Chapter Ny Four


    Chapter


    Ny Four


    I couldn''t bring myself to sleep; Thane clouded my thoughts.


    "Still thinking about him?" Daemon asked. We both knew who he was referring to.


    ""No." I lied.


    "I can tell when you are lying."


    "What difference does it make? It''s not like you will let me go to him."


    "And what if I can?"


    "Vox wouldn''t let you." I stated.


    "You know, I have never truly been a ''free'' creature. Every time I feel as though I''ve achieved it, I realize I am still in servitude."


    "It had been from Jade to Bruce and then... Vox." I said to him, and he nodded in agreement.


    "I want to ask you a question, and I need a genuine answer from you. When I was gone with Jade, you knew what was going to happen to me. Did you at any moment regret your decision? Did you ever think about me?" I was silent for a long while. "Daemon, I..."


    "Just answer the question."


    "You want an answer, then it''s ''No:. I never regretted my decision; I never thought about you-at least not in the way you think."


    "Do you hate me, Riley?"


    "I sometimes believe I do. When you be that monster, I do hate you, but then you change, and you actpletely different. I want to hate you, Daemon, for everything you''ve done to me. I really want to, and yet..."


    "You don''t," hepleted.


    I couldn''t give a response.


    "When you betrayed me ''once again,'' I made up my mind that I was going to make you pay for it. I spent hours and hours thinking about how you were going to suffer, ways I would put you in pain, but then... I saw you. The monster you hate-that''s me, the real me, but anytime I am with you, I want to be something else; I want to be someone you wouldn''t look at with disgust or hatred. I am not supposed to care about what you think of me, and yet I do."


    -


    "When you warned me not to anger Vox, it was because you wanted me alive?"


    "Yes. I do, despite everything; I still need to be reminded of a reason to kill you. But so many things will change, Riley; I will have to make decisions that will make you very pissed. I will do everything Vox orders me to do, and you will hate me all over again... But before, let this be the one good thing I have ever done."


    He rose from the bed, and I watched him curiously. "What are you doing?"


    "You may want to grab some food; we are going to see Thane."


    I didn''t believe it, even as I packed up the food the maids had brought with shaky hands into the bag; I didn''t believe Daemon would do it, but I kept silent.


    Chapter Ny Four


    "Ready?" he asked, and I nodded.


    He took out a blindfold and wrapped it around my eyes. "I wouldn''t want you having a single clue of where we are going to."


    I nodded; I didn''t really care; all I wanted to do was see him again. He held me close; I could feel his hand settle at the small of my back, a possessive hold, and then the chill wind blew through my hair. It felt like only a few seconds had passed by, but even from the smell of the ce, I knew we were no longer in our room.


    The ce had this pleasant natural smell of wet soil.


    I lifted my hand to the blindfold.


    "Not yet," Daemon said.


    He ced what I assume to be a jacket over my nightgown. It was indeed cold here.


    After about thirty minutes of walking, he came to a stop and took off my blindfold.