Page 21

Odessa

I ran straight from the ballroom making a beeline for my room, hoping that no one would notice me slipping away.

No such luck. The bastard guard, Davis, that had brought me to this wretched place blocked my path down one of the dark hallways, with his arms crossed over his chest and a smile that was devoid of any kindness. I was toast.

“Good evening,” I tried for a sweet tone and a dip of my head.

“Where are you running off to in such a hurry?” he asked taking a step closer.

We were alone, the two of us, and with no audience to see what he would do, I took a step back as well trying to keep a healthy distance away from him. His cruel eyes gleamed knowing he frightened me with that one step back.

“I’ve been meaning to check on you since I brought you here. You’re not trying to hide something from the guards, are you?”

My heart was hammering a million miles a minute as he came closer. This time, I stood my ground.

The dagger sat between the fold of the dress’s fabric and my skin, feeling like it might loosen at any moment.

“No, sir,” I responded trying to figure out how to get away from this creep.

“Mmm, I like the way you say, sir. You know your place and how utterly insignificant you are.”

He grabbed me then, twirling me hard against the stone wall with his hand in my hair and his hot unwanted breath at my ear.

“Tragic that a sweet, sexy thing like you won’t stand a chance. We can have some fun before that, though.”

Before I could say, stop, his hands were hiking up my dress and a very noticeable bulge prodded at my backside. Vomit threatened to spill up my esophagus as my body shook.

“Please, sir, I was just trying to get some sleep before the games tomorrow. If you’ll just let me?—”

“Shut the fuck up. Now! You’ll do as I say, you hear me?”

I nodded, knowing that to attack one of the guards was to sign my own death.

My brain whirled trying to figure out what to do and how to get out of this situation.

“Now, where was I?” he asked, squeezing my ass in his hands. If he were to look to the right, he’d see the wrapped dagger, but he was too preoccupied with violating me.

A telltale sound of a zipper being undone filled my ears and a whoosh of my magick erupted from my chest, knocking him back so hard that his head hit the other side of the hall, smacking into the stone wall. I whirled on his slumped figure, and reared my arm back, punching him right in the face.

This place might have me killed for it, but no one was to touch me without my permission.

“Fucking bastard,” I said with a snarl.

He seemed to be passed out from the impact, and I ran, leaving him there as I shook with the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

I closed and locked the door behind me, hands shaking. My back was flush against the door as my heart rate came back down to a normal rhythm. Clearly, while I’d been out my room had been ransacked, and I knew then that taking the dagger with me was the right call.

“Fuck,” I said aloud in disbelief at what had just happened. I could only hope that the bastard guard felt too embarrassed at getting taken down by a girl that he didn’t report me.

It took a good amount of time to clean up the space around me, but once I did, I fell back onto the bed, still dressed in my masquerade outfit. I was far too tired to remove it, and I couldn’t help but replay the events of the evening over in my mind.

Spinning around the dance floor with Dex and Kage was something I hadn’t expected, but it was the surge of protective power and attack from the guard that gnawed at me the most. Would they know it was me that did that to him?

Would he tell? Would they believe me if I told them what actually happened?

And to think in the morning, I was expected to fight in these games for a chance at riches and power.

The power thrummed in my chest like it knew I was thinking of it.

Was it enough to kill another person over?

I didn’t want to dwell on it. Though, that dark part of me answered a resounding yes for me.

I didn’t want to think about anything.

What I wanted was to wake up in my own bed and to have had this all been a bad dream.

But I wasn’t that lucky.

If I died in the games tomorrow, I hoped my family would know how much I tried to get back to them. Seeing the truth of how easily people perished down here, had me wondering if what we knew about Nocturne was the truth at all.

I’d never expected to see my fellow contestants’ heads mounted to a wall like that. The image wouldn’t leave my mind. And I’m sure that’s exactly the effect they wanted. Why else display such savagery?

And that voice in my head?

A part of me hoped it was a figment of my imagination. Just stress from the games starting. But I knew that was bullshit. Something, or someone, had been speaking inside of my head, and it scared me most of all.

I fell asleep still dressed, and tormented by my own thoughts, wrapped in anxiety and dread. The games were starting tomorrow, and there was no getting out of it.