Chapter 171\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daxon stepped back, his eyes scanning me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. \u2018Seraphine tells me you\u2019ve been busy, he said, glancing at the\u00a0<\/p>\n
loose shackle, his voice calm now, which was somehow worse than his anger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think you\u2019re clever, don\u2019t you? Breaking free like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
70\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer, just watched him, trying to gauge what he\u2019d do next. My left hand was still chained, the bolt in the wall holding firm, and my right arm was\u00a0<\/p>\n
useless, the broken bones grinding every time I moved. I was trapped, and he knew it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeraphine,\u201d he called, not taking his eyes off me, \u201ccome here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her footsteps came quickly, eager, and she appeared behind him, her face flushed with excitement, the knife still in her hand. \u201cWhat do you want me to do?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
she asked, her voice practically vibrating with anticipation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTighten the other chain, he said, nodding toward my left wrist. \u201cMake sure she can\u2019t pull that trick again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She moved toward me, and I pressed myself harder against the wall, my broken hand twitching instinctively to protect myself, even though it was useless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t touch me,\u201d I said, my voice low, but she just smirked, grabbing the chain and yanking it tight, the metal biting into my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going anywhere,\u201d she said, her face inches from mine, her breath hot and sour with wolfsbane.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pulled the chain harder, and I bit my lip to keep from crying out as the metal dug into my wrist, fresh blood welling up where it cut into my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daxon watched, his arms crossed, his expression unreadable. \u201cYou\u2019re wasting your energy, Athena,\u201d he said, his voice almost bored. \u201cYou can fight all you\u00a0<\/p>\n
want, but it won\u2019t change anything. Tristan\u2019s coming for you, and when he does, I\u2019ll be ready.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart lurched at Tristan\u2019s name, fear and a little hope twisting together in my chest. \u201cHe\u2019s smarter than you think,\u201d I said, forcing the words out despite\u00a0<\/p>\n
the pain. \u201cHe won\u2019t fall for your trap.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daxon laughed, a low, guttural sound that made my skin crawl. \u2018You think he\u2019s going to wait for backup? You think he\u2019s going to sit around planning while\u00a0<\/p>\n
his precious mate is chained up in a basement? You don\u2019t know him as well as you think.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, because he was right about one thing\u2013Tristan wouldn\u2019t wait. He\u2019d come for me, no matter the cost, and that was what\u00a0<\/p>\n
terrified me most. I had to get out of here before he walked into whatever Daxon had planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphine stepped back, wiping her hands on her jeans like she\u2019d just finished a chore. \u201cWhat now?\u201d she asked, looking at Daxon like a dog waiting for a\u00a0<\/p>\n
command.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Now we wait,\u2018 he said, his eyes still on me. \u201cTristan will come, and when he does, we\u2019ll deal with him. And her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphine\u2019s face lit up, a sick kind of glee in her eyes. \u2018You promised me,\u201d she said, her voice sharp. \u201cYou promised me Tristan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daxon\u2019s expression didn\u2019t change, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes\u2013annoyance, maybe, or amusement, \u201cI promised you\u2019d get what you want,\u201d he said, his tone flat. \u201cDon\u2019t push me, Seraphine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She flinched, just barely, but I saw it. For all her bravado, she was scared of him, and that gave me a sliver of hope. If I could exploit that, maybe I could find a way out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:24 Sat, Jan 10 G MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 171\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGet out, Daxon said, waving a hand at her. I need to talk to our guest alone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphine hesitated, her eyes darting between me and Daxon, but she didn\u2019t argue. She turned and climbed the stairs, her footsteps fading as the door\u00a0<\/p>\n
creaked shut behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
70\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daxon crouched in front of me, his eyes level with mine, his face so close I could see the faint scar running along his jaw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re tougher than I thought,\u201d he said, his voice almost soft, like he was impressed. \u201cMost people would\u2019ve given up by now. The old Athena would ve given\u00a0<\/p>\n
up too\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not most people, and neither am I that Athena you know.\u201d I said, my voice steady even though my whole body was screaming with pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he agreed, tilting his head, \u201cyou\u2019re not. But that\u2019s not going to save you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood up, brushing his hands together like he was dusting off dirt. \u201cYou\u2019re going to watch everything you love fall apart, Athena. Tristan, your pack, your\u00a0<\/p>\n
family\u2013they\u2019re all going to pay for what you\u2019ve done. What they did. For locking me up like a nobody.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cwe haven\u2019t done anything, because you deserve more.\u201d I said, my voice cracking. \u201cYou\u2019re the one who\u2019s been lying, manipulating, hurting people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 171 Chapter 171\u00a0 Daxon stepped back, his eyes scanning me like I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26328\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}