Page 4 of Twisted Fate

I swallow the lump in my throat, blinking back hot tears. “What the hell do you expect?” Each word is laced with a combination of fear and anger, making my tone sharp and lower than normal.

He ignores what I said and inhales as he did at the party, grinning in a twisted way that turns my stomach. “Your fear...it’s delicious.”

My lip curls in disgust. “Excuse me?”

“I’m hungry.” He sighs. “There’s never much to eat around here. Nothing I’m allowed to, anyway.”

“I suggest a McDonald’s drive thru,” I remark, bitterness heavy in my tone.

He laughs. “You’re funny, too. Good to know.” He reaches out and grasps my chin in his gloved hand.

Panic floods through me, and I react without thinking, kneeing him in the stomach.

He reels back a step, growling, and his eyes darken. “You stupid girl.”

“I like my personal space,” I say in a defensive tone.

Without a word, his hand shoots forward, and his fingers wrap around my throat. “Forgive me,” he mutters with fake sincerity. “I tend to get a bit irritable”—he pauses and tightens his grip on my neck—“when I’m hungry.”

Black dots dance across my vision, my heart slamming against my chest as I struggle to breathe. My eyes roll back, but Max scoffs and releases his grip on my throat before I pass out. When I cough and wheeze, he takes a step back, his face contorted with disgust. I suck in a breath, greedily filling my lungs with air as he removes the chains from my wrists.

“Please,” I force out as the chains hit the floor. “I want to go home.” I fold my arms over my chest, staring at the wall to avoid looking at my captor.

“What? No ‘thank you’?” he bites back. Max throws the gloves off and places a hand on my collarbone, backing me against the wall before shoving his leg between my thighs.

I scream at the top of my lungs, aiming my knee a little lower this time to catch him hard in the groin. When he doubles over, clutching himself, I bolt for the door.

The hallway beyond the door is longer than I thought. I make it to the end, my flat shoes slapping against the marble floor as I run, too afraid to look behind me. As I round the corner, I’m grabbed from behind by impossibly strong arms and thrown against the wall. My head throbs, and I reach up and touch my forehead with a shaky hand. I’m unsurprised to find blood when I pull it away. A trail of warmth trickles down my face, dripping blood onto the floor at my feet.

“I’ve decided that I don’t like you,” Max hisses in my ear, and I shudder. “I did a nice thing for you, taking the chains off, and this is how you thank me?” He barks out a laugh and grabs my face, forcing me to look at him. “Your fear...” He slams me back into the wall again, and I cry out. “It’s stronger now. Lucky me.” He grins, but all I can focus on is the darkness in his eyes as he leans in.

“Seriously?” A sharp, female voice says. “You can’t follow the simplest directions, can you?”

Max scowls, turning his face to look at the tall Asian woman approaching us with brows raised. She stops off to the side, radiating elegance in a dark purple dress. The woman is wearing heels, but I didn’t hear her approach. Her black hair falls almost to her waist.

“Back off, Sky, this has nothing to do with you.”

She rolls her eyes, sparing me a brief glance. “I’m looking out foryou, asshat.”

Max pulls his hand away from my face, shifting his body away from mine to face the woman. “What would you have me do? Let her go?”

“That’s not your call,” she says.

I flick my eyes back and forth between them, and then I bolt again. I have no idea where I am or where I’m going, but when an elevator comes into view, I sprint toward it, slamming my fist against the button.

“You’re going to let her get away?” Max hollers, making the panic in my chest dig its claws deeper.

“Let her try.” The woman seems uninterested whether I escape or not.

The elevator slides open, and I throw myself forward—right into a solid wall of muscle. The force knocks the air out of my lungs, but I still open my mouth to scream. I reel back as my eyes snap upward to meet a pair of brilliant lapis lazuli irises.They’re like the darkest parts of the ocean woven with lighter, softer hues, and surrounded by dark, thick lashes.

Max grabs me again, pulling me away from the new arrival as he steps off the elevator.

“Max,” Blue Eyes says in a calm, measured voice. “Remove your hands from the girl. Now.”

My kidnapper hesitates, growling low in his throat before he lets go. My face stings like a bitch where blood continues to trickle from the gash on my forehead. I touch it again and wince at the sharp pain that follows.

The stranger in front of me is tall—at least a foot taller than I am—and built. I think he’s a bit older than me, considering the expensive-looking dark gray suit he’s wearing.

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