Mad Honey

Chapter Thirteen

"Get down the stairs." I'm pushing the point of the knife into his lower back just enough for it to be uncomfortable, the thick fabric of the suit jacket has been pierced but not his undershirt or vest. He just grunts at me, still unmoving. "I'm exhausted so Get. Down. The. Stairs." He's still not moving, and in this instant, any feelings I've had for this boy are scoured. He's just another prisoner to me, another asshole lazy prisoner. So I'll give him what a stubborn prisoner deserves. In a quick swoop I've kicked his legs out from under him and he's falling down the stairs. He thunks loudly down, down, down until he rolls to a stop, sprawled out and groaning. I don't know whats happening with me, but I've gone numb all of a sudden. Maybe it's the flirting or the day I've spent nearly getting assaulted and then tearing my hair out over Leo, but as long as he's alive, I really couldn't give a damn right now.

"That's what happens when you don't cooperate Leo. Make it easier for the both of us and just do what I say." He spits at my feet.

"You knocked me down the stairs."

"Your observational skills are top-notch. To clear everything up I also captured you and interrogated you for three days. Ring a bell?" He frowns at me.

"You kidnapped me!"

"No, I captured you."
"Why do you care so much about the wording."

"It's inaccurate. Kidnapping insinuates that one of the two parties is uninformed or at a disadvantage. I didn't kidnap you, you lost to me." He's still frowning, that answer didn't satisfy him. I don't really care, I'm right. "Please get up and walk with me back to the study."

He gets on his feet slowly, and I grab his wrist again, place the knife on the small of his back and we march forward.

I'm silently fuming at this boy. He didn't even waste my time well, didn't leave a riddle or little hints, just made the worse possible decisions at every corner. I've just finished walking him down the sloping hallways and we're inside my rooms, at the door of the study when he starts to wriggle under my grip.

"You really don't want to do that." I press the knife harder into his back, and he keeps trying to squirm away. Even though I'm strong, I'm not as physically big as Leo and I can't hold him for long, so I have to use the knife more and more. I don't press hard but I twist it, and the vest and the undershirt on him tears. I can feel the knife biting into his skin, see a trickle of red dancing down his back.

"What the fuck! Why'd you do that?" Why does he keep playing stupid?

"I did that because you weren't listening to me! Now get in the room, and sit back on the chair, I'm going to tie you up so you can't get away again." I push him into the study and walk him over to the chair, shove his shoulders down and make him sit. What to tie him with? I'm going to have to, shit, I'm going to have to search him. But first, I'll tie him up to keep him in place, I can do that. He escaped from naval rope last time, but assuming I find any extra hidden escape tools the rope is still good. And even if I miss any little serrated knives or wire wraps, he couldn't cut through metal. And a very smart and quite terrifying girl named Emme slipped a variety of metal tools into one of my bags, including a pair of ankle shackles that would be fairly impossible for even a highly prepared captee. But the cuffs are in my rooms, and I refuse to leave Leo alone for even a second. I lean over to the frayed rope fragments left on the floor after his great escape, and grab the longest one. That'll do.

"Hold out your hands." He looks at me oddly. "Just do it, I'm not going to hurt you." So he holds out his hands, and I bind them tightly, leaving a two metre lead on the end of it. I start to walk, holding onto the end of the makeshift leash. "Hurry along."