Paw Prints (Book One in the Trails Series) *BEING EDITED-NEW VERSION WILL BE LONGER*

~Chapter Twenty-Eight~ Hostages

Alex grabbed Marielle's shirt collar, his hand shaking from rage. "What the hell is wrong with your daughter?" He whispered dangerously. Marielle swallowed. "I don't know!" She said, her voice shaking.

Alex pulled tighter. Marielle choked. "Marielle I swear on your life that if you don't tell me right now-"

"ALEX I DON'T KNOW!" Marielle screamed, reaching up and slapping him across the face. Alex stared at her, stunned. Then he gripped her tighter. "You dare slap me." He spat.

Marielle squeaked. Alex heard a crack as he tightened his grip.

Alex didn't let go until Marielle could not longer talk. Her eyes rolled into her head. With a short breath of annoyance, he walked away from her.

Alex turned a corner and paused as he heard a noise. After a moment, he assumed it was his own steps, and continued to walk.

He heard the noise again and stopped in his tracks. It was louder now.

Slowly and quietly, he drew a dagger from his belt. He held it out in front of him, then spun and held it behind him. "Show yourself!" He demanded.

"If you insist." A voice replied.

Alex yelled as something hit the back of his head, hard. He collapsed on his back, shocks of pain flying through his body with every breath he took.

Above him, a face smiled. Unshaven in a way that didn't make him took dirty, blue eyes glaring furiously.

And this face, Alex knew quite well. It was a face he had watched starve, be tortured, and beg for mercy.

"Hello, Paul." He said, keeping his voice as steady as possible. He felt the back of his shirt soak as blood poured from a cut on the back of his head.

"Hello, Alex." Paul said, smiling cruelly and sheathing his sword. "I would just like to say that it's quite a pleasure to see you bleeding to death."

"And it's quite a pleasure to see that you continue to annoy be simply by being in the room." Alex said silkily.

Paul shrugged and leaned on the wall. "It's a special gift." He said. "Now, could I ask why you were strangling my wife?"

Though his voice stayed calm, Alex could tell that Paul was trying not to lash out at him and kill him on the spot.

Oh, the things good people will do! Alex mused. Not brave enough to kill just for the fun of it, but brave enough to offer a second chance when it has already been used many times.

"Well?" Paul snapped, his voice shaking slightly in his rage.

"Marielle is fine." Alex said simply. "She is a strong women...when she wants to be. Though that fact is beside the point. I'm not sure if you've figured this out yet, Paul, but your wife's loyalty no longer lays with you. She is with us now, and she always will be. She's agreed to our terms and proved her loyalty many more times than you could imagine."

Paul narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you." He whispered, clenching his hands into fists. "I knew my wife better than I know myself."

"I believe the key word in that sentence was knew." Alex pointed out.

Paul faltered, opening his mouth and closing it again. "I still trust her." He growled, pulling out his sword again.

Alex shrugged. "Of course you do. You're an innocent soul. You know nothing of trust and mistrust. Once you fall in love you lose the ability to see clearly. I'm quite sure, actually, that if your beloved wife ran you through with a sword you would say that you loved her with your last dying breath instead of hating her for taking your life." He said.

Paul gritted his teeth. "And what, may I ask, does that mean to you?"

"It means that you're too soft to deal with the real world." Alex replied easily. Paul's hands began to shake. "I value loyalty." He snapped.

"Which is your mistake, exactly!" Alex cried. "You think that just because someone was loyal to you once, they will be again!"

"Marielle values loyalty." Paul countered. Alex smiled. "Which is exactly why she is with us today. She looks at her family, them being some of the highest ranked Trackers in the country, and follows their loyal example. She was loyal to us first, Paul."

When Paul didn't reply, Alex let out a shout of glee. "It is so fun to hold your flaws over you like a piece of meat over a dog! It is so fun to watch you jump to grasp them but be unable to process them!

"And it will also be fun to watch you die."

Paul opened is mouth to speak, but before he could utter a single sound his eyes widened. Tendrils of electricity laced his body and he fell to the ground, writhing, revealing a man behind him.

"Think you, Jim." Alex said to the short, bald man. "I was starting to think all of his talk of loyalty would bore me to death."

Jim smirked and looked down at Paul. His actions were getting weaker.

Wonderful.

"Help me up." Alex demanded. Jim stepped over Paul and grabbed Alex's outstretched hands, pulling him to his feet.

Alex straightened himself out and brushed off his shirt and pants. "Do me a favor and find Marielle. She'll be passed out a little way down the hall. Check her pulse and make sure I didn't accidentally kill her." He commanded. Jim nodded once and jogged down the hall.

Alex smiled down at Paul, a feeling of power settling in his chest. "You made a mistake, Paul." He whispered, bending down low over his ear.  "You'll most likely end up dead...and you're here as bait for your precious little daughter."

Paul's eyes got wider as he stared at Alex. Alex smiled. "Good. You can still hear me. I suppose I should let you know, while I can without getting killed, that I'll be sending out a note right now of your capture...and your scheduled death...maybe we can do it by hanging? Or I could tie up your hands and stab you with a sword until you bleed to death..."

He smiled and got to his feet, triumph singing in his heart.

Maybe things were finally starting to go his way.