Chapter 59
Chapter fifty-nine
Annalise
Idon’t hear Platt move closer until his arm is already around my throat.
One second, I’m pushing branches out of my face, the map tucked under my arm as I try to figure out how far we are from Scion, and the next, the world is tilting.
My boots skid across the ground as he wrenches me backward.
I get one hand between his arm and my throat; it’s not much, but it’s enough that I can still breathe.
I stomp down onto his foot as hard as I can and slam my elbow into his ribs, hard enough that his hold drops and I’m able to get a few steps away from him.
But I don’t have time to catch my breath before my legs are being tackled out from under me. I crash to the ground, pain shooting up my spine as the wind is knocked out of me, and the rock I just landed on digs into my back.
“Stop fighting!” Web growls, trying to get a good grip on me as I struggle against him.
I reach down for one of my daggers, but Platt catches it, and before I can curl into myself, he’s kicking me in the stomach over and over. After too many kicks, I manage to wrap my arms around one of his legs and pull it tight against me before he can wind up again.
He’s flailing and shouting at Web to do something, but I keep hold. I don’t know what to do from this position, so I just hold onto him as I try to figure out my next move…Until Web’s boot connects with the back of my head, and I feel like it may explode at any moment.
“Yeah! That’s how you kick a bitch!” Web cheers like he just kicked a game-winning field goal. “Now, get her fucking weapons before she stabs one of us.”
My head pounds like the beat of an EDM song, dizziness trying to pull me under as they work together trying to restrain me. Platt is straddling me, trying to get ahold of my hands, while Web is trying to get a rope around my feet.
A rope. They fucking planned this.
“Get off me!” I scream, twisting, trying to get free, but Platt just lifts slightly and drops his knee into my shoulder.
“Hold still,” Platt snaps, his voice breathless from the fight I’m putting up. “Get her other ankle!” he barks over his shoulder.
“I would if she’d stop kicking like a feral bit—” Web’s sentence breaks off with a grunt as my heel connects squarely with something soft. Good.
Platt shifts his weight, repositioning, and the pressure on my shoulder turns brutal. Pain crackles down my arm, and I cry out.
“You’re making this worse for yourself,” he says, leaning down so close I can feel his breath against my ear. “We just need you quiet for a little bit longer.”
I twist sharply, using the tiny bit of slack he stupidly gave me to wrench one hand free. My nails dig into his face, and I feel the satisfying, wet resistance of his skin tearing.
“Bitch!” he shouts, recoiling just enough that the weight on my torso shifts.
I seize the moment, bucking my hips so violently that he’s partially thrown off, and Web loses his grip on the rope. Platt fights to regain his balance, but I keep bucking, twisting, using my feet to try to push myself out from under him.
I feel Web’s rope around my second ankle at the same time blinding pain explodes across my cheekbone.
For a moment, the world flashes white. Then black.
I try to blink, but my left eye feels glued together, the swelling only allowing it to open enough to get a blurry view through my eyelashes. My right eye, on the other hand, fully opens, but I regret it as soon as it does. Pain radiates through my skull, but I force myself to keep it open.
It’s cold, damp, and I know exactly where I am.
A cave.
Aiden’s cave.
I’m tied up in almost the exact spot where he and I learned we were going to be fake married. Where he slid the ring on my finger when I still loathed him. But that all feels like it’s from a different lifetime, because he’ll never be my husband, and he isn’t here with me.
No, the tall man looking out of the cave isn’t Aiden, it’s Platt, and he’s just noticed I’m awake.
“Finally! You’ve been out for hours.” Platt pushes off the cave wall, stalking toward me with a smile that already makes me feel violated. “I was hoping we would get a little alone time before Web gets back.”
His fingers trail down my throat, and only then do I realize my uniform top has been cut open.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” I try to squirm away from him, but my arms are bound behind my back, and my foot restraints are looped around the base of a boulder.
“Yes! We knew this was going to be fun with how hard you’ve made it for us to get you alone all year. And after the fight you put up trying not to get caught today, I can’t wait to see how hard you scream and thrash around when we’re both taking you.”
“What did you just say?” fear unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, consumes me.
“WHERE ARE YOU, FAREN?” Tyr’s voice is manic as he yells into my mind.
