So which path will offer me that?
If I refused them now, they’d destroy me quickly and painfully. If the entire school worked against me, I’d never have a chance to get closer to the Unspeakables and find strength in their ranks. I’d lose Mila. I’d lose my sanity. But was the alternative really any better? Letting them own me? The thought was repugnant.
Ragged breaths dragged in and out of my lungs and I opened my eyes, finding Saint leering at me. And there it was, just for a second, desire blazing from his inky irises. He wanted me, but he wanted me weak. He craved me like this, losing control. Giving in to his demands. And this time, I was going to have to let him have it. I was going to agree so I could buy myself enough time to find a way out. But even though the decision was mine, it still felt like bowing. Like breaking.
The ice in his eyes was as sharp as knives. He was a starved creature who needed pain to thrive. And mine was a delicacy he wanted to take his time over, chewing on it piece by piece.
Tears pricked my eyes as I felt the weight of his victory crashing over me. Of all their victories. I was boxed in. A fox at the end of a farmer’s gun. And it felt like the lowest point of my life.
“What are the rules?” I breathed, fighting to make sure my bottom lip didn’t tremble.
Saint reached out, brushing a lock of hair behind my ear and it felt anything but soothing. He licked his lips as he savoured this moment, grazing his fingers down my cheek, leaving a freezing trail in their wake. “There’s only three rules…”
“You’re either doing something for us,” Kyan supplied the first.
“Or you’re with one of us,” Blake gave the second.
“Or you’re with all of us,” Saint hissed the last and a biting chill ran down my spine. “So do you agree, Barbie?” he asked in an almost loving tone, but I wasn’t fooled. I doubted Saint’s heart was capable of any warm emotion. It was a lump of ice, kept at fifty below zero at all times.
“I won’t do anything sexual for any of you,” I snarled, looking between them and pressure built in my chest as I waited for their response. I was gonna scream or cry or catch fire. And some shattered part of me wished for the last.
“Like I said, Barbie, we’d rather fuck a hand grenade than you,” Saint purred. “But if you want it, you can have our word that none of us will fuck you until you want us to.”
“Why would I want you to?” I sneered.
“Because I get the feeling you’ll learn to like being our pet,” he said, the glint in his eyes giving away just how much he desired that.
“There’s no fucking chance of that,” I snapped.
“Just give us an answer,” Blake demanded suddenly, his anger slipping past his defences. “Yes or no. Do you agree to be ours?”
I nodded and the second I did they stepped away from me, moving behind me instead so I was angled towards the sacred stone. A tremor ran through my body just as thunder boomed above, sending a shockwave right down to my core
I glanced over my shoulder as Blake took his phone from his pocket and started filming me.
“We’re live,” he muttered to the others, but I caught the words on the wind. This video was now streaming to every student on campus via social media. Holy shit.
Saint waved me forward and my legs felt leaden as I walked toward the rock, my fate, my doom.
As I reached it, a violent ripple of energy ran through me as the wind picked up once more. Close up, I could see the markings on the rock more clearly. At the top were four painted men with a different intricate arrow beneath them. Three of them were the same as the tattoos I’d seen on the Night Keepers and I shuddered to think what their group would look like with a fourth Keeper amongst them. Above the carvings was a fifth figure and an arrow hung above them with five decorated feathers attached to it. Something instinctive told me this was the Night Bound, the legend I was about to embody.
I turned to face three boys before me with a shaky breath. They were cast in shadow, their capes billowing behind them as scowls twisted their features into something truly evil.
“Tatum Rivers, do you swear to devote yourself to us and spend your days working to please us?” Blake spoke over the storm and the answer got stuck in my throat.
Can I really agree to this?
Give myself to them?
Promise to do everything they ask? Anything they ask?
One heartbeat, two, three, four.
Blake was about to lower the phone when I forced the word out. “Yes,” I choked. It tasted like poison on my tongue.
The three of them smiled in unison like their dark souls were somehow connected to one another’s in that moment.
“And do you swear to obey our every word?” Kyan growled and I managed to nod, though my neck felt stiff, like my body knew I was betraying it.
“Do you swear to follow the rules, to be bound mind, body and soul to the Night Keepers. And only us?” Saint’s voice ripped into my ears. He wasn’t smiling anymore, he was leering like a monster, looking like my darkest nightmare brought to life.
“Yes,” I rasped, my tongue heavy, my heart hollow.
“Touch the sacred stone,” Saint commanded. “Prove your promises and become Night Bound to each of us as Keepers.”
My fingers curled up instinctively, trying to fight the decision I’d made. But it was already over. The dice had landed, the deal was done. And I felt tears running hot and fast down my cheeks as the weight of that truth sank into my veins.
I reached out to the rock, hesitating a final second, my last scrap of defiance fading away. I pressed my palm against the cold stone and adrenaline poured through me like a vat of liquid nitrogen spilling into my blood. Lightning flared above me and thunder clashed so loudly in the heavens, I winced. The rain came half a heartbeat later and rushed down on us like a tsunami.
I retracted my hand from the rock, my fingers icily cold as I curled them into a fist and tried to ignore the tingling scattering through my palm. What the fuck?
I knew the legend wasn’t true. I knew it was just ghost stories and fairy tales, but I’d felt something when I’d touched that thing. Like my soul had shifted inside my body. And maybe it was just the freezing cold and the raging storm, but somehow, I felt like they really did own me now. And that terrified me more than anything I’d ever experienced in my life.
Blake stopped filming, tucking his phone away as he glared at me with victory in his eyes. There was so much hate in them too, I could feel it as powerfully as the storm against my flesh. How was this the same guy who’d kissed me so passionately a few nights ago? Had made me laugh and been so full of warmth it had burned right through me?
I felt worthless as I waited for the first axe to fall. The first command to hit my ears. I lifted a hand to wipe the tears from my cheeks, wishing I’d had the strength to keep them from falling.
What do they want from me? What are they going to demand?
“If you break the rules, we’ll ruin you,” Saint warned, a manic flare in his gaze. It was almost like he wanted me to go against him. “You and any friend, acquaintance or fucking mosquito who takes a liking to you.”
I nodded, pressing my lips together and continued to wait for whatever bullshit order they were going to give me.
“What do you want?” I growled when they said nothing, just stared at me like I was a piece of meat on their plate they were deciding whether to eat or not. My eyes skipped between the three of them. I knew I’d agreed to play along, but what the hell did they want from me out here in a thunderstorm?