Chapter 14

***BRIARWOOD***

DALIA

"What the fuck did you do to Ayra?" Cara snarled, pushing away from her bed. "You were supposed to get her on our side."

"I know," I replied, squaring my shoulders in preparation for her berating.

I never did anything right in her eyes, but that was okay. I wasn't doing this for her, anyway. I was doing it for the helpless young girls that huddled in the corner, shaking with fear. They didn't deserve this fate.

"So? Why did you do that to her? She could have died."

"No," I said, firmly. They didn't know Ayra as much as I did. She was stronger than that.

"You know, I've always been skeptical of this plan of yours. Why not just go directly to Nathaniel? He's a demon, and he's your cousin. He'll help us."

I shook my head at her. She didn't know how the Black men worked, and how loyal their demons were to only their mate after being mated.

Naturally, demons were unfeeling beings, and most of the time, they didn't form attachments - except sexual ones. When they did form attachments, they were loyal to that being until their dying breath.

Nathaniel didn't know this yet, but his demon was tied to Ayra permanently. The mark on her neck was more than a mark demons left to stake their claims. It was a mark that declared his loyalty to her forever. When she finally accepted the mark, every one of their emotions would be intertwined, there would be no secrets between them.

That was what I was hoping for. If Ayra could regain her memory, she'd be our saving grace, because then, Nathaniel would have no reservations about coming back here. Even though he was my cousin, he didn't owe me such loyalty. I just hoped Ayra got her memory quick enough, or we would all be doomed.

"He won't. I'm saying this because I know him."

"You're so nonchalant about this because you can escape from this prison. You come and go as you wish. The same can't be said for the rest of us," she spat, her body shaking with anger.

"Cara, this is all for our sake."

"No. This is for your sake," she hissed, digging her finger into my chest. "You want to reconcile with him so bad. He tossed you out of his life, remember?"

I clenched my jaw tightly, trying to hold back my anger. "All the more reason you should be thankful that I'm doing this. Don't push me, Cara."

"What will you do?" She asked, getting in my face. "Leave, Dalia. We don't need you. I'll figure this out myself. I'm going to give everyone the freedom they deserve without your help. Get out!"

I looked around the room, but none of the women dared to look me in the eye. They were in support of Cara.

"I hope you don't do something horrible, Cara. These women deserve to be completely free, not stuck in another prison. Goodbye."

***

AYRA

"You've got to be fucking kidding me, Nathaniel," I scoffed, staring Nathaniel down, admittedly, he wasn't fazed at all.

"I'm dead serious. You're not allowed to leave the house."

"Why the fuck not?"

"You left the house yesterday. What happened? You were attacked by a Nighthowler, that's what."

"You mean your cousin. I've left the house for two weeks now, but guess what? Nothing happened. It's just my luck that when I had sex with you, something happened just some hours later."

He barked out a laugh. "To sum it all up, my dick is the cause of your attack?"

"You sound surprised. I thought we were just listing out unreasonable bullshit. While we're at that, why not go seal all the mirrors in this house?"

"Good idea. I'll send a message to Kai so he'll send some people to get that done."

"Un-fucking-believable. While you're doing all of this nonsense, stay the fuck away from me."

"I get it. You're angry."

I snorted. "More like disgusted. Your solution is sickening. Instead of keeping me prisoner like some weak princess that needs saving, why not go talk to your psycho cousin? She needs help, I tell you. You both do."

"Help?" He asked with a smirk.

"I'm glad you find this funny. Get out of my face right now."

"What? You'll stab me with the knife?" He asked, snorting.

"Right now I'm tempted to," I answered, slamming the edge of the knife on the chopping board for added measure.

"I'll leave you to whatever the fuck you're doing."

"If you're not blind, you'll see I'm cooking," I mumbled, but I knew he heard me. "Have fun doing whatever the fuck it is you do in that office of yours," I snarked.

Right now, all the guilt I felt this morning faded. It was the right decision to keep the book secret. I woke up in my bed last night, and I found the book Dalia had left on the floor - I learned her name from Nathaniel.

