Page 46 of Villainous Intent

The main room’s doors closed with a thud as the last of the civilians filed out.

“Cipher,” I breathed. The air in the room had already changed, growing thicker “What did you mean by the actual fun begins?”

“Watch,” he murmured against my temple. “The cameras are off, Annie. The monsters are coming out to play.”

For the first time all evening, real fear coiled within me. This wasn’t the sanitized danger of the Alliance. There were no referees here. No timeouts.

“Your pulse is racing,” Cipher noted.

“This isn’t what I expected,” I whispered. Across the room, a Villain flicked his hand and a blade popped out of his gauntlet.

“It will settle a bit once first blood is drawn,” Cipher said. “For now, the social complexities will continue to form. Alliances, potential targets, it’s all being decided in these moments. But violence is the only language we speak fluently after midnight. We’re just deciding who gets to talk first.”

My eyes darted around the room, looking for the exits and potential threats. The Keeper training kicked in automatically, but it felt woefully inadequate for a room full of monsters who didn’t have any rules.

Cipher gripped my chin and forced my head up to him. “Calm yourself.”

“I’m just checking the exits⁠—”

“Stop looking for the exits. You don’t need one. You have me.” His thumb stroked the curve of my jaw. “You are safe in this room for exactly one reason. Because you belong to me. Do not let a single person here forget it.”

I took a deep breath and swallowed down the urge to argue with him. He was right, he was the only thing standing between me and the rest of the League.

We left the main hall and entered a corridor. The air there was different. The ventilation seemed to die, replaced by a cloying atmosphere. It smelled of expensive bourbon and the unmistakable musk of sex.

“The Middle Passages,” Cipher said. “Where the business happens.”

The corridor widened into a series of dim chambers. In a darkened corner, just a few feet away, a woman was on her knees. Her head bobbed in a rhythmic motion between a League member’s spread legs.

The Villain looked up and his eyes locked onto mine. He smiled, a flash of white teeth in the gloom. His hands tangled ruthlessly in the kneeling woman’s hair as he thrust his hips forward, forcing his cock down her throat.

Cipher’s hand tightened on my hip, yanking me forward.

“Don’t look at him,” he growled in my ear. “He wants an audience. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”

“Is this what ‘Lights Out’ means?” I swallowed hard.

“Part of it.”

He steered me past another shadow. A man had a woman pinned against the wall. Her head was thrown back, her dress bunched at her waist. Her bare thighs were slick and shining in the dim light while the man between them grunted with every thrust.

“The public performance ends,” Cipher murmured. “The hunger begins.”

Soon we reached a larger circular chamber. Cipher moved toward a deep booth with a low table against the back wall. He nodded to several League members as we passed.

When we reached the booth, Cipher sank onto the leather. Without asking, he pulled me onto his lap, positioning me with my back against his chest. He hooked his arm around my waist, locking me in place, while his other hand went directly to the slit in my dress and shoved it open.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, my voice trembling.

“Marking territory,” he murmured against my ear. “Everyone’s watching.”

His hand slid across my thigh until his thumb rested dangerously close to the edge of my underwear.

“Relax,” he ordered. “You’re too tense.”

“No shit,” I hissed. “You’re touching me. In public.”

“I need to use your body to sell your cover.” His arm around my waist shifted and his hand slid upward, over my ribs until he was squeezing my breast. His thumb found the peak of my nipple and circled it.