The silence stretched over minutes as measured looks passed between the three of us. The car rolled forward, the taxi driver still muttering something about delays. In shock, my focus was on Garrett who still looked equal parts miserable and contrite.

In her own way, Madeline looked amused. Angled in the corner of her seat, her bright red lips curled as she watched me. To her, this was a game, a reckless play with Garrett's sanity and my life. Without Kael knowing I was in London, we would both be dead or worse in a couple of hours. Garrett would die with that fog in his eyes, never expecting this temptress to betray him.

My stomach churned, the picture of Madeline and Garrett together imprinted on my brain. Kael had been with her too, probably ten years back. Something about her beauty and confidence had a seductive quality to men, blinded to the demons inside her. Perhaps ten years ago she had been different, but Garrett knew too much to be tricked. He'd willingly let himself play the fool. Disgusted, I couldn't look at him.

Rain pelted the window outside, adding to the hopeless feel of my situation. My thoughts spiralled, taking me to the darkest places in my mind. Kael should not have stopped me from jumping off the bridge the night when Maria died. I would have been better off at the bottom of the river, never seeing Garrett's hard fall at Madeline's hands.

The sound of Garrett rubbing his hands along his thighs preceded his hurried explanation. "This isn't what it looks like Harper."

My brain couldn't evoke a response. Despite his appeal, no reasonable explanation was offered. There was none. He'd kissed Madeline. My eyes slid shut, sick at the thought.

"We're doing what's best," Madeline crooned from her corner by the window. In my peripheral vision, I watched her cross her legs, casually draping an arm over her knees. "You're too naive. At least Garrett understands. Keeping you out of Kael's hands is the priority."

"This is necessary," Garrett added. He leaned forward.

Still unable to respond, I dropped my head into my hands. Only then did I move past the shock of Garrett's betrayal to process my own dire state. Madeline had never been kind to her prisoners. In my mind's eye, I saw Kael's scarred back, his bruised face, and the dull look in his eyes when I'd found him. My hands began to shake against my face.

When the car stopped, I dropped them. Outside the window, an old factory with boarded windows and barbed wire fences rose into the grey sky. Abandoned, the place had an eerie aura. Birds flew from the upper windows, unhindered by humans in building their nests in the eaves. With Madeline across from me, the area was terrifying. No one would ever find us here.

Two men came from the building to the front gate to meet us. Their dark clothes and sober faces were reminiscent of the guards Madeline had at the castle where she captured Kael. I wondered if she had relocated here and if Kael knew anything about it.

Garrett looked to me, his eyes holding an element of concern. For the first time, I wondered if he recognized his error, but then he smiled at Madeline. Without looking back at me, he ducked out of the car.

"I won't hurt you," Madeline said once Garrett was gone, her voice low. "But I will hurt Garrett. So watch yourself, my dear."

Blood pounded in my ears as I was guided through the rain and up the steps to the old factory. No one spoke as we were ushered inside. Madeline led with Garrett and the two guards that held my arms behind her.

The inside of the place was as I expected it to be. Desolate and dilapidated, it looked as if there hadn't been a soul in the place in the last decade other than a stray cat or squatter. The small group moved carefully to avoid missing floorboards and large cobwebs that snaked across our path. It wasn't hard to imagine Madeline torturing me in here. No one would hear my screams. But she'd said she would only hurt Garrett. Why?

The center of the place was hollow. By design, we could view floors above us. An impressive pulley system with heavy looking hooks had rusted and swung over our heads. Perhaps large cargo had been transported or made here. If only I had seen a sign or something to give me an indication as to where we were. Not that it mattered. I had no way of telling anyone.

At the far side of the large drop was an elevator. We had to walk single file to get in the door. It was an old system with a rickety gate that was pulled across once we were packed inside.

I glanced at Garrett, hoping for a knowing look or reassuring nod but he was watching the floors multiply beneath us. He seemed oblivious to the situation and insensitive to my fears. In America, I'd believed he'd gotten better, more like himself in the days before I left him. But as the elevator stopped and he gave one of the guards a pleasant nod before preceding him, I realised how thoroughly he'd fooled me.

On the top level, the opening in the middle of the floor was terrifying. Large platforms rose on either side of the drop in different levels. I could imagine men working here, safety gates and hats in place, never assuming their workplace could be used by a mad woman, years later.

Taking a catwalk, Madeline led us from the platform across the drop to the far wall. Looking down, the distance was as dizzying as the swaying walkway.

"In here," Madeline said, thrusting open a folding door.

The platform narrowed here. If the door were closed, there was only a small ledge between the drop and the folding door. Swallowing hard, I didn't resist when I was pushed into the room.

I was shoved face first into a thick cobweb. Sputtering, I tried to pull the webs from my face, but my hands were wretched down. With a hard yank, I was spun back toward the open door and the ledge. Enough light leaked through the boarded windows of the factory to see well in the room as long as she left the roller door up. Inches from the edge, Madeline appeared unaffected by the fatal drop behind her. Everyone but Madeline had vanished.

"What does he want with you?" Madeline demanded, still holding a vice grip on my arm.

"Let go of me!" Remembering a trick Kael had shown me, I twisted toward her thumb and broke free, backing away a few steps further into the room. "Who?"

Madeline threw her head back in frustration. "Arias. I've got a nominee waiting to buy you for ten million pounds. What the devil does Arias want with you?"

To hide my shaking, I weaved my fingers through my tangled hair, freeing the webs. "How should I know?"

Madeline stepped forward, her pointer finger angled toward my face. "I warned you what would happen if you-"

"I don't know!"

Madeline hit me hard, her fist leaving a throbbing pain in my jaw. Shrinking back, I held my aching cheek and checked my temper, fearful of what she could do to Garrett should I retaliate.

Heels clicked on the wooden floors. Through slits in my eyes I watched her approach, one eyebrow arched in disdain. "Kael has to die, you know." Madeline's voice held a warning. "To become Arias, you have to die first. And once he's dead, it's his. Then he'll have too much power. I won't find him again."

"So you'll go to this," she flicked her hand, "undeserving contender because I want him to win. Not because he deserves it." She laughed. "That's right; I'm choosing the next Arias." Madeline's self-satisfied smile twisted her features into something from my nightmares.

She crouched in front of me. One ice-cold finger lifted my chin. There was no hiding my shaking now. Her face was right in front of mine. I could imagine the blade near my shoulder, remember the sound of her laugh as I suffered. My lungs constructed until I could no longer breathe. But my eyes wouldn't leave hers. No matter how much she scared me, I had to retain some fight. I couldn't surrender completely.

"Let Garrett go," I whispered. Wishing my voice sounded stronger, I pressed on. "I'll do what you ask, but you can't hurt him."

Madeline's finger brushed my nose. Needles climbed my spine when she winked at me. "I'll do as I like." Her brows rose. "And I like to see him in pain."

She stood abruptly then, dropping her hold on me. For a moment I thought I saw something in the doorway. My eyes flicked that way and I saw Garrett backing onto the catwalk. He rose a finger to his lips just before he turned to hurry away.

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Hope you enjoyed the chapter guys! Harper's in another tight spot. How I've missed Madeline. ;) What do you make of Garrett? Do you think he will help or hinder her? 

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