As someone who was a prolific swearer, this was most definitely going to be a problem. As was I. “Fuck you,”I spat.
She pushed the syringe just slightly so a bit of the drug inside leaked out of the needle. “Are you sure I can’t change your mind?”
I swallowed, backing up a few steps, my legs suddenly remembering how to move. I didn’t know what sort of drug she planned to inject inside of me, but I feared it would make me all too pliable.
When I said nothing, she straightened her neck, shoving the syringe back into her pocket. “Now that we cleared that up…you can call me Silvia. You’ve got a fitting scheduled in a few hours,” she continued conversationally as if we were discussing the weather instead of my impending sale. “The big event is set for Friday night, and it looks like you’re going to be the evening’s highlight attraction.” A perfectly formed yet empty smile formed on her lips, failing to reach those cold blue eyes. “They’re expecting you to bring in the highest price they’ve seen this quarter.”
Something deep inside my chest snapped.
I didn’t think. Didn’t plan. Didn’t weigh consequences or calculate odds.
I just acted. I had to get the fuck out of here.
My hands shot out and grabbed the silver tray from the vanity, hurling it in her direction. The tray crashed into the ground but not before splattering her pristine blouse with scrambled eggs and scalding tea. Hot liquid soaked through the white fabric while bits of food clung to the expensive material like abstract art.
Her mouth fell open in genuine shock as she gave a squeak, perfect composure cracking, but I didn’t wait around to admire my handiwork or see her reaction.
I bolted.
The door behind her stood cracked open, and I shot through the gap, my bare feet struggling to grip the floors as I sprinted toward what I hoped was freedom. The hallway stretched ahead of me with four or five other identical doors where I was certain the other missing girls had been kept prisoner, Kenny included.
The hallway was strangely empty…too empty. Like they wanted to see how far I’d get before teaching me a lesson. I went straight for the stairs and into a problem. Two men were positioned like sentries. Their heads whipped in my direction, and I came to a sliding halt, my head rotating left to right, searching for a way out of this mess.
They grabbed me before I could even draw breath to scream. One massive hand clamped around my waist, lifting me off my feet while another iron grip closed around my wrist with crushing force. They dragged me back down the hallway as if I was nothing more than a rag doll with tangled limbs, my feet off the ground as I kicked and scratched and spat at anything within reach.
None of it mattered. I might as well have been fighting the tide.
They tossed me back into my room, my body hitting the hard floors with enough force to drive the air from my lungs. My skin scraped against the rough corners as my shoulder screamed in protest from the unnatural angle of impact.
Silvia, the twisted bitch, hovered over me, her white blouse a canvas of brown tea stains and yellow egg remnants. Rage transformed her features into something ugly; her careful composure rattled.
Without a word of warning, her black heel connected with my stomach. Pain ripped through my midsection, stealing every molecule of oxygen from my lungs and folding me in on myself like a broken accordion. Stars exploded behind my closed eyelids as my body tried to process what was happening.
She knelt beside my crumpled form. “Try that pathetic display again, and I’ll be forced to take more drastic measures. I’ll have you restrained with steel cables. Force-fed through a tube. Stripped naked and dressed like a doll in front of these men while they watch and comment on every inch of your body.”
I blinked through tears of pain that mixed with pure, molten fury, bile already rising in my throat like acid.
“You strike me as someone who still wants to maintain some semblance of dignity,” she continued, casually brushing a strand of raven hair from her face, oblivious to my pain. “I strongly suggest you start acting like it.” She rose to her feet, smoothing her ruined blouseone final time before turning toward the door. “I expect you to demonstrate significantly better behavior when I return for your fitting. If not...” Her voice drifted into something cruelly sweet, like poisoned honey. “Well, I suppose you’ll just have to discover those consequences firsthand.”
The door slammed shut behind her with the finality of a tomb sealing.
I lay there on the rough floor for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, my entire body shaking until I had no choice but to stumble toward the bathroom on unsteady legs. I dropped to my knees in front of the porcelain toilet and retched violently, but nothing came out except sour, bitter acid, burning my throat raw. My stomach was completely empty; I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything substantial in hours.
The last thing I’d consumed was hot cocoa. My chest seized with a stab of guilt, cutting through the physical pain and emotional numbness.
The Corvo boys.
I’d drugged them. Deliberately incapacitated the people who had been protecting me. I’d lied straight to their faces with the conviction of someone doing the right thing. And for what? I’d thought I was making the noble choice, that I could protect them by keeping them at a distance, by walking into danger alone like some martyred saint.
But now?
Now I was locked in a fucking prison. I’d known what I was walking into, but knowing and living the nightmare were two different things.
Were Kreed, Maddox, Mason, and Raine okay? Had they woken up with splitting headaches and the bitter taste of betrayal? Were they furious enough to write me off as another lying manipulator? Would they even bother coming for me after what I’d done?
Was Kreed too angry to care whether I lived or died?
I couldn’t think like that. Wouldn’t let those poisonous thoughts take root.
