I woke to the building shaking, and explosions. It probably wasn't explosions at all; it was midnight, a new year, and I was still in this stupid place. I had nothing more to give. Nothing more to say to them.
I could only guess what they'd do to me once they found out I wasn't going to give them what they wanted. Not that I needed to guess much—that man had already promised James wouldn't see me again if I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear.
Could I make up something? Tell them the Strac's were really weak and broken, and that if he wanted to take over, or whatever it was he wanted, now was the time? Because I knew that wasn't true. They were strong, and the leadership was even stronger. They knew how to handle problems like this, and I trusted them to come out of this victorious, no matter what I told these people.
God, I wished there was at least a window in this stupid room so I could see some fireworks.
This morning, James promised me we'd celebrate the new year together, in bed. Had I been naive, thinking that would actually happen?
Probably not. It would've happened if Borgen wasn't a lying piece of shit.
I seriously had to get my license so I could drive myself around from now on. Two times kidnapped—one worse than the other—in such a short time. It was clear I couldn't trust anyone, really. Not even my own father, and especially not my childhood boyfriend. If that was even what we were back then.
Marius could go choke on something big, for all I cared at the moment. My whole body was aching too much to waste any more energy or thoughts on anything other than how I'd make it out of this alive. But even that took a lot out of me. I was sore, like every muscle in my body had been on one hell of a workout, and I blamed the damn taser as tears ran down my cheeks.
I hated this. I hated everything.
If this had happened before I fell for James, I would've most likely been packing to leave for Durfair the second I came back home. If I made it back home. But now all I wanted was to be back in paradise—that was what I named his embrace the first night we danced together at the party, and now was the moment I realized how true that really was. He was my home, my paradise.
And now there was no guarantee I'd ever get to tell him I loved him.
A sob escaped my throat, stopping against the stupid tape on my face. I had to find a way to escape this, like I escaped from Durfair. I was hellbent on it.
The door creaked open a long while later. I'd fallen asleep three times, I think, since the fireworks stopped outside, and I was still exhausted. Seeing Marius' face was not something I enjoyed first thing in the morning, either. Even if he brought with him a plate, and my stomach growled angrily the second the smell of scrambled eggs hit my nose.
He didn't say anything as he moved one of the other chairs in front of mine, and sat down, the plate in one hand. He swallowed, as if he wasn't sure what he was doing, before he reached out to rip the tape off my mouth. It stung, but not nearly as much as my whole body still did from being electrocuted.
I didn't say anything either, as I kept looking at him. He lifted a fork, loaded it with eggs, and held it up in front of me.
When I turned my head away, he sighed. "Please eat, Elina." He sounded sad, like he wasn't the one keeping me tied up and held there against my will.
"What's in it for you?" I asked, looking at him again.
"Nothing." He looked genuine. "I'm worried."
"If you're worried, you can set me free." I turned away again, using my spare energy to hop away from him in my chair.
It probably looked just as bad as it felt. I would've laughed if I'd seen it from afar—but I was stuck living this hell, so I would do my best to keep my sanity.
"I..." He groaned, the fork clinging against the plate he held. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him set the plate down on the floor, and rub his face with both hands. "I didn't know this was happening until it was too late," he said, his eyes weighing me down. I wanted to believe him. "Now all I can do is make sure you're okay. That means eating, drinking, and not being too hurt."
"You could give someone a hint," I countered, finally looking at him again. He had bags under his eyes, and I couldn't tell if it was from a kick-ass New Years party, or from worry and lack of sleep. "You could send at least a text to someone who could actually help me."
"I have." My heart stuttered. "Your phone's been ringing non-stop. Dad told me to turn it off, and I did, but I brought it with me and turned it on sometime during the night, and answered when it rang again."
I just stared at him, my heart hammering violently in my chest. If he was telling the truth, I might make it out alive after all. If not, he was just giving me false hope, and...I would thank him for it when my last moment came. Nothing could ever compete against the feeling that was blooming inside me at that moment, except maybe being inside James' embrace.
