Page 29 of Savage Captor (Deadly Devotion #1)

The meeting takes place in the gym, which I hit every morning alongside Cain and Max like clockwork. Most of the guys don’t get up until noon, so we’re considered the early birds. The gym has no cameras, and I sweep it for bugs when I get in, which gives us time to talk .

“Two months,” Cain says, not breaking his plank.

He’s been at it for over a minute, positioned over a gym mat, and he’s barely broken a sweat.

I’m doing pushups beside him, warming up for my workout.

“We’ll make our move in six weeks. In the interim, I’ve begun afflicting Boyce’s already-despicable competence, so his likeability among the Nighthawks will drop even lower. ”

“Afflicting his competence? How are you doing that?” Max asks, frowning as he works the leg press.

“Microdosing his food with drugs,” I say. I know Cain’s methods. We’ve worked closely together for some time.

“Give a cigar to the first Eligible Nighthawk,” Cain says. “Speaking of, how is your chosen one coming along?”

“It’s been a day, Cain. She’s healing. There hasn’t been much progress.”

“I assume you’re still being appropriately strict and sticking to whatever training you can manage,” he says blithely.

“Assume away.” My arms are starting to burn with exertion, but I keep going. I’m not quitting my pushups until Cain drops from his plank.

“Greyson.” Cain’s voice has turned hard, lined with warning. “I need to know that you’re doing what needs to be done. I’m giving you a lot of trust, and I have to know that it isn’t being abused.”

“It isn’t being abused,” I snap. Cain’s arms are starting to tremble a little, and his form’s starting to lag.

He’ll break position soon, and then I can quit with the damn pushups.

They’re starting to take their toll. A bead of sweat rolls down my forehead and drips against the soft gym mat beneath me.

“Good. Then you won’t mind the inclusion of the indoctrination ritual, when your chosen one will swear loyalty to you, me, and the Nighthawks at the end of her training period.” He breaks the plank and stands up, watching as I force one more pushup.

I glare at him as I stand up. “What fucking ritual?”

“It’s simple,” Cain says. “A modernized version of an age-old tradition. Your chosen one will pledge herself to you as a wife does to a husband and vice versa. Then, her loyalty will be tested through three trials over the course of three days. Those trials will be a surprise to both you and her, to ensure that you’ve properly trained her and she can maintain herself without your direct guidance. ”

Max coughs. “Not to be a dick, but that sounds pretty screwed up—”

“It’s ensuring loyalty. The trials won’t cause serious personal harm or death, so the women will be fine. But I think it’s only fitting that they have trials, don’t you? After all, every prospective Nighthawk operative has to undergo extensive trials. Three would be getting off easy.”

“The trials we go through are torture,” I snap. “ Literally . Pain tolerance training, op-specific training, tactical combat, fighting armed opponents without weapons—”

“Of course I’m not going to construct those sorts of trials for the women,” Cain sighs, rolling his eyes. “Don’t worry about what they’ll be. Worry about ensuring that Scarlett Sharpe is loyal to you, enough so that she’ll do what I ask of her.”

“That is going to take months ,” I growl. “Possibly years.”

“You have three to four months,” Cain says.

“The timeline is only this generous because we have shit to do. After the power shift, there’ll be rebellion to quell.

I estimate it’ll take about a month to get things in order and assure the underground of new leadership’s competence.

Then, you can get an additional two weeks to finish up training your chosen one.

The ritual will consist of an opening, where the two of you swear loyalty to each other and to the Nighthawks, then three days of trials, and finally, the closing ritual where Scarlett will be welcomed into the Nighthawks. If she succeeds.”

“And if she doesn’t?” I’m almost afraid to ask, but I have to know.

“Then she’ll revert to a much harsher form of training that will be sanctioned by me . Not being successful is ill-advised.”

My gut twists. If her training is overseen by Cain, then it’ll consist of pain. A lot of pain. More pain than any one individual should ever have to deal with.

Cain is a true sadist; this is a well-known fact among the Nighthawks.

If he’s going to put Scarlett through trials in three or four months, then I need to spend the time preparing her.

Making sure she’s loyal to me, whether it’s out of fear or care—ideally, a mixture of both.

I’ll need to be stricter. I’ll have to ensure that she relies on me for everything— everything .

I need to become so integral to her that she can’t envision a life without me, that she’ll do anything for me, even deal with Cain.

Problem is, there isn’t much I can do while she’s on strict bedrest. I can’t chain her to my office floor and have her suck my cock while I work.

I can’t really crawl into her pretty head.

My options are limited to giving her a couple of privileges, such as books or a TV, and taking them away whenever she doesn’t comply.

Not the sexual bonding that would probably be more effective…

“What about Eric?” I ask, shifting topics. “What’s going on with him?”

“He’s waiting until we take care of Boyce to do business with us, but we have several handshake deals, and we’ll be meeting with him periodically.”

“We?” Max asks. “All of us? ”

Cain shrugs. “Eventually. He should get acquainted with the new leadership even before we’ve taken power. His support will be very important for maintaining order in the underground.”

“And he’ll help us take down Luther Sharpe,” I say.

“Yes, he’s also got quite a grudge against the man. I haven’t been able to find out exactly why , however,” Cain says, brows furrowing thoughtfully.

Max moves over to a different machine. “Probably because Luther has a talent for stepping on everyone’s toes and pissing them off. That is, when he’s not outright starting wars for the hell of it.”

“Perhaps,” Cain says. “I’ll find out soon enough.” He jerks his chin at me. “Keep a tight leash on your chosen, Greyson. Her wellbeing depends on it.”