Ours (Blood Ties #3)

Darkness waited outside my window as I turned away from the new tray. It was night…late, too. Stars sparkled in the sky, glinting around a full moon. I made my way to the window, tracing my finger along the electronic locks, ones he’d made sure he mentioned, just in case I thought again about trying to escape.

Just like the door, right?

I glanced over my shoulder at the bedroom door.

He needn’t have bothered. Even if I escaped this hell, I had nowhere to run. No family was looking for me, no brothers desperate to get me back. Not even a goddamn friend I could call. Ryth had been the closest thing I’d ever had to a friend, and I’d lost her.

I turned away from the window and crossed the room, habit driving me forward. I didn’t know why I even tried. Every night the bedroom door was locked, and every night I went to sleep frustrated. But as I reached out, I realized one tiny detail.I hadn’t heard it click.

The door lock clicked at the same time every night. Set by a timer, I’d assumed. The tinythunkalways came just after he brought me the tray. I tried to think, tried to pick apart the minutes since he’d placed the tray on the dresser then turned to watch me with that hungry stare, and remember…

I hadn’t heard it.

I was sure.

My breath caught as I reached out, closed my hand around the handle, and pushed.

But instead of catching…it unlocked, bearing down until the hinges softly creaked.

My heart leaped, slamming against my chest. I eased the door closed, then froze.What if it was broken? What if the damn thing had somehow malfunctioned and if it was now fixed…if it clicked, then I’d have missed my chance.

I looked at the red blinking light of the electronic lock. It didn’t look right. Normally, the light was on, a solid red. Red for locked, green for open. It was broken…

I twisted the handle once more, praying with all I had that this wasn’t a joke, and it inched open slightly before I released my hold and dropped my hand. Darkness waited out there, on the other side of the door. Darkness and silence.

Was this a test?

It'd be just like him. He’d be waiting, watching to see what I’d do. I took a step away from the cracked open door, my mind racing. What would he expect me to do?

Run…

That’s what.

He’d expect me to slip down the stairs and try the front door, maybe even search the house for the back door. My mind skipped over the basement. Fuck, no, I wasn’t going down there. I wasn’t even thinking about that room…

Still, thatmachinerose inside my head, sending shivers along my spine. I reached out and hit the light switch, plunging the bedroom into darkness, then I stepped backwards, made my way to the bed, and sat down.

It was a test.

I was sure of it now.

See if I’d run.

See if I could be trusted.

I pulled my feet upwards and lay my head down, curled on my side, staring at that slither of inky blackness on the other side of the door and tried to think of all the possible reasons…and the outcomes.

Run…

Leave this house and these people.

And I’d have to keep on running, because it wouldn’t be just The Order after me, would it? No. There was no way London St. James would allow me to even get through the door before he dragged me back, kicking and screaming…

Try it…his cruel fucking tone filled me.Try and escape and see where that gets you.

I knew where it’d get me. My body quivered and my core clenched. I closed my eyes, willing the image of thatthingaway. He threatened me with it, promised it to me. “No,” I whispered, and opened my eyes. I wouldn’t let that happen.

So, I wouldn’t run…