Fuck. This might be the hardest clue yet. We all begin searching for what it could be. Aaron and Zach are on one side of the room, messing with a prop, and Tyler comes up to me.
“We were all talking about how fun the other night was,” he murmurs next to my ear. I try to step away, but he doesn’t let me get far. “How much we liked sharing you. Aaron said we could do it again, said we could all take turns fucking you. I hope we get you knocked up, that way you’re stuck with us forever.”
I fight the sob that tries to wrench its way out of me. I will not cry in front of these monsters. I will not let them see me as a coward.
I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep biting my tongue, fearing the consequences of every little slip. And I certainly can’t let them trap me with a baby.
I slip away from Tyler, toward the door. I hope Damon was serious about his punishment. Maybe if he fucks me in front of them, Aaron will see me as damaged goods. Or maybe he’ll kill me. Either way, this fucking nightmare ends tonight.
I push the button to open the door, not even bothering to pretend I found the actual key.
Once again, the boys go through first, and then the door slams shut before I slip through. A muffled bang on the door tells me Aaron’s pissed at me again, and then I’m plunged into darkness.
Chapter Fifteen
Damon
I FORGOT HOWmuch I hate hockey players until the three douchebags come crashing into the haunted house, almost knocking over one of the shelves of dolls with their brutish bodies.
And then there’s Violet. She looks so small surrounded by them. I can’t tell if it’s just because she is, or if she’s purposefully folding in on herself. The pinch of her pillowy lips tells me she’s not having a good time with these assholes.
My theory is confirmed when she pushes the hidden button to open the door in the second room. She wants to get out of here as soon as she can.
But I like to play with people as they make their way through, so I can’t have her cheating.
I override the rest of the controls and close the door before Violet can follow Aaron and his shithead friends into the vampire castle room.
When I slip through the hidden door from the control room, she turns to me. Her pupils dilate, and I’m not sure if it’s from the low lights or seeing me, but I feed my ego and believe it’s the latter.
I cross the room to her and gently grab her by the hair. She looks up at me with those big gray eyes, and god, I could get lost in her.
But I have a house to run.
I warn her about what happens to cheaters in my house, making sure she understands exactly how serious the consequences are. She doesn’t back down. Even with my hand in her hair as I threaten her, she holds my gaze. That’s the Violet I remember. Never backing down. Never cowering.
When she tells me she understands, I release her with a light tap to the ass. Her answering whimper sends pleasure through my whole body.
I head back to the control room and watch Violet and the boys search around the castle room for the next key. Aaron looks absolutely livid, and one of his friends keeps looking at Violet with a lewd sneer that has me gripping the control desk with white-knuckle force.
God, I want to put them in my torture room. Maybe I will, even if Violet behaves. I’m sure she’d forgive me.
Plus, this might be my last chance with her, and I’m not sure I can leave her again without a fight. If that meansdisposing of her piece of shit boyfriend, then that’s a price I’m willing to pay.
One of Aaron’s friends corners Violet, stepping too close to her and saying something in her ear that has her face blanching.
I swear to god, if that fucker hurts her, I’ll rip him apart with my bare hands.
I’ve helped a lot of people in my years at the Venatores, but this is the first time I want to hurt someone for my own selfish reasons—other than my father. I don’t even know for certain if Aaron or his friends have hurt her, but just the thought of their hands on her makes me want to murder them.
And then something beautiful happens.
Violet walks over to the door and, without any attempt to pretend she’s found the next key, pushes the hidden button to open it.
She understood my threat. She knows exactly what’s coming.
This is going to be fun.
After the boys slip into the final room, I lock down the house again. Aaron turns to see that Violet didn’t make it through the door and starts banging on it. “Are you fucking kidding me, Violet? Again?”
