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“I’m not going in there withyou,” I snapped. His laugh made my stomach coil.
Squeezing my arm, he pushed me inside and I fell onto the bed. I felt a prick in my arm and then the warmth of the drugs as they spread through my veins. My eyes grew heavy, and I couldn’t lift my arms. The bed dipped down, and I felt the man’s body as he towered over me.
“Get your rest, Peyton. You’re going to need it.”
I took one last look at his blue eyes, and then the darkness took me.
CHAPTER21
ETHAN
Iawoke to the smell of sweat and a musty basement.
Ripping off the blindfold, I looked around but there was nothing but darkness. The only light came from the crack below a door across the room. And beyond that, I heard muffled noises, only it sounded as if it was in the distance. The bed squeaked as I got up, and my legs felt heavy as I made my way to the door.
When I opened it, I wasn’t expecting what I saw on the other side. It was a vast warehouse, only I was sealed off from it, looking into it from behind a window. Guys walked by, but none of them paid attention to me; it was as if they didn’t know I was there.
Everything was dark on the other side of the window, faintly lit by dimmed light. There was exercise equipment on one side of the room, and on the other was a fighting ring, surrounded by a cage and barbed wire. There had to be over fifty guys, all ranging in height and size, working out.
And over in another corner with their separate workout space was a group of ten women, all appearing to be in their early to mid-twenties. They all had the same look . . . athletic with long, midnight-colored hair.
At all the exits were men standing guard in their black clothes, and I had no doubt it was the guys from last night, only this time they weren’t hidden behind ski masks. By the looks of everything, it had Nikolai Michelson written all over it. This was his style.
The door to my right opened, and I jerked my head over to face the man walking in. Behind him were three other guys. They walked over and surrounded me, their bodies tense as if they expected a fight.
“You’re awake,” the main guy said.
I recognized his voice from last night. He was the one who’d taken Peyton away from me. The guy was my height and build and around the same age. He stopped a few feet away from me and smiled.
“I didn’t expect the drugs to wear off for another few hours.”
I stormed toward him. “Where’s Peyton?” I didn’t get any closer before the three men stopped me. “Where’s Peyton?” I shouted again, snarling the words.
The guy took a step toward me. “She’s okay. Not that it should matter to you. She’s not yours anymore.”
The fire burning inside me felt as if it’d explode any minute. “So help me God, if you touch her, I’ll fucking kill you.”
His lips pulled back. “Too late. I already have.” He focused on the men restraining me. “I’m heading out, but I’ll be back tonight with everyone else.” Then to me, he said, “You might want to get ready. It’s going to be a long couple of days for you.”
Once he was gone, the men let me go and two of them followed him out, leaving only one. Turning back to the window, I looked around at all the people working out; I had no clue what the fuck was going on.
“I’d heed his warning,” the guy said. I turned around and glared at him. He had a menacing leer and a scar down the right side of his face.
“Why is that?” I growled.
The guy’s dark eyes narrowed. “Because itisgoing to be a hard couple of days. That is if you survive it. And even then, you won’t be going anywhere.”
“What the hell’s even going on here? What is this place?”
He glanced around at all the people and then smirked at me. “It’s an audition. You all have your parts to play.”
“Audition for what?” I snapped.
The guy shrugged. “You’ll see. Butyoudon’t have to audition like all of them,” he said, nodding at the warehouse full of guys. “Your role has already been picked for you.”
My role? He walked off and I stared at all the fighters. What role was that?
CHAPTER22
