Defying the Lycan King

Chapter 199: The Wrong Hands

Kira’s stomach rumbled loudly as she sat still on the bed, her wrists and ankles still bound in their silver chains.

It had been three whole days since Brian had dragged her to this unknown hideout, and for three days she had refused to eat a single thing he set in front of her, and refused to speak a single word to his punchable face.

The latest meal he had left for her sat going cold on a small stool near her feet, untouched.

She still could not work out where he had taken her. She had no idea if there were other people somewhere in this building, neighbours, a town, anyone at all who might hear her if she screamed.

So far, there had only been Brian, and one older woman who came in now and then to bring her a change of clothes and walk her to the bathroom.

At least, Kira thought bitterly, the bastard had the decency to give her privacy for that much, which was about the only nice thing she could say about this entire kidnapping experience.

She had searched the room with her eyes a hundred times over, every corner of the space where Brian kept her locked away, hunting for a phone, a sharp edge, anything she might use to free herself or call for help. Nothing.

She shut her eyes and tried again to reach inside herself.

Claudia had told her she was the Nexus. If that was true, then somewhere in her there was power, and she needed to find it and use it to save herself.

She shut her eyes tighter, concentrating all her thoughts on her hands, waiting for a spark, a glow, or a sudden burst of magical energy to melt the silver bonds. She waited. And waited. But she felt nothing except a slight headache.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she opened her eyes and looked around the boring room again. Of course, she felt nothing. Even if she truly was a Nexus, she could hardly expect to become powerful overnight, like flipping a switch.

Power like that had to be cultivated, controlled, and understood first, which was highly inconvenient given her current situation.

She began to twist her wrist against the restraint, working it back and forth, trying to find any give in the metal.

If only I could get this damn thing off, she thought, straining.

The door swung open, and Brian walked in.

His eyes moved first to the untouched food, then back to her. Kira said nothing. She kept her gaze fixed on the wall behind him, refusing to give him even that much.

He crossed the room to her, reached out, and gently stroked her pale cheek with the back of his palm. Kira instantly flinched away from his touch.

"You know, if you keep refusing to eat," he said softly, "you’ll only make yourself ill. Weak and malnourished. That’s not what I want for you."

She said nothing.

He chuckled and glanced down at her chained hands, and shook his head lightly.

"You really can’t escape this place, Kira," he said. "No one knows where you are. Not a single soul. The very moment you finally understand that reality, the better and easier this will be for you and me."

Kira turned her head and glared at him, all the hatred she felt burning in her eyes. But Brian simply smiled back, completely unaffected by her killer look.

"No one can trace us here," he went on. "I’ve made certain of it. There are no devices switched on anywhere in this place. No cell phones. Not even a burner. Nothing that sends a signal, nothing that can be tracked. We are completely off the grid."

He straightened, picked up a comb from the small table, and moved around behind her. Gently, almost tenderly, he began to comb through her hair.

"So you’d do well to eat, Kira," he murmured near her ear, his voice sending a shiver of disgust down her spine. "You’re mine now. Give it time. You’ll see. One day you’ll understand that my love for you is real."

***

Back in Dravengard, Jessica followed Kai into his bedroom and pulled the door shut behind her.

Kai did not speak at first. He only paced the length of the room, back and forth, his jaw tight, clearly wrestling with something.

"Right, what on earth is going on?" Jessica asked, her voice filled with confusion and a growing sense of dread.

Kai stopped his pacing abruptly, turned around and looked at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Without a word, he reached into his jacket, pulled out a couple of the glossy photographs Uncle Crane had dropped, and handed them to her.

"What do you have to say about these?"

Jessica took the pictures from his hand, completely baffled. But the instant her eyes fell on the images, every drop of colour drained from her face. Her mouth fell open in a silent gasp of horror.

"Shit," she breathed.

Kai raised his eyebrows. "Please," he said. "Please, tell me those are photoshopped. Tell me they’re fake."

Jessica looked up at him, her hands trembling around the pictures. "Where... where did you even get these? Who took them?"

Kai stared at her, incredulous. "Is that honestly the part you’re worried about right now?"

Jessica dropped her eyes back to the photographs, unable to find any words.

Kai stepped closer. "Jessica. Did you and the Queen ever plan a secret disguise to go behind the King’s back and see Rolf’s Luna?"

Jessica lifted her gaze to him, and slowly, guiltily, she nodded.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" Kai barked, gripping his own hair with both hands and turning to pace again. "Why would you keep something like this from me?"

"I— I—" Jessica stumbled over the words. "We hadn’t even met yet back then. And I never knew anyone was following us or capturing us on camera! It was supposed to be a quick, secret trip!"

Kai spun back around to face her. "Really, Jessica? She’s the queen of Dravengard, for crying out loud. The queen. Do you have any idea how many people would kill to get a look at what she does in secret? Of course, someone was watching."

He stopped, and his brow furrowed as he thought about the logistics of it all.

"How did this even happen?" he asked. "Where were all the royal guards who are paid to follow her everywhere?"

Jessica bit down hard on her lower lip, staring at him with her guilt written plain across her face.

Kai tilted his head, waiting, prompting her silently to answer.

Jessica swallowed. "We... we drugged them," she whispered.

"Shit!" Kai spat. "You drugged them? How could you do something like that? Do you understand what that means?"

He started pacing again, faster now.

Jessica’s next words came tumbling out in a rush, one after another. "I was just trying to help my best friend, Kai! That’s all. Kira only wanted to know the truth about her biological mother! She was desperate! We didn’t mean to cause any trouble for the pack, I swear!"

"Well, guess what, Jessica?" Kai whirled to face her again, his eyes hard. "This has caused a whole bloody lot of trouble, because those photographs have fallen into exactly the wrong hands."