Chapter One #2
In spite of the blows to the head, the wolf was up off the floor after a few long seconds.
It shook its head, bared its teeth, and growled at the hydra.
When the bell sounded, the wolf lunged. This time its jaws closed around the hydra’s scaly front-left ankle, and the crowd groaned as its teeth sank into the snakelike skin.
Black blood spurted from the wound, and all the hydra’s heads screeched as the dire wolf pulled it to the ground.
Scarlett’s stomach turned, and she grimaced.
She glanced toward Cass, hoping she’d ring the bell before the wolf ripped off the hydra’s leg—but rather than watching the fight, Cass was staring at the only entry to the room.
She looked straight at Scarlett, then back at the door. Scarlett followed her gaze.
Flashlights flickered against the walls.
Scarlett tugged at Alastair’s hand. “Look!”
He kept his attention on the fight.
The hydra’s screams assaulted Scarlett’s eardrums as the bell failed to sound.
“We need to leave.” She shook Alastair’s arm.
He turned to her just as two police officers burst into the room, rushing toward the ring. More streamed in behind them.
“EVERYONE, GET ON THE FLOOR.”
“Shit,” Alastair muttered. He wrapped his arm around Scarlett’s shoulders, but aside from that, he was frozen.
Cass and the two fighters climbed out of the ring as all the lights in the room, including the officer’s flashlights, flickered and went out. The pitch-black room filled with screams.
Scarlett gripped Alastair’s arm as panic rose in her chest. “There has to be another way out.”
But if there was, she couldn’t see it. Bodies slammed into her as people scattered around, a few choosing to lie on the grimy floor.
Why did I let this happen? I have to get out of here, or I’ll go down in history as the dumbass who ruined everything for my dad.
Alastair’s voice shook. “Maybe the police can be bribed…”
A hand clutched Scarlett’s upper arm. “Scarlett Heroux?”
She tried to yank her arm away from the sudden touch. “Who are you?” She couldn’t see a foot in front of her face.
“Follow me if you don’t want to get arrested.”
Then it clicked. The lightly accented voice belonged to Cass. Shocked as she was, Scarlett made a split-second decision.
“Lead the way.”
“Take my hand.” Fingers slid into Scarlett’s free hand, and she stumbled but stayed on her feet as she was led through the pitch-black room, pulling Alastair behind her. All around were sounds of frantic people desperate to escape the dark, but somehow Cass avoided them all.
Then Scarlett walked into Cass’s back as she came to an abrupt halt. Alastair stumbled into her, and she held his hand tighter to steady them both.
“There’s a trapdoor right here,” said Cass. “Feel for the ladder on the side closest to you. Scarlett, you go first. Mace and Brixton have gone ahead, so don’t freak out if you hear them.” She placed Scarlett’s hand on the first rung of the ladder.
“I can’t leave my boyfriend,” said Scarlett. “You’ll let him follow me, right?”
“Of course. He’ll be right behind you.” Cass was reassuring even under the circumstances.
“Thank you,” Scarlett said, infusing gratitude into her voice. She tentatively descended through the darkness until her feet hit the ground. Seconds later, Alastair was beside her, and she reached for his hand. He took it, gripping it tightly in his.
Scarlett jumped as a thump sounded above them, and then again when Cass landed on the ground with a thud. She switched on a flashlight, illuminating their faces in a soft glow, and pointed the light toward an archway.
“That tunnel will lead us out of here. It’ll take them a while to get the lights back on up there, but we’d best be on our way before they find the trapdoor.”
Alastair started toward the archway without a word, Scarlett’s hand still in his. Cass fell into step beside them.
They walked for a few minutes, gravel crunching under their feet in the cold tunnel. Drops of water occasionally hit Scarlett’s face as she tried to pinpoint their location in her mind’s eye.
“Are we walking under the Sapphire Canal?” asked Scarlett.
“Yep,” said Cass.
Scarlett waited, hoping she’d go on, but Cass didn’t elaborate as she walked the underground path in silence.
“Why are you helping us?” Scarlett asked, unable to resist.
