"Avery?"

The voice was unmistakable as Silas got out of the dark windowed SUV. The sight of him dressed in his usual black attire hit me straight in the chest making it momentarily difficult to think of anything else other than my feelings for him.

He had stepped out of my memories and into my present. There had been many times I had accepted I would never see him again but here he was.

It pulled me straight back to when it was just the two of us. His mouth on mine, his body against mine. I was winded.

I took a steady breath. "Silas."

"How?" He seemed to be visibly stunned for just a fraction of a second before he regained his usual cool composure.

I bit my lip. I had a story I would tell him but whether he would believe it or not was a different story.

His eyes searched mine as he came to a stop in front of me.

"It's a long story," I breathed, fighting through the complex emotions he stirred in me while trying to keep my head so I could answers his questions and hopefully hide Jude's involvement in my disappearance.

Even knowing he was engaged to someone didn't deter any of the feelings I had for him. I loved him still, even though I knew it would not end well for me.

His eyes went from mine to look past me down the dusty road that led to the farmhouse I stepped closer pulling his attention back to me. I couldn't allow him to discover what was going on at the farm, I owed it to Stella and every other Vampire and Sire who was hiding here.

"How?" he asked again. "Why?"

"Thane," I whispered, being pulled back into the moment I had awakened on the dirty battered mattress in the basemen of Talon's house. Thane's sister. I swallowed.

His jaw tensed and I saw his anger ignite in his eyes. "Thane?"

I nodded. "And his sister."

His attention kept going back to the property behind me. I couldn't let him find the people hiding out there, I had to stop him.

"Silas."

His eyes went to mine. "You are going to tell me everything Avery and I'll decide who will pay for this."

His usual control slipped, his eyes were intense and I felt a moment of panic that Talon and Thane were not the only ones he would hold accountable. Thane's sister had kidnapped me and held me prisoner but after Jude had saved me I had made the choice to allow him to continue to believe I was dead. That was a choice I had made. Even if it had been made with the right reasons.

He motioned for me to get into the back of the SUV. I got into the waiting vehicle and he slid in after me closing the door.

I wrestled with the fear of trying to appease him and ensure Jason and the Sires and Vampires living on the farm were able to relocate without any interference from Silas.

He was silent and barely masking his temper while we drove to his house. This was not how I had ever imagined our reunion to unfold after I had been taken. I'd imagined him declaring his love for me and promising to protect me from any further threats.

Instead I feared his anger when he discovered I had made the decision to keep the fact I was alive from him. I'd had my reasons but would he understand? I wasn't sure.

"You haven't once asked about your sons," he said breaking the silence as he studied me closely just before we pulled into the estate.

His observation rattled me. He couldn't know that Jude had snuck me in for a secret visit with our sons, Avery and Archer.

"They have been all I have been able to think about." There was no hiding the emotion I felt when I remembered meeting them briefly for the first time.

He studied me closely.

When the car stopped in front of the house he got out first and I followed. He went to his study and entered the room, closing the door behind me.

"Tell me," he commanded. He had his back to me, his focus was on what lay beyond the window.

"I woke up in cell. I had no idea what had happened." I swallowed. The line of tension in his shoulders was clear to see. "Talon tortured me. I don't know for how long."

I paused as he turned to face me. "What exactly did she do Avery?"

I hadn't intended to lay every single detail out for scrutiny.

"Is it really necessary?" My voice shaky, unsure if I could delve into it without bringing the trauma back.

"It is." His voice was tight and controlled.

"She starved me of blood at first." I didn't want to remember any of this. I just wanted to let it go and forget it ever happened. "Then she hung me upside down, slit my wrists and watch me bleed."

His features were stone like and unrevealing but his hands fisted at his sides but he remained silent.

"Then Thane was released." I sighed. "He attacked me. He tried to..." I couldn't finish the sentence.

Our eyes held.

"Did he succeed?" His words were soft spoken.

I shook my head slowly. "I fought him. I stabbed a piece of glass into his face. It was enough to stop him."

"Then what happened?" His eyes were intense but I could not look away.

Everything I had told him up to this point had been the truth. This had been the easy part.

"I was saved."

"By who?" His dark gaze stayed on my face.

"Jason."

"Who is Jason?"

I wasn't sure if I was making a big mistake by using Jason to cover up what Jude had done but I didn't have much of a choice.

I had to lie well enough to keep Silas from discovering the truth of Jude's involvement in my rescue and that would only be achieved if I kept as close to the truth as possible.

"He was someone I met in a grocery store after I moved into your apartment."

"And who exactly is Jason to you?" He reached for my wrist and held it, possessively.

If I didn't know any better i would have thought he was jealous. But that wasn't possible when he already had a potential wife lined up. I dropped my gaze to where he held me but his grip only tightened. His touch, reawakened my burning desire for him. I swallowed, trying to keep my physical response and feelings under control.

"He offered me a life free from the world where I'm a slave." As I said the words, Silas frowned.

"Is that how I treated you?" His voice was tense like he was wrestling to keep his anger at bay.

I didn't know how to handle this Silas. I swallowed, remembering our nights together. But I also remembered he had a potential wife lined up already.

"I gave you a choice," he insisted.

I didn't want to rile him up or escalate the situation.

"You never offered me my freedom," I said, even though I wasn't sure it was wise to push him. It was time for some hard truths.

"I offered you everything I could. Letting you go was never an option."

His response could be interpreted a number of ways.

"Why couldn't you let me go?" I asked, very aware of how important his answer would be.

Would he finally admit he felt something for me?

"Once you're in our world Avery there is no leaving. Freedom was never an option."

My heart sank and I was angry that I had even hoped he would admit to feeling something. What was wrong with me? Was it time to finally accept that he didn't care me the way I had hoped?

"I gave you the choices within my power Avery."

I frowned. "You gave me the choice of either you or Thane." I shrugged. "That was never really a choice."

"You know I didn't have to take you for myself," he said softly, conflicted.

"I know."

There was so much between us. A lot unsaid but I couldn't reveal how much I loved him for fear of him using it to get his way.

"When Jason saved you why didn't you come back?"

"I didn't think there was much point," I breathed, hating how my chest ached at remembering the photo of him with his fiancé. She would have everything I didn't.

"Why?" His eyes fierce. His hands clasped my wrist harder.

"I know about your future wife."