Chapter Thirty-Three
……………………….
Ily
HALLOWEEN
I TUGGED AT THE GAUZY, DIAPHANOUS material.
So sheer it hid nothing, so many layers it made my physical body look as if I’d become a creature made of light.
Turning in front of the mirror in our bedroom, I plucked the floaty whiteness, watching as the fabric whispered back to the other layers, looking like closed flower petals. The halter top wrapped tight around my throat, the train behind me as translucent and cobweblike as the rest.
Set against the black of my hair and rich tan of my skin, I had to admit…pure white rather suited me. The small crown I wore glittered with a million cubic zirconia. I might not have gotten my wish to wear the Crown Jewels, but tonight, I’d been transformed into a princess.
Victor had spent the past few weeks planning this masked ball for Halloween.
Our costumes had arrived this morning.
The energy in the fortress buzzed with anticipation and intrigue.
Last Monday, most of the Masters flew back to their families and despite it being a weekend now—the busiest time here at Joyero—only ten Masters had flown back in. The rest were either celebrating in their own way or not invited to Victor’s event.
Ben and Stewart had nodded at us over breakfast.
Abby and Penelope had become invaluable as they whispered the locations of five guns that’d been hidden in the foyer, library, games room, ballroom, and kitchens. Peter and the rest of the jewels knew where extra bullets were stashed along with a few lighters May had given us from the kitchens. We also had two butane torches used to melt sugar on the regular crème br?lées Victor ordered.
We had guns.
Ignition.
And bombs.
We still hadn’t made the larger, more dangerous presents that would take out certain structural integrities of the fortress, but we’d done enough that waiting for Christmas started to grate.
Every day was painful.
Every night was terrifying.
Victor didn’t act like he guessed anything was afoot but…we could never know for sure.
At least he’d been distracted with organising this ball.
He’d joined Henri and me for lunch, giggling like a freaking loon as if he genuinely couldn’t wait for this evening.
I’d never expected the dominating psychopath to place weight on something as silly as a dance. He actually believed the jewels were excited to be dressed and paraded, then abused and fucked as the evening went on.
Scooping the delicate mask from the bed, I secured the ribbon behind my head and blinked through a million facets of light. Every inch of the mask blinded with shimmering crystals, turning everything into rainbows.
“Are you ready?” Henri asked, striding from the bathroom where he’d dressed.
With his eyes on the floor as he tied his own mask behind his head, I had a quick moment to study him without his stare on mine.
And good grief…
Could someone fall in love multiple times?
I’d never seen a more handsome man.
Never had my breath stolen by another just for existing.
Dressed head to toe in black, he wore a heavy velvet cape that flared from his shoulders and whispered against the floor. Glossy black shoes, mandarin collared black shirt, and a mask covered in glittering black tourmaline.
The light-sucking gemstones drew every illumination in the room to his eyes, ensnaring me, killing me—
“Je-sus.” He froze as his hands dropped and his gaze landed on me.
His mouth hung open.
He shuddered on the spot.
And then he prowled toward me, his grey eyes erupting with silver flames. The familiar starfire between us built and billowed, igniting every piece of our bodies, hearts, and souls.
“Tu es et tu seras toujours la plus belle femme que j'ai jamais vue.” (You are and always will be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.) He cupped my cheek, running his thumb over my unpainted bottom lip.
He forgot our pantomime. Ripped up our script.
And kissed me.
The moment his mouth met mine, I slung my arms around his cape-draped shoulders and clung to him.
Just for a single moment.
A stolen second.
Then I let him go and broke the kiss.
I dropped to my knees for the cameras.
He sighed heavily as if my submission annoyed him, all while understanding why I surrendered.
His energy switched from rosy and warm, full of love and connection, to mean spirited and cold. Raising his voice so the cameras would record, he chuckled. “I have a good mind to make you blow me. A necklace of cum would really set off that dress.”
I didn’t look up.
I didn’t answer back.
I played the role of a good submissive jewel.
Henri’s hands landed on his belt.
