Page 1 of The Breeding Cave
CHAPTER
ONE
YEOSIN
I gripped the matte-black invitation until my fingers turned white and stared down at the words written in crimson red. Rain splattered down on the sidewalk around me from a car that raced down the city street, splashing on my black heels.
You’ve been selected to attend a night of lust. Along with eight other lucky participants, you’ll fulfill the desires of one of nine billionaires. For your willing participation, you’ll receive ten million dollars … that is, if you survive the night.
My mouth dried, and I swallowed the little spit left in it and turned over the invitation.
Halloween Night | 9 p.m. | Corner of Ninth and Waltz Street
Rain pattered down around me, smudging my mascara … or the lack thereof.
“You don’t need to do this,” Alvin, my boyfriend—ex-boyfriend—had said.
His words were still ringing in my ears from this morning, after a group of gangsters smashed all my windows in my apartment, cut all the electrical wires, then slashed my tires.
It was his fault we were living in that dump. He had spent all our savings—all my savings—on his business without consulting me, only for me to find out that this business was him gambling with the Dragon Clan.
My lips quivered. I hated him.
For what he had done to me and for what I now had to do.
I wouldn’t survive another night in that neighborhood, so might as well try to earn some money. Besides, I still had Mom to take care of. That debt had exceeded five hundred thousand the last time I checked.
Not even a moment more passed before a black SUV with tinted windows drove up to the corner of Ninth and Waltz Street. He rolled down his window, a white mask covering his face. “Ms. Yeosin. Please get in. You’re the last to arrive.”
Heart pounding inside my chest, I gripped the invitation and slipped into the back seat of the car. I didn’t know why the hell I had ever gotten mixed up with Alvin. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be sitting in a stranger’s car, hoping he didn’t kill me.
Instead of driving, he looked in the rearview mirror. “There’s a blindfold to your right.”
I looked over at the seat beside me to see a silky red blindfold laid out for me.
“Once you put it on, then I will take you to The Breeding Cave.”
My mouth dried. “The … The what?”
“The Breeding Cave. It’s where you’ll meet the beast you’ve been paired with tonight.”
While I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times, no words would come out. I took the silky blindfold into my hands and glanced back up at the driver, unable to see any of his features, as they were covered with that mask.
“What happens at The Breeding Cave?” I finally whispered.
“Put on your blindfold, Ms. Yeosin.”
And so, with shaky hands, I put on the blindfold.
After driving for what must’ve been two hours down a bumpy road, the car slowed to a stop. I listened to the driver open his car door, and then a moment later, a breeze blew onto my legs to my left. He took my hand and helped me out of the car.
“You may take off your blindfold, Ms. Yeosin.”
When he released my hand, I inhaled the scent of fresh rain and peeled off my blindfold. I stood in the middle of the dark woods, the only light coming from the full moon above. Behind me, a car door shut.
“Wait.” I turned around and tried to reopen my door, but it was locked.
“There’s a path to your right that will lead to your designated cave.”
