“What was that, lass?”
“Please, Eric.”
Eric’s chest started to shake. Was he…
Nikolett pushed back. “Are you laughing?”
He tried and failed, to stop his lips from twitching. “I’m just enjoying the fact that I’ve ruined you for other men.”
The video continued to play, no more words, only the rustle and slide of fabric, but it was forgotten as she stared at him, relief mingled with irritation.
“Oh my God, Eric. That’s… You’re…”
“I’m just that good, baby.”
Then a clear voice startled them.
“I’ll take and abuse everything you love, Eric.”
Eric jerked the phone up, staring at it. For a wild moment, she thought it had somehow switched to a video call.
It wasn’t a video call, but voiceover on the video, clearly added later. Eric had raised the phone in response to the clear voice, which meant they were both looking at his screen. Nikolett got to watch as fingers trailed along her bare breast…then wrapped around her throat.
Eric started to lower the phone, but Nikolett put her hand on his forearm, stopping him. He was watching her, she could feel it, but she was watching the video. She didn’t want to, but she would. There was a reason he’d sent this video, and it had been foolish to hope she could avoid it.
His hands moved over her bare body, and tears of shame and embarrassment stung her eyes as Nikolett not only didn’t stop him but moved under him, shifting to give him access.
The view pulled back as Gus stood.
Glasses, the camera must have been in his glasses.She remembered him having a glasses case in his pocket.
On screen, she lay naked on her hotel bed, eyes closed.
Helpless. Vulnerable.
The same bed where she’d had sex with Eric.
The same bed where she’d woken up in her pajamas with no memory of putting them on.
The video switched to a lovely picture of Triskelion Castle.
Except Triskelion Castle wasn’t in the foreground. It was only half visible off to one side. The focus was on the large farmhouse where the Spartan Guard lived.
“Fuck,” Eric breathed. “Fuck.” He took off running.
Nikolett needed a moment, just a moment, to process what had happened to her. It was possible, maybe probable, that there was more, worse, on the video, but she’d seen enough.
She was still standing in the narrow stone hall when the earthquake struck.
Gus’ head jerked up when he heard the scream.
The bomb he’d used to destroy the Spartan Guard house had rattled Triskelion Castle more than he anticipated. He probablyshould have waited until after the first bomb to sneak into Triskelion and arm the second, much larger bomb, but timing was everything.
Then he heard Nikolett scream.
Ducking out of the half-crumbled cellar, which in turn connected to a series of forgotten tunnels, Gus rushed up the stone stairs.
Nikolett was crouched in a narrow hall, hands over her head. A few pieces of old stone had been shaken loose from the walls by the blast. This hallway should be structurally sound, but a sudden, horrible vision of heavy gray stones collapsing on top of Nikolett had him rushing into the hall.
