The Lycan King's Defiant Surrogate
Defiant Surrogate 54

Chapter 54 :60%

"This isn't a good idea," Bethany insists, more urgently before. "Whatever you saw him do, you'll be the next one tortured if you try to escape. How would you even do it? There's no way out of here."

I know, deep down. I'm not thinking clearly, but my fear is so rampant that I can't just sit here, waiting for my turn on the chopping block.

"There has to be a way," I say.

Not unless you can fly, Bethany says.

I consider her words. Maybe if I could fashion some kind of rope, I could scale down the wall. But surely the guards would see my attempts? They'd likely step in before I could even set up my makeshift rope. They might even shoot me as I dangle. Would the bullets kill me? Or would the fall?

"Let's just take a minute to breathe," Bethany says.

With her guidance, I take a deep breath, hold, and then release. Again, in, hold, out.

The slow breathing works. Eventually I come down from my panic enough to realize how futile any escape might be, especially something so sudden. I can still plot, still plan, but I need to take my time to do so. I need to keep my eyes and ears open so I can replace weaknesses and exploit them.

I need to be smart. And that means waiting.

"No more talk of escaping." Bethany says.

"For now," I agree.

As I continue to sit there, slowly recovering, there is a knock on the door.

Immediately, I suck in a sharp breath, panic flashing through my thoughts once more. Is it Caleb? Has he come to torture

me too?

Maybe the peonies were just to get me to lower my guard, and now the real nightmare begins..

Bethany leaves me sitting and goes to answer the door. As she pulls it open. Madeline walks inside. Ignoring Bethany, Madeline walks over to me. She stays standing a few feet off, while I continue to sit.

Some relief floods me, knowing Caleb wasn't the one at the door. But seeing Madeline doesn't exactly fill me with good feelings. She'd probably like to torture me too, if she could get away with it.

"We've gotten off on the wrong foot," Madeline says. "I made assumptions about you that were perhaps unfair." Her nose scrunches up like all of this physically pains her to say, "But I think we should start over." Suspicion immediately rises in me. What could she mean by this? And is she genuine?

I highly, highly doubt it. A leopard doesn't change its spots that easily. But she's definitely up to something, and that something means welcoming me into her lair.

It's a trap. Has to be. But the only way I might learn what she really wants is to spring the

I'd still rather face her than Caleb.

"What do you suggest?" I ask.

"Let's have tea, Madeline says, smiling.

trap.

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15:08 Wed, Nov 20 tu

Chapter 54

@x60%

This is a terrible idea. I know, as 1 join Madeline in her rooms to share tea. At Madeline's insistence, Bethany stayed behind, though not without giving me several worried looks.

Madeline likes her threats and her games, but despite everything she's done and all the threats she's made, she hasn't actually tried to kill me. Genuinely, it seems as if she simply wants me to become more subservient to her, as the other women in the harem have done. In the hierarchy, Madeline should be at the top. As the newest member, I should bend the knee to her.

But I never wanted to be in the harem. I don't have time for their politics.

Also, it's not my fault that Caleb has taken an interest in me, more than he has with the other girls. Truthfully, I wish he'd leave me alone like he does many of the harem..

Entering Madeline's chambers, I immediately spot a familiar face. The handmaiden attending Madeline I recognize as Sina's old handmaiden Molly. I suppose Nina acted alone in her treachery of me, but it still seems strange to see her handmaiden again, standing there smiling vaguely as if nothing happened between her old mistress and me.

Madeline's rooms are exotic and luxurious. Purple and teal cushions are accentuated with peacock feathers on nearly every surface.

The table near her bed is larger than the table near mine. Hers holds four chairs, with an elaborate centerpiece filled with purple flowers and giant feathers.

She invites me to sit, then takes the seat beside mine.

"Handmaiden, Madeline says. "Prepare the tea, please.

"Yes, mistress," Molly says and leaves the room, presumably headed for the kitchen.

Once she's gone, Madeline looks at me. Her expression is mostly neutral, though there is a sharpness in her gaze that tells me she is sizing me up.

"You are e new,

Madeline says. "I have taken for granted that everyone around here knows the way things are, but how could you? No one has sat you down to discuss it. A failing on my part, but one I mean to correct."

"I really don't care to be involved in harem politics," I tell her. "If you want to be the top woman in the harem, that is your business. I have no intention of stepping on your toes."

Her eye twitches, ever so slightly, right at the outside corner. "This is what I mean. You are ignorant, thinking you can avoid being involved. The King has made you part of the harem. You are a part of this, whether you want to be or not."

Truly, with my recent harsh revelations about Caleb, whatever Madeline has going on pales in comparison. I'm already tired of this entire exchange, wanting to focus on more important things like life and death.

But, if this conversation can get Madeline and the rest of the harem to back off of me, if only for a few minutes, then le willing to see this through.

"What do you want from me, Madeline?" I ask bluntly.

"The King favors you."

"I have no control over that."

"Deny him," Madeline says flatly

I give her a look of disbelief. "King Caleb doesn't accept denials.

"Then fight him. Kick, punch, scratch. Eventually he will tire of you and return to the rest of us," Madeline says.

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Chapter 54 60%

""He could kill me

"That is the sacrifice you should be willing to make to appease the harem. It is only by our grace that you have not yet killed," Madeline says, "Ah, handmaiden. The tea. Serve us. been

Molly enters through the door carrying a silver tray with teapot on top and two separate cups. After placing the tray on the table, she pours a cup for Madeline and me, then places the cups in front of us. I toy with the handle of my teacup, watching Madeline carefully

She hasn't moved an inch toward her own.

"Go on. Madeline says, entirely too eagerly. "Drink."

The tea has to be poisoned. It's the only reason she would be so excited to see me drink.

Anger begins to churn inside of me. This was the woman I fought with Caleb about, trying to save her life. Now she was going to throw all that back in my face by killing me? Unbelievable.

Grabbing the teacup, I pretend like I'm going to bring it up to my mouth. Then, at the last moment, l'accidentally" twist to the side and spill the tea all over the wooden floorboards. Immediately, the wood starts to hiss, as whatever was in the tea burns a hole right there in the ground.

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