“That’s right, we’re going to fuck you at the same time. Oh, you meant the first part, didn’t you?”
His laugh is deranged, sending shivers down my spine.
“In a cave in the woods, north of campus,” I tell Tyr.
“You thought it was that douchebag Lucas following you around and leaving you presents, didn’t you? Is that why your pet beat him up?”
“Presents?” I yell, my anger overshadowing everything else. “You call a dead fucking pig a present?”
“WHAT’S HAPPENING?”
Tilting his head from side to side, he smiles, “Okay, that one was just Webs' way of showing how upset he was after you turned him down in the forest. He felt really bad after that, though. And really, it made him much more patient. We have spent so much time watching you, waiting for the perfect time to get you alone.”
I try pulling my arms in different directions, hoping their knots are loose, but there’s no give.
“Two guys have me tied up in a cave. I’m ok for now, but I don’t think I will be for long.”
“Oh, you’re going to be so much fun,” Platt says as he openly adjusts the bulge in his pants. “When I heard you like it rough, I can’t even tell you how many scenarios I imagined fucking you in.”
“That’s a bullshit rumor! It’s not true! Please, just let me go!”
His laugh is cold and harsh. “See, the thing is, I don’t really care if it’s true, and neither does Web.”
“Wait, you drugged me, didn’t you? You’re in Arcane Healing.”
The truth hits sharper than the rope biting into the insides of my wrists.
Platt sees the moment it all clicks, and his smirk widens, predatory and triumphant.
“That was a trial run. We may have played a little if you had actually given into the drug before you made it to the riding grounds, but it was far too slow to take effect.”
“You’re both fucking disgusting,” I choke out.
He bows as though I’ve complimented him. “You have no idea how disgusting I am going to be with you. Web called dibs on your pussy before he left to check us in, so I get the pleasure of tearing apart your juicy ass.”
My eyes flare in fear. I’ve never had anything back there, but I’ve heard how painful it can be if it’s not done right, and I hardly think these two will be worried about easing me in.
“Yes! I thought you might like that. We’re going to have so much fun!” he’s bouncing like a kid on solstice morning when I hear the crunch of boots on rock just outside the cave.
“Shit, man, I wasn’t sure you’d actually wait for me to get started.” Web doesn’t waste any time removing his uniform jacket and tossing it to the ground. “I waited to make sure everyone made it back. No one will be coming out here.”
“Perfect. I was just telling her how much fun we’re going to have with her. Now we’ll have tonight and all tomorrow to play.”
Platt’s hand slowly moves toward the open rip in my uniform, clearly savoring every wince I make as I try to pull away from him.
I try twisting, but the rope burns my wrists, and my ankles scream from the unnatural angle they’re being forced into, but I don’t stop fighting. I won’t stop.
That only makes him grin. “Keep squirming,” he encourages. “It makes this so much better.”
He pulls his dagger out of his leg sheath, and I freeze as it meets the center of my chest.
“That’s right, Annalise. We’re in charge here.” Platt slides the blade down my sternum, not cutting, but dragging it upward slowly, almost curiously. A sting flares where the tip grazes too sharply, and a thin line of blood wells.
“You can scream all you want now; no one will hear you.” his voice drips with satisfaction as he leans in closer, “The campus is practically empty with everyone at graduation and all of the teams checked in, so no one will be looking for you.”
I try to headbutt him, but Web moves faster, stepping on my shoulder and forcing me down onto my back while Platt straddles me.
He rocks himself against my pelvis before lowering his mouth to my chest, groaning as he licks the blood from the tip of the cut down to where the last drop of blood sits just above my belly button.
My stomach flips violently.
Web’s voice is unexpectedly calm behind me, “Relax, we’ll get to the fun part soon.”
Relax? Is he serious right now?
“We’re not total assholes, you know?” Web asks, and he actually sounds like he believes that. “I was serious the day we met. We want you to enjoy yourself a little bit, too. It wouldn’t have taken so long for me to make this happen, but they wouldn’t leave you alone.
“Platt here has been dying to eat your cunt. He wants you coming all over his face while you’re moaning around my cock.”
“I’m going to tear them to pieces,” Tyr’s voice burns with rage.
“If you put your tiny dick anywhere near my face, I’ll fucking bite it off.” I threaten, panic sharpening my voice.