Lost Heart √

Twelve

Skylar's POV

"What?"

Blake regarded me with a rather amused look. If I wasn't left so stunned at that moment, I might've leaned forward just to stick that piece of duct tape back over his mouth. "Assuming he's still your boyfriend?"

I swallowed and merely stared back at him. Caden, I thought.

"Caden," I whispered. I wasn't sure what else to say. I was still having a hard time convincing myself that this wasn't a nightmare. This was real. As real as my life could get sometimes.

"Funny. I was expecting some tears." He sounded as dry as someone could sound with their hands and feet tied securely to an old rotting chair.

I blinked and looked up at Blake, yet it still didn't make any sense. All of it. Seeing Blake here. Ending up between Caden's gang. Caden's gang. I hadn't even known there were fucking headquarters here. Could it be that Blake was trying to lie his way through my head?

No, I thought. He didn't look like he had anything to lose. Except for his life maybe.

All this time I'd thought Blake was on the run. Stalking me. Sending me threats. Caden, I remembered, had been fairly keen on reassuring me that it couldn't be Blake. Because Blake was here. Tied to a chair. Kidnapped.

Oh fuck.

"Why would he do that?" I finally found my voice.

Blake's eyes seemed pale even under the darkness, assessing me and everything around him. I didn't bother telling him that there was a fat zero chance he'd be able to get past those ropes. They looked plenty awful.

"How would I know?"

"He wouldn't have kept you here--"

"Against my will.'

"--without...without any reason." I finished and my gaze snapped behind him when I heard footsteps. They, however, faded equally fast. If Blake noticed them, he didn't bother saying anything about it.

"Ah, yes. Reasons." I think he rolled his eyes. "Reasons. Why don't you ask my dear old brother?"

That caused me to laugh, however weak it was. "What makes you think he'd tell me?" God, I thought. Why? Why couldn't there be a little bit of honesty between us? Between Caden and I? And why did I always have to find it this way? From Blake?

Blake scrunched up his nose in a sympathetic gesture, which clearly didn't work since he smirked.

"Well. Reasons, as you said." He pointed out.

I hated this. I hated that my head was pounding and I hated the way my heart had started racing so painfully. And I hated, hated this creepy dark cellar. I hated that I wasn't at home. I was starting to hate everything and especially Blake.

He was the one here tied to a chair yet he still looked like he had all the bleeding control over the world.

"Yes." I managed a nod, and as an underlying warning, I added, "Don't mess with me."

"Why in the world would I do that, Sky?" He was still smiling, that freak. "We're both equally trapped in here, aren't we?"

No, I wanted to say. But what did I know? Every time I thought I knew something, life knocked me on my ass and proved me wrong.

Perhaps it was that realisation that made me start freaking out a bit. Bristling, I pressed my back against the concrete wall behind me.

"I don't think he lied...why would he lie to me?" My voice came out strained and when I dragged my fingers through my hair, I realised they were shaking a little. Nerves. Fear. "I really believed him when he said he wasn't lying to me."