Page 90 of Broken Discipline
“Nowwhoare you?” he asked. “You are simply divine.”
I instinctively shrank back, but stopped myself. I had to pretend to belong.
“I’m looking for my sacrifice,” I said, my voice muffled by the thick mask.
“Let me know if I’m invited,” he said, winking through the holes of his mask.
I clenched my teeth together, grateful that he had accepted my lie, and continued down the hallway, scanning each room. The farther I got down the corridor, the fewer people there were in the rooms. Women’s cries filled the air.
In the last room at the end of the hallway, a green glow emerged like a foggy swamp. Inside, a man was on his knees. A necklace with a ruby center and petaled diamonds was tied around his neck like a collar. His head was bowed, his body puffy and swollen. A cut bled on his shoulder, dripping down, covering the griffin tattoo in streaks of red.
I breathed through my nostrils, trying to pretend like I didn’t care. Upchurch gripped a large wooden club in his hand like a caveman, ready to mark his territory. Chills ran down my spine. No matter how hard I wanted to forgetthosememories, my mind wouldn’t let me.
I forced myself to be brave and swung the door shut behind me. Upchurch turned swiftly.
“Don’t—” he started, but when he saw me, a woman in white, he softened. “My apologies. I didn’t realize I was in the company of a lady.” He lowered his head. “I enjoy the open invitation. A group punishment, if you will.” He glared down at Finn. Finn kept his eyes on the ground, his ankles bound behind him, his wrists wrapped in an intricate rope design in front of him. “Though if you want to be selfish, I don’t mind keeping this one to the two of us.”
I took out a small paper card from my purse and wrote:I prefer intimacy. It makes the violence more personal.
He read the card, then sniffed the air deeply. I hoped he didn’t recognize my scent.
“You don’t speak?” he asked.
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure if Upchurch would recognize my voice, so I brought the cards to write.
My mask makes it difficult to understand me. Lucky for me, the written word makes it so that you’re never mistaken. No one can misread your thoughts,I wrote.
Upchurch nodded deeply, amusement perking his lips. “A well-written woman. I can respect that.” He paused, examining me. “What brings you to the Marked Blooms Syndicate?”
I lifted my shoulders, then wrote again,Honestly? The sadism.
His mouth dropped open, gazing lustfully at those words. Then he licked his lips, angling his head toward Finn.
“You want to partake?” he asked.
Absolutely,I wrote.
“I did a little warm-up before we got here,” he said. “Wanted to make sure he was docile for the Masquerade. He’s a giant, you know? But he was already resigned to his fate. So pitiful. Sonoble,” he said in a mocking, sing-song voice. “He thinks it’s honorable to die for his family. Pathetic, isn’t it?”
Finn’s shoulders stiffened, but then his posture drooped. Was it true? Had he given up, accepting that our safety was enough? His chest, which had once been vibrant and terrifying with that vicious creature, seemed dull right then.
But if he couldn’t fight, then I had to fight for him.
A true pity,I wrote.Let’s get a rise out of him. You chose a bludgeon?
“Yes. It’s one of my favorites,” Upchurch said, winking. “I like to think of it as foreplay to the main event.” His cock visibly bulged in his trousers. “Get them weak. Make themwantto be unconscious. Test if they think that being blacked out isbetterthan living through the rape.” He turned to Finn, his teeth pulled back into a sneer. “Or for this one, make him want to die.”
I nodded, my mask shifting back and forth across the crown of my skull. Upchurch tilted his head, studying me. I needed to say something to get his mind off of scrutinizing me.
So why him?I wrote.
“This man stole everything from me.”
Finn was frozen in place. He must have had no idea it was me.
I locked the door. As I spun around to face Upchurch and Finn, a lock of hair fell out of my mask, tickling my bare shoulder. Upchurch focused on it, but I shoved it back into my mask as quickly as I could.
“Why hide beauty like that?” he asked.
