Chapter 36
Chapter 36
VIVIAN'S POV
Killian refused to tell me anything more and silently walked me to my room. I thought he tried to force a kiss good night on me, but he turned on his heel and stormed off. He was probably angry he couldn't. He had to share so much information with me tonight. Let him be mad.
I lay in bed, trying to sleep, but I couldn't. My mind kept going back to the fact that I was part witch. I kept trying to think if I had ever felt some sort of magic in me but couldn't come up with any memory where an inkling of magic had been felt.
Then I remembered Killian mentioning he was supposed to marry another daughter of my father's. I had a sister. A half-sister but a sister nonetheless. Where was she? What happened to her? Had she really run away to avoid marrying Killian? What did she know that I didn't?
I turned over, squeezing my eyes shut. I needed to get to sleep. He could have told me what to do if Chris had been here.
Chris. I opened my eyes. Maybe I could see him. I slipped out of bed. I hadn't tried to sneak to see him, but perhaps I could lie my way past some guards. They didn't know me. I might as well give it a shot.
I hurried and got dressed, slipping on my shoes. I didn't want to get caught in my night clothes. If someone came across me, I'd say I was out for a night stroll. Learning the place I'd soon call my home. I opened the door, peeking around.
Surprisingly, Killian didn't feel the need to post guards outside my door. I guess he either trusted me or felt that Chris being held hostage was enough of a bargaining chip to keep me in line. I remembered where he was kept, so I headed that way.
I kept my footsteps light, not wanting to wake anyone up or draw attention to myself. I still felt like my footsteps were too loud. When I finally reached where I knew the jail cells were kept, I saw one guard sitting in a chair at the solitary door that led to where I wanted to go.
I walked up confidently like I had every business to be headed here. He straightened up in his chair. "What are you doing here?"
"Killian said I could come visit my friend."
"He said your visits would only be supervised."
I shrugged. "We talked it over tonight, and he changed his mind."
The guard narrowed his eyes. "He didn't tell me that. I can't let you pass."
"Go wake him then and ask him about it. Either way, I'm going to visit my friend."
"No, you're not. You can visit him tomorrow."
This was not going like I wanted it to. I was not a convincing person. I leaned in. "Look. I'm a little out of my comfort zone here. I'm trying to make a home out of this place and want to see my friend. This place is going to be my home. I can't sleep and thought it'd help me sleep."
The guard narrowed his eyes again. "Killian wouldn't like this."
I batted my eyelashes, trying to look innocent. "As your future Luna, don't you want to get on my good side, too?"
The guard seemed to register the thought that, eventually, I'd have some power, too. He began to nod. "Maybe just a few minutes. What kind of trouble can you really get into?"
I smiled. "Exactly."
He turned, unlocking the door that led to the door to cells. "You have ten minutes. Make them count."
I grinned. "Thank you."
I rushed inside and practically ran down the hallway to the cell I knew was Chris's. Chris was huddled on the cot, curled in on himself. "Chris. Chris. Chris!"
Chris jumped, turning around to face me from where he lay. I saw that his face was covered in a thin layer of sweat. "Vivid?"
"Chris? What's wrong with you?"
He stood, stumbling over to the bars, pressing his head against them. "They're so cold. I'm so hot."
"Chris, are you okay?"
I pressed my hand to his cheek through the bars. He was burning up. He was sick. I had just seen him. He'd gotten so ill so quickly. "You look so..."
I cut him off. "You need to see a doctor."
"I'm fine," he snapped.
"You're not fine. You're burning up. I'm going to ask Killian to get a doctor in here to look at you."
He scoffed. "Killian. Killian doesn't give a fuck. He'd probably be relieved if I just dropped dead."
"Chris, it's going to be okay. I'm sure he'll at least let you see a doctor. I'll talk to him, and he'll get someone to see you."
He gripped the bars. "Do you think he gives two fucks about me? Do you suddenly think he's some good guy?"
"What? No. I think I can get him to let you see a doctor. I don't even know Killian."
"Sure sounds like you're implying he's a good guy."
"No. I'm just saying that I'm going to talk to him. Don't assume things, Chris."
He let go of the bars, turning and walking away. "Maybe this is my punishment for going along with this stupid plan of yours. You never should have come here. I never should have tagged along. Now I'm being punished for something I had nothing to do with."
I gasped. "Are you blaming me for what's happening?"
He spun around. "Who's else to blame? Me?"
"Killian! It's not my fault this happened. I didn't know it was going to happen like this. I just wanted some answers and hoped to find some answers to fix you!"
He looked disgusted. "Fix me? I'm not the one who is broken, Vivian. That's you."
I felt tears well up in my eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"You come from a broken home. Your mate rejected you and broke up with your boyfriend. Of course, you came running to another pack when you heard about some possible father who might open his arms to his long-lost daughter. You're broken, Vivian."
"How dare you."
The look on his face was crazed and nothing like the Chris I knew. Even as the bully I'd known over the years, he'd never spoken to me like this. He'd been mean or goaded me but never torn me down like this.
He returned to the bars, touching them again and leaning forward. "Admit it. You're excited to be getting married to someone who actually wants you."
That's when I felt it—a fire in my stomach. I was burning, raging. I felt it burning through my inside and making its way up through my body, arms, and hands. I felt it in my fingertips. Chris looked down. "How are you doing that?"
I looked down. My fingertips were glowing. Then, just as quickly as it must have happened, it stopped. What was that?
I wiped the tears that had started to fall from my face. "Fuck you, Chris."
The crazed look on his face hadn't left, but he smirked. "I believe you did."
So he did remember that. Or maybe Samantha told him we did. If he were out of these bars, I would slap him. Maybe choke him.
I was about to say something more when I heard a booming voice. "What are you doing here?"
Fuck. Killian. Suddenly, he was by my side, glaring down at me. He was shirtless, wearing shorts, darting glances between us.
Chris laughed. "Speak of your Prince Charming, Vivian."
Killian grabbed my arm. "I thought I said no unsupervised visits."
I looked up at him. "I just wanted to see if he was okay."
Killian saw the tears in my eyes and glanced at Chris. "What did you say to her?"
Chris shrugged. "Nothing she didn't know was the truth."
Killian growled. "You'll show some respect to my Luna."
I tugged my arm from Killian's grasp. "I'm not your Luna."
Killian glared. "Yet. And you, you'll show her respect while you're here before we ship you back home."
"He didn't do anything. If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to bed."
Killian glared at me. "Don't think we won't be discussing this tomorrow."
I shrugged. "You can discuss it until you're blue in the face."
I slipped past him, leaving him there. He called after me. "You're not doing yourself any favors."
"By the way," I called over my shoulder, 'Chris is sick. I expect a doctor to see him as soon as possible. If not, you can expect me to give you hell."
I heard Killian mutter something but kept walking. I'm sure he'd listen after he took one look at Chris. He was an asshole, but he wouldn't let his bargaining chip die.
I needed to get to bed. Tonight had been horrible.