I instantly hummed with need.
If he took me over the chair before we went to this stupid ball, I would not complain.
After so many weeks of giving in to animalistic urges—of encouraging my system to be dirty and bad and crave such despicable things, I couldn’t get through a day without some form of pain and release.
I needed it.
I grew itchy for it.
I craved him and his unique brand of torment.
God…
My insides clenched.
My breasts became painfully heavy.
A gush of wetness—
Yep, now he’d done it.
No way could I go down there without him fucking me.
A shadowy part of my mind judged me. The old me pitied the creature I’d become.
I feared I’d become an addict to fear and pain and suffered regular nightmares of going home, moving back into my family’s house, hugging my brother and kissing my parents, all while crave, crave, craving the absolute fucking madness that only Henri could cure.
My fingers sneaked across the carpet and latched around his ankle.
He sucked in a breath.
I looked up.
My body put on a performance for the cameras, but my eyes…they spoke the truth.
I need you. Badly.
He shuddered. Now?
I nodded.
Bending over me, he grabbed my elbows and hoisted me to my bare feet. “You know what? A cum necklace would be a waste. How about I fill you up, so you drip for me all night long?” Cupping me roughly between the legs, he drove the wispy fabric directly into my soaking core. “Would you like that? My cum oozing down your thighs? Knowing you’ve been fucked by me. That you belong to me?”
I convulsed.
My knees stopped working.
God, yes please.
“Fuck you,” I snapped.
“As you wish.” He smirked.
I love you, his eyes whispered.
Tossing me onto the bed, he flipped me onto my stomach and flipped the hem of my dress over my back. Kicking my feet apart, he unbuckled, unzipped, and fisted himself.
My heart pounded in my ears, my fingertips, my clit.
Every cell in my body wanted to submit and arch for him.
I needed him to fill me.
I wasn’t whole without him inside me.
But I had a show to put on.
A show we’d perfected, and Victor had bought hook, line, and sinker.
Pushing up off the bed, I made to feint to the side.
He snatched me and threw me back down. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
Pressing a fist against my lower back, he kept me pinned.
“Get off me!” I struggled.
“Still so strong.” He dragged my hips off the edge of the bed. “Still so unbroken.”
“Get your fucking hands off me.”
“Either beg or scream. Your choice.”
I screamed.
He laughed.
Grabbing my ass cheeks, he spread me wide, and impaled himself deep, deep inside.
My pussy fisted around him, not making his takeover easy.
The pinch despite my arousal.
The thickness of his size.
It all pushed me into mania, and I lost it.
I fought the urge to surrender to him.
I forced myself to thrash and cry.
And my Master and twin flame understood both sides of me, both the act and the truth, the lust and the love. His fingernails dug into my hips as he grabbed me and pumped fast and fierce into my body.
His thumbs stroked me in those wonderful Morse code circles.
His cock punished me over and over again.
The bed creaked with his every vicious pound.
My ears rang.
My womb tightened.
A release percolated and popped in my blood.
“Fuck…” I couldn’t breathe. “You.” I gasped as he rode me like a manic beast.
He didn’t reply. His pace absolutely unhinged, his hipbones bruising me, his cock punishing my G-spot over and over and over…
Every inch of me prepared to leap.
Yes.
God yes.
I stopped fighting him.
I gave him everything.
I screamed for real as his hot hand slapped cruelly against my ass.
“Five strikes for making me so goddamn hard for you. You’ve got your juices all over me. How am I supposed to last the night knowing you’re this fucking wet?”
He hit me again.
Pain.
Glorious, frenzied pain.
I moaned.
He groaned.
Our pace reached delirium.
“Fuck, little nightmare.” He spanked me again all while his cock grew and throbbed, claiming me, maiming me. “Feel that? Feel how much I need to come?”
I nodded.
I gasped.
I yelped as he struck for the fourth time, sending me hurtling toward heaven.
“You and that damn tattoo. You’ve cursed me for life.”
I hovered on the cliff’s edge.
