Brother's Betrayal

Chapter Fourteen {Partnership}

Waking up made people vulnerable. I knew that it was a slow time for me and in any situation it could be worked to another person's advantage. I was unable to blink or move as I groggily shifted, tight restaints holding me back. I barely moved in the harsh hold. My eyelids were stuck together like set glue and I finally opened them.

Bright light made me wince. I shifted again, managing to angle my body towards a source of warmth. Alarmed, I rotated quietly again and once I reopened my eyes, which was much easier that time, I ended up staring straight into a mirror; a *rearview* mirror. Gradually, the slow rumbling of an engine met my ears and I became distracted, listening to my surroundings as intently as possible.

"Anya," a voice startled me. My eyes blinked into focus and I met shrouded ones, locked onto mine in the mirror. Fletcher was driving. "Calm down." He was whispering. I felt eerily calm thanks to the confusion rattling me. "Really, relax."

As Fletcher's words stopped, a hand brushed across my forehead. Instinctively, my left hand shot up to my head and wrapped around the other hand. My idea was to remove whoever was touching me from my body but their fingers slid between mine and they instead clung to me. Small shivers danced across my skin and I felt them nearing me. Dread pulsed through me; that was Dillan sitting behind me, curled around me as suffocatingly close as possible.

A throaty, quiet laugh shook through his chest and he deliberately brushed against my back. "I'm glad you are finally awake," he rumbled. His voice was low and quiet. There was an air of tension between us that neither of us wanted to break. Obviously, I would be making no attempts to shatter the illusion that I hadn't escaped before (and wouldn't try to again). It was my life on the line.

Quietly, I asked, "When did I fall asleep?"

Dillan's forehead rested on the crown of my head. He inhaled deeply. The hand which had been against mine on my forehead dropped to my stomach, bringing mine, and he wrapped our arms around me. Forced, I was brought in closer to him. His warmth was intoxicating but the rippling muscles coiled around my waist were terrifying.

"You didn't fall asleep, sweetheart." His term of endearment was only there to aid him in distracting me, keeping my focus away from the real issues. I felt incredibly wary. I hadn't? Without a doubt, I knew that I hadn't voluntarily left with Dillan, not without a fight.

"Oh," I breathed. Dillan made no move to expand. Anxiously, I tried my hardest to relax my body but I remained stiff as he curled around me more, pressing his chest as close to my back as possible.

"You collapsed."

I remembered the event as Fletcher spoke. I couldn't meet his eyes in the mirror because that would involve shifting Dillan and somehow I had avoided looking at him directly and when I, as I surely looked away, I ignite an argument that I would never win nor contribute to.

"In the garage."

"I caught you," Dillan softly murmured. "You're not injured." That didn't matter to me. Not one bit.

"When?" I pressed. Did Tony or Karen make it home? Had Katy called me? I needed to check my phone. It was still, hopefully, in my pyjama pockets, which was when I realised that I had been kidnapped in night clothes.

"About five and a half hours ago." Fletcher commented. He said it so nonchalantly that I hummed and then jotled upright. I had unintentionally shrugged off Dillan and tensed. He remained complacent and continued to embrace me. That was so long ago. How had I managed to sleep for longer than five hours, after passing out? From my position in the back seats, I could see that it was past four in the afternoon. Fear had lost me an entire day.

"Can I ask you some questions, Anya?"

I felt Dillan straighten up. "It can wait," he interrupted. He used his tight grip around my middle to fit me up against his slanted chest, pressing my head onto his shoulder.