Read Online Cloak and Dagger (The IMA Book 1) by Nenia Campbell - Free Book Online Page A

through the rails of the staircase, a couple of bookshelves. There was a laptop on a desk but the screen was black. If he had a computer, we weren't completely removed from civilization. He had to plug that laptop in somewhere. And I'd seen him with a phone.
    With that thought in mind, I allowed him to steer me to the bathroom. It was one of the worst rooms for wear. The counter was cheap fake marble that looked like plastic. The casing on the pipes certainly was. The floor was real ceramic but so chipped that the wood beneath was exposed in places. How could he stand to live like this? I pulled the shower curtain aside, checking for bugs or, God forbid, rats , and felt a stab of panic when he didn't leave.
    “ Um…you can go.”
    “ Nice try,” he said.
    “ You mean…you're staying?” I asked, appalled. “Here?”
    “ You hard of hearing?” He wasn't just trying to scare me, he was serious . He was really going to stand there and watch me while I showered. Even if the curtain was somewhat opaque, the thought of him being there while I was naked was terrifying. He read the look on my face and snorted. “Don't flatter yourself, darlin. You don't have anything I haven't seen before.”
    I started to cry. I couldn't help it. The tears just fell of their own accord.
    “ Would you rather go without a shower? 'Cause that is the only other option.”
    I swallowed hard and nodded, shaking loose the tears clinging to my chin.
    “ Oh, Jesus fucking Christ.” I peered up through my wet eyelashes. He looked disgusted. “Just give me your goddamn clothes.”
    I clutched the hem of my dress. “W-what?”
    “ Your clothes. The fabric protecting your goddamn feminine modesty.” He nodded toward a towel hanging on the metal rail. “Take them off, wrap yourself in that, and then give them to me. It isn't fucking rocket science.”
    Was it a trick? “
    “ Will you … leave first?”
    “ You have thirty seconds.” He held up a finger. “ Ten if I hear another word.”
    It wasn't until the door slammed behind him that I was able to breathe.
    I disrobed as fast as I could. The dress was easy, the leggings were harder. I had a hard time rolling them off my thighs with my shaking hands. I had barely gotten the towel wrapped around me when the door burst open. My captor took the soiled clothes, exchanging them for a small square of soap. “Hurry it up,” he said. Then he left, and the room plunged into silence.
    The shower was wonderful. I didn't dare stay in there long enough for the water to heat up properly for fear he'd lose patience and barge in, but I'd never appreciated washing more. By the time I finished with my hair alone, I had almost no soap left. The dirt and stale sweat were scrubbed away. I was much cleaner than before. I wrapped myself in the towel again and opened the door. My captor was leaning against the opposite wall with a bundle of clothes under his arm. His posture was watchful but relaxed.
    The stance of a predator at rest.
    He straightened when he heard the squeak of the door hinges and clicked his tongue at the puddle of water at my feet. “Fucking water everywhere — go on, get dressed.” He dropped the pile of clothes in my arms. They weren't the ones I'd left him with but I recognized some of them: a black shirt I'd worn the last time I went on a date, my third-best pair of Lucky jeans, my underwear —
    “ Where did you get these?”
    “ It's time to send your parents another picture.”
    “ Did you steal these from my room? Did you go back to my house ?”
    “ We need one where you look alive.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Hurry up.”

Chapter Five
    Control
    His treatment of me became increasingly unfeeling. He seemed disgusted by me. Disgusted and resentful, since he had no qualms about insulting me, tossing off a few casual threats, or even landing a few open-handed blows on my face and body for good measure.
    Resisting, fighting back, hadn't worked. I couldn't seize control