Fear rooted me to the spot as the man pressed Viv against the wall outside the classroom. He grabbed her jaw, squeezing until her lips pouted and she winced. Still, the show of pain didn’t stop him. Instead, he seemed to like it. He dragged his thumb across her lip, his gaze fixed on the slow slide. “This fucking mouth is mine, you got that?”
The other girls stayed in the classroom behind me, watching.
Still Vivienne didn’t buckle. “Fuck you,” she spat, her words coming out warped and strange.
“Fifteen days.” He pushed his thumb inside her mouth, sliding over her teeth to tug the side of her mouth wide. There was something debased and erotic about the act. “I’m going to enjoy stretching you out, Vivienne. Very much.”
“London.” The curt, bitter tone came from behind me.
The older man never looked our way, just bored his gaze into Viv’s, then slowly straightened. There was a twitch at the corner of his mouth, like he wanted to do a great many things to her.
Ward, wasn’t that what he’d called her? So, if she was his ward, that meant he was her…master?
No. God, no.
No wonder she was desperate to get away from this place.
A silver pin glinted against his black satin tie as he straightened. The man looked impeccable, even if he did look old enough to be her father. His tailored black vest molded to a hard body. Thick veins traced a map along his powerful forearms. But it was his steely blue eyes that seized me, detached, unfathomable, meeting the Teacher’s stare.
“I want her home,” London demanded.
“As soon as Vivienne has finished her training.” The Teacher brushed by me, stepping out into the hall.
The muscles of his jaw flared as the older man turned to her. “I can teach her everything she needs.”
“I’m afraid it’s part of the contract.” The Teacher held out his hand to Vivienne. “I can summon The Principal if you need to discuss the terms?”
A second was all it took. A second for him to realize what he was doing. “No…no need,” he muttered. “I’ve waited this long. What’s a few more days?” He turned to Viv. “Vivienne.”
He waited. When she didn’t answer, he lifted his hand and thumped it against the wall beside her head.
She just held his stare, forcing the word through clenched teeth. “Daddy.”
He traced the line of her jaw. She jerked away. Still, that didn’t ease the hunger in his stare. He just pushed off the wall, turned, and strode away. My chest burned until I exhaled. I wanted to go after him, to push him against the goddamn wall and terrify him with sickening threats.
“Vivienne,” the Teacher murmured, watching the asshole stride away. “Take Ms. Castlemaine with you to the cafeteria for some refreshments. I’ll come and find you in a moment.”
Viv just nodded and lowered her gaze.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her away from there. She followed, but her skin was pale, her eyes fixed straight ahead, like she was in shock. Red marks from that man’s hand lingered on her mouth, making me sick to my stomach. I tried to remember which way to go, but ended up needing Viv to point toward the correct hallway.
When we were inside the cafeteria, I pulled her into a hug. I didn’t know what else to do, how to give her comfort. “It’s okay.” I pressed her agIainst me. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No,” she whispered. “It isn’t.”
I pulled away to stare into her eyes. “Let me get us a drink and you can tell me who that man is and what the fuck is going on, okay?”
She didn’t nod, but I didn’t wait, just headed for the counter with a range of juices and drinks, pouring us each an OJ before returning. She sat at one of the tables hugging the wall, staring at her hands clasped in front of her. I pushed the glass toward her.
But she didn’t drink, just sat there.
“That man, he called you his ward. What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means I’m one step away from being sold, that’s what.”
“Jesus,” I shook my head, shoving aside my mom’s face as it rose. “How can this happen? How can…”
“They treat us like property?” She lifted her gaze. “Because we don’t matter, that’s how.”
I need this, Ryth. Please, honey, can’t you be happy for me? Mom’s words hit me hard. Had I ever really mattered to her?
“The why doesn’t matter.” She picked at her nails. “You start down that road and it’s only going to take you one place…and that’s down. You’ll dig yourself into a hole so deep you won’t ever escape. The only thing you can control is now. You’re nice, Ryth. Nice and innocent, and you should stay that way. You don’t understand what they want from us, how they make us…” She looked away.
Innocent…I might’ve been before Tobias, Nick, and Caleb, but I sure wasn’t anymore. Heat raced to my cheeks as that night after the wedding filled my mind. Still, I forced my focus back to Vivienne. “How they make us, what?”
“Nothing,” she answered, picking up the juice and taking a sip. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Then tell me. Help me understand. What is this contract?”
She gave a chuff. “The contract isn’t shit. They all think it is. But it’s nothing but a worthless piece of paper. It doesn’t stop them from…doing things to me.”
I leaned closer. “Who?”
Her voice was as emotionless as her eyes. “The man I’m supposed to call Daddy…and his goddamn sons.”
