by Stella Hart
I wasn’t sure exactly when it started to happen—a slow, unwitting transformation must’ve begun deep inside me long before today—but this girl had seriously changed something in me. I’d been numb for so long that I’d forgotten what it was like to truly feel alive. Forgotten what it was like to feel something other than blind hatred and burning wrath. But not anymore. Not with her around.
It occurred to me that I didn’t recognize this person I was becoming. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe it was bad. I had no idea right now.
All I knew was that with Tatum here in my arms right now, I almost believed I wasn’t a monster.
7
Tatum
I kept my eyes closed as I nestled into Elias’s shoulders, letting his warmth seep into me. I wasn’t asleep, but I needed some time to silently process everything that’d happened. It still didn’t seem real. I’d come so close to death today, only to be ripped from its jaws by one of the men I thought I hated most.
Elias saved me, and in doing so he showed me a whole new side of him.
I’d felt it in the way his hands closed in a death-grip around mine when I was dangling off that cliff, as if his life would be over along with mine if I fell. I’d felt it in the way he looked at me with such fear in his expression, in the way his heart didn’t stop hammering hard and fast enough to feel it through his shirt until we stepped inside the relative safety of the mansion. I’d felt it in the way he set my core aflame with a few simple words, in the way his lips devoured mine as if he’d starve without one more taste.
I had a sneaking suspicion that was the real Elias. Not the angry, arrogant asshole who seemed to take after his father in every way. Not the man who claimed to hate me with every inch of his being. No, the real Elias was hidden behind a mask, and I’d seen it slip today.
It took me almost dying to force him to reveal a few glimpses of that side of him, and I didn’t know how I could make him do it again without putting myself in another dangerous situation. All I knew was that I wanted to see more.
I wanted to know all his secrets, wanted to know what it would take to get him entirely on my side. I wanted him to stop hurting me, and I wanted him to care about me. I wanted him to take me in his arms and tell me he’d protect me from the nightmare my life had become.
Even though his family and secret society was the nightmare.
That aside, there was a chance now. Something in Elias had shifted, and if I remained compliant and grateful, he might eventually let his mask slip all the way. If that happened, I might have a real chance at escaping the clutches of Crown and Dagger.
That meant from now on, I had to be as good as gold around Elias, had to acquiesce to all his demands to speed up the process of getting him on my side. If doing that meant experiencing more instances of today’s mind-blowing sex, I wouldn’t even mind….
I shifted on my seat in the helicopter. Elias stroked my hair, his skillful hands making goosebumps rise on my scalp. “It’s a twenty minute flight,” he murmured a moment later. “And then a half-hour drive to the Lodge. As soon as we’re there, you can eat and rest.”
I opened my eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered, staring up at his handsome face. As much as I wanted to continue simmering with hatred for him, I couldn’t. Not after today. Not after he saved my life and showed me that caring side of him, rare as it may be.
I let myself doze off properly for a while, and when I woke, the helicopter was approaching the mainland. My heart leapt as I recognized some of the buildings on the ground below. We were landing in New Marwick. I could see the tall old clock tower at Roden gleaming in the late afternoon sun, and beyond that, the old town square with all its shops and cafés.
I was so close to my old life, to my old friends… and yet still so far.
The helicopter finally swooped down lower, landing at a private airfield just out of town. After that, I was bundled into a black car with tinted windows. Elias stayed with me, keeping a watchful eye on me the whole time.
The winter sun was only an hour or so off setting, and the trees on the edge of the road glowed with an orange-red gleam as the car whizzed past them. The tall buildings and busy roads of New Marwick had been left in the distance, and it looked like we were heading somewhere northwest, into a more rural area where the houses grew increasingly farther apart and set back off the road.
