Dark Wish (House of Sin 1)

When I don’t respond, he smiles at me and snaps his fingers. Out of nowhere, the servers come in with trays of food. And it’s at that moment that I realize …

Mary normally always brings food to my room around this time of day.

My eyes briskly flash from the clock to him. “What are you doing?”

“Having breakfast,” he replies.

Plates are pushed in front of me while my hands begin to shake violently.

Breakfast.

That same breakfast we already shared this week.

My lips quiver. “But it’s not my turn.”

His eyes narrow. “Not your turn?”

He eyes me while my hand hovers over the fork and knife near my plate. For a second there, I contemplate actually picking them up and throwing them at him.

Because all of this … feels like I just ran straight into a trap.

“Why do you think you’re here?” he says.

“I only eat with you at this table once a week,” I mutter, staring blankly at him.

Whose turn is it? And why aren’t they here?

“And now you eat with me twice a week,” he replies, grabbing a piece of bread. “Rules change.”

“No, they don’t,” I retort. “Not with you.”

Right before he shoves the bread into his mouth, he pauses. “What do you really want to ask me? Spill it.”

I hold my breath, my heart pounding so hard it feels as though it’s about to explode from my chest. There is only one thing that changed. One person who could possibly cause him to suddenly deviate from his regular schedule.

Anna.

“Where is Anna? What did you do with her?” I ask, grinding my teeth as my body begins to shudder. “Why isn’t she here?”

He takes a big bite from his bread and swallows it down before answering. “You don’t have to worry about her.”

My eyes widen.

She didn’t talk to me for days, and I thought it was because of something I said. But maybe she’s been gone all this time.

Nausea overtakes me, and I scoot back my chair as far away from the food as possible.

What if they punished her for trying to escape with me?

For trying to kill herself?

Eli gazes at me as though he’s waiting for my response, but there isn’t any.

None of this is right.

This is all a test.

My pupils dilate as the realization of this simple truth hits me. It’s as if all the blood leaves my face.

What if they hurt her?

What if she’s dead?

My hand covers my mouth to stop the squeal from spilling out.

It’s my fault. I made her run.

And as I get up, Eli doesn’t take his eyes off me. Not even as I stumble away from the table toward the door. Not even when his guards block my way, their arms folded, stance menacing.

Eli raises two fingers into the air and snaps them.

“Let her go,” he says, his voice guttural … almost like that of an animal. “I’ll catch her soon enough.”

Chapter 27

Eli

When she gets up and flees the room, I let her go.

She’ll be allowed to dwell on her thoughts. But not for long.

I intend to follow suit, the beast inside me getting hungrier by the second. I admit, I enjoy the hunt more than I should, but it’s a weakness of mine. So I take one more bite, pat down my mouth with a napkin, and get up to pursue her. My guards immediately step aside for me. They know not to meddle in my affairs, even if I break the rules. I can change them how I see fit.

As I leave the dining room, Amelia has already rushed to the top of the stairs. She pauses near the banister to take a peek over her shoulder. When our eyes lock, it’s as if the world ceases to exist, and all that’s left is her and me.

“You can run, Amelia …” I say as I slowly go up the stairs while she storms toward her room. “But I will always win.”

With a devious smile on my face, I fish the key to her room from my pocket and swirl it around my finger until I get to her door. When I open it, she’s in the corner, busy with something behind a curtain.

As I close the door behind me, she jolts up in shock and backs away against whatever she was doing there. I wonder what else she hasn’t told me. Because I sure do wonder how she ever managed to escape and take Anna with her.

She grows rigid as I approach, her body tense while she leans against the table. But her eyes are skittish, searching for something, anything. I warn her with a deadly look, and our eyes connect in fury. The flames can almost be felt from across the room.

In a split second, she rushes at me and tries to slap me, but I quickly grasp her wrist just before her palm hits my skin. I’m far stronger than she is, and I’ve easily bent her to my will, forcing her hands down. We’re right up in each other’s faces, the look in her eyes so vivid and clear that it excites me. Because she has rarely ever looked at me like that before.