Page 12 of Flawed Fate
I sit back down. The sky outside the window is starting to fade to a pale gray. Morning is coming. I doubt dawn will bring any answers to the questions that keep piling up.
She volunteered. Why the hell would she volunteer for something like this?
That question follows me into the morning, and it doesn’t let go.
6
IRIS
It’sthe voices that wake me up. Low, hushed, right outside the door. Two of them.
One I recognize. The deep one, the one that belongs to the guy who’s been sitting in that chair all night watching me. Declan, right? There’s still so much confusion and fogginess from earlier, back at the house, but his name is clear in my memory.
The other is similar but doesn’t have the same resonance that feels like a drum being struck in my chest. They’re arguing, but trying not to be loud about it.
“—been sitting there for hours, Dec. You need to sleep.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. You look like hell. Let me take over.”
“I said I’m fine, Cole.”
“And I’m saying you’re not, and I’m not asking.”
Silence. Then a sound that might be a sigh or could be a growl. It’s hard to tell with these people.
I don’t know why, but it seems important to keep my eyes closed while they fight it out. Something about the idea of Declan leaving makes my chest tighten in a way that doesn’t make sense. He kidnapped me. He tied me to a bed. I should want himgone, right? I should be relieved at the thought of someone else taking over. Someone whose presence doesn’t make my skin feel like it’s humming.
But I’m not relieved. I’m the opposite, and I hate that I can’t explain why.
The door opens. Heavy footsteps pause near the bed. I can feel him looking at me. I keep my breathing slow and even, and I don’t open my eyes, and after a moment he moves away. The door clicks shut.
He’s gone.
The tightness in my chest gets worse instead of better. I open my eyes and look around, then go stiff when I find the other one in the chair now. I remember him from last night, sort of. He’s not Zeke—I don’t think Zeke would just sit there, looking curious instead of hateful. But he has the same dark hair and green eyes. Are they all brothers?
“Morning,” he murmurs, and he doesn’t sound unkind.
I don’t answer. I push myself up as far as the rope will let me and lean against the headboard. My body feels better than last night—still heavy and sore, but the fog in my head has mostly cleared. The infusion is working its way out of my system the way it always does, leaving behind that bone-deep ache and a tiredness that no amount of sleep will fix.
“I’m Cole,” he explains. “Are you hungry?”
My empty stomach twists when I think about food. When was the last time I ate? Before the infusion, which means yesterday afternoon. No wonder.
He must see it on my face because he leaves and comes back a few minutes later with a plate. Toast, scrambled eggs, a glass of water. Simple. He sets it on the nightstand and unties my wrist so I can eat.
Which I do, shoveling it in and barely taking the time to breathe between bites. The eggs are better than I’d expect froma house full of guys, which is a dumb thing to think right now, but my brain is latching onto stupid details because the big details are too much. I’m eating breakfast made by one of my kidnappers. Yeah, it’s easier to think about how tasty it is.
Cole watches me eat, but not in a creepy way. It’s more of him trying to figure out what to say. After I finish and put the plate down, he leans forward, elbows on his knees. “The guy from last night,” he says. “The one who wanted to tie you up. Zeke.”
My muscles tense, including the way my heart seizes.
“He’s our brother. Mine and Declan’s.” Cole’s voice is careful, like he’s picking his way through a minefield and doesn’t want to take the wrong step. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s just... his mate went through a lot. At one of your father’s facilities. When we found her, she was in bad shape. So when he looks at you and sees Dr. Moore’s daughter, he sees what happened to her.”
I can only stare at him because he’s got the wrong information. “My father would never treat anyone like that.”
“I’m telling you what we saw.”
