“Stop,
” I say. “You’ve made your point. And who are you to punch me when you did the same thing to Siren?”
Zeke looks to Siren. “He has a point.”
“It’s still doesn’t make it okay,” Siren says.
“Come on, let’s go to sleep. We can try to talk some sense into him in the morning,” Zeke says, walking back to the door.
Siren nods but stops before going back inside. She looks at me with concern.
“Be careful with Liesel, she’s dangerous.”
I chuckle. “Liesel is no you, Siren. She’s a terrible shot. She’s never killed a man. All she knows how to do is hunt and lie. I think I can handle her just fine.”
I rush past her to go sleep off my hangover in one of their guest bedrooms.
“That’s not what I mean. She has the ability to hurt you in other ways.”
“How?”
“Like stealing your heart,” Siren smirks and then leaves me all alone.
Siren is wrong, but she is right about one thing—Liesel is dangerous.
27
Liesel
When I wake up this time, I already know where I am, and that I’m tied up.
Joel and Amelia are predictable in that way.
This time instead of just my arms, they’ve tied my legs together too. Thankfully they’ve tied them together instead of spread apart. I can hope that means that they don’t plan on violating me.
I wiggle my wrists, testing my bindings.
“Don’t even think about it,” Amelia says from the corner of Langston’s bedroom.
She stands from the chair she must have brought up and looks down at me with a bored expression. “We tied them with extra rope, and I’m under specific instruction to shoot you again if you move.”
Again?
I shift my shoulder slightly, and I feel the burning pang of the bullet lodged in my scapula. I don’t let her know how much pain I’m in, though. I’m too stubborn to show any weakness to this woman.
“Under whose instruction?” I ask.
“Langston’s. I called him and told him you were trying to run. He told me to do whatever it takes to hold you until he returned.”
“When is he returning?” I ask.
“He didn’t say. But you and I are going to enjoy our time together until he does.”
I try to relax. I try to fall back asleep. There is nothing I can do right now but wait until Langston comes back, or at least until Amelia makes a mistake and gives me a chance to escape. All I can do is live with the pain in my shoulder.
There is a knock on the door. My eyes fill with hope for a split second that Langston has returned. I know the bastard wants me dead, but not yet—not for an entire year. Not until he’s bled me dry of my secrets. This bitch, Amelia, will kill me without thinking twice about it.
Langston wouldn’t knock, though. My hope quickly floats away.