The fall looked so deep and black, full of starbursts and supernovas.
I just needed one tiny push.
A single little—
Thwack.
I combusted on his fifth strike.
I grew wings and flew.
My entire body came.
Waking and rippling, milking and fisting.
I made noises.
I begged for things. Nonsense, unknown things.
I wasn’t human as I shattered and fractured and—
“Ily. Goddammit.” Henri dragged me onto him. Crawling inside me as deep as he could go. “Ily. Fuck. Fuck!”
His release spurted and coated, branding me in hot, ropey liquid.
His grunts as he kept feeding me his orgasm threatened to push me into another.
I could barely see, hardly think.
He destroyed me.
When he finally shuddered and held himself locked inside me, I shivered at the sensation of him marking me forever as his.
I wore his cum.
I had his scent all over me.
With a breathless groan, he withdrew, tripped backward, and fought hands that no longer worked to stuff his spent erection into his black slacks and buckle up.
Twisting upright, I sat primly on the edge of the bed.
A wet patch soaked into my dress, matching the silvery trails of my arousal glinting on the black fabric over his fly.
He caught me looking. “Told you your juices were all over me.”
I smiled, embracing the flood of possession. You’re mine. My body says so.
He nodded and placed a fist over his heart. Forever.
“Come along, little nightmare.” Snatching my wrist, he dragged me off the bed and carted me toward the door. “Time to party.”
A flood of moisture oozed hotly down my thigh.
I cringed.
He wrenched open the door and laughed at my screwed-up face. “Bit of a mess down there? Maybe if you’re a good girl tonight, I’ll lick you clean.”
I stumbled.
He caught me.
He whispered into my ear, “You still with me, mon c?ur?” (My heart.)
I caught his gorgeous grey eyes.
I fell into even deeper feelings. “Always.”
He shivered.
I smiled.
Together, we descended into a night where ghosts and demons came out to play.
And hoped we’d still be alive come morning.
* * * * *
“Something doesn’t feel right, jaanu.”
I spun and caught Peter behind me.
He shifted on the spot, pressing his lips to my ear. “Victor has a smug look in his eyes. It’s giving me the fucking creeps.”
I shot a glance at Victor laughing with Roland across the room.
Slim and tall, with his own dark cape, Victor looked like a distinguished art gallery curator or slightly eccentric benefactor. The mask cutting his face in half hid a lot of his sins, but Peter was right.
His navy eyes seemed particularly pleased, kind of pompous actually.
“Come.” With a quick look at Henri who stood talking to Ben and Stewart not far away, Peter snatched my cuffed wrist and dragged me into the alcove draped with white netting that’d been hung on all the walls of the Great Hall.
For two hours, we’d mingled, all while I did my best to forget about the stickiness between my legs. Henri kept giving me knowing glances as Masters ate, drank, and grew merry.
Victor had spared no expense.
The Great Hall travelled almost the entire length of the east wing. Its polished parquet floors, sweeping high brimstone and devil painted ceilings, and hundreds of stained-glass windows made it seem as if we truly were in hell. Each stained-glass window depicted some sort of erotic carnage. From women skewered on a spears, to girls burning at the stake. Each one died a slow, painful death all while being fingered, fucked, or whipped.
The scenes were so barbaric, so brutal, I hadn’t been able to eat a thing.
Interspersed amongst the sickening windows, Victor had ordered his decorating team to drape white and black swathes of material on every wall. The black absorbed the candlelight flickering from the many candelabras while the white glittered like stardust.
I still couldn’t figure out his theme, but every Master wore the same black cloak as Henri. The same black tourmaline mask. The same aura of grim reaper gliding around the room sipping blood-red wine and laughing as they tormented their jewels.
The jewels…
If Victor had intended to make them seem like angels, he’d succeeded.
Every one of us wore the same white gossamer fabric. The girls in wispy petal dresses with trains long enough for Masters to stomp on, and the boys in trousers and shirts so fine and sheer, the shadows of their bodies were visible, teasing bastards to touch.
