Sure, she did. That’s why that gang of Fang and Claw up-and-comers needed to watch me ‘challenge’ Cooper in that weird home chapel on Christmas Eve and then the entire Valcourt family shunned me on Christmas Day.
Her next question was, “What did you and Ax do?” She paused to shoot me another fake smile. “Was it fun?”
Fun? Mmm. I’m gonna go with no, it wasn’t very fun at all. We didn’t exchange presents or even have a nice dinner. But it was still better than sitting in this mansion like a beaten-down Valcourt sex slave. “Yup,” I told her. And then I went on and on about all the things Ax and I didn’t do on Christmas.
I am one hundred percent sure she didn’t buy my lie. But what could she do? She didn’t expect me to get up and walk out of the invisible prison she put me in, so they weren’t watching me that day.
Dumb of them, really.
Smart of me.
It might’ve taken me a while to catch on, but catch on I did.
“Knock, knock!”
I love how she always says “knock, knock” as she opens my door. I would lock it, but when I came from my Christmas trip with Ax, there was a new door handle. No lock.
“Come in,” I say.
“I have your dress!” Leela shakes the garment bag. “It’s sooo pretty. You’re gonna love it.”
I walk over to her and then cock a hip as I hold up a finger. “Oh, it is so pretty.”
“You’re going to look so beautiful in the tomb tonight. Let’s hurry up. Take off your clothes. I can’t wait to see you in it.”
It feels like years have passed since I learned about Cooper and Isabella’s engagement tonight. But finally, New Year’s Eve is here.
I have a distaste for this holiday for obvious reasons and I have not celebrated a New Year’s Eve since Dane raped me four years ago. But I am focused tonight. I’m so close to their secrets, I can taste it. “What is Isabella wearing tonight, Leela?”
“Oh… I’m… not sure.” She lifts my shirt up and takes it off without even asking. I’m not wearing a bra, so I stand there naked. I don’t even mind anymore. She has gotten me so used to being undressed without having to give permission first, it barely registers. She glances down at my breasts, but redirects her gaze back up just as quickly.
“Well, we wore the same dress for the harvest dance.” Wasn’t really a dance, was it? It was a ritual. And yet they used that word ‘dance’ right up until the last moment. “So I was just wondering if we’d be wearing the same thing tonight too. Is this an informal meeting?”
“No,” Leela says. “It’s very formal. All the members are in town for the New Year’s celebration. Not everyone comes for harvest. But New Year’s is mandatory. You will have quite an audience.”
I can only imagine how I will entertain these people tonight. I don’t have any clue, actually. Because Leela has so far refused to tell me what will happen. “I know this night is really for Cooper and Isabella, Leela. It’s their engagement party, I get it. But I’m their Maiden, so it would be nice to know what role I will play tonight.”
She sighs. “We’ll have to see, Cadee. I’m not sure that Isabella and Cooper are actually going to be matched.”
“What? Why not?”
“We all know Cooper doesn’t love her.”
“That’s not actually true. He does love her.”
“Not the way he should.”
I don’t say anything about that.
“So, there’s a ceremony before the ceremony. All the Chairmen are already at the inn having a very important meeting about Cooper right at this moment.”
“Cooper? Why? Did he do something? And wait, did you just say Chairmen? As in more than one?”
“Oh, yes. There are dozens of them. But don’t worry about it.” She places a hand on my cheek and then leans in to kiss me. I do not kiss her back. I never kiss her back. But this does not deter her. Ever since that first time she kissed me on Christmas Eve, she’s done it consistently—
at least two or three times a day. They are always soft, always on the lips, and she always sighs when she’s done.
More conditioning.
No. Not conditioning. It has an actual term. Ax told me what it was on Christmas Day. It’s called… grooming.
She’s been grooming me. I’m just not sure what I’m being groomed for. And I want to have a little panic attack right now, but I can’t afford to. So far, Leela has been good to me. She’s a very talented brainwasher. I will give her that. And I am always on guard. But I cannot ignore the fact that she hasn’t used violence to control me.
Yet.
And the reason she hasn’t used violence is because I’m compliant. I do not kiss her back, but I don’t stop her either. And in her mind, that’s permission.
And maybe it is. But I’ve come this far and I’m not going anywhere until I get my answers.
She pulls out of the kiss and sighs. Then she leans in to me and places her forehead against mine. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you tonight, Cadee.”
“I know.” I say it softly and do my best to mean it.
She pulls back. “OK, then.” She gathers herself. “Let’s get this dress on and get you over to the tomb.”
“Wait. What about the party at the inn?”
“Oh, you’re not going to that, sweetie. That’s for Cooper.”
“What about Isabella?”
“We’ll see.”
I smile at her. I project calm and composure.
But inside, it takes every ounce of self-control I have not to panic.
Something is happening and now I wish I had not used the safe word. Keeping Cooper away was necessary so I could spend time cementing Leela’s trust in me, but I feel like I’m missing something and it starts and ends with Cooper.
We have been very sneaky and we have a plan.
But these people have been playing this game for two hundred years and they have come out ahead every single time.
The odds are not in our favor.
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE - COOPER
Everything about my New Year’s Eve is planned. I’m assigned a valet who arrives around six PM to help me get ready for tonight. He comes with a suit and hangs it up on a rack. Then he carefully lays out the cufflinks and tie I was gifted after the harvest ritual. And I add the tie clip to it since it matches.
I haven’t seen or talked to Isabella for five days and Cadee for seven. I’ve called Isabella four times today, but she didn’t pick up. And she hasn’t answered any of my messages. I didn’t try to see Cadee. Not after she used her safe word on me.
Even I can take a fucking hint. But the real reason is that I’ve been very wrapped up in my own life. Jack has kept me relentlessly busy with that fucking Capstone project, so I’ve hardly been home.
Victor and I really messed up the grounds around the tomb in the woods looking for the elusive Fang and Feather secrets they thought were hidden beneath it. It wasn’t the scanning that caused all the damage, it was Jack insisting that we dig the place up with a backhoe.
Then, after my last report on Christmas Eve when I sent the equipment back, Jack said I no longer needed an assistant and made me finish the cleanup by myself.