Confined (A Tethered Novel, Book 3) (26 page)

I’d lost track of any sense of time long ago. I knew when
I’d been taken it had been midmorning. I also knew that the one time I’d attempted
to escape it had been nightfall. I knew I’d been offered twenty-six meals since
I’d been shoved back into this hellhole. I’d tallied each up in the dirt
beneath my cot, using the end of whatever silverware I was given to eat with
each time.

If my math was correct, I’d been confined to this room from
anywhere between eight to thirteen days, depending on how many meals they were
choosing to feed me per day—two or three.

I’d been given a large bucket and a roll of toilet paper to
use as my bathroom, and a jug of warm water along with a washcloth twice to
clean myself up.

Disgusting did not even justify how grimy I felt.

The only person I ever came in contact with was Admer. My
guess was he didn’t trust Kace anymore with the tasks involving me since his mishap
when I’d nearly escaped. Because of this, I was unable to use my Fire to free
myself.

I lay across the sickening cot I’d been sleeping on for what
seemed like forever and stared up at the ceiling, wondering for the millionth
time if anyone was searching for me. Surely someone had to have reported me
missing by now, whether it was my mother when I didn’t answer her phone calls
or Callie when I didn’t come home for a few days.

Or was Callie in on it?

I pictured her sweet demeanor and charismatic personality.
No. There was no way she was in on whatever crazy plan Admer and Kace had
created together.

Sighing, I draped my arm over my forehead, allowing it to
block my eyes from the harshness of the exposed lightbulb hanging overhead. I
never turned it off. There was something horrible about the thought of being
locked in a room in solid darkness. My days and nights might be mixed up, but
that didn’t mean I couldn’t sleep. After all, there wasn’t anything better to
do.

Footsteps sounded down the termite-ridden stairs, and my
body stiffened. A low growl escaped my stomach, and I cursed my body for caving
so easily yet again.

Try as I might to not eat and be a
stubborn guest
, as
Admer had called it, I could never hold out for long. How people survived
without eating for days at a time while they were trapped somewhere, or worse,
how they starved themselves by choice, was beyond me. I couldn’t be sure how
many hours I’d made it in my rebellion against eating, but I was positive it
couldn’t have been for too long.

The metal door caging me in swung open on its rusty hinges
and in stepped Admer. He held the same Styrofoam sectioned-off plate in front
of him as always. It made me feel as if I were a toddler to eat off that thing,
but at this point, I had bigger issues.

A glimpse of Kace caught my attention. I watched him as he
pushed open the door farther for Admer. His icy eyes grazed over me for the
briefest of moments, and I got the impression the pointed glance in my
direction was merely to see I was still alive and all right, for the most part,
because then he dropped his gaze back to the dirt-covered ground of my room as
he closed the door behind Admer.

“Well, hello there, sunshine,” Admer beamed as he walked
over to where I lay and held out the Styrofoam plate.

I didn’t answer him, nor did I take the plate from him. Same
as always, I ignored the fact he’d entered the room.

Admer moved to sit on the cot beside me. It moaned and bent
under his added weight. He held the plate in front of my face. Warm roasted
turkey met with my nose and made my mouth water instantly. The sight of creamy
mashed potatoes smothered in just the right amount of gravy, and a large,
steaming wheat roll screamed out to my stomach.

Usually I was given a sandwich of some sort, a bottle of water,
and a little bag of chips for my second meal. Why was this one so extravagant?
Had we finally reached whatever timeframe Admer had been waiting on?

That couldn’t be a good thing. A slight shiver ran along my
spine and made my mind prickle with panic.

A loud rumble twisted through my stomach, betraying me yet
again. Admer chuckled under his breath and moved the plate of food around in
front of me, as though attempting to tease me with what he held.

I knew I needed to eat, regardless if this was my last meal
or not. I’d reached the point of hunger where you either chose to eat something
or dry heaved. I hated that feeling.

Memories from when I was little and would attempt to skip a
meal because I was having too much fun playing trickled through my mind. I
remembered my mom rubbing my back once when I was nine and holding out an
oversized pretzel while telling me with a large smirk that the world wouldn’t
end if I took a moment to stop and eat every once in a while.

“Hungry?” Admer asked. He continued to move the plate from
side to side, enticing me further to take it from his hand.

My jaw tightened as my stomach made a gurgling noise once
more. It echoed through the small room, bouncing off the filthy concrete walls
and meeting with our ears. I took the plate and felt the warmth of the food
through it against my hand. The sweet smell of the roll wafted to my nose in
the transaction, and my mouth pooled with saliva.

“Care for a glass of wine?” he asked.

I froze. Wine? Glancing at his other hand, I noticed there
was actually a large goblet of red wine resting between his fingers. How had I
missed that, and why was he offering it to me? A sinking feeling slithered
through me. The glass was added confirmation that this was indeed my last meal.
I swallowed hard and licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry.

“Don’t look so afraid; this is a
celebratory
meal,”
Admer said.

My heart picked up pace, and my fingers tightened around the
plate of food.

“What are we celebrating?” I asked, my voice sounding
shrill.

