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I didn't look this man in the eyes, and I certainly didn't look at his... erm.. you know,thing.When his arm started to heal, he moved away and another one took his place.

I felt disgusting sitting there naked and covered in blood, my blood and the blood of others, but I knew it was important that I remain in place so I could get this over with and not cause a scene. I didn't come this far and put my coven through heartache just to walk away before I finished it. No way, no how.

Marcus Cole was the fifth man to step up in front of the tub. He had his hood down, and like all the others, the front of his robe gaped wide open and he wasn't wearing anything underneath.

Now, his eyes I did meet in order to avoid looking down again, which I did do before I realized it was him when he'd first stepped up to the edge of the tub. I feared that image would be burned into the back of my brain forever, and this just might be the last time I would ever be able to look him in the eye again without blushing, and I could only do it now because I was so upset with him.

We didn't speak as he slit his wrist and held it up over the tub and, by default, me. Our eyes never broke contact until his arm started to heal and he looked down at it. He looked back up at me and opened his mouth to speak, but a commotion at the door had him snapping his mouth shut and quickly glancing over his shoulder. His body grew tight and his head whipped back toward me. He threw his robe closed and leaned over the tub, his hands going to the side of the porcelain where he gripped it tightly. His face was a foot away from mine.

"Marcus," Adrian snapped in warning. "You know the rules. Don't do anything stupid."

"Don't try to stop it," Marcus whispered urgently. "There is no stopping it, and it will only get worse if you try. Don't try to fight it either. At least it's her and not an innocent. Be thankful for that. And don't tell Quinton or the other one you saw my dick."

Don't try to stop what?

I had a bad, bad feeling about what was about to go down here, and I just knew the worst was yet to come.

Also, was he crazy? Of course I wouldn't tell either Rain or Quinton I'd seen him naked, no matter how mad at him I was. That'd be a death sentence right there.

Can you imagine?Hey, Dad, Mr. Cole flashed me his dick! It was, um, large. Mmkay, thanks.

Yikes.

Dead.

That would be the end of Marcus Cole, even if I left out the large part. Though, that part was definitely true.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I whispered hurriedly to Marcus. "Tell me what's going on here. Please." That please hurt to tack on at the end, but sometimes you needed a little sugar to get what you wanted. It was a technique I used with Quinton all the time and it never failed me.

"I—"

"Here she is," Adrian exclaimed. "She's just for you, dear. Isn't that lovely?"

I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about, but just the crazed happiness shining bright in his eyes scared the absolute holy hell right out of me. And who was this female he kept talking about? I knew there were more of them around here, but I thought this was supposed to be a closed Council thing and I was the only girl involved in that.

"What—"

My mouth dropped open and I swear my heart skipped a beat. "No," I whispered, or I thought I whispered. No sound actually came out of my mouth.

Annabell.

She should not be in here. Something told me that she should be far, far away from this place.

She wore a robe very much like the men had on, like the one I'd walked in here wearing before my clothes had been removed from my body while I'd been out. Her robe fell open as she walked, and I got an eyeful of her naked body, a body I'd actually seen before.

Her mask was off and the scars on her face were in full view. I wished not for the first time that for her sake she didn't feel the need to hide them from the world. Not everyone would find them repulsive, and I knew I only did because I knew what she'd done to earn them.

Then again, I wore my scars proudly for everyone to see. At least, now I did. There was a time when I'd go out of my way to cover them up—before I received the one on my face—but I had only done that because I got tired of nosy people asking me about their origins. Now, I just didn't give a fuck. I always knew I was pretty, but the boys had taught me just how beautiful a person could be when they embraced who they really were and stopped hiding.

Annabell stopped at the foot of the tub beside Adrian. She didn't look nervous or happy or anything. Her face was remarkably blank, and I had never seen her so emotionless before. It scared me even more.

Hadn't Adrian said something earlier about sedating someone? Just what exactly had they given Annabell, and did I really want to know?

I sat up in the bathtub and covered my breasts with my arm. I hadn't bothered when Adrian had been feasting on my flesh with his eyes, but it felt almost necessary now with Annabell here, looking like she'd been doped up in the extreme. The good news was that sitting up like this and with my thighs pressed tightly together, it totally covered up my vagina from prying, eager eyes.

"Annabell," I called out quietly. Her dead eyes came to me and I sucked in a sharp breath at the vast nothingness I found there. "Are you okay? Do you want me to take you back to your room?”

Nothing, absolutely nothing. She didn't so much as twitch. She just stood there staring at me as if she didn't even know who I was.