My insides clenched and my stomach dropped. “They…hurt you?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “And I like it. I fucking like it, okay?” She drank, then placed her empty glass down. “That’s why I want out. I want away from this place and all the fucking assholes inside it. And I especially want away from him, London St. James. He’s going to destroy me, Ryth…him and his sons.”
My pulse boomed, making me stand. “Then we get out of here.”
She lifted her head, and for a second, the emptiness in her eyes sparked with hope. She glanced over her shoulder. “They’ll come for us soon. The Teacher and probably The Principal.”
My heart was racing with the memory of that cruel bastard. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible, him and that white-haired asshole guard. “We need to find a phone.”
She glanced over her shoulder again and leaned forward. “I can get that. I think, anyway. Will they come tonight, your…stepbrothers?”
NICK! My own screams rang inside my head. All I saw was blood. “I don’t know.”
She straightened. “Then we try. If not, we make a run for it. Once we get past the guards, then the fence, we can try to outrun them through the forest.’
I lowered my gaze to the flimsy white negligees we were both wearing. “We’ll die of exposure before morning.”
“Not if we keep running.” She stared at me. “What’s the fucking alternative? You going to learn how to be a whore, Castlemaine?”
I swallowed hard. “Fuck no.”
A slow, careful smile tugged the corners of her mouth. “Then let’s find that phone and get us the fuck out of here.”
I glanced behind me at the kitchen staff, then turned back and nodded. We left the glasses on the table and made our way out into the hallway. But out there we were too goddamn exposed. Double doors barred our way up ahead, the scanner blinking red. “We don’t have a keycard.”
“We don’t need one.” Viv glanced behind us, then moved to the wall and pressed a code into the keypad. “You don’t think I’d let that asshole come and go without me finding out his fucking passcode, do you?”
Hope surged as the light on the keypad turned from red to green and the doors gave a clunk. Viv moved fast, pushing the handle, and slipping through. I followed, hurrying behind her. We turned to each other, reaching out, grabbing each other’s hand as we ran.
Bare feet slapped against the floor before we turned and stopped at the next set of locked doors. By the time we lunged through the open door and raced ahead, I couldn’t hear anything other than the booming of my heart.
Viv tugged my hand, and we turned a corner. For all I knew, we could be running headlong toward our end. Still, I kept going, following her, until the resounding sound of a man’s voice echoed. Viv stopped, her chest heaving with deep breaths.
I tried to listen over the loud rush of my own breathing.
“I can’t have the others seeing another outburst like that.” The Principal’s firm tone carried. “What happens outside of the contract is not meant for these walls. I’d hate to have to readjust the terms.”
“I understand,” a clipped, indifferent tone followed. “It won’t happen again.”
I jerked my gaze to Viv as we stopped near the corner, pressing our spines against the wall. Footsteps sounded until the thud of the doors came. I waited until the panicked scream in my head was dulled enough for me to risk a peek. They were leaving, heading outside, I was guessing. I shifted my gaze back. “Viv.”
She moved next to me and glanced around, seeing the door of The Principal’s office open.
“Come on.” She grabbed my hand and yanked me forward.
We were going to get caught…any second now, we were—
I stumbled after her into the office. Viv skirted the desk, snatched up the receiver and shoved it my way. “Call, Ryth…and hurry.”
My stomach clenched. What if I’d forgotten the number? What if…fear rooted me to the spot. All I could do was stare at the phone in my hand. Nick. His face swam in my mind. My hands shook. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. Please God, let him be okay.
“You want to stay here and be fucked by strangers?”
I flinched at the words and jerked my gaze to Viv. “No.”
“Then dial the goddamn number and tell your stepbrothers to come and get you.”
“Us,” I whispered, stepping closer, and punched in the number. “Come and get us.”
I swallowed hard as the phone on the other end rang, and rang, and rang. I needed his voice. Just one whisper, one sound.
“Yeah?” The deep growl echoed down the line.
A hard sob ripped free. “Nick?”
Silence…”Ryth?”
“Nick!” My knees shook, my spine bowed. I closed my eyes, rocking at the sound of that beautiful growl. “Nick. Oh, God, Nick.”
“Princess,” he barked, his voice growing loud. “Is that you?”
“It’s me. It’s me…I don’t have much time.”
The sound of screams and barking dogs drowned him out. “You okay, princess?”
“Yes,” I answered as Viv yanked open drawers and rifled through papers, searching his office. “For now, but not for long.”
“We know where you are.” Desperation etched his words as the heavy thud of a door came from out in the hallway. “You hear me?” My stepbrother barked. “We know where you are and we’re fucking coming. Just hold on, baby. We’re fucking coming.”
