Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
14
An empty cell stands between us. Despite the space that keeps Sebastian and I apart, we don’t go more than a few seconds without eye contact. He paces the length of his cage, a restless and angry lion in captivity. I’m sitting cross-legged on the cot in my own prison.
“Okay,” he says suddenly, stopping to face me, his hands circling the bars. “When shit goes down, I need you to keep your mouth shut and follow my lead. Can you do that?”
“You want me to be a good little princess?”
At my tone, he grinds his teeth. “For my sake, can you just listen for once?”
I let out a breath. “What are you planning to do?”
“Whatever it takes to get you out of those lashes.”
“This whole thing is my fault.” I jump to my feet and match his stance, my fingers clutching the bars. This is as close as we’re able to get right now. “I’m the reason we’re in here.”
“Bullshit. Centuries of complacency are to blame for this. We did nothing wrong.”
“They don’t agree.” I jab a finger in the direction of the hidden room I had no clue existed until today.
“If they were all on the same page, I would have been booted from the auction.” He lets a beat pass, allowing the implication to sink in. “The Brotherhood is split, princess. The most it’s been split in decades. Not everyone agrees that what we did was wrong.”
“Wrong or not, we were in that gazebo together. If you have to face the consequences, then I want to face them with you.”
He shakes his head, and a messy lock of hair falls over his brow. “I’m not about to let him whip you.”
“What makes you think you can stop him?”
“It comes down to my father. He has final say on what happens to me.” A bitter smile pulls at his lips. “I learned years ago how to push his buttons.”
“Final say on what happens to you. But what about me? It’s up to Miles, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I don’t see how you’re going to get me out of anything.”
“Miles answers to the legacy members, just like the rest of us.” He tilts his head. “Just like my father answered to my grandfather during his Year of the Queen.” A sardonic laugh escapes his disapproving lips. “Hell, he still cowers to the old man.”
A door creaks open, and a set of steady footsteps follow. We aim our attention on the figure making his way through the dungeon. Pax operates like a moving shadow, his black shirt and pants matching the dark intent in his expression. Deep set gray eyes, devoid of a speck of light, stand out in an angular face. He’s handsome in a hardened way, but there’s something terrifying about his presence—the way he reveals a devious grin—that makes him unattractive.
“I knew you’d be the first one to fuck shit up,” he tells Sebastian. “Trouble’s been your middle name since we were kids.”
“I have a name for you,” Sebastian says, “but I’ll keep it to myself out of respect for Novalee.”
“If you had respect for anyone in this tower, you would have kept your hands off of other people’s property.”
Sebastian lurches toward him, his knuckles white as he grips the bars. “She’s not a piece of property.”
“We’re all pieces of property. Some of us are just worth more than others.” Pax sends an assessing glance down my body, making my skin crawl. “And some are fun to play with.”
“She’s not your plaything.” The lion shows his teeth, his hatred curling his lip.
“She will be soon enough.”
The assertion trembles through my limbs, and despite what Sebastian said about Landon’s mysterious plan to save me from a month spent in the House of Libra, I sink onto the cot, too weak to stand in the face of Pax’s triumph. This man, with his dark hair and stormy eyes, has evil running through his veins. I can sense it, can practically smell his rancid glee thickening the air.
And he can’t wait to get his hands on me.
More footfalls sound, and Pax smiles. “It’s time to play.” He inserts a key into the lock of Sebastian’s cell and swings the door open. “You know the drill.”
Uncaged, Sebastian prowls toward the center of the dungeon and halts underneath the dangling shackles.
Pax winks at me. “Normally, I’d say ladies first, but I enjoy the idea of you watching before you get yours.”
As he turns his back on me, I grip my middle, trying not to curl into a ball. Sebastian needs me to be strong. So does Liam. The chancellor’s face is a sickening pasty hue as he and the rest of the Brotherhood form a circle around one of their own.
“Where’s my father?” Determination paints Sebastian’s features, the stark shadowy lines creating a beautiful masterpiece as he reaches for the hem of his shirt. He pulls the white cotton up his abs, over his head, then discards it on the floor. His jeans rest low on his hips, showcasing that sexy V-cut I explored with my tongue last month.