Chapter 19: Chapter Nineteen

What felt like years later but was only hours later in reality, Saffron’s cell door was opened, and her last visitor stepped in with a scowl on his face.

Ignoring him and his ominous presence after his last parting words, Saffron stared up ahead at the cracked ceiling, resuming her count of the yellowed and damp parts.

“Aren’t you going to beg me to help you escape again?” he asked, his lazy lyrical voice cutting into her line of thoughts.

It was an odd tone for a guy because usually it was a tone of voice that was most often attributed to women. But the oddest thing here was that it didn’t sound odd at all, coming from him.

It was like he didn’t have the energy to even make his voice sound remotely male.

It was refreshing to meet someone who didn’t fit the status quo, even though the said someone was a massive asshole.

“What’s the point?” she responded as she rolled her eyes, not turning her head to look at him. “It’s not like you would feel inclined to help me, seeing as you left me high and dry however long ago that was.”

When he didn’t respond but kept his gaze on her, Saffron turned in the tiny dirty cot to look up at him with an exasperated expression on her face.

She had not meant to turn to look at him, neither had she meant to interact with him in any way because like she had said, there was no point in talking to him.

He had made his stance clear hours ago about not wanting to help her, even if he hadn’t said a lot.

But, the weight of his gaze upon her had made her turn her head towards him, even when she hadn’t wanted to.

The voice had once again resorted to being quiet, and there was only so much quiet that she could take before she officially declared herself crazy.

“Or are you here to offer me a way out?” she queried, her eyes hopeful, even though she tried to stamp down that expression.

There was no hope to be found in this new hovel she had found herself in. Hoping for someone to save her would only cause her inevitable heartache and pain.

But she couldn’t stop the yearning for a savior to blossom in her heart or to shine within her light brown eyes.

“There is no hope to be found here, Saffron,” he responded after a beat, echoing her thoughts, his voice now taking a hard edge, none of that lazy lyrical tone to be heard.

Saffron didn’t know how he knew her name when she had no idea who he was. But seeing as he was one with her captors, she had to think that the other two had at least talked about her in his presence or made mention of her.

So, if she had to take a guess, then this guy here would know the reason why she wasn’t dead yet and was only kept in captivity.

All she had to do was utilize every weapon she had at her disposal—which wasn’t much—to try and get him to turn against them and aid her in her escape.

It should be easy, no?

After all, she was a woman.

And whoever this guy was, he couldn’t be so into whatever mission this is that they had to not succumb to some little old seduction, right?

Her lips began to tilt up into a smile, but she was quick to turn it down into a pathetic and confused expression, adjusting herself into a sitting position.

“Please, help me get out of here. I don’t know why I’m here, or what’s going on,” she pleaded, her eyes rounding up, as tears began to gush out in earnest. “I don’t know what they think I heard, or saw, but I am telling you, you have the wrong person.”

He pursed his lips as he perused her, his eyes lingering on the bit of skin that was showing on her thighs now that her dress had ridden up.

“Get up!” he snarled, grabbing her by the upper arm harshly.

She whimpered as she followed him up, climbing down from the cot. “Please, why are you doing this to me? I told you, you have the wrong person. I am not who you think I am.”

He let her go as he fumbled with the keys to get the door open, muttering under his breath.

Saffron had no idea what he was saying because he was talking in a language that sounded like Italian, but from the tenseness in his shoulders and the softening in his eyes before he had turned his back on her, she could say that her tears were starting to get to him.

‘Huh,’ she sighed inwardly. ‘This is surprisingly easy. There is no need to bring out the big guns. No seduction needed. What a relief!’

As if he heard her internal musings, he turned and pushed her past the open door and into the damp corridor outside.

“Do not try to escape,” he warned in a hard voice when he let her arm go. “Alaric is looking for a reason to take you down to his torture chamber.”

‘Torture chamber?’

Were these guys for real?

Saffron swallowed hard but didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to tell him that she wasn’t stupid enough to try another escape attempt so soon after her last failed attempt.

She took notice of the empty cells as they passed the narrow corridor and stepped into an open space, which had stairs leading up, and another leading into a level down below.

She glanced back as they bypassed both stairs, wondering if it led down to the torture chambers her companion had made mention of.

Shivering slightly, she turned her head, just as they stepped into a doorway that led into an old bathroom.

“Take a shower if you want,” he uttered in an expressionless voice, gesturing at the shower stall. “Or not. This would be the only time you would get to shower, so choose wisely.”

She turned around to face him, wrapping her arms around herself, acting all terrified, as she gazed up at him. “Are you going to kill me?”

His gaze met hers, and for a moment, she could have sworn that she saw regret shining in his eyes, but the expression was gone as his eyes shifted away, leaving her to think that she had conjured it all up. “No.”

Not yet.

The words hung between them unsaid.

“Hurry up with the shower, Saffron. It hasn’t been technically approved.”

She drew in a breath as she looked around the bathroom. She knew that she couldn’t possibly escape right now because she had no idea what was waiting for her up there.

There was no provision for making rash decisions. And if her companion’s words were to be taken seriously, then she knew that she had to bid her time.

One wrong move, and she could find herself at the mercy of Alaric Vaughn, and it was a fate she would like to not be subjected to in her entire life ever again.

Without a word, she took the first step into the exposed shower stall before turning to stare at him with a frown.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch me take a shower?” she squeaked, injecting shyness and the feeling of being horrified by the idea into her voice.

Not that she minded, much. The first thing she had learned on her first day on the island was to not be bothered by nudity.

And it seemed like it had finally gotten to her because she wasn’t at all bothered by the thought of him watching her shower.

She could use her shower as a plan, to use her naked body against him and chip away at his defenses.

“Yes.”

One word, and that was enough.

He folded his arms against his chest, and leaned against the wall, gesturing at the stall. “Now hurry up, we don’t have all day.”

Acting shy and humiliated, she stripped out of her dirty dress and stepped into the stall, turning the shower knob on and squealing when she got hit by the jet of cold water.

She showered quickly as her body adjusted to the temperature, scrubbing it with the hard bar of soap she found there.

Minutes later, she heard him yell at her to hurry up.

“Now what?” she asked when she switched off the water, standing before him, naked and wet, wondering what she was going to wear or if he was planning on making her go back to her cell naked.

“Wear those,” he pointed vaguely at a spot in the bathroom. And it was then that she noticed the pile of clean clothes that he or someone had left there.