Around thirty minutes later, the car slowed and veered to the left, approaching a wide set of black-iron gates with intricate scrollwork. There was a towering iron arch over the gate with ‘Scarborough Estate’ picked out in gold on a crest. Stone pillars flanked the gate on both sides, giving way to a tall privacy wall covered in thick green moss and ivy, flecked with crisp white snowflakes.
There was a small stone gatehouse on the right. Two men stepped out and waved for the car to stop as we pulled up. They were dressed in black clothing similar to the outfits worn by the guards at the Finishing School.
The driver put his window down and spoke to the men. One of them glanced into the back, his eyes widening as he saw Elias. “Go ahead,” he said, stepping off the road and waving his hand forward. The other guard stepped back into the gatehouse and pressed something, making the gates swing open a second later.
Nervous twinges bit at my belly as the car pulled through and headed down the long driveway. It was lined with cypress trees and tall cast iron lampposts, and at the end it swung in a semicircle around a gentle slope of snow-flecked grass that seemed to go on forever. At the top of that slope was the Lodge.
I realized now—foolishly late—that the name was one of those silly ironic nicknames people like to come up with, like calling a seven foot man ‘Shorty’. It was by far the biggest and most extravagant mansion I’d ever seen.
I drew in a deep breath as we drew closer, my eyes widening at the sheer splendor of the place. It was five stories of breathtaking Jacobethan architecture faced in beige limestone with mullioned windows, gables, and soaring turrets and spires. At the front of the magnificent mansion was a sunken courtyard with a fountain surrounded by marble tiles. Beyond that were beautiful gardens, somehow intact and alive with greenery and colorful flowers despite the bitter winter weather.
Once upon a time, it may have been someone’s ancestral home, with horses and carriages and dainty ladies in long dresses fluttering fans at their faces. It was so dazzling and beautiful that it was hard to believe such a wicked, immoral organization had use of it now.
How times change…
In the distance, I could make out more fountains and gardens. There were also smaller (but no less grand) buildings with private courtyards of their own, and even what appeared to be an enormous hedge maze. Beyond all that was more snow-flecked lawn, stretching for miles before ending in a wall of thick forest, dark and foreboding.
The car came to a stop in a large parking lot just off the driveway. It was filled with expensive cars—Mercedes, Aston Martins, Jaguars, McLarens, Ferraris, even a Rolls Royce.
Elias helped me out of the car and led me toward the classic stone-column portico which demarcated the entrance to the Lodge from the rest of the place. Wide steps led upward to the enormous golden-arched double front doors. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if I heard that they were inlaid with real gold.
We stepped into a foyer and then through another arched doorway. I almost lost my breath at the spectacular vision before me. The interior was like something straight out of a Disney princess film. Right in front of me, a grand double staircase swept up to the second level. The floors were polished marble. Extravagantly ornamental carvings lined the moldings and ceiling panels, glittering chandeliers provided soft, shimmering light, and statues and paintings adorned the walls.
To our left was another arched double doorway leading into a room the size of a gymnasium. It was darker in there, lit only with tall crimson candles and a roaring fireplace on one side. What I saw left me flabbergasted.
It was like a scene from a Roman orgy. Rich, carnal, de
bauched.
Scores of beautiful women in various states of undress were spread around the enormous room, along with at least fifty men in suits. The women had black collars around their necks. Several of them were wearing gold filigree domino masks as well. Some of them were on their hands and knees or bent over furniture with men fucking them from behind, eyes scrunched with either pleasure or pain. Others were upright, being fucked in standing positions as they clutched at the walls or curtains. Still more were slinking around the room, letting men grope them or finger them with their free hands as they sipped at drinks and smoked cigars, and others were on their knees, servicing those same men with their mouths.
The room itself was filled with tufted black leather sofas, French-style chaise lounges as big as beds, individual armchairs that almost resembled thrones, Persian rugs in deep crimson with golden threadwork, and walnut accent tables littered with empty glasses. Heavy dark velvet curtains were drawn across the high windows, making the room dim and shadowy around the flickering candlelight, and multiple bars were set up on the edges, serving drinks in golden chalices and crystal flutes.