“I support the prime minister’s plans to open the border. Couldn’t have his daughter’s arrest on my conscience.”
Scarlett couldn’t see the other woman’s face, but she sounded genuine. “I can’t thank you enough for helping prevent a scandal.”
Alastair snorted. “Won’t the open borders shrink the profits you get from running illicit boxing matches? You won’t be able to charge as much if it isn’t underground.”
Scarlett pulled her hand out of Alastair’s grip for the first time since they’d started down the tunnel. “Not everyone’s top priority is money.”
“What?” he huffed. He stopped walking but then took several quick steps to catch up with them. “I was only asking.”
They arrived at a fork in the path. Cass considered for a second and then led them down the path to the left. She cleared her throat.
“We pay exorbitant bribes. If we could go legitimate, the market would expand, and the crooked cops would truly be the only ones worse off. Besides, like your girlfriend said, some things are more important than money. I believe in freedom for Soleil, and it’d be nice if my family could visit me.”
Scarlett was fascinated. All of Soleil knew about the magical black market, so of course the police must too. It made sense, even if she hated to hear about crooked cops.
“Apparently, your bribes aren’t exorbitant enough,” said Alastair.
“That has me concerned.” There was venom in Cass’s voice. She shone her flashlight on the curved wall of the tunnel, and metal glinted back. “This ladder leads to a side street not far from the Prince’s Street Dock. Can you make your way home from there?”
“Yes.” Scarlett nodded. “I can call my driver. Would you like a ride? We can drop you off anywhere you’d like.”
Cass considered for a second. “Sure.”
The three of them climbed onto the street. The moon shone high in the clear sky, giving them far more light to see by than they’d had in the tunnels. They moved to the closest alleyway for shelter from passersby, and Scarlett called Charlie, who’d been her family’s driver her entire life.
He picked up on the first ring. “Hey, kid. Are you ready for a pickup?”
“That would be great. Thanks, Charlie. We’re at the Prince’s Street Dock. Alastair and another friend are with me. We’ll drop them off before going home.” She could’ve waited to tell him this, but she wanted it known she was going home alone tonight.
“No worries. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
Charlie hung up, and Scarlett turned to Alastair and Cass.
“It won’t be long. Should we grab a coffee while we wait?”
Alastair shook his head. “Nah, it’ll take too long.” His gaze pierced Scarlett. “Why don’t you have him drop Cass off first and come back to my place?”
Remembering the promise she’d made herself back at the match, Scarlett steeled herself. “You dragged me to that match even though you knew I didn’t want to go, and we were this close to getting arrested. I want to be alone tonight.”
“You could’ve chosen not to go,” he protested.
Cass moved toward the street and put her back to them.
“You’re right. I could have, but you kept hounding me. You pressured me.” Scarlett was angry at him and at herself, because he was right. For three years she’d swallowed every negative thing she’d felt to make sure he was happy. And she shouldn’t have done that.
He came closer, his expression softening, but he couldn’t bring her back to him with a pleading look this time. “I thought it would be good for us. Things haven’t been the same since you decided not to move in with me…” His expression was pinched as he reached for her.
Scarlett pulled away. “Yes, that’s another thing you kept insisting on even though you knew I was thinking about going abroad. By the way, I’m not thinking about it anymore. I’m doing it, and I’m going to tell my dad tomorrow.”
He closed his eyes for a long moment. “If you go, where does that leave us?”
She was so tired of him that her next words came easier than expected. “I think time apart will be good for us.”
“Are you asking for a break?” His voice caught as a pain she’d never seen entered his gaze.
That was what she’d meant. She’d only wanted to express how mad she was at him, but suddenly, it wasn’t enough.
Alastair only loved her when she was playing the role he expected her to play.
A role she no longer wanted. Now that she was tearing her life apart, she burned with the desire to level it to the ground and begin anew.
Scarlett swallowed and forced herself to tell the truth. “No, I don’t want a break. I think we’re done.”
His hands fell away; his expression hardened. “Three years together, and you don’t even want to try doing long-distance? Or going abroad together? I don’t want to go, but I’d do it for you. Do all our years together mean nothing to you?”
