Deadly Ends (Book #4)

Chapter Nineteen

Days had passed since I was forced to watch Louis be fed on.

I had no idea if he were still alive and I had been living on pins and needles ever since, unable to shake the feeling that something was no longer right.

And yet I still held hope that something could be right, despite these terrible and soul-crushing events.

They knew they had this incredible hold over me which they wanted and they would play it until it worked no more.

I am absolutely sure of it.

I awoke later in the evening, still in Jakub's bed, but I saw Saskia sitting in a chair, watching over me, which I had unfortunately grown used to.

I sat up "Am I needed for anything?"

My voice held no tone, just straightforward. If anything it showed that my spirit was indeed breaking, if not fully broken already.

She shook her head "You are not mine for the evening" she approached me, running her hand over one of the bite marks on my chest "Jakub really has done quite the number on you"

"Why are you all insisting on being so cruel to me?" I asked.

She sat down at the edge of the bed "You are only a victim when you believe you are one"

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

She unlocked the cuffs, allowing me to move my arms "I noticed the way you and Louis were looking at one another and I am willing to bargain with you, which you should accept, because given anyone else, I would just kill them to end this nonsense"

"There is nothing you can offer me" I spat, not ready to be played with again.

"Everyone has their price, Cordelia and I am willing to offer you the chance to keep that animal alive"

"His name is Louis" I said, hating how everyone here referred to him as an animal, as though there was nothing human about him.

She tolled her eyes, ignoring my response "But only if you willingly stay here and I will even allow Louis to live here as well, but only as a guard dog" she looked at me "Of course, you could never be intimate with Louis, because you have been promised to Jakub and he does not like to share what is his"

Saskia was well aware of the power she held over me, regarding those that I so desperately wanted to protect. She had found a major weak spot in me and was hitting me with that reality, hard.

I needed to assure that at least one person would make it out of here alive and that did not mean they had to stay alive here.

"You will no longer have to force me to live here, but only if you let him live in general, by allowing him and the others to leave this castle" I said, knowing it was dangerous to try and negotiate, especially with more than one person.

She scoffed "I will only allow him to leave, otherwise I will have little control over you" she stood, walking to the door "He is being held outside this door, by Lukas" she placed her hand on the door handle "If you wish him to leave than he shall leave"

"So that is it then?" I asked, sounding more happy about the situation than she wanted.

She nodded "I will allow the animal to leave and you may say your goodbyes now"

I watched her leave the room and Louis was harshly thrown into it, making me jump out of the bed and run to his side, as the door was slammed shut once again.