Page 197 of Knox Academy Omnibus
He looks so anguished, my heart pangs. It’s actually really sweet of him to come back and warn me. He’s right, I would have done more than just panic. I would have freaked the fuck out. I swallow past my fear, intending to thank him, but I end up launching myself at him instead. My legs wrap around his waist, my arms around his neck, and I kiss him passionately.
“Thank you,” I whisper against his lips, my tears finally falling.
“I meant it when I said I’d never hurt you. I’ve been killing myself watching your back, trying to protect you. I barely sleep unless you’re with one of us. I don’t even trust my brothers to watch you on the cameras. Will you carry the goddamn pepper spray I got you!” he growls back at me, biting my lip.
It clicks into place. The pepper spray, rape alarm, various other self-defence items...All Onyx. The cameras watching over me. The dark eyes watching me when I got beaten up. How all the threats seemed to disappear. I thought they had just got bored and moved on, but I know now that it was Onyx. It makes perfect sense, given his history of trying to atone for Slate’s past. He’s been my tormentor...now he’s my fiercest protector.
“Thank you,” I whisper, kissing him again, meaning something else entirely. “Thank you so much.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Amelie
“Mother fuckers!” I scream, wincing as my head protests my overuse of decibels.
Onyx was right when he said I was going to be abducted. Although, with it being a fake kidnapping, you would have thought they could have been a little more gentle with me. My head throbs from where I was clobbered as they grabbed me, and I suspect my lip is split, the tang of blood coating my mouth. Because fake or not, warned or not, they fucking scared me and it’s natural instinct to fight back. So I gave them hell until they knocked me out. Even got a few decent hits in, and managed to get one fucker right in the eye with the can of pepper spray. Onyx will be proud.
My face is covered, probably with a pillowcase if I had to guess, so I keep my breathing slow and even. The sound of footsteps is long gone, but I don’t know if there’s anyone in the room with me or watching. I haven’t dared to move after coming round on what I’m presuming is a bed.
The crackle of a speaker alerts me before a voice fills the air, but I still jump nervously. I don’t like this at all.
Welcome to the rest of your life. Here, there are no second chances. One in and one out. Get up, get dressed, and when you exit the door, be prepared to never look back.
The sound fades from the room, and I realise that my wrists are now unbound. They weren’t before. I stretch and discover the same is true for my ankles too. Reaching up, I remove the slip from my head and look around. I was right; it was a pillowcase. At least it looks clean.
The room I’m in resembles something from a modern-day fairytale, which is weird, because that’s my nightmare. It’s all ornate furniture and over the top gilding. I slide down off the sumptuous bed, noticing a deep magenta silk dress hanging on a clothes rack in the centre of the room. Yeah, thanks, I’ll pass on that. It looks like something my mother – or not mother – would pick out for me. Or a nightie. Would I rather leave here in just my underwear though? Who the hell stripped me of my clothes?
This has to be a test, right?Think, Amelie!It can’t be as simple as putting on a pretty dress and everything will suddenly be fine. So why a dress? I’ll be more exposed, vulnerable, less able to fight back. I hunt through the room but there’s literally no other clothing options for me, unless I want to fashion a toga out of a bed sheet or something.
Resigned to the slip that’s been left for me, I waste no time getting dressed. Of course it fits like a dream, but there’s no boots in sight. Whoever picked the outfit must have known me well enough to get me a wedged heel though, rather than a stiletto. Although, I could have at least used a stiletto as a weapon. Wedges won’t do shit in a fight, except slow me down and maybe lead to a broken ankle.
A dresser is situated against the far wall, makeup you can only dream about lined along the top in front of the mirror. I’mnot one to mess around and layer my face with it, but I do get to work putting on enough to accentuate my best features. I can’t imagine why I would need to be dressed up for this crap though, but I guess I need to play the game.
What next?
Onyx once said Harold hates me. What better way to get rid of me than to have me taken care of during initiation?
Smalls’ voice comes to me:Never go into a situation unarmed. There is always a weapon around.
He’s right. I pick up the small handbag that was left with the dress and then move around the room to see what I can find. I take a bottle of perfume – not as handy as pepper spray, but it’ll do in a pinch – and throw it in the bag, along with a pointy ended metal nail file, a heavy paperweight and some dental floss – the waxed flat tape kind that’s actually really strong. That will have to do, there’s not a lot else in the room I can get creative with. No phone either.
With a deep breath, I turn to face the only thing out of place in the room: a large metal door.
This is it.
On unsteady legs, I walk the short distance and turn the handle, a gasp escaping my lips as I see that a limo awaits me outside. It’s all so odd. Who equips a fairytale...cabin in the woods I notice...with a high security metal door? Who kidnaps a person to dress them up and treat them like a princess. This is too strange.
The driver gets out, circles the vehicle and opens my door, and I slip inside. I have no idea where I am or what’s happening, but thanks to Onyx’s head’s up, I don’t feel the need to run away, screaming for my life. Yet. I’ll wait, see what’s going on.
Inside the limo, a man in his mid-thirties sits across from me, which I didn’t expect.
“Amelie, I take it?”
I nod, making sure to sit as far away from him as possible. Just because he has a beautiful white smile, long dark eyelashes, and the face of a god, doesn’t make him safe.
“We will be at our destination shortly. We have to make a quick pit stop to fuel up,” the driver announces before sliding the partition back up. Mr dark and beautiful doesn’t look my way again, typing away on his phone instead.
I wish I knew where we were going. Why do I need a chaperone? Why, why, why...so many questions race around my brain. I look out the window as we drive, wanting to make sure I take note of anything that could be helpful to me if for some reason they ditch me and I have to walk. It’s no use though; it’s pitch black and the only thing I can see is a heap of trees. Damn it.
