Page 31 of The Devil's Dilemma

“Staying here doesn’t work for me, but here I am. Your captive.”

“Hey, let’s not use those words. They sound so… illegal.”

“It is illegal keeping me here. You have no right.” His voice rose, and his energy spiked.

Why could I sense his emotions so much?

“I’ll do what the fuck I please. Now sit your arse down and do not shout at me again. You will regret it.”

The time for niceties was over.

Surprisingly, he plopped down with a thump, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

“I’ll send Conrad in with some food. Make yourself comfortable.”

The door closed behind me with a click. The lights would stay on for a while unless he moved, the lights being on motion sensors.

I was taking a risk keeping him here, and I was doing it for purely selfish reasons.

I was the devil. I could do what the fuck I wanted. No higher power to answer to. I was the higher power.

He’d be safe down here. No one other than Conrad and me could enter either room.

I walked over to my desk and sank down in my chair. I clicked the mouse a few times and brought up the security camera footage.

He sat on the bed, his head in his hands, rocking back and forth. There was no sound, but his lips were moving.

If I were a gambling man, I’d put money on him cursing me out for locking him away. Ironically, I wasn’t. What was the point when the house always won?

Chapter eight

Austin

The door shut behindDante, and I could breathe again. Finally, take a much-needed deep breath to calm the nerves surging through me.

His presence was exhilarating, sending shockwaves through my body as if it recognised him and was reaching out. After everything he’d done, after what he’d made me do, how could I feel that way about him?

I’d been willing to risk killing my best friend, but had I had a choice?

It was that or lose Freddie. To be honest, I didn’t think any of us were making it out alive, but at least he’d taken pity on Freddie and released him.

The same couldn’t be said for Joel.

“You fucker.” The words bounced off the cold walls. I shuddered at the horror of what had happened. I was sure the grief would follow.

What came next? That was what I needed to know, but sitting alone in my prison, I couldn’t think clearly.

How long would he keep me?

I lay on the bed and took out my phone.

Of course there’d be no fucking signal in this box he called a room. I couldn’t even message Amber and ask her to look in on Grandpa.

He’d be worried if I didn’t go home, but not half as worried as I was.

What if he woke in the night? What if he needed me? What if he took ill, and I wasn’t there?

Fuck. I had to get out of here, get home.