getting louder and angrier and I could see the madness in her eyes now that she wasn’t bothering to hide it anymore.
‘I’ve been in love with him since we were in high school and I waited and I planned and I positioned myself perfectly to be there when he needed comfort after his mate died and then you came along and ruined everything.”
She was pacing back and forth in front of me now and her hands were clenched into fists like she wanted to hit something.
“I had to watch him fall in love with you and mate with you and choose you over everything else and it made me sick because you don’t deserve him
and you never did.”
“So you decided to help Daxon kill me?” I asked and I was trying to keep her talking because I needed to understand what I was dealing with and I needed to figure out how to get out of here alive.
‘I decided to help Daxon get back what was rightfully his,” she corrected. “And in exchange, he promised to help me get rid of you permanently so that Tristan could finally see that I was the one who had been there for him all along.”
“That’s not how love works,” I said and I could hear the desperation in my own voice. “You can’t force someone to love you by eliminating their other options.” What was wrong with the both of them?
“Watch me,” she said with the same cold confidence that Daxon had used earlier.
She walked closer to me and I tried to shrink back against the wall but there was nowhere to go and I was still chained up by my left hand.
“Where is he?” she asked and I could smell the wolfsbane on her breath which meant she had been breathing it in for a while and it was probably affecting her judgment and making her even more dangerous than she already was.
“Where is who?” I asked even though I knew exactly who she was talking about.
‘Don’t play stupid with me Athena,‘ she snapped. ‘Where is Tristan and when is he coming to rescue his precious little mate?”
‘I don’t know. I should be asking you shouldn’t I?” I said honestly because I had no idea where he was or what his plan might be. Wasn’t she the one
that saw him last.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a knife that gleamed in the dim light and my broken hand automatically moved to protect my throat even though the movement sent fresh waves of pain through my arm.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
