Page 96 of Merciless Prince
Also, while he was dropping off my dinner last night, he informed me that Derrick had been excommunicated from the Hellfire Club. He didn’t say why, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out the reason. Apparently, the secret society sanctioned murder but drew the line at sexual assault.
How noble.
I wasn’t grateful to Killian for beating the shit out of Derrick and blackballing him from the society, and I wasn’t grateful to him for being nice to me now, either, because he still hadn’t given me my freedom. He’d also attempted to bury me alive in snow because his ex-best friend lied about me, along with all the other terrible things he’d done to me.
I wouldn’t forget any of that anytime soon.
The rose-tinted glasses were well and truly off now, and I no longer fantasized about having Killian come to my room to fuck the pain and loneliness away. The only thing I dreamed of now was escape and revenge.
Unfortunately, it would have to remain a fantasy for now. I’d gone over this little room at least fifty times, and there was nothing that could aid me in an escape attempt. No loose floorboards or ceiling panels, no nails sticking out anywhere, no pens to write pleading notes that I could slide under the door.Nothing.
With a sigh, I padded over to the window to look at the massive courtyard below. The Halloween event was over, and the medievalist actors and stall-runners were back to their usual activities. Right now, some of them were demonstrating how stocks and pillories worked to a group of fascinated pre-teens on a school trip.
“Don’t give Killian any ideas,” I murmured in their direction, as if they could actually hear me.
I turned away from the window with another heavy sigh and scanned the room before me. If only I could’ve ended up in another room, with a loose bar on the window or a hole in one of the walls.
The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood on end. “That’s it,” I whispered to myself, limbs tingling with adrenaline.
I needed to get to another room. This one was demonstrably inescapable, but if I could make it somewhere else, it might be possible for me to sneak out.
I just had to figure out a way to convince Killian to move me.
I lay down on the bed, closing my eyes and picturing everything in the current room. An idea slowly began to take shape in my mind. It would take some serious acting, but luckily for me, that was what I did best.
I ran through the plan in my head over and over, refining every last detail. It was risky, but if everything went smoothly, I’d be out of this castle by the end of the night.
Killian was due to arrive in three hours. I knew because he’d mentioned earlier that he’d be back with dinner at six.
All I could do now was wait.
When the clock on the wall said it was ten to six, I jumped up and went into the bathroom. I grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in scalding water before wringing it out to create a warm compress. Then I pressed it over my forehead and went out to lie on the bed.
Two minutes before six, the doorhandle started jiggling as Killian unlocked it on the other side. I quickly threw the hot towel under the bed and closed my eyes, affecting a hangdog expression.
“I hope you’re hungry,” Killian said as he stepped into the room. “I got you some food from that café in Bellingham you like.”
The mouthwateringly-delicious scent of Trattoria Ilaria’s chicken piccata wafted over to me, but I ignored it and let out a tired, anguished grunt. “Killian…” I muttered, eyelids fluttering half-open.
He put the food down and stepped over to me. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I’m sick,” I whispered, listlessly lifting a hand to my chest. “I feel hot, and my throat hurts.”
Killian placed the back of his hand on my forehead. “Shit. You’re burning up.”
I let out a weak, dry cough. “I’m so tired,” I said, letting my eyelids shutter again. “I want to sleep forever.”
“Wait. Stay awake for now,” Killian said, kneeling by the side of the bed. “Tell me what you’re feeling and when it started.”
I rubbed my temple and groaned. “I’ve been feeling weird ever since I was in that snow pit. It wasn’t bad at first, so I thought it would go away, but…” I trailed off and let out a yawn before forcing another fake cough out of my mouth. “It started with a headache, and my throat hurt a bit too. Then it just got worse from there. Now my chest is sore as well.”
Killian’s eyes flickered with concern. “It sounds like a virus.”
“That’s what I thought,” I mumbled, letting my head loll to one side. “Worst flu I’ve ever had.”
“It could be pneumonia,” he said softly. He looked very troubled now.
“Pneumonia?” I said, weakly lifting my head. “You really think so?”
