Cinderella: A Fractured Fairytale

Forty-Nine

Jovette's POV

Chapter 49

*****

Ethan stayed completely still for a moment, an expression of shock frozen on his face.

"What?"

I gave him a small smile. "I said, I'm offering a trade."

He swallowed thickly. "I... I know what you said."

"Let Ana go," I whispered, "and I'll come back as a willing hostage."

He remained silent.

I slipped past him inside, and he stood there by the door, staring at me with his mouth hanging open.

"Well?" I said. "Close your mouth, you're going to catch a fly in there."

He did.

"Do you accept the trade?" I asked quietly. "I promise not to run away again."

Ethan was silent for a few seconds. Then he nodded slowly.

"Where is she?" I asked again.

He turned silently and walked towards a door on the other side of the room. I followed.

He opened the door, and I gasped softly. Laying there prone on the floor in the middle of the room was Ana.

"What have you done to her?" I asked, rushing over to make sure she was still breathing.

"Nothing that can't be reversed," he replied quietly with a hint of amusement. His face twisted with sudden pain at the emotion, but he also had a glint of malice in his eyes. "But it will have to be Eric who reverses it."

And with that, he picked her up and put her over his shoulder like a sack of barley.

Then he gripped my wrist tightly and we disappeared together.