Page 177 of Wanna Play A Game?

What? I yank again. It doesn’t open.

Scrape, scrape, scrape.

“Caliiiiii. Come out and plaaaay.”

A white mask appears on the stairs below me.

I scream, darting up the steps. I reach the next level, heaving for breath. It’s also locked.

What the fuck? I dart up the next steps, my heart pounding. I skip the next level, running

up and up. I hear their measured steps below me.

“You’re going to pay for being such a naughty girl.”

It feels like I’m taking each step in slow motion. I look back, catching their white masks. They’re catching up to me, and that gives me a sudden thrill.

I make it to the top. There’s a single door, and I try it.

It’s unlocked, so I burst through it. It opens to a hallway leading to yet another door.

“We’re going to fuck you so hard you’ll regret the day you ever ran.”

I rush through that door, then stumble to a stop. It’s completely dark in here. I blink. Well, not completely dark. There are windows I see, letting in a little light from the evening nightscape. This is the penthouse.

I hear their voices outside and run further in, tripping over something. I cuss, pain tearing up my shin.

The door opens, flooding the room with light for a second.

The men step in, and the door swings shut, enveloping us in darkness again.

“Give up now, Cali and Ryder won’t make you cry…too much.”

“Fuck off,” I shoot back. I scoot farther into the room.

There are a few dark chuckles. I can only see vague shapes and the faint white of their masks.

“You know all of us love taming brats, right?”

I turn a corner and bump against something soft. A bed? Is this a bed? I pat around, crouching down. It is. I feel around. There’s enough room under it.

I slide under just in time. A dark form steps around the corner.

I watch him look slowly around the room. Who is it? I squint at his hands. Sawyer? Miles?

He looks down at me, eerily still. Can he see me? No way. Not with the mask on.

“Hello, Cali.”

I scream.

He reaches down, grabbing me by the hair. He yanks just enough to bring tears to my eyes. “Come out to play, pretty girl.”

The other two walk in.

I feel the steady threat on my scalp. I hesitate, suddenly not eager to face their wrath all at once.

The pull comes again, this time a clear warning. Tears spill over my eyes, and I cry out.