Lauren (Keegan's Chronicles Spin Off) (20 page)

Galen didn’t respond. He just carried her back to the room, unaffected by her struggling, then put her on the floor. She could see shards of glass in the collar of his shirt and dozens of tiny cuts on his face and neck.
A few more scars to add to his already rugged face
, Lauren thought, horrified to realize that, after all of this, she still thought he was cute.

She tried to run past him, but he stopped her cold. “Tristen will be home momentarily. Try to escape again, and I will have to make this much worse for you.”

“What does he want me to do?”

“Unthinkable things, Lauren.” Galen gave her one last, lingering look, his face unreadable, before he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Lauren heard the lock click loudly in place. She had no doubt he was standing guard outside. She’d had a chance to escape and she’d blown it.

Lauren didn’t know how much time had passed before the musty earth smell once again filled her nostrils. A cold feeling of dread washed over her—Tristen was back.

The door swung open. Lauren squinted into the sudden light, seeing nothing but a silhouette. “Tsk. Tsk. I hear you tried to escape? Naughty girl.” He sounded like he was enjoying himself.

How could she have had such poor judgment when it came to him?

Tristen snickered. “Stand up.”

She stayed rooted to the floor. If he wanted her up, he would have to do it himself.

“You never make things easy, do you Lauren?” He yanked her to her feet. Her elbow scraped the stone. It felt so real that she flinched.

She heard the metallic rattle of a chain.
No. No. No
. She tightened her body, struggling to break free from his grasp as she whimpered. “Please don’t.”

“Don’t cry. You know I hate to hear you cry.” Tristen brushed back a strand of her hair and bent down to kiss her lips. He pulled a clamp down over her wrist and tightened it just enough to be uncomfortable.

Chained. Like an animal. She felt sick to her stomach.

“Tomorrow this will be all over. We’ve decided to move our plans ahead a few days. If you just do as we say, everything will be okay. I convinced my father that you are useful, so you will be kept alive. We will just have Galen wipe your mind. You and I will do great things together, my love.”

He clamped the manacle over her left wrist. The chains rattled as they pulled her arms above her head. She tried to struggle, but that just made the pain worse.

“Your first task will be simple,” Tristen said firmly. “Once we get through that, and my father sees how much of an asset you are to the cause, we will bring the humans to their knees.”

“You’ve lost your mind,” Lauren spat.

Tristen gave her an indulgent smile. “You’ll come around. You always do.”

“I can’t believe I ever fell for you. We’re through.” She knew how pathetic it sounded, but somehow made her feel a little better.

“You say that now, but, after tomorrow, you won’t recall a thing. We’ll go back to the way it was before, with you at my beck and call.” He smirked.

Bile rose in her throat. If she’d had anything in her stomach, she would have thrown up. Just the thought of food made her feel weak.

As if he could read her mind, Tristen murmured, “Don’t worry. Galen will bring you some food. We need to keep your energy levels high enough to complete the job.”

She grasped the chains with her fingers and yanked as hard as she could.

“Don’t bother,” he said with a laugh. He was still little more than a dark shape in front of her, his face shadowed. “You can’t get free.”

“Why are you doing this?” she moaned, hating the sound of her own voice. She’d never felt so hopeless.

“There is no other way. I do love you, Lauren.” He turned on his heel and left the room.

How could he do this to her and still claim he loved her? He chained her to a wall, for crying out loud.

She couldn’t fight the sobs when they came, but she tried with little headway to yank the chains from the walls. As the cold and damp settled into her skin, she bloodied her wrists trying to break free. She tired quickly though, sinking against the wall as her tears slowly came to a stop.

She knew he could do exactly as he said: use her as a weapon and swipe her mind clean. Hell, maybe he had already done it and she didn’t know.

That thought terrified her.

Chapter 23

L
auren’s head shot up when the door creaked open. A stream of light flooded the room. She had sat in the dark for what felt like forever, listening to the rodents and bugs move around the spot where she was chained to the wall. Any doubt she had about Tristen had washed away in her hours of solitude. She hated him; she felt disgusted that she’d ever had feelings for the lowlife.

The greasy smell of fries and burgers made her mouth water. Just the thought of food brought tears to her eyes.

Galen came through the door holding a bag from Wendy’s. Her body felt weak, not just because her arms were chained to the wall. She was so hungry. Tristen knew she loved Wendy’s. That jackass knew everything about her. For the thousandth time, she thought,
How could I have been so blind?

“Hungry?” Galen held out the bag.

The delicious smell grew stronger. Lauren closed her eyes and willed herself not to reach out in vain for the bag. She wasn’t going to play his stupid games. He probably wanted her to beg. That wasn’t going to happen.

“Tristen wants you to eat.”

“Tell Tristen to go screw himself.”

Galen sighed. “Just eat the food, Lauren. Please.”

“Not hungry.” She smiled at him, but it came out more like a grimace as she turned her face away from the bag.

“Yeah, right. You’re starving.” He pulled the burger out of the bag and unwrapped it, holding the food near her mouth. She felt like an animal salivating. She jerked her head to the side, trying to get away.

“Eat the food Lauren. You’re only hurting yourself.”

“What—you feed me and then I kill for you? It’s absurd. I’d rather starve to death.”