I looked up at Peter’s face.
His matching mask of crystals glittered with rainbows, casting pinks and greens over his lips.
I hated that we hadn’t had much time to talk.
I missed him even though he was standing right there.
I wanted to tell him I loved him but…I had a feeling that would hurt him too much. Not because I had such deep feelings for him but because those feelings were purely platonic.
He was my friend and soulmate. Just like my brother.
If I hadn’t found the missing part of my soul, then perhaps we would’ve ended up as a couple.
But…in this life, this incarnation, I was Henri’s.
Do badan, ek jaan: two bodies, one soul.
My gaze drifted from Peter’s handsome face to the swollen welts on his chest, glowing red beneath his angelic white shirt. “Oh, Paavak…I’m so sorry.”
He flinched and rubbed the lashes as if he could erase them. “I’m fine.”
“Who hurt you?”
“Branson’s back. But don’t fret—”
“Bastard.”
I wished tonight was Christmas not Halloween.
I wanted to leap forward two months and stop him from ever being abused again.
“I can give you the rest of the arnica tablets I took after Emerald Bruises. They really helped heal all my paintball marks.”
He smiled distractedly and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t drag you here to talk about my injuries—”
“Do you want to talk about what happened the night of Topaz Tor—”
“Nope.” He rubbed his mouth. “Definitely not.”
I winced, remembering how we’d stood side by side on that dance floor.
How we’d climaxed at the same time to different Masters.
How he’d been dragged off by a Master named Wilson and Henri had carted me the other way.
Despite my wariness of telling him I loved him tonight, I’d told him during that game.
I’d given him what he asked for and…we hadn’t mentioned it since.
Rubbing the goosebumps on my arms, I shrugged. “We need to talk about it. It’s been awkward between us for weeks.”
He dropped his hand with a heavy huff. “Ily…please don’t.” Flinching, he watched a black-caped Master drift past our transparent wall of stardust. “I know what I asked you to do, and I know why you went along with me. I know it didn’t mean anything and…” He gave me the saddest smile all while his eyes glossed with grief. “We’re all good, jaanu. Seriously. I’m fine.”
The cavernous echo in his voice.
The aching despair.
Henri shot a look in our direction. He swayed toward me, his entire body bristling with protectiveness.
But I subtly shook my head.
We were safe.
We weren’t far.
And Peter needed me.
I owed my wonderful friend some company. Especially when his entire energy felt…empty.
Worse than empty…desolate.
Peter’s white outfit suddenly no longer looked like an earthbound angel but a shroud—grave clothes even while he still breathed.
Grabbing his hand, I squeezed. “Paavak, what is it? You’re scaring me.”
Running his thumb over my knuckles, he exhaled. He didn’t reply for the longest time but finally, he sniffed and gave a tattered laugh. “I told myself I wasn’t gonna do this. I’ve choked on the words since the day I fucking met you but…” Fisting my hand so hard it hurt, he groaned, “You know I’m in love with you, right?”
Everything dropped away.
The classical haunting music of Victor’s soiree.
The sensation of Henri watching us like a hawk.
“I don’t just love you, Ily,” he murmured. “I’m in love with you and fuck, I wish I wasn’t.”
Ego ordered me to deny it. To act surprised. To give him a semblance of dignity.
But…I couldn’t.
I’d never lied to him, and he’d never lied to me.
Even on that first day when he asked me to reveal myself, so he had a mental picture to cling to while he was being hurt, I’d sensed he felt something I didn’t.
I wished things could’ve been different and I had the power to make him happy.
But…I belonged to another, and it wouldn’t be fair.
To any of us.
Struggling for words, I opened and closed my mouth a few times, praying I said the right thing, but Peter beat me to it.
“You don’t have to say anything back.” He shot Henri a look. “I know how you feel about him. You only have to be in the same room as you two to feel it. To see it.” He chuckled painfully. “He’d literally kill himself for you and you…well, you’d bring him back to life because you can’t live without him. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you shared the same fucking heart and…I won’t deny that hurts. It hurts worse than all the whips, the rapes, the beatings. It hurts because I’ll never get to know what that feels like, and I’ll die before I’m ever loved in return.”
