“I didn’t come here to argue with you.” Trevor released his fists. While his knuckles were still white, his palms were bright red and marred with half-moon marks from his nails.
Holly narrowed her eyes.
There were more imprints on his palms than there were fingers on his hands.
“Then leave.”
“This doesn’t need to be difficult,” he snarled. “I came to ask if you wanted to go for a walk around town.”
Holly blinked in confusion.
“What? Did you expect me to keep you in here forever?”
“You locked me in a cage once.”
Trevor winced.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “Truly, I am. There wasn’t another option; otherwise, I would’ve found it.”
“Did you also sleep in a cage?” she asked.
Trevor opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking. “No, but my bed was basically nine two-by-fours laid next to each other. They weren’t attached.”
“Am I supposed to feel pity for you?” Holly shook her head. “A literal freakin’ cage, Trevor! With bars, cuffs, and a big old padlock on the door.”
“It wasn’t my finest moment,” he snapped back.
“What was your finest moment?” Holly replied. “Was it when you held Loch’s throat against your blade?”
“I did what I had to do.” Trevor’s voice rose, but he quickly caught himself.
“Afraid you’ll draw attention?”
“Yes, actually,” he replied.
“Drawing attention didn’t seem to bother you when you charged into Silver Spruce with an army.”
“That was different,” he insisted. “How long are you going to hold that against me?”
“Probably through the weekend,” she snapped. “This isn’t some minor inconvenience, Trevor. You didn’t accidentally run over my mailbox or break a window. People died that night!”
“People were going to die anyway,” he scoffed. “That fight was inescapable.”
“Because you left us no other choice.”
“Do you think things would’ve gone that way if I’d had another option?” he asked.
“Did you look for another option?” Holly slammed down the book she’d been pretending to read on the wide windowsill and got to her feet.
“You’re awfully convinced that I didn’t.”
“Because there’s always another option. There’s always a high road. You didn’t take it.”
“You don’t know anything about what’s really going on,” he seethed. “If you did, you’d be thanking me.”
“Is that what you told Elise?” Holly spat.
Trevor’s face paled at the mention of his sister.
When Trevor had kidnapped Holly the first time, it was his sister, Elise, who helped her escape. Elise soon moved into Holly’s home in Silver Spruce.
“You don’t know anything about my sister.”
“No, you’re the one who doesn’t know anything about your sister,” Holly fired back. “Do you even know where she is?”
Trevor remained silent.
“That’s what I thought.”
“You don’t know where she is either,” he pointed out.
“You’re right,” Holly admitted. “But I know what she was doing in the days leading up to your bloodbath.”
Trevor tipped his head to one side and narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling the truth?”
“I could be.” Holly shrugged. “On the one hand, why would I ever tell you anything truthful. On the other, what have I got to lose at this point?”
“You still have all of your fingers, so count your lucky stars,” he snapped.
“If you threaten me, you threaten the Maiden. For all you know, she can actively stop me from carrying your child if you piss her off enough.”
“Can she do that?”
“Who knows.” Holly shrugged. “She’s in my head twenty-four-seven, and I still don’t know anything about her.”
A wicked smile crossed Trevor’s face. “You little liar.”
“What?” Holly stuck out her bottom lip. “Oh! Are you wondering about that little discussion we had in the silver mines? Yeah, I lied to you.”
Trevor’s expression darkened. “You heard her voice in the silver mine?”
“Sure did.” Holly nodded. “We’re old pals now.”
She wasn’t going to admit that she hadn’t heard the Maiden’s voice since she was brought to Golden Oak. Trevor needed to believe she was giving him something.
She didn’t have an escape plan, but she did plan on causing as much confusion and frustration as possible until she figured out a way to get home.
It was safe to assume the other firstborn males were on their way to her right now. They set out for her the very night she was kidnapped the first time. They’d be here any minute now. Holly just had to wait it out.
“Why did you lie to me?” he demanded.
“You’ve given me no incentive to tell you the truth,” she replied. “I hate to keep bringing this up, but you kidnapped me. You also killed good men from Silver Spruce. You’re totally insane to boot.”
“Which is why you don’t want to piss me off.” Trevor closed the distance between them, his face mere inches from hers.
“What are you going to do?” Holly stared right into his mismatched eyes, unflinching. “Kill me?”
Trevor said nothing.
“No, you’re not going to kill me.” Holly returned to her window and perched on the sill. “You need me.”
“There are ways to hurt you without killing you.”
“Then do them.” She retrieved her book and thumbed through the pages until she found the one she’d pretended to read earlier.
From the corner of her eye, she watched him.
He clenched and unclenched his fists several times before letting out a growl of frustration and storming out of the room.
Holly took a deep breath and put her book down once more.
Trevor never came to her room twice in one day. She’d bought herself a few more hours of peace.
She pressed herself into the farthest corner of the windowsill. From that position, she could barely make out the jagged peaks of forest-covered mountains. On the other side of those mountains was her home, her history,
