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Chapter Three

Larissa

As soon as I started to pull myself out of the dark hole, someone jabbed a needle into my arm. Everything around me would get fuzzy, then the darkness would return.

I don't know how much time passed.

The darkness began to fade, and I became more aware of my surroundings. I still felt groggy, but things were becoming a little clearer with each passing minute. I dragged my eyes open, glancing out the window at the white, puffy clouds. They were pretty—like giant marshmallows.

Okay, I was on an airplane. I looked at the tape on the arm of my seat. A very old plane, which didn't make sense because my father and I always flew first class. So, why this plane? We often flew to different locales when we vacationed. Why didn't my brain seem to be working…

What happened came back to me in a flash. The man in my car. But he hadn't just wanted the car. I fought to remember everything that happened. The cloth he'd put over my face had something on it that knocked me out.

My stomach rumbled. Oh God, where was he taking me?

I automatically reached up and touched my necklace, except it wasn't there anymore. "You stole my necklace."

"You had no need of it."

I looked across the seat and met his hard gaze, cringing, wanting to escape this madman, but there was nowhere to go. Panic rose inside me. No! I would not give in to it! I was stronger than this. I wanted to know what was going on. Did I even know this lunatic?

I studied the man, guessing he was around thirty years old. He was slender to the point of being skinny, with long bony fingers. I shivered when I remembered him taking the keys out of my hand and the cold clamminess of his touch. His hair was dark, and his skin ghostly pale, as if he never went out into the sun.

But something about his eyes sent a shiver down my spine. They were empty and lifeless, as if he had no soul, and he probably didn't. I hugged my middle, willing the coldness inside me to go away.

"You said you only wanted the car," I accused.

He smiled, if you wanted to call it that. It looked more like a snarl. "I lied."

As the world came completely back into focus, and I could think more clearly again, I raised my chin. "They'll come for me—the Morellis and my father will send men, and they will kill you for this."

He roared with laughter that became more of a wheeze and started him coughing. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth when saliva trickled from the corner.

"Do you really think the Morellis care about you? I'm sure they did to some degree." His gaze slowly moved over me. I tried to move farther away from him. "You're beautiful and very desirable. Have the brothers fucked you yet?" He waved his hand. "It doesn't matter. You will be forgotten within a week. As for your father, he'll give up searching soon enough. No one will ever find you. Not where we're going."

I didn't know what game he was playing, but it wouldn't work. I knew the Morellis better than anyone—and my father. They cared about me and would never give up searching. "Why did you take me?"

He shrugged. "Revenge. Because I wanted to take the Morellis plaything, I wanted their father to see his sons' world crumbling around them. A number of reasons."

I sat a little straighter. "I'm no one's plaything ," I spat. "If you don't take me home, you'll regret it."

He leaned closer. I tried not to shrink away this time. "No, I don't think I will." He glanced out the window. "We're about to land."

My gaze moved to the window. The clouds began to part as we descended. Below me, it looked like a barren wasteland, dry, cracked earth, and then a castle came into view. It was a dark, crumbling, gray stone structure that looked like something out of an evil fairytale—a place where a monster might live. There were a few trees around the far side of the structure but not much else.

Where were we? I didn't think we were in the States anymore. How would they ever find me? My shoulders slumped.

No, I couldn't give up hope. My father would be looking for me. And he was wrong about Caspian, Ezra, and Jude. Their father would join in on the search. They'd try to find me and wouldn't give up—no matter what this man said. Then he would have hell to pay.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"How remiss of me not to introduce myself." He bowed his head slightly. "I'm Amon Corvin."

I didn't recognize the name. "Why me?"

He smiled. "You are but a pawn in my game to capture and destroy the king and his knights."

A shudder swept over me. He was crazy. I would escape. Somehow, someway.

A wave of tiredness washed over me. The drug wasn't entirely out of my system. I leaned back and closed my eyes, not wanting to give him any more of my attention.