Braided black whips, wooden paddles, ropes and mean-looking sex toys were on display on one of the walls, lying in stark contrast against the classically-patterned wallpaper behind them. A couple of wide swings were also suspended from the ceiling with golden chains, along with black harnesses hanging nearby. On top of that, there were crosses, cages, stocks, benches, and leather spanking horses, all of which were in use.
In the center of the room there was a shimmering indoor pool with steam rising off it, designed to look like a natural lagoon. In the middle of the pool was a bronze statue of a naked woman rising out of the water, which was twinkling with submerged golden lights. A couple of naked women were frolicking in the pool, putting on a show for two men with dark, lecherous eyes.
Grunts and moans echoed in the room along with shrieks and giggles. The women seemed to love what they were doing, which immediately struck me as odd. I used to get turned on by witnessing this kind of stuff, picturing myself being taken and used for the pleasure of rich, powerful men, but now I couldn’t imagine anything worse than servicing these slimy pricks.
The thought of doing it with Elias, however… that was a different story.
I looked at a woman strapped to a cross, moaning with pleasure as a man lashed at her with a tasseled whip. I imagined it was me there instead, letting Elias bring me that potent mix of pleasure and pain. My nipples tightened under my shirt as arousal flooded my body, pooling between my thighs.
“Tatum. This way.”
I looked to my right to see Elias beckoning me toward the staircase. I started walking again, letting the sounds from the room on the left drift away as I trailed upstairs after him. On the second-floor landing, two men in suits were talking. When they turned to look at us, my stomach flipped with terror.
One of the men was Tobias.
He excused himself from his acquaintance and strode toward us. My mind was immediately filled with black, incredulous horror, and my knees went weak, threatening to give out.
I tried to stay calm by telling myself that I’d already be dead if Tobias wanted me gone for what I did to him. All I had to do was pretend to be apologetic in order to avoid incurring his wrath.
“You’re finally here,” he said crisply to his son, ignoring my presence entirely. “Everyone else arrived well over half an hour ago.”
“We had some issues getting off the island,” Elias said curtly. “But don’t worry, all your art is safe.”
“Good.” Tobias finally turned his gaze to me. “Tatum. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I swallowed hard. “Mr. King, I’m so sorry about what I did to you,” I murmured. “I… I don’t know what came over me.”
His eyes glittered with barely-concealed malice, but he smiled anyway. “Don’t worry about it. It’s all in the past, and it barely left a scar. Nothing a good plastic surgeon can’t take care of, anyway.”
He was right. I couldn’t see anything on his neck at all, save for a tiny red dot that could just be a broken capillary at first glance. No one would ever guess he’d been stabbed a month and a half ago, or that he nearly died. It was almost as if it never even happened.
But it did.
There was no way Tobias had forgiven me, no matter what he claimed. His smile and easygoing words were nothing but lies, and the malevolent expression in his eyes told the dismal truth. If I wanted to survive in this place, I needed to stay as far away from this man as possible.
“Show Tatum to her new room,” he said, returning his attention to Elias. “You know where it is.”
With that, he swept away. Immediately, I felt as if I could breathe again, my legs no longer threatening to give out from under me. I followed Elias down a long hall on the right. He stopped and swung open a large wooden door a few minutes later, letting me inside for a tour of my new quarters. The sight before me was enough to make me forget all about Tobias.
The enormous room beyond the door was a wonderland, containing almost everything I could ever imagine wanting or needing in a bedroom. It was spacious and airy with light dove gray walls, polished hardwood floors and a chandelier dangling from the center of the ceiling. A queen-sized bed with a white and gold duvet and matching pillows stood on one side, flanked by bedside tables made from dark wood. Tiffany lamps sat on the tables. To the left of one of them, tucked in a corner near the window, there was an antique toile fabric armchair; the kind that looked like you could sink into it with a book and never want to get up.