“Of course they mean something to me. I’ve loved you all the years we’ve been together, but that doesn’t mean we’re meant to be together forever.” She willed him to understand.
He scowled at her. “Beyond loving me, we’re forever linked. I took your virginity.”
“Wow…” Cass muttered from a few steps away.
How could he say something so outrageous, let alone in front of someone else? Scarlett rolled her eyes at Alastair’s old-fashioned views.
He ignored her and went on in a lowered voice. “You’ve practically been living with me. I’ve been inside you hundreds of times. Do you think I’d have done any of that if I didn’t believe we’d marry one day?”
And not one of those hundreds of times did you give me an orgasm.
Twenty-two and I’ve never had a single goddamn orgasm.
She wanted to shout the words at him, but it was far too late to talk about that.
He had no idea she never had. It also wasn’t fair to fault him for something she’d never told the truth about.
But as he stood there trying to make a sexual claim on her, she was tempted to throw it in his face anyway.
Scarlett glared at him. “We never spoke about marriage. It’s not my fault if you made assumptions.”
His expression shifted from hard to vacant. “What did I do to make you stop loving me?”
Her brief spike of anger faded, replaced by wavering heartache.
She had slept in his bed so many nights for years.
They’d been each other’s worlds for so long.
She still remembered when he’d asked her out on their first day at university.
Scarlett had been nervous, hoping to make friends, and he’d stepped in and filled her life with inside jokes, study dates, nights out in dazzling places, and quiet nights in snuggled up in his bed.
He’d done a good job of making her happy.
When did she stop loving him?
The truth was, she had a growing sense of disgust at how Alastair carried his privilege.
Comments he made here and there that made her think their values were far from aligned.
She wasn’t sure if he’d always been that way and she’d been unwilling to see it or if he’d changed.
But what was one more lie? One last lie to keep him from being unhappier than he already was.
“You didn’t do anything. I don’t know why it changed for me.”
His gaze darted to hers before he looked up at the sky. “Is there someone else?” His voice sounded thick.
She grabbed his hand. “Of course not.” It wasn’t a lie, although for months her fantasies had featured a man with thick, dark hair and warm brown eyes…
“Scarlett, you’re mine.” He squeezed her hand so tight it hurt.
“I bought a bloody engagement ring for you. I’d have proposed by now if you weren’t acting like such a selfish shrew.
You’re supposed to marry me. We’d make the greatest political dynasty Soleil has ever seen.
With you by my side, I could be prime minister after your father—our children would inherit two seats in Parliament.
” His voice was raised, and his handsome face twisted.
“You’ll never find this good of a match again. Do you understand that?”
Shock became fire as his arrogance erased Scarlett’s guilt. Heat flooded through her body. He’d never sounded more entitled. Was this how he loved? It felt like the veil over her eyes had lifted, and without the sickness of her own love for him distorting her view, she didn’t recognize him anymore.
Cass turned around then, but Scarlett waved to let her know no intervention was necessary.
“I’m now one hundred percent certain I don’t want to be with you, so thanks for that. Do you understand that? Fuck off, Alastair.”
He stared at her with wild eyes. “That’s all you have to say? Fuck off? You fuck off, Scarlett. You’ll regret this for the rest of your life, and don’t think I’ll take you back!”
Scarlett, filled with rage, strode toward Cass. “Let’s wait on the dock.”
Cass nodded and fell into step beside her. “That was intense. Are you all right?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine.” Scarlett kept her gaze ahead. “It’s for the best.”
It wasn’t long before Charlie had pulled up in her family’s sleek speedboat. Alastair didn’t follow them, and Scarlett was glad. He could find his own way home.
“Sorry you had to listen to that,” she said as they waited for Charlie to secure the boat.
“Don’t be sorry,” said Cass, amused. “He seems like a prick.”
“He’s never acted like that before. You saw the worst of him back there.”
But deep down, Scarlett wasn’t entirely sure that was true.
It was why she felt relieved to be free, whatever that meant.
Given their respective roles in Soleil, she feared she’d never be truly free of Alastair Spencer.
She tried her best not to dwell on the thought as the boat sped off into the night.