He doesn’t go back up to the penthouse. Instead, he presses a button for the lower ground floor, and a lump forms in my throat.
Where the hell is he taking me?
The silver doors open again, and a cool draft blows at my hot skin as he carries me down a dingy hallway.
My heart thumps in my ears as I shut my eyes, thinking of my happy place.
Queen of the frogs. That’s who I am.
I hear the sound of a bolted door, and then Killian steps into a new room. The putrid smell of bleach pricks my nose, but I don’t dare open my eyes.
“It’s okay. Buttercup. You can open your eyes.”
I do as he says, peering around a small cell. There’s a bare bed with a horsehair blanket and one tattered pillow. Don’t forget a sink and a cold metal toilet too.
I blink away tears.
I guess this is my punishment.
I should have just stayed where I was. At least I had a nice bed. A nest.
Killian places me onto my feet, offering me a reproachful look, and despite how fucking depressed I am, I meet his eyes.
They warm slightly when they spy my tears, and he sighs, leaning against the wall.
“It’s just for one night, Buttercup. You will return to your room tomorrow.”
I give him some snark. “Well, that’s a relief.”
Silence stretches between us, the only sound a noisy vent in the corner.
Kilian pinches the skin between his brows. “I did warn you that there would be consequences if you disobeyed me, Buttercup.”
I smirk. “Yeah? So when are you going to kill me then?”
The temperature drops, and I stagger away when I meet his eyes. Ice penetrates my skin, and I wish I had just held my fucking tongue.
It’s hard not to be a sarcastic bitch around this one. He was just asking for it, but damn. That look.
He could kill me with just a glare alone.
What the hell happened to him to get him like this? He’s a complete monster.
He stalks closer, and I back to the wall. The avenging angel that is Killian Whitefang towers over me, and there’s no way I could go up against this alpha.
He’s a freaking psychopath.
“Don’t tempt me, Buttercup...”
My chest heaves as I don’t look away from his frosted blue eyes. His pupils have narrowed, and now those thin pinpricks zero in on me.
Holy shit.
The eyes of a killer.
I flinch when he reaches his hand out, wrapping his fingers ever so gently around my neck. Then he tips my head back, leaning closer, and his lips brush mine.
“Don’t ever try to run away from me again. Do I make myself clear?”