Galen stared at her, his face impassive. “It’s not a joke, Lauren. You know faeries can’t last long without food. How many hours has it been since you last ate? Did you even bother to eat before you ran off to meet Tristen?”

Lauren knew all that. Because of their hyper metabolism, faeries had to eat almost constantly. And she would need energy to figure a way out of this disaster. She hadn’t eaten since last night; she had no idea how long she had been at Tristen’s. She’d dozed off a couple of times.

Fury filled her. Her emotions, rocketing up and down, exhausted her. She couldn’t believe she was chained to a wall and being forced to eat like a toddler. She kept hoping she would wake up from this terrible nightmare.

“Fine,” she murmured, the fight fizzling out of her. She yanked at the chains. “Can you let me out so I can at least go to the bathroom and then eat with my own hands?”

Lauren felt humiliated. She hated Galen seeing her this way. She hated Tristen for subjecting her to such horror. And she hated having a gift that made her a target for these wackos.

Without a word, Galen pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked her shackles. Blood rushed back into hands as they fell limply to her sides. Her hands hurt as the blood rushed down returning circulation.

“Come on.” Galen took her gently by the arm and helped her to her feet.

Lauren felt weak from the lack of movement. She stumbled alongside Galen, clutching at his arm to steady herself as feeling returned to her fingers.

“I’ll wait outside. No closing the door,” Galen warned her as he stepped aside. He propped himself against the wall and motioned her into the bathroom.

Heat rose in her face; tears filled her eyes. She felt like an animal. She didn’t want to go to the bathroom so that he could hear her, but what other choice did she have?

She flicked on the faucet for the steady sound of the water, then did her business as quickly as possible.

Back in the secret room, Lauren leaned on the wall and sank to the floor. Just the walk to the bathroom had worn her out. How long had she been imprisoned?

“Eat fast,” Galen told her, tossing the bag on her lap. “If Tristen finds out I let you out of the chains, we’ll both be in trouble.”

She didn’t answer, but the hint of kindness in his voice spurred her into motion. She ripped open the bag and unwrapped the burger. The first bite felt like heaven.

Lauren devoured the sandwich. When it was gone, Galen held out a drink for her. After she ate the second burger and fries, she started to feel normal again.

She balled up the wrappers and stuffed them in the take-out bag. Galen leaned forward to chain her arms again. She felt like slamming her forehead into his.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The side of his lip quirked up as the first manacle clicked into place.

“Do what?”

“What you wanted to do. Crack my skull.”

“So you’re a mind reader, too?”
Great
.

“I told you mind control was my power.” He stepped away and swiped the bag from the ground.

As he turned to walk away, Lauren blurted, “Don’t leave me in here. It’s terrifying being alone like this.”

“I know,” Galen said over his shoulder, closing the door with a loud click.

With her belly full, Lauren started to get tired. Her head kept falling forward, then the clanking of the chains would startle her awake. But there came a point where she couldn’t force herself to stay awake any longer, and she slipped into dreams.

The door opened again, and this time, Tristen strolled in. He looked at ease, exuding his usual casual confidence. She had once found it sexy, but now it made her want to hurl. His shoes slapped on the concrete floor, echoing through the room.

“It’s time, Lauren. As I told you, your first task will be something small. You just have to prove yourself to my father. Tomorrow everything will be back to normal.”

Lauren looked away. “The hell it will.”

Tristen dropped the illusion. She once again sat in an empty white room with a bright light above her. Her arms dropped to her sides—the manacles suddenly gone—and she rubbed her wrists. The cool rush of the air conditioner brought up goose bumps on her skin. Still wearing her gym clothes, she felt filthy.

“Just one thing, Lauren,” Tristen assured her. “That’s all you have to do.”

“What is it?” she asked as she got to her feet. She couldn’t help herself; she was curious. If she understood the plan, maybe she could prevent it from happening.

“I just need you to get us into a secure facility. You only need to disable the alarms and cameras.”

Breaking and entering? That didn’t sound as bad as murder. Lauren narrowed her eyes. “What do you want to break into?”

“That’s none of your concern.” He came closer, and Lauren scooted backwards into a different corner of the room, wishing she could disappear.

“I need to know what I’m breaking into,” Lauren bit out. “It doesn’t work if I don’t.”

Tristen gave her a sick grin. “Oh, it will work. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”

“So if I do this for you, you’ll really let me go?”

“Yes.”

Lauren’s mind raced. She couldn’t make sense of what he wanted. Why would he let her go after the imprisonment and threats? Because he could just control her like a puppet with the use of Galen? If that was the case, he didn’t have to go through all of the drama to begin with, so he had to off his rocker. She was dealing with a mad man.

“I really didn’t want it to work out this way. You have to believe me, Lauren.” He shook his head and heaved a harried sigh. “If it weren’t for you leaving when we needed you, none of this would have happened. If you want to blame anyone, you should blame your so-called friends.”

She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. Was he really going to try to justify his actions and put it on her friends?

“Tomorrow, you won’t recall a thing.”

“What about my friends? They’re looking for me. I know they are. How will I explain my disappearance?”

Tristen shrugged. “They’ll just think you couldn’t stand the thought of leaving me.”

She fought the urge to gag. Twenty-four hours ago, that would have been the truth, but now… Now she’d gladly hit him over the head with a two-by-four and run away without ever turning back.

Chapter 24