The leather slashed through Luc’s skin, echoing with a deafening clap over the chants. I winced with every blow, hot tears flooding my eyes as I watched Luc jerk and tremble with a pain I couldn’t even imagine.
“There are consequences to betraying us,” Luc’s father went on.
I knew there were. But I also knew, because of what Luc had done for me here tonight, that I was safe. The Entente operated within a very specific set of rules. Ancient, sacred rules I found abhorrent, but which these sick fucks followed above everything else.
“I’m not afraid of you,” I whispered, unable to look away from Luc through the blinding blur of tears, wanting him to know he wasn’t alone. “You can’t kill me. Not after this. Not after the agreement Luc made. We both know it.”
Another lash struck Luc’s perfect back. I jumped at the crack of leather biting into bare flesh, at the tortured groan from Luc’s throat and the way he trembled in the chains as his skin was torn open. My stomach pitched when I spotted the blood sliding down his legs.
“Perhaps not,” his father said at my side. “But if you break our agreement, then by the laws of this House, there are plenty of ways we can punish you. If that happens, you’ll live, but what you see here now won’t even compare to what awaits you then. And trust me, little wife, we will make sure Luciano has a front-row seat for that show.”
Another whip echoed through the vast room, followed by the crack of the leather. I jolted at the sound, but slowly turned my gaze up to Luc’s father’s.
He was staring down at me. Like a lion stalking its prey. And in his icy eyes I saw truth and the promise of a brutal retribution should I defy him. One I knew would break Luc in a way this depraved ritual here today never could.
A hard, vicious hatred brewed deep in my heart. One I’d never known I could feel. One that solidified everything inside me. If it was the last thing I did, I was going to hurt these people. I was going to make this man pay for what they’d done to Luc.
And I would enjoy every single moment of it regardless of what it meant for me.
2
Natalie
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.
I was still shaking from what I’d seen and heard. From the things they’d done to Luc. From how bloodied and broken he’d been when they’d finally released him from those chains.
As they’d been taking him down, they’d whisked me out of that balcony and rushed me back to my cell. I didn’t know if Luc was alive or dead. He’d been limp through the last few lashes, barely even moving, and I’d been so hysterical I hadn’t been able to see straight. And every time I pictured all the blood staining the carpet beneath his feet…
That hysteria built in me all over again.
Bile rushed up my throat, forcing me to stop my pacing in the cold cell and swallow hard. I’d changed back into my pajama bottoms and tank, partly because I’d hated that dress, partly because I’d already gotten sick all over it. I told myself to hold it together. I was no help to Luc in breakdown mode. I had to focus on him. Had to focus on finding him and helping him and making sure he was okay.
The heavy door pushed open and clanged hard against the cement wall. Jerking toward the sound, I stared wide-eyed at the red-draped figure wearing a gold mask as he moved into the room.
My breath caught. The figure didn’t speak, just stepped into the room and stopped three feet in front of the door as he stared at me, blocking my one chance for freedom.
A chill rushed down my spine. The Grande Cavaliere—known for wearing red at the rituals—was the one I’d watched fuck that beta slave among the trees in Tuscany on my first trip to Italy. He was the one who’d overseen Luc’s lashing. He was the one, I remembered from my conversation with Luc in the South Pacific, who’d ordered the gang rape and murder of Vittoria, that girl Luc had tried to help escape the nightmare of this House twelve years before.
I swallowed hard. Luc had told me to stay away from the Grande Cavaliere, had said that he was the epitome of evil. And as the man stared at me with those soulless eyes, I felt the truth of that in my bones.
There was no light in his eyes. Unlike Luc’s father, who was cold but still human, this man was nothing but malevolence and hatred and darkness. The kind of darkness that blackens the souls of serial killers and terrorists and mass murderers.
Instinctively, I stepped back, until my shaking hand brushed the cold wall. If he came at me, I wouldn’t be able to hold him off for long. He outweighed me by over a hundred pounds. But I’d fight with every last breath if he did.
Long minutes passed in an eerie silence where he only glared at me with those soulless eyes. And then, just about the time I was ready to scream, he turned and stepped back, leaving a clear path to the open door.
My pulse jumped. I looked from him to the open door. The hallway was dimly lit, but I couldn’t tell if anyone else was out there. I wasn’t sure what kind of trap they were springing. I only knew this was my chance to run. And if I didn’t try, I might never see Luc again.
My muscles contracted before I decided what to do. And then I was running, past the figure in red and through the doorway.
The hallway was empty. I looked right. The corridor ended thirty feet away at a steel door. Left took me back to the library and the stairs, probably to Luc. I turned that way, only to draw up short.
Three men in black with those hideous white masks blocked my path. One by one, they lifted their arms and pointed the other direction.
I was in some kind of horror movie. My pulse roared in my ears as I stumbled back, then turned and raced the other direction, not knowing what kind of cat-and-mouse game they were playing.
Reaching the steel door at the other end of the hallway, I shoved hard and glanced over my shoulder. The Grande Cavaliere stepped out of my cell and watched me with beady eyes. Then, as a group, all four began striding toward me.
Fuck this.
“Go back to hell,” I screamed, shoving my shoulder into the steel as hard as I could.
The door gave with a hiss. Bright light blinded me. Gasping, I stumbled into fresh air and daylight.
Hands closed over me and pulled. I screamed and tried to jerk back.
“Natalie! It’s me. It’s Felicity.”
I staggered. Blinked hard as the door snapped closed behind me. Tried to see.
Vaguely, I realized I was standing on some kind of walkway and that Felicity, Marco’s girlfriend, was holding me upright.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” she said with her slight British accent, her pale green eyes very focused, her auburn hair tied back in a neat ponytail, catching the bright light. “But we don’t have a lot of time. Come on.”
She turned and urged me to move with her. I shielded my eyes and slowly became aware of towering trees, fountains, and the sound of a running engine.
“Here.” Felicity drew me to a stop next to a black sedan and pulled the passenger door open. “Get in. Hurry.”
The door slammed, then footsteps echoed, and another door opened. “We have to get out of here.” Felicity shoved the car into Drive and jerked the vehicle away from the walkway.
I wasn’t sure what was happening. My pulse was still in the triple digits and I was fighting just to keep breathing. But one thing registered. I was free of that nightmare. I was safe. But Luc wasn’t.