Page 68 of Beg the Night

“The ritual is at Director’s mansion?”

Sinner let out a low groan, probably annoyed by all my chatter.

I ignored him as I was unceremoniously yanked from the van. He was shoved out after me, nearly face-planting on his way out. I hated seeing him like this. Restrained. Defeated, almost.

It helped, though, knowing he had a hell of a lot of fight left. Someone like him wouldn’t go down easy.

“The ceremony will be at midnight. First, you’ll be dining with Director and a few others. Now get moving. It’s gonna take a miracle to make you two look presentable.”

Strange. She hadn’t had a problem with our appearances the dozens of other times she’s seen us.

But I digress.

I’d never seen anything as beautiful as the mansion before us. Granted, in my twenty-three years on this earth, I hadn’t seen many things outside of our small cottage in the woods. But this was…this was otherworldly.

The massive home was lit up, the white columns along the front showcasing the power that resided inside. The floor-to-ceiling windows added elegance, the tall peak at the center onlymaking the structure look taller. There had to be thirty rooms inside, maybe more.

People seriously lived like this?

Sinner and I were guided—or shoved, rather—toward the front doors. Ten white stone steps—way too large to be useful at all, by the way—led to a set of doors that had to be two stories high and required two guards each to open.

If Sinner was impressed at all by this house, he didn’t show it. I, on the other hand, caught myself literally drooling as we stepped inside.

“Oh my god,” I whispered.

Sinner elbowed me gently in the ribs to shut me up.

The grand entrance was flanked by two spiral staircases. Everything was white.Everything.Statues and white stone masterpieces littered the edges of the large, open space. Once the guards funneled in behind us and those massive doors shut, all I could hear was the sound of my own heart beating, my own breath slowly fueling my lungs.

Two older women approached from the back of the house. “Sinner. Athena. Welcome to the Directorial Mansion!” Both wore modest clothing, a white apron, and a smile—which was the strangest part of it all.

Sinner and I stood and stared, neither of us speaking. I mean, were we supposed to say thank you?

“You’ll be dining in the grand hall this evening, but first, we’ll need to get you cleaned up. Come with me.” One of the women stepped forward and grabbed me by the shoulders, ushering me to the staircase on the left while the other woman guided Sinner to the one on the right.

For the first time all evening, Sinner spoke, his voice rough with disuse. “Where are you taking her?”

The woman escorting him laughed softly. “She’s going to bathe and change before dinner. You’ll be reunited shortly, she’s in good hands.”

My chest tightened. Did he really care about where they were taking me? Or was it his magic making him possessive again?

Either way, I forced myself to give him a small reassuring smile.

We could survive this. Wewouldsurvive this.

We didn’t have another choice.

My few attemptsat conversation with the woman fell short. She was nice enough, but even that made me oddly uncomfortable. How could anyone working for the Ministry be this kind?

She bathed me first, insisting that she help scrub the grime off my body, before drying my body and hair with a thick towel. She laid out a few dresses for me to choose from, but they were barely distinguishable from one another. They were all much, much too fancy. Even fancier than the one I wore to the ball.

“I don’t know,” I groaned. “Does it even matter? This is all a big game to her, anyway.”

Ignoring my comment, the woman picked up the dress in the middle and held it up to my naked body. “What about this one, miss? I think it suits you.”

It was thin. Very thin. The slim silhouette was made of a single white layer so light it was nearly sheer.

But none of the other options looked any more modest. “Okay,” I sighed. “I guess that will work.”

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