Stepping into him, I wrapped him in the biggest hug. “I love you, Paavak. I think I have for lifetimes. I’m yours as well as his. I’m just not the missing piece of your soul. But you will find her. I know you will. Of course you won’t die. She’s waiting for you outside this place. By next year, you’ll be free and healed and you’ll meet each other on the train or in the supermarket and she’ll take one look at you and just know.”
He gathered me to him, his heart thundering between us. “I love you, Ilyana Sharma.”
I dug my fingers into his back. “I know but you’ll love someone far deeper than me. When you find her, you’ll understand.”
Sniffing back grief, he murmured, “Do you know he said he’d step aside if you ever chose me?” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Fucking bastard showed me in one sentence he wasn’t faking how he felt. He didn’t threaten me. Didn’t even tell me to back off.” He stepped away and rearranged some of the layers of my dress with tender fingers. “The fact that he put your own happiness above his own told me everything. He loves you, jaanu. So much. And…fuck, if I can see it, then everyone can.” He flicked a look at Victor who toasted Roland as a waiter topped up their wine goblets. “He can see it. He knows.”
Henri brushed aside the fabric, his eyes narrowing at how close we stood to each other. “Everything okay?” His hand twitched toward me, but he snatched it back.
Giving me space.
Giving me to Peter for a few seconds.
If I didn’t love him already, I would’ve for that alone.
“We’re fine. Just…two minutes.”
It cost him.
I saw it in his eyes, but he nodded and turned his back, guarding us from cameras and Victor.
“You think Victor knows more than what he’s showing?” I whispered, a cold draft howling down my spine.
“I think he’s used to keeping his cards close to his chest and likes the hunt.” Peter slouched. “In the five years I’ve served him, he’s always the happiest when he’s got a winning hand. H-He’s hiding something.” He crossed his arms, hugging himself. “I just don’t know what.”
“If he knew about our presents and plans, surely he would’ve—”
“Nah, I don’t think it’s that.” He shook his head. “Faiza checks the locations each time she cleans. Nothing has been touched or moved.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t know. But something doesn’t feel right. It feels like a storm gathering on the horizon. Don’t you sense it too?” He ran his hand over his arm, rubbing at goosebumps. “It’s building. The energy in here is off the fucking charts.”
“Give me a sec.” Grounding myself, I visualised silver roots growing out of my feet and feathering deep into the ground. Closing my eyes, I shivered as golden light cascaded through my chakras and—
“Oh my God, how could I be so blind?” Peter gasped.
My eyes ripped open just in time to see him stagger back, his gaze locked on my face.
“What…what happened?” I reached for him.
Henri suddenly appeared. “See what? What didn’t you see, Pete?” Grabbing Peter by the elbow, he fought the urge to shake him. “Spit it the hell out.”
Peter let out a guttural groan that tore at my insides. “The masks. The crown she’s wearing…they’re…he’s dressed us in fucking diamonds.”
Henri gave me a horrified look.
I touched the crown atop my head and swayed as I studied Peter.
His mask.
His outfit.
Not an angel.
A diamond—
“He knows.” Henri grabbed me. “He knows about the chit.”
I trembled. “But—”
“Gentlemen!” Victor’s voice cut through the classical strings and stopped my heart. Through the hazy shimmering fabric, all three of us froze as Victor stood on a small stage and raised his goblet. “Happy Halloween!”
“Happy Hallows’ Eve!” Roland smirked.
“Tell us you have a good game tonight!” Ian grinned.
Victor preened and waited for the murmurings to die down. Flicking his velvet cape to cover his feet, he smiled like a dark magician about to bring all those he’d damned back to life. “As it so happens, I do have a particular game in mind.”
A roar of approval.
A splattering of applause.