The plane began to shake, and I gripped the arms. Would this heap of junk even be able to land? It did, but it rocked me from side to side, and then we stopped moving. I wondered what he had planned for me now, but I was too afraid to ask.

"Get up," he ordered.

For now, I would do as he said. I wobbled as I came to my feet. I noticed the cane he used with a golden lion's head, and when he walked, he dragged his twisted leg behind him. When he caught me staring, he pushed me in front of him.

"Go," he growled.

I began to move forward, surprised my hands weren't bound, but I understood why as I stepped off the plane. The short runway was but a stretch of unpaved road, and beyond that—nothing. There was nowhere to run. Once my feet were on solid ground, I turned to him.

I began to tremble and couldn't stop. "Please, just take me home to my father. He'll pay you whatever you want."

He slapped me hard across the face. I stumbled back, grabbing my burning cheek. Tears filled my eyes. No one had ever hit me.

"I don't want money," he hissed. "I want them to pay for what they did to me, to my family!"

"Then what do you want from me?" I choked the words out.

He straightened, running his hand over his worn suit jacket, smoothing out wrinkles, and then met my gaze. "I told you, revenge. You're going to kill the Morelli brothers and their father for me."

I stumbled back a step. "No, I would never do that. I love them, and I would never harm any of them." I wasn't around their father that much, but he always treated me with kindness. This man was crazy.

"Foolish girl, you will soon see the truth."

I didn't care that there was no place to run. There were no trees I could hide behind, no buildings I could run inside, no people I could run to and beg for help, but I turned and took off anyway. It was better than staying here with this lunatic.

"Where will you go?" he called after me, then began to laugh.

A few minutes later, the car pulled in front of me, and I stumbled to a stop as the driver jumped out and grabbed me. He was so large that he effortlessly lifted me off my feet and tossed me into the trunk.

I landed hard on my side, the jolt stunning me into silence. A woman came up and jabbed a needle into my arm. Neither spoke, but when I looked at her, I saw the slight smile hovering around her lips. She enjoyed what she was doing.

They shut the trunk as the darkness began to close in, and my mind drifted away. That's when I realized I was nothing to these people—like Amon said, a pawn in a game. I was scared to death that I might not be able to win. I gave up thinking about anything as I slipped away into oblivion.

Next, when I woke, something was biting into my tender flesh, and I was cold. They'd stripped away my clothes. I swallowed a sob as I scooted to a sitting position, which wasn't easy after being curled on my side. I barely had enough room to move, and the room was dark, so that I couldn't see anything.

Oh God, what was happening? Why wouldn't he release me? I hadn't done anything to him. A shiver of fear rippled over me. I grimaced, feeling the hard wires beneath me. A cage? They'd put me in a cage? That was what it felt like.

I leaned back against it. I had to blink several times until my mind began to clear. Wherever I was, no light crept inside, or maybe it was night. The lines had blurred so much that I had no idea of the day or time.

I ran my hands over the cage, feeling for a door, but when I found it, a heavy metal lock kept me trapped inside. I was his prisoner, and he could do whatever he wanted to me.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. I knew I was having a panic attack, but I couldn't seem to stop it from happening. I reached up and covered my mouth, not wanting to make a sound.

Something else was different. I felt my head, and then I started to cry. It was silly to be crying because he'd chopped off all my hair, but I couldn't seem to stop. It was now short and spiky.

My father always talked about how he loved my hair. He said it was just like Mom's. Then he would get all misty-eyed thinking about her, even though she'd been gone ten years. I vaguely remembered a woman who liked to hug me and read bedtime stories.

The door suddenly swung open, and a light flicked on. I sucked up my tears and crossed my arms over my breasts in a feeble attempt to hide my nakedness from him. He walked nearer, one leg dragging and the gold lion's head cane tapping alongside him until he stood before me, smiling.

"Welcome to your new home."

I glanced around. The room was cavernous. There was exercise equipment on the left side. His gym, maybe? Why would he need a gym?

