Page 6 of Kael

“I have no reason to lie to you. Your mother cried,” he said softly. “They said yes to me keeping you. I told them they can visit when I allow it. Under my rules.”

The betrayal burned worse than the withdrawal already starting to lick at my edges. I curled my knees to my chest, fresh sobs breaking free. “You’re a monster for going there.”

Kael tilted his head, considering me.

“What is a monster, Bria? They hurt people. They kill. They take what isn’t theirs. Like you,” he said quietly. “You’re a monster too. You put your parents through hell for years while they kept loving you anyway. You let men use you. Let drugs eat pieces off you until there’s barely anything left.”

I wanted to curse him out, slap him in his mouth, tell him he didn’t know me enough to say those things, but I couldn’t force the words out.

His eyes moved over my face slowly.

He set the bowl down and cupped my face with one hand—so gently it made my skin crawl and warm at the same time. His thumb traced my cheek.

“You don’t have to be. You can beat this. The how is simple, Bunny. You stay in this house. No drugs. No phone. No running. You eat what I give you. You let me help you through the worst. In return, I keep you safe. Fed. Clean. When you’re strong again… we’ll see what this becomes.”

I laughed, forcing the words out. “This is kidnapping,” I snapped, even though my voice shook.

His forehead rested against mine, forcing me to breathe him in. He smelled like sweet coffee, smoke, and something cool. “Your salvation can’t be soft, Little Rabbit. It has to have teeth and bite down, or otherwise you’d run from it.”

He picked the bowl up again and held the spoon to my lips. I hadn’t eaten real food in days. I turned my head.

“Eat the food, Bria.” It was the tone of a parent calling you by your full name, but he didn’t raise his voice or even frown.

I opened my mouth.

When the food was gone, he stood, clapping his hands together like a deranged schoolteacher. “You need a shower.”

He didn’t give me a chance to agree or disagree. He gripped my arm and helped me to the attached bathroom. Hewaited right outside the door while I showered. I could feel him there the whole time.

I came out in the soft gray sweatpants and oversized shirt he’d left for me.

Kael guided me back to the bed. This time he left the cuffs off. He sat beside me, close enough that our thighs touched. I fought the urge to move away from the contact. Every time he touched me and didn’t hurt me, it confused me more.

“Take these pills before the withdrawal hits.”

I stared at him as he held the pills out. It was crazy that he expected me to just… trust him.

“I’m not taking those,” I whispered, pressing back against the headboard. “I don’t know what they are.”

Kael didn’t get angry. He never did. He just looked at me with patience, like he had all the time in the world to wait for me to stop fighting something that was already done.

“They’re for the nausea and the shakes,” he said calmly. “Nothing that will get you high. Nothing that will hook you on something new. I’m not trying to trade one poison for another, Bunny.”

My hands were shaking so badly I could barely keep them still. The first real wave of withdrawal was crawling under my skin now, like fire ants marching through my veins. Nausea twisted low in my stomach. But I still wouldn’t take them.

I laughed. “You kidnapped me. You killed two people in front of me. And now you want me to trust your words and take mystery pills from your hand like a good little pet?”

His dark eyes didn’t waver. “Yes.”

He set the pills on the tray and picked up the glass of water, holding it out like an offering. When I didn’t move, he sighed softly—the sound almost gentle.

“I could force them down your throat,” he said matter-of-factly. “I could hold your nose, wait until you swallow. But Iwon’t. Because I need you to choose this, even if you hate me while you do it. And eventually, you will choose.”

The words hit somewhere deep. I hated how scary and reasonable he sounded.

The withdrawal was getting louder now. My legs felt restless, my skin too tight, a cold sweat breaking out along my spine.

I snatched the pills from the tray before I could think better of it and dry-swallowed them, chasing them with the water he offered. It tasted metallic, just like everything else this morning.