Chapter 42
FORTY-TWO
CASSIE
Fuck, I am so turned on I almost can’t crawl straight. Frankie is the darkest part of my soul and extremely bad for my health. There is no way he can beat me, though. This tunnel is only big enough for one person at a time to crawl through it and I chuckle to myself as I imagine exactly how he will serve me.
Definitely breakfast in bed, lots of coffee throughout the day and my laundry. Yes, that would be revenge at its finest. Then there’s the sex I will demand from him. Delicious, depraved sex, right from his twisted imagination.
He is unpredictable, wickedly dark and corrupt to the bone, and I wouldn’t want him any other way.
As I crawl on my hands and knees with the flashlight in my teeth, I can’t wait to be the master of a man like him.
It doesn’t take long before I crawl out from the tunnel and as I stand, a hand snatches mine as if from nowhere.
Instinctively, I fight back, which is something I excel at, and I raise my arm sharply upwards and then back and as the assailant’s grip loosens, I kick his feet out from under him. He stumbles and I prepare to land a sharp blow on his back, but he returns the favor and kicks my feet so I tumble to the ground on all fours. As he reaches me, I roll to the side and land a swift kick in his groin and his muffled groan tells me I scored a direct hit.
I move fast but not fast enough as a hand grips my ankle and pulls me crashing to the floor. My face hits the stone and I taste dirt on my tongue and before I can react, a body lands on top of mine, pinning me to the ground.
I raise my head and head butt him in the nose and his grunt of pain gives me the chance to wriggle out from under him.
As I move, he grasps my hair, which brings tears to my eyes and then something metal closes around my wrists behind my back.
I open my mouth to scream but a fist lands inside it and then a dark voice whispers, “Is this the way a slave behaves with her master?”
Fuck! Frankie’s dark voice surrounds me as he says huskily, “You can attack me all you like when we’re back at the house. I thrive on pain. It makes me horny, but the others will be arranging a search party if we don’t make it back at the agreed time.”
He spins me around, removes his fist and captures my objection in his soul stealing mouth. I kiss him back fiercely, so turned on now I know who it is and when we finally come up for air, I growl, “How the fuck did you get here before me?”
He dangles the iron key before my disbelieving eyes and grins. “I found the key, by the way.”
“You cheated!” My eyes flash as he shakes his head. “On the ground, after you fled. Sometimes it pays to be the tortoise rather than the hare. It can throw up a few surprises.”
He helps me to my feet and I stare at the iron door in fascination as he reveals the steps leading down into the passageway below.
“Do you think the centurion dropped the key?”
My eyes widen in awe as I stare at the open door and he shakes his head. “No. The way it clung to the ground tells me it hasn’t moved for some time. I’m guessing centuries. When I opened it, the door was stiff and almost unyielding but it makes things a lot easier now the key is in my possession.”
“How?”
I’m confused and his wicked grin is infectious as he says in a dark whisper, “The next Claiming will be even more devilish. Imagine the fun we could have plotting the challenge.”
I shake my head. “You are enjoying every second of this.”
“Says the girl who shares my new obsession. You see, Cassie, this is when life gets very interesting.”
He smirks. “So, if you’ll behave, it will be easier to unshackle you so you can crawl back the way we came.”
As he removes the cuffs, he links his fingers with mine and as we crawl through the stone opening into the main chamber, the shock on Santi and Ali’s faces causes us to laugh out loud.
“What the fuck happened to you?” Ali says incredulously and Santi adds, “Where are the others?”
Frankie laughs softly. “All will be revealed back at the house. I could murder a beer right now and a hot shower.”
The others shake their heads as they follow us outside and despite where we are and what happened here, I don’t think I have ever felt as alive as I do right at this moment.
* * *
Jack and Siri are already back at the house and as soon as we enter, Frankie heads to his room for a shower and I waste no time in finding mine.
As I wash away my sins and shame, it’s with a huge grin plastered across my face. I loved every second of what happened in the dungeon. Frankie sparks my soul in a way no man has ever done—Jack included. Frankie is unpredictable, deranged and deliciously depraved. Jack is honest, noble and courageous—loyalty being his strongest virtue. Two sides of a coin and two desirable men, one good, one bad, one exciting, one stable. It’s an impossible choice, not that I have to make one, and I can’t wait to do it all over again.
* * *
The others are waiting in the kitchen and I note Siri and Jack sitting at the counter, their heads close together as they whisper in one another’s ears.
Santi and Ali are talking with Frankie, and Jesse is texting something on his phone.
They look up when I enter and Siri says loudly, “We’ve been waiting for you, Cassie. We need to pool our knowledge and work out who the unknown centurion is.”
Jesse says thoughtfully, “It must be somebody who knows this place like the back of his hand. Another student perhaps, or someone who works here.”
“A teacher.” I gasp and Jesse shrugs.
“Possibly, but there are also several workers who keep this academy running.”
Ali joins in. “It could also be a local, a past student perhaps, or just a stranger chancing his luck.”
“So, the entire world is a suspect. That narrows it down.” I say gloomily as I park my ass on the stool and Frankie hands me a cold beer and then turns to Jesse.
“What do you know?”
“I found nothing in the chamber or the cells. I took my search outside to the woods and the area around the dungeon.”
He huffs with despair and Frankie turns to Ali and Santi collectively, asking, “What did you find?”
“Nothing. The tunnels either led to a dead end or to the river. There was nothing else.”
They gaze at Frankie expectantly, who grins, his eyes flashing as he reveals what he discovered.
The room is silent as the others play catch up and Jesse whistles. “Man, that’s fucked.”
“It’s a gift.” Ali adds, his eyes gleaming, and as Frankie tells them about the door, Jesse chuckles softly.
“Well, that makes The Claiming more fun.”
“That’s just what I said.”
Frankie grins at his friend and I interrupt. “What happens now?”
Ali says thoughtfully, “I’m guessing we rig up cameras in the passageways and at the door entrance. All the way to the boathouse. We check the other tunnels for trap doors and place centurions in the passageway to the boathouse and at every exit. There should be enough of us to play the part now. I will probably make it a stipulation of entering the challenge that you take your place at the next one as a centurion guard.”
Santi nods. “When word gets around, I’m guessing it will be a popular event. We will soon have a small centurion army and whoever is running around pretending to be one won’t have many outlets for his fun.”
“Agreed.” Frankie says and as my gaze catches Jack’s, I don’t miss the questions in his eyes as he reads my soul. He always did know what I was thinking and I’m the same with him and as he raises his eyes and turns toward Frankie, I already picture the difficult conversation we are about to have some time very soon.