Page 116 of Inferno

The why, the how, the everything.

I want my answers.

But I also want to sit back and watch her suffer.

As her eyes scan the room, my lips twitch into a grin as she winces sitting down.

“Oh, heartbreaker, this is only the beginning of the end for you,” I whisper.

Assess and analyze my enemy. Those are my next steps.

And try to contain myself for when I do finally come face to face with my nightmare.

Chapter 41

CHARLOTTE

“Kneel in a line in the center of the room. Hands on your thighs and heads down. We will wait to hear from The Master,” the big masked guy tells us.

He has big green eyes, and at one point I swear I caught a glimpse of his hair peek through, a really dark green.

We shuffle into line in order, and I drop to my knees into position.

As I swallow, I can taste the chocolate. It’s annoying because it’s really fucking good.

The silence is deafening apart from the girl to my left with her erratic breathing.

She needs to calm down before she has a panic attack.

Beside me, the blonde who’d earlier sized me up with disdain, snickers, her platinum hair catching the light. She has a slow, knowing smirk spread across her face; the sound of her quiet laughter echoes faintly in my ears.

“That was easy. I enjoyed it,” she whispers, and I cringe.

“What, you didn’t? You aren’t into kinky stuff, I take it?” she continues, and I squeeze my fists.

“Oh, whatever. I’m going to win these games, anyway.”

I roll my eyes, a silent expression of my disbelief.

I keep my head down as the manipulated voice comes from a speaker in the ceiling.

“What a group of good girls I have this year. I’ve started you off easy, haven’t I? That was almost a treat.”

He chuckles, and my skin crawls.

“Now, you all read the contracts. You know one of you has to go. Your time in Decadence is unfortunately over.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and close my eyes. I hope I did enough. I try not to think of Vlad and the things he does to me. But that bit of fury might come in useful.

“Contestant three. Please stand.”

A wave of dizziness washes over me as I push myself upright, my head bows low, my heart hammering in my chest.

“Congratulations. You have made it into the second room. Please let my men escort you to the door.”

I nod, feeling the guy’s surprisingly firm grip on my bicep as he stands next to me.

“What do you say to The Master?” he growls under his breath.

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