Page 18 of Rule the Night

My face felt tight with the blood that had been smeared on my cheeks by the blue-eyed man in the bone mask and his blond friend. I could still see the shine of possession in their eyes when they’d marked me, but instead of grossing me out, the memory sent an unexplainable wave of lust through my body.

What would it be like to be caught by them? To belong to them for three long months?

No, I wouldn’t let myself think about that. I had to win.

I thought about June instead, heard her voice in my head:get some rest, loser.

Her laughter rang through my mind as I fell into sleep.

11

MAEVE

I woke up with a start.Disoriented, I looked around and realized I was still in the tunnels, wedged under the table between its base and the stone wall.

Had I heard something? Was that why I’d woken up?

I listened, but other than the faint drip of water coming from somewhere in the distance, the tunnels were as silent as they’d been when I’d crawled under the table.

Shifting, I reached for my phone. I’d been asleep for four hours. Not a bad way to kill time, all things considered, although I was sure I would have felt differently if I’d been found while I was sleeping.

Fifteen hours to go.

My hand throbbed, the piece of T-shirt I’d wrapped around my wound crusty with blood.

I reached for the bottle of water and took a sip. I wasn’t eager to pee in the tunnel again, but I needed to stay hydrated. While I nursed the water bottle, I tried to come up with a strategy for staying hidden in the tunnels.

But honestly? It wasn’t like I had a lot of choices.

I could wander and hope I didn’t run into one of the teams of masked men roaming the tunnels like packs of wild animals, or I could stay put and hope no one found me.

I thought it through, then crawled out from my hiding place. It was tempting to stay put, hope for the best, but if I was found, I’d be cornered. At least I stood a chance of evading capture on the move.

At least I could run.

I hid the empty water bottles behind the boxes, not wanting to leave a trail for the hunters. Then I grabbed a fresh bottle to tuck into the pocket of my jacket for later. It had taken me a long time to find the first stash of water and I didn’t want to risk not finding another.

Fifteen hours was still a long time.

I started out slow, my body stiff from being shoved into the small space under the table. I’d been walking for about a half hour when I heard a muffled whimper from the darkness up ahead.

I froze and listened again, wondering if I’d imagined it, but no, there it was again.

And it was definitely one of the girls.

I walked cautiously through the glow of a red light, then stepped into the darkness just past it. The whimper came again, closer and followed by the clink of chains.

“Hello?” I whispered.

“I’m here!” The voice was frantic. “You have to help me!”

I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight, then panned toward the voice. I nearly jumped out of my skin when the light landed on a naked girl chained to the wall.

She was barely recognizable as one of the girls in the holding room. A pretty redhead who’d been wearing leggings and a sports bra, her cheeks and forehead were now streaked withblood, her body smeared with dirt, strands of hair escaping from her braid.

“Oh my god…” I rushed over to her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not hurt but this is fucking crazy!” She thrust her chained hands at me. “You have to get me out of these.”