Chapter 21 · Three Hours of Obedience

"Say yes, Alice. Or we go back to the street and let Caine’s dogs find us both."

Silas didn't move. He was leaning against the scarred wooden table of the safehouse, blood still seeping through the makeshift bandage on his side. He looked wrecked. But those eyes—cold, calculating—were wide awake.

He held all the cards. He’d taken a blade for me, and now he wanted payment.

I stared at him, chest heaving. My fingers were still shaking from the ambush. "Absolute obedience? You’re insane. I don't even trust you to breathe the same air as me."

"Trust isn't part of the deal," Silas said.

He stepped forward. Boots clicking. He didn't limp—too proud for that. He stopped inches from me, heat radiating through the thin fabric of my dress.

"The deal is simple. Three hours. You do exactly what I say. No questions, no biting, no running. In exchange, I keep your sister’s location secret from the Inquisition. And I keep you alive."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to slap that smug look off his face. But the System hummed in the back of my mind—a low vibration reminding me I was outclassed.