He turns, opens the door, and calls to the guard to bring in another woman. Then he walks back to the pool table like nothing has happened.
Sophie is fully open now, riding Asher as he sits back against the table, his hands gripping her thighs. Elliot positions himself behind her and pushes into her asshole, filling her completely while Knox moves to her mouth. Knox shoves himself deep between her lips, thrusting until her throat strains around him. She gags and chokes, tears spilling from her eyes, but she doesn’t pull away. Knox groans and comes hard, holding her head in place until he is finished.
The guard returns with another woman. She is shaking so badly her knees nearly buckle. Her eyes are wide with terror.
Elliot stays inside Sophie as he looks over his shoulder. “Take Brooke back to her room.”
The guard grabs my arm and pulls me away.
As I am dragged out, I lock eyes with the terrified woman being pushed inside. The door closes between us, and the sounds swallow her whole.
The guard doesn’t say a word as he drags me back down the hall. His grip stays tight on my arm, fingers pressing into my skin like he wants to leave a mark. I stumble once on the carpet runner and he yanks harder, like I have done it on purpose. When we reach my room, he opens the door and shoves me inside without slowing down.
I hit the floor hard, my knees slamming the wood. The door shuts behind me with a heavy thud, followed by the unmistakable click of the lock sliding into place.
I stay there for a second, frozen.
Then I hear it.
Screaming.
It’s her. The woman who has taken my place.
The sound is high and panicked, pure horror tearing out of her throat. And I know without question, that it is coming from the game room. From the pool table. From the men who didn’t get what they wanted from me.
Another scream follows, this one cracked and gurgled, like it has been ripped apart in the middle. Then something heavy hits the floor. The room spins, and my stomach turns over hard. I stagger to my feet and clutch the edge of the dresser for balance.
And it hits me.
The room with the severed head. The limbs. The blood smeared like someone had tried to crawl out. The woman who ran past me and got her head blown off. Those weren’t just horrors meant to shock me.
They are messages.
Those were the women they no longer had use for.
The only comfort I have is the thought of Seth’s arms around me. The warmth of his skin, the weight of his body trying to shield mine. My heart kicks hard.
No. I can’t go there. I can’t believe he’s gone.
I swallow the panic down like poison. Seth is stronger than that. He has to be.
My hand presses against my stomach again. If I lose him… if this baby is all I have left of him… I won’t let anything happen to it. Even if I had been unsure before, even if the timing terrified me, the thought of losing both of them makes it feel like there would be nothing left of me at all.
If Seth is alive, he will come for me. He always has.
But for now, I can’t count on anyone but myself. I wipe my face with the heel of my hand and force myself to breathe.
I won’t let them break me.
Not for The Collective.
Not for anyone.
Chapter 6
Brooke
Iwake up before the sun.