Another wall held whips, chains, and other devices. I tried not to look at them. I knew what they were for.

The room was dark and dreary. The cold seeped up from the cement floor the cage sat on. I hated to even speak to this monster, but I had needs.

"I have to go to the bathroom." I could feel the heat crawling up my face.

"Go ahead. No one is stopping you."

"There's a lock on the door," I mumbled.

"That's because you have to earn the right to step outside your cage."

I felt the color draining from my face. "Is it your goal to humiliate me? If so, it's working," I whispered.

He knelt in front of me, leaning heavily on his cane. His bony fingers slipped between the wires of the cage. "I plan to do so much with you, my little princess. By the time I'm finished, you'll want the Morelli brothers dead as much as I do."

I shook my head, daring to raise my chin and glare at him. "That's where you're wrong. I love them. I would never hurt them, and I would never wish them dead."

He laughed as he came to his feet. "We shall see. We shall see." He walked back toward the door and shut off the light, leaving without another word.

I sighed with relief now that he was gone. To my abject shame, I could no longer control my bladder. The stench of urine floated around me, even though I'd noticed the drain under the cage and tried to go over it.

My bottom lip trembled. "They'll find me. They'll rescue me. They won't let him hurt or shame me anymore."

I scooted back as far as I could, and time passed. It could've been a few minutes or an hour. The door opened again, and someone flipped on the light. I didn't cringe away this time, although I still covered myself as best I could. Screw him. But it wasn't Amon. It was the woman who came into the room, and she carried a tray. I quickly moved forward, holding on to the cage. "Please, help me."

She wore a drab brown dress and what looked like chunky men's shoes. Her dull, dark brown hair was cropped short. The woman didn't even look at me, and I felt no sympathy coming from her.

She set the tray in front of the cage and opened a narrow door close to the bottom. She slid a bowl of something that looked almost like oatmeal into the opening, followed by a bottle of water.

"I won't eat. I'll starve myself first."

She finally acknowledged me, her dark eyes just as hard as his. "If you don't eat, you will be punished, and then you will be forced to eat, even if we have to put an IV in your arm and a feeding tube in your stomach."

Her eyes glittered with excitement at the prospect of doing more harm to me. Who were these people?

Without another word, she was gone, but she left the light on this time. My stomach growled. As much as I would've liked to go on a hunger strike, I was starving. Besides, they probably would force-feed me. I reached for the bowl. There was no spoon, so I dug my fingers into the mush and brought them to my mouth. I almost gagged on the bland, unsweetened taste, but I made myself eat and then washed it all down with the water. I had to keep up my strength. I had to survive because someone would rescue me.

The air grew colder, and I began to shiver. The woman returned and took the empty water bottle and bowl. She left without saying a word. I relieved myself two more times, fighting back my tears of shame and embarrassment.

The driver came in—the one who'd grabbed me and put me in the trunk of the car. Once more, I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to hide my nakedness. He grabbed a hose and began spraying the cage. The water was cold, and I shivered uncontrollably.

"Why are you doing this!" I screamed.

He ignored me for a moment, then smiled, showing yellow teeth. "Spread your legs whore so I can wash you good."

"Go to hell," I spat and clenched my legs tighter.

"You'll be changing your tune soon enough." He sprayed my face, then quickly turned the hose away. It was over almost as quickly as it began. Just like the woman, he left without saying another word, turning off the light. I was nothing to them but an animal.

"Please, find me," I quietly begged.

I finally fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of better times. Caspian, Ezra, and Jude were at the clubhouse laughing and joking around. One of them put on some music, and we would all start dancing.

Jude loved to dance. Ezra would grab me and twirl me around and around until I was dizzy, which really wasn't dancing at all. Caspian liked to pull me against him and slow dance.

Reality always had a way of finding its way back to me.

