Chapter 5
GAbrIELA
I spend the first half of my Saturday working on my storyboards and sketches. Next week, I’ll have to present them to my instructor for a critique before I move on to technical drawings and pattern drafting.
If Nate isn’t Eros, it will sting to know that he really has dropped me. But it shouldn’t. I can’t allow myself to get emotionally invested in anyone.
Nate might not be what I expected, but maybe I’m not giving him a fair shot either. Besides, it’s just one party. If it doesn’t go well, at least I can say I tried.
That intention is easier said than done as the hour approaches and my nerves get the best of me.
Every time I need to leave the comfort of my own space, I have to give myself a mental pep talk.
Beppe usually helps ground me, but this time, he’ll have to stay behind.
He gets cold easily, and the party is outdoors.
There’s also the added variables of concern over the journey there and back.
Tonight, I’ll be venturing out on my own without security or transportation.
I already checked the route, and it’s a ten-minute walk each way, which isn’t too intimidating. But I’d rather Beppe stay here, where I know for certain he’ll be safe.
When I choose my outfit for the evening, I aim for warmth and comfort, settling on an oversized pink knit sweater and leggings.
After fixing my hair in a loose topknot, I apply some light makeup, and I’m ready to go. I tuck Beppe into bed with his favorite blanket, giving him a quick kiss on the top of his head.
“Love you,” I whisper. “I’ll be back soon.”
A familiar tightness grips my stomach as I shut the bedroom door and linger for a moment, listening for Julian. It’s late, and he’s usually in his room by now. When I don’t hear anything, I pad down the hallway, breathing a sigh of relief when I find the living area empty.
Following Mariella’s instructions, I head up the staircase to the second level of the penthouse and into the primary suite. Once I’m there, I reference the notes app on my phone, using the guide I typed out to open the panic room and access the private elevator.
The car takes me all the way down to the tunnel just as Mariella said it would, and after navigating my way through that, I exit onto the street.
It feels liberating and terrifying as I step out on my own. The sidewalk is empty at this hour, and there are only a few passing cars as I begin to walk.
It’s a chilly night, and it makes me question the rationale of having a dock party in October. But then again, students are always finding creative places to party—and docks are one of them.
Nate explained that the address he gave me is a privately owned residence and told me to enter through the side gate. But when I arrive, I wonder if I’m even in the right place because it’s so quiet.
I find my way to the backyard and see four men sitting on the dock around a patio heater, all of them wearing plain white masks. That alone is enough to set me on edge, but they’re also dressed alike in black slacks and dress shirts, like it’s some kind of uniform.
“There she is.” Nate strolls toward me, immediately recognizable by his voice. “Come meet my friends, Gabi.”
A shiver of unease crawls down my spine as I stand there, immobilized. “I thought you said there was going to be a bunch of bio students here.”
“They bailed because they’re lame.” Nate shrugs.
“Why are you all wearing masks?”
“It’s never too early to celebrate Halloween, is it?”
When I don’t answer, he comes over to meet me with a red cup in hand. “I got you a wine cooler. I figured you wouldn’t like the harder stuff.”
He’s already poured it, so there’s no way I’m drinking that. Everything in my gut tells me I have to leave now, and the familiar notification sound on my phone confirms it.
“One second.” I glance at the message from Eros415.
What are you doing, Gabi?
It feels foreboding, like he can sense something is off. Or maybe that’s just my imagination. Either way, I’m not sticking around to find out.
“I’m so sorry.” I glance up at Nate, hoping he doesn’t notice the tremor in my voice. “Something’s come up, and I have to go.”
“Aww, come on. You just got here.” He tries to shove the red cup into my hand. “At least stay for one drink.”
“I can’t. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
I turn to leave, but he catches me by the arm and pulls me back.
“One drink,” he clips out. “I bought it for you. The least you could do is drink it.”
Fear slithers through me as my heart accelerates, making it hard to breathe.
My survival instincts tend to malfunction in traumatic situations.
Rather than fight or flight, my body shuts down.
I can already feel it happening—my limbs growing heavy, my vision tunneling.
If I don’t force myself to move now, I won’t be able to in a minute.
I yank my arm from his grasp and attempt to make a run for it, but I don’t get far. A solid weight slams into me from behind, knocking me onto the ground so hard, the air evacuates my lungs.
