I’ve been checking all the windows in my room, but there’s no way to break out of them. The door is locked, and the bathroom leads nowhere. I’ve been trying to find a way to escape all day without any luck. Not even my knife helped to crack open the windows or the door.
Being cooped up in here all by myself has driven me insane to the point where I push my ear against the door every time someone walks by, hoping to catch something important.
I already dressed myself in a simple pair of leggings and a gray tee on the off chance that someone might enter my room, and to my surprise, all the clothes fit. It’s almost as if Ares prepared for my arrival.
I’ve seen the sun rise and the sun set through the same window, which means I’ve already been here a whole day, missing out on class. I have no clue what time it is, as my room doesn’t have a clock, but it’s definitely dark outside.
The strawberries only eased my hunger a little bit, but I’m too stubborn to ask for more even though my stomach is growling. I’ve been drinking water from the tap to make sure I feel full enough not to start begging because that sure as hell is lowest on my to-do list.
I’m so angry, I could scream.
Fuck Ares.
How dare he do this to me?
I pick up the leftover bowl and throw it at the wall out of frustration, shattering it into a million pieces.
But my screams and ragged breath stop as my eyes fall on something lying underneath the bowl.
A key card?
I grab it and swipe the door, and it opens.
Holy shit.
I tuck the key card and my knife into my pocket and swiftly open the door to look around and see if anyone waits to pummel me down, but luckily, I’m all alone. I peer downstairs over the banister and see no trace of the party I was dragged out of after they fucked me in front of a whole damn crowd.
My cheeks flush from the memory, so I swiftly walk away through the hallways of this old, poorly lit mansion. I swipe my card along all the doors, but none of them open, and I wonder why.
Odd. Does this key only open my door?
I sneak downstairs and look around to make sure I’m alone before I rush to the front door and swipe it, but of course that won’t work either.
I back away, but when I hear voices in the kitchen, I panic and run back upstairs.
I hide behind a sensual woman’s statue as two Tartarus boys walk past me, clutching a bag of chips and drinks as they make their way to a room in the back of the middle hallway, where there’s a theater room complete with red seats and an actual movie screen.
Damn. If I wasn’t being kept as a prisoner, I’d almost want to check it out.
I sneak away, but when I hear more ruckus from both ends of the hallway, I panic and head into the first open room I find, locking myself inside.
The room is completely covered in royal green, and I gawk my eyes out at all the priceless artwork in this room. Blaine sure has expensive taste, that’s for sure. I touch a statue, and it almost seems too perfect to be real, so beautifully sculpted it’s as if I’m touching the hand of God himself.
Suddenly, two hands land on my shoulders, and a cold draft hits my face.
“Don’t be scared. It’s me.” Blaine’s soothing voice almost lulls me into a relaxed state.
Almost.
“I promise I won’t hurt you,” he whispers into my ear.
My hand slowly dips down into my pocket to clutch my knife. “I can’t promise the same.”
I swiftly pull it out, spin around on my heels, and point it at his neck. But I pause near his vein as he swallows, unwavering in his stance as he hovers over me.
He’s a born fighter, an expert at the katana, so he should’ve dodged that perfectly.
Why doesn’t he move?
“You gave me that key card, didn’t you?” I ask, my eyes trailing down his naked pecs all the way down his thick red robes.
“To find me,” he says.
“Why?” That’s the only thing I manage to whisper before my throat clamps up.
“I know you won’t hurt me,” he says, his voice cracking too. “Even though you want to.”
“You let them use me,” I grit.
His eyes are hard to look at, but he doesn’t look away. “I warned you they would come for you.”
“You made me believe you’d protect me,” I say. “But when it came to it, you bent to his will and did exactly what he wanted. I trusted you.” The anger twists my voice.
“Darling—”
“No. Don’t darling me. You’re the one who taught me how to fight. Why? Why wouldn’t you fight back against him?”
“I tried to warn you … I am bound to Ares,” he says, cupping my face. “If I could, I would take your place in an instant if it would ease the burden.”
“You were there too, licking me … fucking Caleb.” A blush creeps onto my cheeks from the mere memory, and I can’t shake it off. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”
“Ares’s punishments are always debasing. It’s one of the few things he actually enjoys.”
I wince. “That’s messed up.”
He chuckles even though I have a literal knife to his throat right now. “You could put it like that … But aren’t we all?”
“You all, not me,” I say.
A coy smile tips up his lips. “Oh, is that why you were so wet for all of us? Because you weren’t just as messed up?”
My eyes widen, and rage takes over as I push the knife farther into his neck, making him bleed, and I lick my lips at the sight of his blood dripping down.
I haven’t come this close to death since my father …
This close to losing control.
And something about that scares me so much that my hand begins to shake.
Because I don’t want to hurt him.
“Is this all I am to you all now? A prisoner?”
He sighs. “That’s what he wants, yes.”
I shake my head. “After I already gave him what he wants, he still takes more and more.”
“Ares will never have enough of you now that he has you.”
“Why?”
“Well, your mother started dating Caleb’s father, and he doesn’t like that, so Ares—”
“I know that. I know he doesn’t want me to become family. But why does Ares care? All he seems to want to do is punish Caleb for touching me.”
He swallows, almost as if he has to restrain himself not to say too much. “Ares … has anger and trust issues. Caleb is the only one he confides in. And now that you’ve beguiled them …”
“I’m a threat,” I mutter, thinking it through. “You’re bound to Ares. So then why did you give me this knife?”
“Because you deserve to be in control of your own fate despite his villainous ways,” he says. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. “But it changes nothing about my feelings for you. I crave you. Madly. Deeply. Beyond any doubt.”
I swallow away the lump in my throat and turn around so I don’t have to look him in the eyes.
But the mirror in front of me forces me to face my own demise.
Those same familiar hands wrap around my shoulders again, making me want to lean into him.
“You are so beautiful, Crystal,” he says. “Like a goddess of vengeance.”
He leans in to plant the softest of kisses on my neck, stealing my breath.
“Would it be so wrong to be loved by someone like me?” he mutters. “To be ours?”
“Do you think I could ever be more than a toy?”
He chuckles softly. “I wouldn’t mind it if you stayed our filthy plaything forever.” His eyes connect with mine through the mirror. “You would have us all on our knees.”
He slowly hovers his hands over my face, and I’m apprehensive.
“You fear me,” he whispers.
“How could I not, knowing what you’re capable of?”
He groans. “I will do anything to regain your trust.”
Am I that important to him?
“How?”
He backs away slowly. “Close your eyes.”
Even though my brain tells me not to, my heart screams to listen, so I do.
“Stay there.”
My breathing is ragged as I’m left alone in the dark.
After a few shuffles, I hear something slide.
CLICK! CLICK!
“Now open your eyes and look at me.”
When I turn around, he’s on the bed, the robe draped by his side, leaving only his boxers, his wrists bound to the poles at each edge with metal cuffs. Around his neck is a thick leather band with a metal chain dangling from the ring.