And that was how my days went—happy in my fantasy world and depressed because I knew it was exactly that—only make-believe. I wasn't sure how many days passed. They fed me more of the unflavored mush, but now there was meat. Just as tasteless, but at least it was protein.

Sometimes, they left the light on, and I would study my surroundings, imagining how I would escape at the first opportunity. I knew it was only wishful thinking, but it kept me sane as I waited to be rescued, and I had no doubt I would be.

But days turned into weeks. I started counting the meals. They fed me once in the morning and once at night.

My hair was growing out, so I guessed I'd been Amon's captive for a while. Why hadn't I been rescued?

I pushed my feet against the side of the cage. "They'll kill all of you!" I screamed. "They'll rip your guts out!" I began to laugh uncontrollably, unable to stop. I put my fingers through the wires of the cage and shook the sides.

Someone had to come for me. I couldn't stay in here a moment longer. I'd rather be dead. I pulled at my hair, then sank my teeth into my arm, trying to bite hard enough to hit a vein.

I stopped suddenly, moving my arm away and staring at the teeth marks.

What was I doing? If I died, Amon would win. I refused to let Amon drive me insane. "Fuck you!" I screamed. "Fuck you!"

I began to recite the time's tables: One times one is one, and two times two is four. I stopped when I ran out of numbers I could multiply in my head. Then I started to sing as loudly as I could, and I didn't stop even when I grew hoarse. When I was rescued, I would be ready.

She brought my food to me that night, smirking like she always did. I still didn't know her name. She pushed the bowl of brown mush inside the cage.

"Thank you so very much," I told her.

She frowned.

I scooped up some of the tasteless mush and threw it at her, then began to laugh when it splattered on her face. She turned red, wiping a hand across her cheeks.

"You stupid bitch," she hissed like a snake coiled, ready to strike. "I'll make you fucking pay for that." She marched over and got the hose, pointing it at me, then turned it on.

The cold spray washed away what little food was left in the bowl, but I didn't care. It had been worth it. I began to cough and sputter as water poured out of the hose. I tried turning my face away to take a breath, but she followed me.

"I hope you fucking drown!" she screamed.

"Nadine, enough," Amon said as he entered the room.

I had been so busy trying not to drown that I hadn't seen him come in.

"She threw her damned food in my face," she screamed.

"I saw," he said as he walked over and turned off the water. "Go upstairs and calm down."

She glared at me. I knew I'd made an enemy for life, but I didn't fucking care. Amon started shuffling toward me. I couldn't stop myself from scooting back and crossing my arms over my breasts. He pulled up a stool and sat in front of the cage.

"You are quite beautiful, even with most of your hair gone. I'm afraid Nadine did that without my permission. I had to reprimand her," he said as he stared at me. "Open your arms. I want to see your breasts."

"Fuck you."

He smiled, then pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed at the side of his mouth. "When you learn to obey me, you'll earn privileges."

"Go to hell."

He walked over to a wall and reached for something, changed his mind, then pulled a rod down from a hook, walking back toward me. I didn't know what he would do, but I had a feeling I wouldn't like it. He poked the rod inside the cage against my arm, then pushed a button.

Electrical shocks ran through my body. I screamed and tried to move away from the rod, but I couldn't escape the shocks. I gasped for air when he brought it back out of the cage.

"Now," he calmly said. "Show me your breasts."

Tears ran down my face, but I moved my hands away.

"Yes, very beautiful. Now, open your legs."

I turned my head away from him, but I opened my legs. When he didn't say anything, I dared to look at him. His lips were pursed, and his face mottled with splotches of red. He gripped his cane so hard his knuckles turned white.

Please, God, take me now or save me. But nothing happened. I was still locked inside the cage. Would Amon rape me now? Shame me even more?

Amon abruptly came to his feet, almost lost his balance, then left the room, his leg dragging worse than usual. My shoulders slumped as I brought my legs together and covered my breasts. I began to shake as tears streamed down my face.

Why hadn't they rescued me?

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