I claw at the grass as Nate’s friends approach, their voices drawing nearer.
“Come on, pledge, get that drink down her throat. Don’t disappoint us.”
Pledge?
The realization that this must be some kind of initiation sends a fresh wave of terror through me. I don’t know what they’re planning to do, but it can’t be good.
“That’s right, you little cock tease.” Nate straddles my back, pinning me to the ground. “You’re going to take a boat ride and have some fun with us.”
Those words rattle around my brain as I try to fight him off, but my limbs don’t cooperate. When a strangled sound escapes me, Nate grabs me by the hair and growls into my ear.
“Shut the fuck up. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
Liquid sloshes out of the cup as he yanks my head back and plies my jaw open. He tries to pour it into my mouth, but I turn my head to the side with what little leverage I have, and he misses.
“Goddammit,” he grunts. “Can’t you at least help me hold her?”
“What part of our instructions did you not understand?”
“Fine.” Nate hurtles the cup across the yard and pulls me up with him. “I’ll get her onto the boat and make another drink.”
“Tick tock.” Another man taunts. “Proba te.”
Despite my dead weight, Nate drags me across the lawn with ease. He’s much larger than me, and I doubt I could do much to stop him, even if I could put up a fight.
Still, it doesn’t stop me from trying. I attempt to reestablish the connection between my brain and body, but it’s not working. The chances of me coming out of it right now are improbable, and the short distance to the boat proves as much.
Nate carries me on board while the other men follow with a cooler.
Time seems to slow as he props me onto a seat and grabs another drink. After he opens the bottle, he removes something from his pocket and dumps it inside.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to remember how to breathe. I won’t be able to stop him this time. He has me trapped, and I’m outnumbered.
Tears leak from my eyes as I brace for the inevitable. A second passes, followed by another, and a loud crack splits the air.
Someone curses, and three heavy thuds sound in quick succession.
“What the fu—”
Nate’s words abruptly die off as a fourth heavy thud falls.
I open my eyes in a panic, choking on a sob when I see a man in a black balaclava towering over Nate’s prone body.
His features are obscured beneath black clothing, gloves, and a dark reflective visor that covers his eyes.
He’s much larger than the other men, both in height and strength, and the way he took them down so quickly triggers another cascade of fear.
In a matter of seconds, he rendered them all unconscious, and I’m afraid that his attention will shift to me now. But it doesn’t.
When he hears my quiet shudder, he dips his head, and I imagine he’s closing his eyes. His entire body goes still, save for a slight tremor in his gloved hand before he clenches it. I get the sense he’s fighting something else now.
Something that lives inside him.
Instinctively, I know that demon is the one who controls the lethal energy pouring off him. I think he’s attempting to cage it, and he hasn’t yet won, but it gives me some semblance of relief. Because I know, even without seeing his face, he doesn’t want to hurt me.
A minute passes before his breath rises sharply and releases on a rough exhalation. It feels all too familiar—trying to harness and control a chaos nobody else can see. I understand it on a bone-deep level, and that common thread chips away another piece of my reservations.
As the tension in his rigid muscles slowly dissolves, he unclenches his fist, flexing his fingers before he turns and lifts his gaze to me.
“Close your eyes and cover your ears, Gabi.”
My heart pulses wildly at the recognition of that modulated voice, relief filling every cell in my body.
Eros.
My mind reels with questions, but they scatter as he approaches. He crouches in front of me, seemingly aware of my struggle to move as he takes my hands in his.
“You’re safe now. I won’t let them hurt you.”
As my gaze drifts to the men strewn across the boat deck, I wonder what he did to them. Eros pulls my focus back to him, drawing my hands up to cover my ears. Once he’s satisfied that I’ll be able to hold them there, he rises.
“Close your eyes.”
I do as he says, squeezing my eyes shut as my palms cover my ears. Even so, it doesn’t drown out all the noise. There’s a sliding sound, followed by what I think is a hatch opening, and footsteps echo off the stairs. It goes on for a while, until everything becomes muffled.
When he returns to me, he drapes my hands over his shoulders and lifts me into his arms. My legs wrap around his waist as he grips my thighs and adjusts me, my head falling naturally against his chest.
All four men have disappeared from sight, presumably below deck.