It didn't take much to figure out the book had appeared there mysteriously. If Nathaniel had seen it, it definitely wouldn't be on my nightstand. I wondered how that was possible. When I asked about the book before I passed out, his question suggested he didn't see the book on the floor, or maybe he just didn't notice it. I was willing to bet on the former.

"On second thought, don't. I hope your day sucks as much as mine will," I said making him laugh as he left the kitchen.

I didn't have to look outside to know there'd be guards stationed outside. He wouldn't make such a demand without having a way to figure out if I went against him.

I had Dalia to thank for everything. I didn't know her, but she'd managed to fuck up my life. I was tempted to leave what I was doing and storm up the stairs to my bedroom to get that book.

But I didn't.

A part of me was still afraid after her warning. She sounded like she knew me. Maybe I didn't have to run away from her. Maybe she'd be able to fill me in on what was going on.

The only flaw in my plan was how I would find the woman in question. I ruled out going to Ishmael for help. He was loyal to Nathaniel. He'd only tattle the moment I left his place. The one thing I wanted to avoid was Nathaniel finding out.

My lips curled up in anger.

*Who knows? He could keep me locked in my room next.*

I threw the knife to the chopping board, groaning in dissatisfaction. Maybe Dalia was right, after all. I was helpless without Nathaniel's help, and I didn't like that one bit.

***

"What changed?" Nathaniel asked, eyeing the food suspiciously. "You were pissed when I left you at home."

The smile I had on my face was genuine as I waited for him to take a bite out of the stew.

"I gave Theo and Chase some before they left, and Theo said it tasted great. Chase didn't think so. I wanted to hear your input seeing as I put a lot of effort into it," I replied.

That was a lie. The stew didn't come out as I'd hoped even after following the cookbook step by step.

Theo had taken a bite before spitting it out. "How do you manage to fuck up stew?" He asked, taking a huge gulp of water.

Chase had agreed with him, pushing the bowl away. Even though it was petty, I figured it was a good way to get back at Nathaniel for this morning. What better way to make him suffer than to watch him choke down the unpalatable food?

"You want to hear my input?" He asked, looking at me like I'd grown an extra head.

"Yes."

"Okay." He picked up the spoon, taking a bite out of the spoon.

"Does it taste good?" I asked when his face remained neutral.

"Ah… yeah. Yeah, it does."

"That means you'll want more?" I asked to make sure I wasn't hearing things.

"You sound surprised," he said, taking another bite.

"No. Not at all. I'm just glad you like it," I lied, my excitement fading away.

*Why couldn't things go my way for once?*

He proceeded to finish the entire bowl, going for a second helping much to my disappointment. How could he stomach that?

I moved away from the table, going over to the sink to finish cleaning up. It wasn't long before he finished eating, and he brought the plate to the sink.

He kissed my neck. "Dinner was amazing. Thanks."

"But it was bad!" I blurted, unable to hold back my surprise. I regretted it immediately the words were out of my mouth.

"I had a feeling you did it on purpose. Why? To torture me?" He asked, sounding smug.

"Hardly. I wanted to punish you for this morning. You can't just lock me up in here."

"Next time you try to do something like this, keep in mind that I've had far worse. It makes your food taste like heaven."

"Wow. It must have been bad." If he really thought that, how bad could they have been? I was tempted to ask him about what he was talking about, but I knew there was no need to. At this point, I was used to his usual *it doesn't concern you* answer.

His lips pressed into a flat line. "Your food is not bad. It's just a hit or miss. The others you've made aren't bad at all."

"And to think I followed the steps correctly!"

"Did you now?" He sounded amused. "Happy now?"

I huffed. "Not at all. Things didn't go quite as planned."

"I can help with that," he said in a deep voice I shouldn't have found sexy, but I did.

"How exactly?" I asked, thrilled at the prospect of feeling him inside me again. After having a taste of him last night, I was left wanting more.

"Depends," he responded.

"On what?"

"If you're willing to follow my orders."

"Should there be such a thing when it's just sex?"

"With me? Always. But this isn't about sex."

"It isn't?" I sputtered, my cheeks tinting with embarrassment.

"While I'm happy to help with that, I have a much better idea."