“But first, allow me say a few words.” Victor smiled as silence fell again. “To start, I wish to announce some housekeeping, along with a new business opportunity. You were selected to attend tonight as you’re the most accomplished and have high pedigrees out of all my guests.”
Henri grabbed my left hand.
Peter my right.
We stood as a frozen trio as Victor shot us a look through the material and tipped his glass in our direction.
“First, and possibly the best piece of news this evening is…I’m going to have a son!”
Every Master broke into over-the-top cheers. “Congrats!”
“Now your Jewelry Box can continue for generations!”
“Do our memberships transfer to our boys, Vic?”
Victor nodded along. “Yes, yes. Okay, that’s enough. Hush. Quiet.”
Silence fell.
He smiled graciously. “Thank you for your joy on my behalf. It was confirmed this morning by Dr Belford. I’m so glad the equipment arrived early, and we now have a fully equipped maternity ward.” He smirked. “It might seem a bit over the top to create an entire medical ward for just one birth, but…that’s where you all come in, my friends.”
Striding around the stage, his cape flaring behind him, he pointed at each man. “Most of you have offspring already. You’ve proven you can sire. Up till now, my jewels have been forbidden to get pregnant. Partly for my benefit and for yours, but…if any of you wish to share your proven seed, then tell me who you would like, and I’ll arrange it.”
“Wait, what?” A few Masters turned up their noses.
“We don’t want fucking kids running around here, Vic.” Roland sneered.
“Speak for yourself. I’m down with raping for a purpose.” Wilson stepped forward. “Count me in!”
Victor looked at each man. “I’m aware you’ll enjoy the baby-making part but will want nothing to do with the results. Once you’ve achieved impregnation, the jewel in question will be sequestered until she is able to return to her duties.”
“So you’ll be introducing more stock if you’re planning on turning most of them into brood mares?” Travis asked.
“I will. In fact, my team is already gathering more gems as we speak.”
“Hell yeah.” Branson snickered. “Love getting my dick wet on new supplies.”
Peter shuddered beside me.
I squeezed his fingers.
“What are you going to do with the babies once you get them, Vic?” Ben dared to ask.
Victor smiled like a snake. “Sell them of course.”
“Sell?” Stewart choked on a mouthful of whiskey.
Henri bristled, most likely wanting to slap the only Masters on our side and order them to stay silent.
If they revealed how much they abhorred Victor.
If they exposed the lengths they’d go to in order to free Abby and Pen…we’re all screwed.
Luckily, Victor kept revelling in his monstrosity. “Yes, sell. And now for the fun part. Because I have an heir on the way and I’m not getting any younger, I have asked a very good friend—a man who I consider my protégé in so many ways—to be his guardian. If I don’t live long enough to finish his education, another will take my place. Henri.” Victor pointed at us in the shadows. “Come join me if you please. Come on now, don’t be shy.”
Henri swallowed a snarl.
He fisted my hand so hard my fingers went numb.
Then…without a word, he let me go, swatted away the fabric curtain, and stalked toward Victor. With a gravity-defying leap, he shot onto the stage and stood beside the sickest, vilest man I’d ever known. “You summoned.”
“You came.” Vic patted Henri’s cheek. “Such a good lad.”
Henri smiled.
It looked so genuine. So real.
But my heart saw past the lies and the truth beneath.
I saw how close Henri was to purging this entire night up.
How close he was to the end.
Peter threw all caution to the wind and wrapped his arm around my waist. Pulling me into him, he whispered, “You need to run, jaanu. I don’t know where, and I don’t know how, but…you really need to fucking run.”
Ben and Stewart turned to look at me.
Their eyes.
Their fear.
Peter was right.
The energy in this place was all twisted and wrong. Building, gathering, hissing and slithering…growing sharper and colder and—
“Henri.” Victor raised his glass. “You have continued to impress me these past few months. We have so much fun together, and…I truly mean it when I say I see myself in you. I see you growing into who you truly are. I see the man you will be when you’re finally free. So…just like I’ve taken it upon myself to push you along your journey, consider this my final push.”
