Page 48 of Haunted

What happened back there was the single most erotic moment of my life, and that realization makes me sick. I should be disgusted. I should be planning my escape, figuring out how to expose this twisted game. Instead, I'm running deeper into the maze becauseXavier told me to, my nerves still humming with the memory of his hands, his voice, and the way he made me feel completely and utterly owned.

I was putty in his hands. Complete putty.

“Fuck,” I whisper, pressing my back against a wall. My chest rises and falls rapidly, the silk top barely containing my breasts as they strain against the flimsy fabric.

I force myself to start moving again, turning another corner in this endless labyrinth. But then I stop dead, my mouth falling open in shock.

The walls. They’re not walls anymore—they’re massive screens, floor to ceiling, surrounding me on all sides. And playing on those screens...

“Oh my God.”

Explicit scenes fill every surface. Bodies writhing together, masks hiding faces, while naked flesh is displayed in high definition. I recognize some of the locations—other parts of this maze, other rooms in this twisted complex.

My blood turns to ice when I spot myself on one of the screens. I’m spread over the bench and restrained, Xavier’s hands fisted in my hair as I?—

“No, no, no,” I breathe, backing away from the screen only to collide with another wall displaying the same horrific footage. My humiliation, my surrender, broadcast for anyone watching to see.

On another screen, Julian dominates Elliot.

I’m surrounded by depravity, by evidence of what happened, of what I willingly participated in.

Then I see her. Cora.

My heart stops completely as I spot her on one of the screens, and bile rises in my throat. She’s surrounded by three massive masked men, all muscle-bound and inked, their hands roaming over her form as she struggles against their grip.

“No!” I scream, lunging toward the screen as if I could somehow reach through it to help her. “Get away from her!”

But the men don’t stop. One holds Cora’s arms behind her back while another traces patterns across her exposed skin with deliberate slowness. The third circles her, his masked face tilted as he studies her fear.

I can see the terror in Cora’s eyes and the way her mouth moves as she pleads with them. This isn’t like what happened with Keira—Cora doesn’t want this. She’s trapped, helpless, and it’s all my fault.

“This is my fault,” I whisper, my hands pressed against the screen as tears blur my vision. “This is all my fucking fault.”

I brought her here. I let her sign that NDA. I knew Xavier was dangerous, knew this place was a trap, and I still let my best friend walk into it because I was too selfish to face it alone.

The guilt crashes over me like a tidal wave. While I was on my knees surrendering to Xavier’s twisted games, Cora was being hunted by these monsters. While I was discovering dark parts of myself I never knew existed, she was fighting for her safety.

I turn frantically, searching for a way outof this chamber of horrors. The screens tower over me on every side, making me feel like I’m drowning in the evidence of what we’ve all become.

“I have to find her,” I say aloud, my voice echoing off the walls. “I have to get to Cora.”

I start running again, no longer caring about Xavier’s twisted game or his commands. Forget the investigation. Forget the story. Forget everything except getting to my best friend before those men damage her irreversibly.

My bare feet pound against the stone as I race through corridor after corridor, desperation driving me forward. The red silk clings to my curves, restricting my movement, but I push through the discomfort.

I have to reach her. I have to save her from the mess I created.

“You can’t save her, angel.”

Xavier’s voice echoes from speakers hidden somewhere in the walls, surrounding me with his dark amusement. The sound makes my skin crawl as I spin around, searching for the source.

“She’s been captured. Three of Ravenwood’s finest have their hands on your precious friend, and there’s no breaking a claim once it’s made.”

“You sick fuck!” I scream at the walls, at the screens, at wherever he’s watching from. “Let her go! This is between you and me!”

His laughter fills the chamber, rich and sadistic, the sound of a man who feeds on suffering. “Is it, though? You brought her here, Mira. You signed her rights away the moment you let her walk into my office.”

The truth of his words hits me like a physical blow. I did this. I dragged Cora into this nightmare, hellbent on finding the truth.