In The Darkness (Project Artemis #1)(20)

“Okay, that’s it. I said I’d eat one, and I did,” she said, refusing to let the food go down her throat.

Nick couldn’t help but smile at her behavior. “It does no good unless you actually swallow it.”

“I don’t want it to touch the back of my tongue or I’ll be forced to really taste it,” she said, practically whining.

He didn’t know why, but it charmed him more than anything had in a long time. Silently, he promised her that he’d find something better for her to eat for dinner that night. Maybe he could scrounge up a few saltines from the kitchen. Unlike the last couple houses, this one at least seemed to have a few things that resembled food in the cabinets.

She swallowed hard and coughed, shaking her head. “Oh, that was awful! I think I’d rather starve.”

“I’ll be back for dinner in a few hours,” he said as he stood up to leave. “I’ll see if I can find something else for you. We’re doing three meals a day now.”

“Three? How are they letting that happen?”

“I convinced them that I’m getting pleasure making you eat this even more than before, and they bought it. I think those energy drinks might be making them a little dull in the head.”

“Even that Drist guy? I’d think he’d want to restrict my food to once a week.”

Nick thought about him, and his stomach clenched. Drist had given him a hard time about feeding her more often until he reminded him about feeding her like a dog. He just hoped he didn’t follow him in one of these times and actually demand to see her eat like that.

But Persephone didn’t need to know anything about any of that.

“He’s too preoccupied with his gun and all the reasons he has to be angry to care much about your eating habits,” Nick lied. “I’ll be back in a little while. I promise.”

“Wait! Do you have to go so soon?” she asked as he moved to place the gag back in her mouth.

Going was the last thing he wanted to do. The only happiness he enjoyed occurred when he spent time with her. He’d even thought to himself more than once that when he got her away from these people that he’d miss her. It made no sense. He knew that. He knew practically nothing about her. But from the moment he saw her beautiful deep brown eyes in that picture as he sat in her father’s office, he could only think of one thing.

Protecting her.

If he didn’t watch himself, he’d fall in love with her before he even kissed her for the first time. And yes, he’d thought of that already too. That made no sense either, considering the mess the two of them found themselves in, but there it was.

And now that she stared up at him with those beautiful eyes that made him want to take her into his arms and never let her go, he had to stuff that fucking rag back in her mouth and walk out of that room pretending like it didn’t make him feel like shit.

“I can’t stay too long in here. I don’t want to make them suspicious,” he said, avoiding her gaze as the lame words left his mouth.

“Oh, okay,” she said sadly.

She lifted her chin and opened her mouth slightly for him to do what he had to. The rag in his hand felt like a ten pound weight he couldn’t lift, but he had to do it.

He didn’t have a fucking choice.

Without saying another word, he pushed it into her mouth and fastened it behind her head before leaving the room. He wanted to look back. He wanted to stay there so she wouldn’t have to sit tied to that chair with a goddamned rag stuffed in her mouth.

But he didn’t have a choice.

*

Drist walked up behind him and leaned over Nick’s shoulder as he made Persephone’s dinner of vegetable soup. Every inch of his body froze as the man’s breath skittered over the skin on the back of his neck. He knew that gun of his was somewhere near him, making him all the more terrifying as he stared down at the bowl of soup.

“What the fuck is that?”

Nick turned his head and saw up close the black tattoos that covered the side of Drist’s face. Christ, he was ugly!

“Soup.”

“Why is she getting that?”

His heart slamming into his chest, Nick tried to stay calm and minimize the change in her meals. Stirring the liquid, he shrugged.

“I thought maybe we should make sure she doesn’t starve to death. That wouldn’t be a good thing. I figured Clayton would be pissed if that happened, so I thought I’d try some soup. It’s nothing I’d eat. All those fucking lima beans make me sick. It should be called bean soup.”

Drist narrowed his eyes and looked into the bowl once more. “Still too good for the likes of her.”

And just to punctuate his point, he spit into the soup before walking away.

Nick quickly scooped it out of the bowl and rinsed off the spoon before heading into where she waited for him. As he closed the door, he felt something push against it and turned to see Drist coming in behind him.

“What the fuck, man? You almost made me spill this shit all over me,” Nick snapped as Drist slammed the door behind him.

Persephone turned her head to look at him in horror as she realized who had joined him to feed her. Although Drist probably loved to see her looking so frightened, he hoped she knew that he wouldn’t let him hurt her.

“I wanted to come in and see how you handle her. Bitches like her need to be taught a lesson.”