Page 112 of Mortala
“Well, really, I shouldn’t call her yours because she never should have been with you in the first place.”
There’s something so unsettling about the certainty in his voice. He doesn’t say it like an opinion or like he’s trying to convince himself. It’s almost as if he believes Maddie was never a person who got to make her own decisions and was simply something that belonged to him, and I was just someone who stole what was rightfully his.
He lets out a slow breath, shaking his head slightly before looking back at me.
“She was always supposed to be mine.”
The words settle over me, and for a moment, all I can do is stare at him. This fucking guy actually believes Maddie belongs to him.
My stomach twists when I finally understand how deep this goes. This isn’t some simple obsession or someone who got their heart broken and couldn’t move on. This sick motherfucker has created an entire reality in his own head where Maddie is the center of everything, where every choice she makes is somehow about him, and where anyone who stands between them is an enemy.
He doesn’t love her. You don’t do this kind of fucked up shit to someone you love.
They don’t take away their fucking choices and hurt the people they care about. He’s convinced himself that someone else’s pain is proof of his devotion to her. What he thinks is love, is actually just possession, and what makes it worse is I don’t think he knows the difference.
Austin watches me quietly, his head tilting slightly to the side as he studies my face. His brows pull together, and his eyes widen almost like he’s confused by something he’s seeing.
What the fuck is he looking at?
“Are you going to say anything,” he finally asks, sounding almost irritated, “or are you just going to keep staring at me like that?”
I don’t answer. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. The truth is, there are a thousand things I want to say. I want to tell him exactly what I think of him and remind him that Maddie is not a fuckingthinghe can just take. I want nothing more than to tell him the second I get out of this chair, he’s going to regret every single thing he has done.
But I don’t say any of that, because Austin isn’t looking for a conversation. All he wants is control, and every word I give him, every reaction, ounce of anger, or fear he can pull from me isanother reminder that he still has power over the situation. And I fucking refuse to give him that.
He already took enough from me. He took my freedom and my ability to protect Maddie. And the thought that he has her somewhere right now, alone with him, makes something inside my chest feel like it’s being ripped apart.
I haven’t spoken since he ripped the tape from my mouth earlier. At first, I thought he kept it there because he didn’t want me screaming, but that wasn’t it. He wanted me quiet until he was ready to hear me. He wanted me to understand that he was the one deciding when I got a voice and when I didn’t.
Now that he’s given it back, he’s waiting for me to use it. He wants me to beg and ask him questions, give him some sort of acknowledgment, but I’m not going to.
A scoff leaves his mouth as he walks closer to me, clearly annoyed by my silence.
“Well, you’re no fun.”
He stops in front of me, looking down at me with that same unsettling curiosity he’s had since he walked into this room. Then, slowly, he reaches out and places his hand against my face.
My entire body immediately reacts, the gentleness of his touch making all of this worse. He runs his fingers along my cheek before flicking my nose like this is some kind of joke between friends.
I flinch away from him before I can stop myself, a low growl leaving my throat.
The smallest smile pulls at his lips. “There you are.”
I stare at him with every ounce of hatred I have left inside me. The second I get out of here, he’s going to learn exactly what happens when someone threatens the people I love. But for now, I have to wait.
“Let’s just see if I can get you to squeal,” he says, laughing quietly to himself as he turns away from me. “Maybe then you’ll be a little more fun, huh?”
The casualness of his words sends a chill through me, like he’s not taking any of this seriously. Everything happening right now is just some kind of twisted game to him. He disappears around the corner, and for several seconds, the only thing I hear is the sound of him shuffling around.
Something heavy scraping against the floor, metal clanging together, the sound of objects being moved around with no urgency.
The fact that he’s so calm is what freaks me out the most. Someone who kidnaps another person should be nervous. They should be scared of being caught and have a sort of desperation about them, but Austin isn’t any of those things.
I pull against the zip tie binding my wrists together, ignoring the sharp sting as the plastic digs deeper into my skin. The broken pieces of glass underneath the chair shift with every movement, cutting into me, but I barely register the pain.
Nothing matters except getting back to Maddie.
I force myself to look around the room, searching for anything that could help me. Anything sharp, heavy, or that could give me even the smallest advantage.