On the other side of the room, there was a tufted sofa in front of a low coffee table. A few feet behind the table was a widescreen TV sitting in a cabinet filled with movies, and to the right of that was a bookshelf stacked with books, magazines, and beautiful ornaments. It was so big that it took up almost half a wall.
Two large windows on the far side of the room let the pink-orange light of the setting sun spill in from outside, casting a warm glow over the furniture. The windows were barred, a jarring reminder of where I was, but thick brocade curtains covered most of that.
Elias smiled gently as he led me around, directing me to another section I hadn’t noticed when I first stepped inside. He seemed amused by my stunned reaction. To him, a room like this was probably ordinary, but I’d never seen anything like it. It was beyond words to a girl like me, especially considering I’d spent the majority of the last three or four months trapped in an underground cell with only the sparsest of furnishings.
I padded after him into the attached bathroom. It was just as beautiful as the rest of the place. The tiles were marble and in the center was a large rectangular bath which looked like it had been carved out of a single slab of stone. To the right was a double shower with a rack of fluffy white towels beside it. There was also a bathroom cupboard and mirror with toiletries, various lotions and moisturizers sitting on it.
In one upper corner, I saw a tiny black object with a blinking red light. A surveillance camera. The bedroom had one too, above the bed. They were probably there to ensure I didn’t attempt anything like hanging myself with a sheet or drowning myself in the bathtub.
Elias beckoned to me a moment later. Apparently there was more.
There was a doorway on the far side of the bathroom, and through it was a large walk-in closet, big enough to be its own room. It was filled to the brim with gorgeous clothes and shoes. At one end was a huge mirror, and beside it sat a vanity with multiple drawers, all filled with makeup, hair products and perfumes.
Right at the back, tucked away in a little hidden nook, was a writing desk and comfortable study chair. The desk had a lamp and multiple leather journals and pens scattered over one side. The only thing missing was a computer, although it was clear I would never be allowed one of those while I was here. Too risky—I could get onto the internet and let the world know what was happening here.
“I figured you’d like this room because of
that.” Elias nodded toward the writing nook.
“Thank you,” I said. “This whole place is beautiful.”
“I’m not sure if the clothes will fit you, because I didn’t exactly have much time to organize them, but they can be replaced.”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
He smiled. “Why don’t you take a shower and find yourself something comfortable to wear to bed while I sort out some food?” he said. “You’ll probably want to have a rest after you eat.”
I nodded, a yawn suddenly creeping up my throat. I hadn’t noticed till he brought it up, but I was absolutely exhausted after the day we’d had.
After taking a long, hot shower, I headed into the closet and rifled through the drawers in search of some pajamas. I found a beautiful pink and cream silk cami and shorts set. I slipped into it, almost groaning with pleasure at the feel of the luxurious fabric sliding over my skin. They weren’t typical winter pajamas, but they were too gorgeous to pass up. Besides, the heating in the palatial mansion was so good I could barely even tell it was winter outside.
It was hard to believe that just a couple of hours ago, I was freezing and soaked on the edge of a cliff, desperate to hurl myself off it. It seemed like it all happened to a different girl in another lifetime.
Elias was sitting on the bed when I returned to the main part of my suite. Next to him was a tray of hot food and two steaming cups of mulled wine. The heavenly scent of cinnamon and orange from the mulled wine filled my nostrils, and I sighed with contentment and flopped down on the bed, taking a mug in one hand.
“Want to watch something while we eat?” Elias asked as I took a sip.
I swallowed, then smiled shyly. “Sure.”
He set up a movie on the massive TV, and I reclined against the bedhead with all its cushions, nibbling at the food and taking sips of the delicious hot wine. Elias came back and did the same, sitting in silence as the movie played out before us. My eyelids began to feel heavy after a while, and he slid an arm around me, letting me slide farther down the bed so I could nestle into his chest.