STEFAN (Completed)

Part 30

Chapter 30

Lorena was well fed but remained incarcerated in the tower for five months. But she didn't mind. She had been 'imprisoned' her entire life. At least here she didn't have to fear the wrath of Sergei and his Renegades for her betrayal. As long as she remained in Devonne, even as a prisoner, she was safe.

She wasn't allowed to leave the room but once in a month, she was allowed to explore the palace gardens under supervision and this was on the condition that she didn't try to make conversation or try to mix up. She appreciated this because she got to experience sunshine outside her room. She had never been outdoors before coming to Devonne. Her only experience of the outside world had been through the windows in Sergei's lair.

The first time she had stepped out into the sun she had reacted like a vampire from the movies, scared of being scorched by the son. But apart from the discomfort which she had soon gotten over, she found herself looking forward to being out in the sun and watching the sunset from outside her room. It was beautiful. It gave her something to look forward to every month.

She had regular supplies of expensive toiletries and her bedroom was comfortable but it was still a cell. She bore the Ruler no grudges because she couldn't expect less from him. He was had sworn to protect his people from the enemy and she was one of them. She was considered a threat.

She missed Stefan so much. She hadn't felt his pain in months, so he had to be feeling a lot better.

I miss you so much, cara mia, she thought.

She rubbed at her aching eyes. She really needed to see an optician. Her eyes bothered her a lot and her vision was getting poorer with each day. But she had no one to complain to. The Ruler of Devonne had been kind to her, considering what his son had gone through in the hands of Renegades. No one had hurt her. She couldn't ask for too much.

The door was pushed open and she looked up, squinting hard to see who it was. It wasn't time for her monthly walk. She had done that three days earlier. And she had also had breakfast. She was surprised to find Stefan, the real Stefan and not the Stefan who had been incarcerated.

This was the Stefan of her dreams: A mirror image of Nicolae but the harder version: Tall, dark and too gorgeous for any woman's sanity. He was muscular, with dark, well curved eyebrows, silver-violet eyes beneath thick lashes, a strong nose over sensual lips, well defined cheek bones and powerful jaw, all conspiring to make him too gorgeous for any woman's piece of mind. He took her breath away.

He was dressed in a black silk shirt and black slacks. The top three buttons of his shirt were left open giving him a sexy look. The clothes made him look dark and dangerous. His height and the breadth of his shoulders conspired to make him menacing. Her heart thudded at the sight of him as it always did.

Seeing him made her conscious of her state of undress. She had on a pink nightshirt, which she had been given to replace the hospital gown she had arrived in. She had also been given underclothes and a few dresses for her walk. She had deliberately pulled on the nightshirt as she had nowhere to go and there was no one to admire her or something. Now she wished she had put on some clothes.

She stared at him. She was so happy to see him. She wanted to run to him, but she held herself back because she was not sure he would appreciate it and certainly not when she could feel the hate seeping from every pore.

"Stefan!" she exclaimed. "You look...... look different."

"What were you expecting? That I'd stay sickly and die?"

"Of course not, I'm happy to see you fully recovered."

He gave a derisive snort.

"Are you really? It's been six months since we saw each other and we have a lot of catching up to do." He told her. "We are leaving Devonne...."

"I..." Suddenly she was afraid of leaving with him. She was afraid of what he would do to her when they were away from the others. She might not be welcomed in Devonne but at least she didn't have to worry about being hurt. They had kept her incarcerated but no one had tried to hurt her physically. But she couldn't say the same thing about Stefan. He still had that wild look in his eyes. If the way he had attacked her in the cage was anything could go by, she couldn't take the risk of his physically hurting her.

Stefan blamed her for most of his problems and with Marina dead, she knew that she would be bearing the brunt of Stefan's anger. She feared not for her life but for her heart which had belonged to him from the first dream she had had of him as a teenager.

"I am your father's prisoner," she told him.

"You were held in trust for me. We are leaving..."

"I don't think that is a very good idea."

There was only one way out and he was standing in front of it.

"You are afraid, aren't you Familiar? Well you should be because of the things I could and intend to do to you

She cowered in fear as he approached her. She made to scramble off the bed, but he caught her easily. She screamed, struggling to free herself from his grip.

"Scream as much as you want to. No one would come to your aid. You are not in Renegade land. You are in the midst of enemies. You almost killed me and it is my right to punish you."

"Please don't do this Stefan. Please let me go."

"You should have thought of that when you wielded that wicked looking syringe."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Isn't it too late for that?"

"Please you can keep me locked up for the rest of my life."

"You'd love that, wouldn't you?" he jeered. "They take such good care of you here, don't they? I notice that you look a lot healthier than you did when you were living in Sergei's lair. I do not intend to be kind to you. I intend to make and keep you miserable for the rest of your sorry life. My father is kind to his prisoners, but I am not my father."

She struggled with him but she shouldn't have bothered.

*******

Inside the hallway of his home, Stefan deposited Lorena on the floor. She felt a little dizzy as she took off heading for the massive double doors. She cried out as her fingers curled around one red hot door knob.

"Please let me go, Stefan." She pleaded.

By giving him her heart, she had given him hundred and one weapons with which to hurt her. Killing her would be doing her a great favour but she knew that Stefan wouldn't make it easy for her. If she had known that the poison wouldn't kill him immediately, she wouldn't have bothered. She couldn't even recall its chemical composition.

Stefan walked away, disappearing behind a door leaving Lorena alone. They were the only occupants of the house at the moment for his housekeeper and the kids were still at Nicolae's estate. Nicolae had informed him about the massacre.

The arrangement suited Stefan just fine because he didn't want them in harm's way. Keeping Ms Banderas in his home was enough trouble. Her father could come for her and he wouldn't be alone. Lorena remained in the hallway, not moving an inch.

She was afraid of taking a step either forward or backward not knowing what he had in store for her. For all she knew, the ground might open up and swallow her whole if she moved. She was also afraid to scream for help. She was in enemy territory.