His Slave

22. Grief

When I wake up I notice I'm sleeping on something soft and for a second I panic, thinking James dragged me into his bed last night. I shoot up, realizing I'm on the sofa in his room, not his bed.

A little relieved, I lay back down, shutting my eyes. I'm exhausted, and my head is throbbing. I probably shouldn't have drank so much last night. My stomach is sloshing around like the ocean in a storm and I swallow the bile rising in my throat.

The door clicks open. I'm expecting James but Anna comes in, carrying a tray in both hands.

"Good morning, sunshine!" She shouts as loud as she can. "Well, good afternoon!" She corrects, rolling her eyes.

"Jesus, Anna, do you have to yell? I have a headache," I hiss at her, sitting up a little, pressing my hand to my forehead.

"Sorry," she sings out in apology.

"Where's James?" I ask, glancing around his room.

Anna smirks at me. "He had to go into work and didn't want to wake you; said you had a pretty eventful night," she adds, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

I scowl at her. "Not that kind of eventful," I reply through gritted teeth as she comes over to me. I'm going to give James hell for that later.

Anna shakes her head, handing me a mug filled with a thick tea.

"Anyways, he asked me to check on you. He figured you were going to need my magical hangover cure this morning," she adds.

I sniff the contents of the mug, gagging. "What is this shit?" I ask her, fighting hard not to throw up. It smells horrendous.

She laughs. "If I tell you, you probably won't drink it. But I promise your headache and the queasiness in your stomach will be gone in twenty minutes. Tops," she replies.

I regard Anna for a moment before taking a sip, nearly spitting it back in the cup.

"Oh god," I exclaim after I've swallowed the first sip. "That's disgusting!"

"Yeah, it's an old family recipe, and it is pretty gross. But I promise you it works," Anna hums, urging me to drink more.

I narrow my gaze at her. "This isn't some cruel trick is it?" I ask.

Anna shakes her head. "Nope. I've made this stuff for James countless times. Actually, I think I've made it for all the debtors here at least once too," she replies with a shrug.

I swallow as much as I can in one swig, wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible. I force myself to take another drink, getting half the mug down before nearly choking to death on the fishy aftertaste.

"How was last night Anyways? I've always wondered what attending a fancy government party was like," she says as I take another drink.

"It was fun," I reply. "The dessert was amazing. Governor's speech was monotonous, but everything else was pretty great. Except for some Kendra bitch cornered me. Said she was with some group that helps debtors escape," I reply.

Anna's eyes get wide. "The rebels contacted you?" She asks in shock.

I nod. "Yeah. James was furious," I add, forcing myself to down the rest of the mug in one gulp. I stick my tongue out afterwards.

"Wow. You told him?!" She asks in surprise.

"He found us. But even if he hadn't, I still would have told him," I reply quietly.

"But I thought you didn't want to be here," she teases, a gleam in her green eyes.

I roll my eyes. "Rebel groups like that don't actually get anybody out. Even if they do help you escape, they'll just make you work for them in return. You're just exchanging one contract for another basically," I tell her, setting the empty mug on the coffee table in front of me.