34. Kiera
KIERA
After the weeks-long fuckfest we’d been having, my captors had grown quite comfortable having me roam the house. But as much as I was enjoying their company, I couldn’t forget my real mission — the ghosts haunting these old hallways wouldn’t let me.
I know this place. I know that I know it.
And if that creeping feeling wasn’t reason enough, Isaac Dumont’s name showing up all around me certainly was. That man was a monster, and if he had anything to do with this place or what was happening to me, I needed to know.
The only way I could figure any of it out was to see the one part of the house that was forbidden: the South Wing. And the only way I was getting in there was by sneaking past Spencer and Leo: a task that was complicated by how just attentive my lovers were.
I’d headed out to the yard early that morning, hoping a few minutes of uninterrupted fresh air might help me think before one of them inevitably found me. But to my surprise, even after I heard Dom’s bike tear down the driveway, no one came.
… Where are they?
Taking a look around me, I headed back in from the garden and was surprised to find that the kitchen was quiet. There was no hum of the TV from the living room, no footsteps upstairs. And just when I was starting to think I might need to call in a missing persons’ on my own kidnappers…
The metallic thunk of dropped weights rattled down the hall, followed by Spencer’s breathy, “Fuck.”
The gym. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought to check there. The one thing that could keep them off of me was their religious workout routines. Though they were rarely in there at the same time.
Now’s my chance.
But before I could risk it, I needed to make sure they were both occupied. Creeping down the hallway, I kept to the quiet edges of the creaky floor and held my breath. If they came out early, I’d just tell them I wanted to work out.
I’m not wearing shoes. They’ll know that’s a lie.
I shook my head. Fine, I’ll just tell them I came to admire the show. Their big egos will take that excuse easily.
As I approached the doorway, I kept my shoulder pressed to the wall and peeked just slightly past it, praying neither of them would notice.
They were both in there, alright, and they had the glistening muscles to prove it.
Spencer had a dumbbell in each hand, curling them up to her chest in alternating movements as the sun soaked her skin.
Leo, on the other hand, was working her legs on some medieval torture device that looked out of place in the art deco room.
I had no idea how much she was lifting, but the weights loaded onto that thing made it look like a goddamn Transformer.
Focus, Kiera.
Lucky for me, they both had their headphones in and were completely lost in the flow of their workouts. Waiting for them to start new sets, I slipped past the doorway and into the linen closet just across the hall.
The small crack I’d left in the door was the only light in the room. To one side, there was a shelf with clean towels for wiping down the machines. And to the other was the dirty hamper where they stashed the used ones until laundry day.
Note to self: find an airier hiding spot next time…
But hopefully, there wouldn’t be a next time. If I could just get into that hallway, I would finally know what they were keeping from me. No more secrets meant no more hiding.
If they let me live after this.
Swallowing down that fear, I pulled out my phone and began to type out a text. But as I did, there was the heavy clunk of weights again: Spencer finishing her set.
“I need a fucking break,” she panted.
“And then you wonder why you can’t keep up with me.” Leo groaned, pumping out another rep.
“Shut up.” The sound of something thrown — a water bottle? — rang across the gym before Spencer muttered. “Any word yet from the pigeon-brains?”
The machine clanged as Leo set her own weights down with much more control than Spence had. “Nothing. But my guess is we’ll tail Boy Prince next, see who he reports to.”
“Do we know who he is yet?”
“Nope,” Leo sighed. “Oracle’s not big on sharing more than strictly necessary. And apparently an accurate fucking description of our mark is not necessary.”
After a sip of water, Spencer sighed. “I just don’t know why they’re bothering with this place. It’s some sleepy little college town.”
“With just a handful of cults,” Leo quipped.
“Hey,” Spence laughed. “Valemont’s probably got a lower ratio than most other small towns.”
For a moment, silence settled over the room, thick with the weight of whatever was coming next.
But before it could get too heavy, Leo let out a sigh.
“I’m not sure what they want with Valemont either.
All I know is that I want to be ready when we find out.
So stop trying to distract me, and get back to lifting. ”
“Sir, yes, sir,” Spencer shouted goofily before I heard her pick up her weights again.
The conversation left me frozen for a moment. It was a shock to hear that they really seemed as clueless about our mission as they said they were. I’d kind of figured they were just playing dumb, trying to keep me out of the loop so I wouldn’t ask questions.
And in a sense, it was a relief to be proven wrong. But it also meant that by putting my trust in them, I was putting my fate completely in The Oracle’s hands, and I wasn’t sure if that was a gamble I was willing to take.
Plus, it made me feel a bit worse about pulling one over on them.
But if they’ve been as clueless as it seems, they’ll understand how much it sucks to be kept in the dark. Hopefully that’s enough.
Before I could second guess it, I hit send on my text, holding my breath until I heard two pings from the other room.
Spencer’s weights clattered to the floor again as she called out to Leo. “Text from Kiera!”
Looking down at my phone again, I saw exactly what they did. A selfie I’d taken this morning by one of the marble statues in the garden. The text below it was simple:
Finders keepers ;)
The gym was dead silent for a moment before Leo’s weights clattered to the ground first. “You’re so fucked dude.”
“Oh shove it,” Spencer panted, tripping over something metal as she scrambled for the door. “What happened to focusing on your workout, Major.”
“She’ll be my cardio. Maybe my lifting too.” I heard a body slam into the doorframe — presumably Spencer’s from the groan that followed. And then, they stampeded right past the hallway closet, shoving and bickering with each other all the way out into the yard.
As the door slammed behind them, I could only think one thing:
That was too fucking easy.
A part of me wanted to follow them out there, to watch them fight over me, to let them actually take me. It might be a while before either of them wanted me again after this, if they could forgive me at all.
But despite the pit burning in my stomach, I told myself it didn’t matter. I couldn’t keep living in all of this uncertainty. And now, it was time to answer my questions once and for all.