“The Dark Moon,” he answered, his eyes lighting with
excitement. “The night I’ve been waiting for since the initiation—the entire
reason I wanted you to
become
initiated—it’s finally upon us.”

Awesome. So everything
had
finally come to a point.
Hence the Thanksgiving dinner I held in my hands.

Admer set the glass of wine down on the floor at my feet and
stood.

“Enjoy your meal.” He smiled. “I’ll be back for you just
before midnight.”

I didn’t speak as I watched him walk to the metal door and
knock in a rhythm four times. This was something he did each time he brought me
a meal or came to check on me. The only difference was that each rhythm he used
was different from the last. I wondered if this was something they coordinated
before bringing me my food each time. The thought made me chuckle, which turned
into a full-fledged laugh as the metal door swung closed with a bang.

I had definitely cracked.

Containing myself, I listened to the footsteps as they made
their way back up the rickety stairs leading to the first floor. I balanced the
plate of food on my thighs and reached for the warm roll first. It was soft and
squishy. Steam wafted in my face as I carefully tore it in two.

If this was my last meal, then I was going to savor every
freaking bite.

I’d nearly finished my mashed potatoes and gravy when
footsteps quickly descending the stairs caught my attention. Gripping the fork
in a tight fist, I waited for whoever it was to come barreling through the
door, positive it couldn’t be midnight already, could it? The metal door
creaked open and in walked the last person I’d expected to see—Kace.

His eyebrows were drawn together in a look of pure
concentration. I watched him as he quickly closed the door and turned to look
directly at me. His hand came up to smooth his wrinkled forehead.

“You need to get out of here,” he said softly. “I’m so sorry
for my part in all of this. You have to understand where I was coming from.
He’d promised me magick and power, and I was foolish enough to believe he could
give me those things without any consequences.”

My knuckles had turned white; I’d been holding the fork in
my fist so tightly. I relaxed some and let my hand fall to my lap, but never
let the fork go. I took in Kace’s frantic behavior and wondered what type of
game the two of them were playing with me now.

Adrenaline burned through my veins, making my body tingle
and my mind sharpen. If Kace was the only one here and Admer wasn’t waiting
outside the door somewhere, then I might be able to free myself. The old plan
I’d attempted to use during my last escape flooded my mind. I needed to get him
talking—to distract him a little more—and then I could make my move.

“And what, now you’re going to help me get out of here?” I
asked. I gripped my fork tighter, realizing this time I had a physical weapon
as well as my fire.

Death by fork, it might be doable.

Kace ran a hand through his hair and paced the room in front
of me. “Look, I know your trust in me is at minus zero right now, but you
really don’t have any other option, do you?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “No, not really.”

Didn’t mean I’d willingly give it to him though.

“Admer finally confided in me what he’s planning to do with
you—his reason for keeping you here. He has some ancient Hoodoo book unlike
anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s some serious dark magick stuff.”

Shifting legs, I set the plate of food on the floor beside
the untouched goblet of wine in front of me, no longer hungry.

“Dark magick?” I asked.

“He’s going to use some type of a harvesting spell on you.
He’s been gathering ingredients for it for about a week now. I’ve watched him,
but had no clue what he was planning to do until this morning when he finally
told me.” He paused in his pacing and let out a long, rigid breath. “We can’t
let him go through with this spell, Addison. You have to help me figure out a
way to stop him.”

I laughed. I wasn’t sure why I found this conversation
funny. Maybe it was because Kace had been the one to help put me here in the
first place, and now here he was practically begging for my help to free myself
and stop my captor.

Yeah, that was probably it.

“Why are you laughing?” he asked. His voice was harsh, as
though he were scolding a child for laughing at something inappropriate. “This
isn’t funny! He’s going to
kill you
during this harvesting spell!”

My laughter ceased then.

I’d known all along what the potential outcome of this whole
ordeal could be for me, but to hear someone actually say the words aloud was
crippling. My breath burst from my lungs in a pace far too fast for someone
sitting still. A chill ran along my spine as I replayed those two words over in
my mind—
kill you
.

“I need to get you out of here somehow. I can’t—I can’t let
him do that to you,” Kace uttered in a frantic voice. He resumed his pacing,
and I dropped my eyes to the dirt floor. “He never mentioned anything about
killing you. I swear, if he had, then I wouldn’t have helped him. All he said
was that he needed a little of your blood and some of your magick for
something.”

Silence crafted a void between us while I continued to take
in the severity of the situation, and Kace continued to pace.

“Where is he now?” I asked, breaking the quiet between us,
unsure of how I was able to find my voice and speak at all.

“In the attic,” Kace said, pausing in his pacing to look at
me. “Going over everything and making sure he’s left nothing out.”

I stood, my knees trembling beneath my weight. “Help me
escape now, then. Let’s go.”

If there was ever a time, now was it. Kace held out his
hands to stop me and shook his head. My heart dropped to my toes, and I
tightened my grip on the fork I still held.

His true colors were about to come shining through. He’d
been playing with me all along, and I’d fallen for it again. Damn it.