Clearing my throat, I let my gaze flick between my two shame-faced angels. “Alright then, now that I’ve seen the ugly truth, there’s no need to hold back. What the fuck was that?”
Spencer caught Leo’s gaze, before looking back to me. “It’s called The Gauntlet. Valemont Violence isn’t just a motorcycleclub. It’s part of a collective that delivers abusers to justice. The Gauntlet is one of the ways we achieve that goal.”
My head reeled as I tried to keep up with her explanation. “You just catch assholes and execute them for sport?”
“It’s not quite that simple.” Leo clenched her jaw. “The ideal outcome is always rehabilitation. But serial offenders… when the collective gets a hold of them, they’re given a choice of how they want to pay for their sins. The Gauntlet offers an opportunity of freedom to anyone who can beat our strongest fighter. But if they don’t win, they don’t walk.”
My brows furrowed. “When was the last time an offender made it out of The Gauntlet alive?”
“Never.” Leo held my gaze.
Spencer shook her head. “Those assholes always underestimate their competition.”
I let the weight of that settle over me. The context certainly took the edge off of my horror, but that man’s face… I couldn’t shake the image of his pathetic cries and pained screams.
“What didhedo?” I asked, pushing a potato around my plate. Maybe knowing would help me reconcile his fate.
“I don’t know the details of his case.” Leo frowned. “I can try to find out, but…”
Spencer lifted her eyes to meet mine. “The only people brought to The Gauntlet have committed some form of sexual assault. Usually rape. And they’re not repentant for it.”
Neither of them said it, but I could read between the lines of their responses.Did the specifics really matter?
Deep in my gut, I knew they didn’t. And the swiftness with which that quieted my concern unsettled me.
Clearing my throat, I moved onto my next big concern. “So this collective… Is that The Oracle ordering you to keep me here?”
“Sort of.” Spencer tilted her head.
“The Oracle leads the collective, but the collective isn’t part of The Oracle, if that makes sense.”
“I think so…” I bit my cheek, steeling myself for the question that scared me the most. “Why did they tell Dom to keep me here?”
The two of them exchanged an uneasy glance.
“We’re not entirely sure.” Leo frowned.
I inched my chair back and set my fork down, but Spencer waved her hands for me to stop. “She’s being serious. Dom won’t tell. Says she’s not quite sure either.”
My brow hitched. “And you believe her?”
“Honestly?” Spencer sighed. “I’m not sure. The Oracle likes to work in the shadows. The chances they won’t tell her the reason are very high. But the chance that Dom would take the command blindly…?” She threw her hands up in a shrug.
The Major leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table as she intercepted my gaze. “All we know for sure is that they want us to protect you. And we have every intention of seeing that order through.”
I knew I shouldn’t trust her. But Leo never lied to me. And if she was stating so plainly that her orders were to protect me… I had no choice but to trust that was the truth.
“Okay…” I shook my head, hardly able to believe the words leaving my mouth. “I hear you.”
Both of their shoulders loosened at that, but I was quick to correct them. “Make no mistake. That doesn’t mean all’s forgiven. But I understand where you’re coming from. And if I have more questions, I expect them to be met with this same level of transparency. Got it?”
“Yes ma’am,” Leo nodded, hardly concealing the grin on her face.
But as I pushed out my chair to stand, Spencer held up a hand. “Before you go, there’s one more thing we need to talk about.”
Tilting my head, I inched my chair forward, folding my hands in my lap until she continued. “We’ve had another order come down…”
She turned her gaze to Leo, looking for an assist. Leo’s jaw flexed as she turned to face me. “Since you’re going to be here for a while, you’re going to officially join Valemont Violence.”
