“I understand!”
He tightens his hold a second longer before releasing me again, and I barely give myself time to breathe before I lean forward to slip on the heels. As soon as they’re on my feet, Valentine grabs my upper arm and pulls me up onto my feet.
My knees buckle, and I know if Valentine wasn’t holding onto me, I’d have already crashed to the floor.
“I … I can’t,” I gasp, grabbing onto his arm for further support.
He looks down at me, his brow wrinkling before exhaling deeply.
“They didn’t feed you today, did they?”
“No,” I say, my body trembling as I shake my head.
I hadn’t even realized this, but he’s right. Besides a few mouthfuls of water, I don’t remember the last time I actually ate any real food. I hadn’t even felt hungry, and honestly, I still don’t, but that’s probably because my stomach is so full of anxiety.
If my body wasn’t reacting so poorly to this moment, I probably could have gone another day before I’d even realized … and who knows how I would have felt at that point.
“Hmm, very well,” he says, sounding annoyed. “Can you walk?”
Probably not in these heels, but I don’t say as much as I try to straighten. I barely manage to take one step away before his arm is around my waist to catch me.
“I think it’s just the heels,” I say.
He doesn’t say anything to this as he sets me down on the chair and walks back into his closet.
He returns a few seconds later and holds his black robe out to me.
“Put this on.”
No sooner do I take it and slip it on than I suddenly find myself being lifted out of the chair and into Valentine’s arms. He tucks me against his chest, only pausing briefly to examine himself in the mirror before carrying me out of the room.
We make our way through the halls far quicker with me in his arms. I try to take this chance to learn the layout better, but I soon find I have to close my eyes to keep myself from getting sick.
I guess now that I’ve recognized my hunger, it’s come back with a vengeance. My stomach churns with nausea, which only worsens when I open my eyes to find myself looking out of the glass stairwell over the city as we descend the stairs.
The sun has all but disappeared below the horizon, and lights have begun glittering to life all across the cityscape. If I wasn’t so afraid of heights or feeling so sick to my stomach, I might think the view nothing short of stunning.
As things are though, I can’t bring myself to look a second longer.
Quickly closing them again, I wait until I hear the soft murmur of voices before daring to peek. We’ve once again entered the main lobby which is still full of armed guards who don’t bother to hide their lustful stares.
“Where’s Lucien?” Valentine asks one of the men standing guard by the main doors.
The guard glances down at me before meeting Valentine’s eyes again.
“Sir?”
“Don’t worry about the girl,” Valentine snaps. “Answer the question.”
“I don’t know, sir.”
“Find him, and have him brought below by the time I return.”
“Of course, sir.”
The man nods toward several burly men who immediately move into action before reaching to open the door for Valentine to exit the building. The heat of the day has already begun to dissipate, leaving the air sweet with summer despite the fact we’re in the city.
I glance around as Valentine carries me down the steps toward a long black limo. From outside, the building doesn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. Even looking up at it as a man opens the car door and Valentine bends to place me inside, I swear it doesn’t look nearly as tall as it did from inside.