"I don't want any harm done to you, Elina," he continued, fidgeting with his hands as his elbows met with his knees. "I...fuck, I betrayed my own father to get you safe again. I don't agree with this shit. I don't care about the Strac's, or this stupid rivalry between them and my father."
"Who is your father?" I found myself asking, wondering if I'd heard about him before.
"He's the leader of the Wreckers," Marius told me, his eyes meeting mine. "I hate it. I'm supposed to take over when he's done, but...I don't think I can."
"Did you know who I was when we were...when we were kids?" I swallowed, turning around more to look at him better.
He shook his head, and that was all I needed to take a hop back, and look at the plate with eggs. My stomach had been grumbling the whole time, and I probably needed some strength if something was about to happen. If that phone call happened sometime during the night. I didn't know what time it was now, but it had to have been hours since the fireworks ended. Which meant it was a new year, with new opportunities, and a new life.
If I saw James again, I decided right then and there that I'd tell him I loved him.
"If I'd known you were involved with any of dad's rivals, I'd've stayed the hell away," Marius said as he picked the plate up, and held up the fork for me.
I took a bite, putting all my trust in his hands as he fed me breakfast. Weirdly enough, I believed him.
"The guy who drove you here, Borgen," he started, feeding me another forkful of eggs as he looked at me, "did you trust him?" I nodded, chewing slowly, wondering where he was going with it. "See?" He chuckled, as if everything was so ridiculous. "I couldn't ever go through with anything like that. You have to be a special kind of ruthless and devious to run a gang, or a family, or whatever the fuck. I can't do that."
Both of us were silent until the plate was empty, and Marius leaned back with his hands behind his head. He didn't look at me, but I could tell he had more to say. It was like the room was weighed down by his guilt. It crossed my mind that he could still be lying. It would be easy enough to guess that my phone would be ringing non-stop, and that he'd talked to someone I cared about on the other end.
Just as easy as it would be to gain my sympathy about his conflicted heart. He was the leader's son. Would he truly feel this way, or would he be tricking me into thinking he felt like that? I couldn't be sure, so I tried my best not to hope too much.
Not even when he said, "If your boyfriend doesn't kill me today, I'm leaving it all behind."
I swallowed, happy that some saliva had come back into my mouth. It wasn't easy at all to stare at a man I once cared a lot about, then got to know was the enemy of my family, then was taken by him and his family. My mind was already in shambles about him. It would be so easy to believe everything he'd told me, but was it wise? Should I jump up and down in glee, and wait to be saved? Or did he play a game with this?
"Today?" I echoed, once his words had sunk in.
"I promised to keep you safe for a few more hours." He cleared his throat. "Dad thinks I'm up here beating you to tell me some secret. I know you have no idea what's going on inside the family, if you did, I don't think we'd still be here."
I huffed. "Don't you think I can keep secrets?"
"Yes, I think you can, but you would've been more determined to not say anything. You told him everything you know."
I tried not to remember that I did, in fact, tell him something. But I guessed what I'd said was common knowledge anyway. Something to scare people into not betraying Damian and his father. It didn't work, apparently, considering Borgen had taken me somewhere completely different from where James had told him. It was still surreal to think that Borgen was the one who took me away.
Who else could be compromised, if he was? He always had a face of stone, not showing any kind of emotion. Maybe that was how he got away with it for however long he planned this with the Wreckers.
Ha. Fitting name. They'd wrecked me already.
"I'll bring you some water soon," Marius said, as if dismissing himself.
He got up and collected the empty plate as I asked, "When are they coming?"
"I don't know. James told me he was gathering some people, and that Damian would want to do this right and take down my gang." He sighed, looking around the room as if he was reminiscing. "You should be back home by tomorrow."
"And your dad?"
The question hurt my throat, as if even mentioning that man was toxic.
"He knows nothing," he said, "but he plans to come back up here soon to ask you more questions. I'll stall, but...he'll probably get here anyway."
I just nodded. If Marius was telling the truth, I couldn't exactly let him let his father know. So I understood that he couldn't keep me completely out of danger, and I hoped James understood that too—that Marius would have the chance to leave after this was all over. If he was indeed telling the truth.