seventeen
Harper Apple
It takes me a few seconds to get my wits back and put on my game face. Then I straighten on my knees and pull the pick from the lock. “Whatever you think you’re going to do to me, don’t even,” I say. “I’m getting the fuck out of here.”
“Are you, though?” Baron asks.
“You have the key,” I say. “Unlock the door.”
“Yeah, except I don’t have the key.”
“Bullshit,” I say, making my way down the stairs despite the blinding glare of his cellphone’s flashlight in my eyes. “You told Royal you’d lock up.”
No point in pretending I wasn’t hiding and spying on them. I’m already caught.
He shrugs. “I gave it to Royal.”
“Why would Royal lock us in here?”
Our eyes meet, and Baron’s are alight with curiosity.
“That’s a good question,” Duke says. “He knew we were down here. Why would he lock us in?”
“Maybe he also knew she was down here,” Baron says.
“And he wants us to have our fun with her,” Duke says, a smile breaking over his face. I can barely make out his bleary gaze in the dark, but his voice gives away how drunk he is. Great. I’m locked in a basement with my least favorite version of Duke, the obnoxious drunk one, and Baron, who’s still a mystery to me, and not the fun kind.
Duke steps toward me, but I raise my fists. “Touch me, and I’ll rip your dick off with my bare hands.”
“Now, that’s not a very nice thing to say to the guy you’re trying to seduce.”
“Let me out,” I say, pointing to the door at the top of the stairs.
“There’s another door,” Baron says, not moving from where he stands. There’s a calculated stillness about him, like a snake that might strike at any moment. “You have to crawl a bit, but you’ll get there.”
“And be stuck in a tunnel when you attack me?” I ask with a scoff. “No thanks.”
“My brother tells me you want to be a Swan,” Baron says, cocking his head. “How badly do you want it?”
“What?” I ask, my heart beating hard. I sense a trap, and I have zero interest in falling into it.
“Face your fears,” he says. “That’s one of the challenges.”
I roll my eyes. “You think you’re what I fear most?”
“Are we?” he asks.
“No.”
These boys could hurt me physically, but I’ve been hurt plenty of times at the Slaughter Pen. Royal is the only one of them who could truly hurt me, the only one I fear. Royal could make me do the one thing I fear most in the world—lose myself.
But I’m not doing to tell these boys that. We stare at each other a long moment. Then Duke slings his bag off his shoulder and opens it, pulling out a bottle of beer. “Well, looks like we’re having a sleepover,” he says. “Drink up, baby. You’ll need something to take the edge off. We’ll be taking turns with your ass all night.”
“Don’t count on it.”
“You know, it doesn’t matter what you say,” Duke says. “We can tell Royal we fucked you, and he’ll believe us. He won’t even question it. You’re done with our boy. You might as well have some fun with us now.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why?”