Heavy anticipation filled the Great Hall.
Peter snagged my wrist and pulled me toward the exit.
I tripped and stumbled, all while I looked back and caught Victor’s noxious eyes. He waved. He chuckled. Four guards cut in front of us and stopped us in our tracks.
Henri stood frozen on the stage.
“You asked me for a lifetime membership?” Victor smiled at Henri. “Tonight, I will grant it. Your probational period is over, mon ami. I am ready to welcome you completely. And, in a show of good faith and to prove how grateful I am for your friendship, I won’t take all your money. We’ll split it. Fifty-fifty. Not only will you inherit my home, but you will also have the funds to look after my boy if need be.”
Peter stood panting beside me.
Prickles of terror stabbed down my legs.
The urge to flee grew stronger, stronger.
My heart stopped as Victor snapped his fingers at a waiter then pointed at Henri.
A glass of alcohol was placed into Henri’s slack hand.
It woke him up.
Fury blazed in his gaze before he covered it up with a look of respect and gratitude. “Merci, Vic. I’m…honoured.”
“No, no, my friend, it’s me who is honoured. I’m aware you haven’t given me your answer but I’m making it for you. Congrats on being my son’s godfather. He couldn’t have a better one. Now, drink.” Clinking his glass to Henri’s, he didn’t take his eyes off him as Henri shot it back and cleared his throat.
“Fabuleux!” Tossing his empty glass at Rachel, Victor spread his arms. “And now, gentlemen. If you’ll leave your jewels behind and all follow me. The final part of tonight is ready.” He strode off the stage, his cape wafting like the night as he swooped toward me and Peter.
He reached us before the crowd.
He sucked us into his evil the second he arrived.
Dropping the gentile persona and revealing his true murderous colours, he fisted my wrist and pressed his mouth to my ear. “Did you honestly think I didn’t know, Ilyana? Did you truly think you could get something as ridiculous as escape past me?” He pulled back, clucking his tongue. “And you, Peter.” His eyes snaked to Paavak. “You’ve disappointed me. You’ve gutted me. This is the loyalty you show me after everything I have done for you?” He shrugged and yanked me into him. “So be it. So fucking be it, you two ungrateful little shits. Just remember you’re the ones who forced my hand. You did this. You are responsible for tonight.” His lips pulled back, his voice low and trembling. “You two fucking sicken me. Running around like mice in the dark. Visiting my kitchens. Turning my jewels against me. You must be suicidal to believe you could hide your little games from me. The cleaners? The chemicals? Ha!” He laughed and looked over his shoulder as Henri came toward us.
Keeping his voice too low for Henri to hear, he hissed, “I’m done letting you cause rot in my home. You and your little whispers and rebellions. It was pointless. Useless. You’ve lost and I’ll punish all those you dragged into this fatal little scheme. You want freedom so badly? Well then, you shall fucking have it.”
The guards broke their wall in front of us as Victor stalked forward, dragging me beside him.
Peter let me go.
He fell back.
But Victor said politely, “Guards, please ensure Peter joins us. He’s a guest of honour tonight.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Seamlessly, two black-suited men slipped into place, stepping into line behind me and Victor, blocking Peter between us and preventing Henri from getting too close. Victor grinned over his shoulder. “Are you ready, mon ami?”
Henri vibrated with energy.
His lifeforce didn’t fit inside his suit anymore, his lines blurring with rage.
But he still managed to follow our script.
Managed to act and simper and lie. “Of course, Vic. Looking forward to it. Whatever it is.”
I choked on a sob.
I opened my mouth to scream for him to run.
But two more guards slipped behind Henri before a procession of guests fell behind them.
We were trapped.
Corralled.
Livestock heading to the slaughter.
He didn’t know.
Didn’t hear what Victor had said.
Didn’t hear Victor’s low chuckle as he dragged me through his castle. Or his whisper as cold as snow. “Time to die, little diamond. Let’s go set you free.”