Cilian didn't wait for Ren to respond. He hooked a finger into the iron collar and started pulling Ren toward the elevator.
Ren wanted to fight, to bite that finger off, but the memory of those fangs against his neck was still so fresh that it sent chills down his spine.
He was lucky he hadn't been bitten, but if he had… what would've happened to him?
"What happens if I get bitten by a vampire?" Ren suddenly asked, and Cilian's steps came to a halt.
He turned, looked at Ren with that creepy smile on his lips, and then his expression turned dark.
"Did he… bite you?" He asked, but Ren could not respond. Whether the vampire succeeded or not, he still wasn't sure yet.
Cilian turned, facing Ren, and then he pushed his head down to take a good look at his neck. Luckily, there was nothing, so the darkness in his expression faded.
"You have nothing to worry about, Ren. That dirty bloodline won't get to lay hands on you anymore." He said, his hand pressed on Ren's shoulder.
Ren looked at the hand squeezing his shoulder lightly and couldn't understand Cilian's reaction. It seemed like he indeed had something to worry about.
"Now, let's keep going." He said, and this time held Ren's hand, leading him to the elevator.
They didn't go back to Ren's replica room. Cilian led him into a private study filled with screens and soft leather chairs.
The sight gave Ren goosebumps. Where was this? The security room?
He was still wondering this when Cilian sat on the edge of the desk, looking perfectly relaxed.
"You look so pale, Ren." He said, and Ren furrowed his eyebrows. "I already assured you that you didn't get bitten, so is it just the realization that you're much softer than you thought you were?" He chuckled. "It's okay. I like you soft. It makes you easier to carry."
"Go to hell," Ren rasped, baring his harmless fangs, and Cilian chuckled once more.
"Maybe later."
Ren stood there, unable to understand what Cilian wanted from him this time, or what they were doing in a room filled with screens.
"What are we doing here?"
"Wait," Cilian said, "Just watch."
He picked up a remote and tapped a button. A large monitor hanging from the ceiling slowly descended and then flickered to life.
Ren didn't know what he expected to see as the screen came to life, maybe something gruesome like blood, but instead, the screen showed a sunlit playroom.
In the room was a small boy, no older than six years old. He was sitting on a plush rug, carefully building a tower out of wooden blocks. He looked clean, healthy, and completely oblivious.
Ren's heart stopped at that moment, and a word slipped out of his lips. "Toby?"
It came out more like a whisper.
"He's grown, hasn't he?" Cilian murmured, watching the screen with a look of feigned fondness. "He has your eyes. Hopefully, he doesn't inherit your temper. It would be such a waste to have to discipline someone so small."
Ren lunged for the desk, reaching his hand to claw at Cilian's neck, but Cilian caught his wrists effortlessly, holding them down with a single hand.
"Where is he?" Ren barked, his eyes red with rage. "Cilian, if you touch him—"
"Touch him?" Cilian's voice was airy, shocked by the very suggestion. "Ren, I'm offended. He's in a lovely boarding school in the countryside. Private security, three meals a day, all the toys he could want. He thinks his father and uncles are away on a very important business trip." His lips curled even more. "A two-year business trip, that is."
Ren felt terror run through his body. This man…
That night, during the chaos, Ren believed all was lost, and believed he was the last of his bloodline, but there he saw that his elder brother's son, who had been only four years back then, was alive.
Toby Pierce was his nephew.
He could vividly remember how he held the small hands of the four-year-old, the warm smile on his lips, and how happy they were.
He didn't know what happened to Toby after that. He thought he was lost in the chaos as well, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Cilian had taken him. Should he be glad that he did not end the young boy's life or horrified that he had taken such a young child captive?
Cilian leaned in, his face inches from Ren's terrified one. "He's very happy, Ren, so you don't have to have that expression."
He brought his hand to Ren's face and caressed it.
"And he'll likely stay happy as long as I am happy. Do you understand how that works, Ren? It's a very simple equation."
Ren felt like he was suffocating.
His eyes stayed on the giant screen. The so-called Kindness Cilian preached about was a farce. He knew it from the start. How could he negotiate with the safety of the young boy on the screen?
The boy would stay happy as long as he was happy? He was just asking Ren to never provoke him, because the moment he did, the boy would lose that little comfy sunlit playroom as well as the roof over his head.
He could very much lose his life as well.
Ren swallowed hard, feeling cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
First, he used the fact that he could hurt the people around him if he acted out, just to get him to be obedient. And now he was using the life of his innocent nephew to remind him that he had so much more to lose by being difficult.
This hell is a far worse prison than getting locked in any basement, he thought.
Cilian wasn't just holding Ren captive; he was holding Ren's heart in a silk-lined box.
"You're a monster," Ren whispered, tears of pure rage stinging his eyes.
"I'm the man paying his tuition," Cilian corrected, his smile widening. He let go of Ren's wrists and patted his cheek. "Now, dry your eyes. I'm hosting a little gathering tonight. Some very important Alphas from the other families want to see the 'last Pierce.' If you're a good boy—if you smile and stay by my side—I might let you record a video message for little Toby tomorrow."
"And if I don't want to be on your display shelf?"
"Ah, you can probably already tell what happens next," Cilian said, his eyes darting to the screen.
Ren felt his body stiffen. Yeah, he didn't have a choice anymore. He could no longer be stubborn. His ambition to kill Cilian grew even more, but then at what cost?
He looked at the boy on the screen. Toby knocked over his tower and laughed, reaching for a blue block.
Ren's jaw clenched. He looked at Cilian, who was watching him with those glinting, predatory fox eyes, and then he lowered his head, clenching his fists.
At what cost?
"What do I have to do?" Ren asked, his voice dead.
Cilian stood up and smoothed out the front of Ren's shirt. "Just stand there and be beautiful, Ren. That's all I've ever wanted from you."
Ren lifted his head, looking at Cilian with a dead gaze. What did he have to do to get a hit at this man? His clenched fists trembled. What did he have to do to get away from him? To save Toby.