Page 65 of Uncrowned

Could I remember the path Vaughn and I had come in? It had to lead to the outside. We’d gotten in. That had to mean something. But the guards. They had to be posted throughout. How many times had I heard them address him? Too many. But the slave had said there was a bloodbath going on. That could work in my favor.

Cement pounded under my feet as I pushed myself as fast as I could go. I turned to the first right, only to find myself in another long hall that seemed to go on forever. I spun, taking in what had to be dozens of doors down the length.

I started slow, looking for an opening as I jogged down. When I got halfway, an entrance opened to the right. I took it, picking up my speed at the narrower hall.

My lungs burned and terror was starting to sink into every inch of me.

Vaughn was going to be so mad. He’d come for me. He wouldn’t stop. I knew this like I knew it probably wouldn’t come to that. The longer I ran, the deeper I felt I was going. Freedom didn’t feel close, it felt fictional. I’d been a captive so long, I couldn’t imagine another way.

Turning, another hall opened up. Just as I barged into it, a door swung wide across from me. Three men emerged from the wooden door, laughing and in the middle of a conversation. All three were wearing the guard uniform, and each one’s face sobered upon seeing me.

“You. What are you doing out here?”

I backstepped, lifting the letter opener, and hitting a wall that wasn’t stone. Arms wrapped around me from behind, and I screamed, kicking my legs as the large man kept my arms trapped to my chest under the blanket. The letter opener fell, clinking against the floor.

“Stop! Wait! I’m lost. Please.”

“Oh, you’re lost alright.”

A blond-haired guard laughed, heading closer with the other two at his sides. Where he was on the shorter side, the other two were a good few inches taller. Both had dark hair, but where one had acne scars pitted in his face, the other’s skin was weathered.

“She’s a pretty one, isn’t she? Keith, get rid of the blanket. We need to make sure she doesn’t have any more weapons.”

The man who held me shifted, jerking my blanket free.

“Oh, yes. That’s better.”

“If you get near me⁠—”

They all laughed. “You’ll what?”

The one with the scars moved in even more. “You’ll hurt us? Maybe we’ll hurt you first.”

My head shook through the unnerving tone of his voice. “I want to go back now. This was a mistake.”

“The only mistake I see is that you’re still wearing clothes.”

Fabric tore at my chest from the blonde, and I screamed, twisting and digging my elbow in the man’s solar plexus who still held me. He cursed, shifting my fighting body. With the angle, I clasped my hands, using my weight to drive my elbow back into his stomach.

Hands pulled at my legs, and I kicked out, catching one’s chest. Before I knew what was happening, lights blinded me from the blond’s hit. Colors flashed and sound wavered as he tore me from the large guard’s arms. I felt like I was falling, but everything was in slow motion. Warmth trickled from my nose and the room disappeared, only to come back with a buzz of voices.

“Fuck that bitch. You want to fight. I’m going to give you a reason to.”

“No! Stop!”

I was twisting in his hold, swinging and fighting as the room kept spinning. I was slammed into the stone wall so hard, I gagged. Air hitched in my lungs, and I could feel hands all over me. They were holding up my dress, pulling at my thighs. I barely got air in before an agonizing pain locked up my entire body. My eyes went wide, and I felt my nails break against stone.

“Stop! P-Please!”

Although my body was jolting through the force from the man’s thrust, I felt myself retreat and fade through the shock as my words continued to come.

Pain. Yes. So much pain. It was stabbing. Invasive.

And the laughter. They thought my pain was funny? I didn’t understand it, but their cheers and encouragement carried through every thrust.

“Help! Stop!”

“No one is going to help you.”