“Got anything hidden here?” Kai asked, running his hand up the inside of my thigh.
But I lurched forward, growling, “Fuck you!”
Will laughed, tightening his fingers around my arms and yanking me back into him again.
“Why don’t you just take off her clothes?” Damon suggested. “That way we’ll know for sure.”
“Hell, yeah,” came Will’s voice behind me.
I instantly recoiled, seeing Kai stand up, his dark eyes like deep black pools behind his mask.
“Let’s set the mood first.” And then he took out a remote from his sweatshirt and held it up, clicking a button.
I jerked as a motor-like sound started, and then I twisted my head, my stomach shaking with silent sobs as I watched the steel shutters descend over all the windows.
I shook my head, not knowing how to stop this. Any moonlight that had been streaming into the house slowly got smaller and smaller, the floor growing darker and darker. The house turned pitch black, and I watched as Kai and Damon disappeared in front of me, the room becoming as dark as oil. My legs started to shake.
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded. “What do you want?”
“Why are we doing this?” Will mocked in my voice.
And then they all joined in.
“Why are we doing this?”
“Why are we doing this?”
“I don’t know. Why are we doing this?” Damon laughed.
And then I screamed as Will launched me forward into his arms. At least, I think they were his.
Damon caught me and pressed his body into mine, pawing my ass with his hands.
I planted my hands on his chest and tried to straighten my arms, grunting and choking on my breaths as I tried to push myself away from him.
“Get off me!” I shouted, my face burning with rage.
But he spun me around and shoved me into another set of arms. I stumbled in the darkness, lightheaded and losing my balance.
The new guy wrapped his arms around me, and I clutched his sweatshirt to stabilize myself. Acid bile rising in my throat.
“What?!” I choked out, trying to keep the fucking tears at bay. “What do you want from me?”
“What do you want from me?” Kai mocked, followed by the others.
“What do you want from me?”
“What do you want from me?”
And then I was shoved away again, another set of arms catching me.
“Stop it!” I yelled, and I raised my arm, coming down and catching him on the side of his mask.
“Oh, she’s got some spit and fire,” Will teased and pushed me to someone else.
My legs went limp, and I broke. Sobbing, I buried my hands in my hair on the side of my head and curled my fingers, my nails scraping against my scalp so hard my skin stung.
I threw my head back. “Michael!”
“Michael?” someone called after me.
And then someone else sing-songed, “Michael, where are youuuu?”
“Mi-chael!” the third one rang out, their voice echoing up the stairs and down the hall.
“I don’t think he’s coming!”
“Or he’s already here!” Will taunted.
“Stop it!” I raged. “Why are you doing this?”
A head nudged my ear, making me jerk. “Payback,” he said in a hard whisper.
“A little revenge,” Will added.
“And restitution for time served,” Kai finished.
Tears streamed down my face. What were they talking about?
Where was Michael?
But then someone grabbed my hips from behind and pulled me into him, his arms circling my waist.
“You belong to us, Rika,” he breathed out in my ear. “That’s what’s happening.”
My eyes widened, and fire spread through my stomach as despair set in.
It was Michael’s voice. No.
“You’re Horsemen property now,” I heard Kai say, “and if you want to have money to eat, you’ll be just as nice to us as you were to Michael last weekend.”
“He said you were a halfway decent fuck,” Damon chimed in, “but we’ll get you up to par.”
“With some training!” Will boasted, sick amusement in his voice.
“But you won’t like it,” Kai growled next to me. “I promise you that.”
“And if you want college money—or rent money—” Damon threatened, “well then, you better be especially pleasing.”
I hunched forward, feeling sick. I wanted to drop.
What the fuck?
“Hey, what are we supposed to do when we get tired of her?” Will asked somewhere to my right. “We can’t pay her for nothing, can we?”
“Of course not.”
“I guess we can just pass her around,” Will suggested. “We’ve got friends.”
“Yeah, shit,” Damon interjected. “My father loves the young ones.”
“He used to give you his sloppy seconds,” Kai joked. “Now you can return the favor.”
Michael’s arms tightened around me, and I heaved, trying to clench my stomach to push back down the vomit.
I raised my forearm, clutching the handle of the dagger.
“Come on, Rika,” someone growled, grabbing me by the arms.
And I cried out as I was thrown across the floor, my shoulder hitting the hard marble and the wind knocked out of me.
“Damon!” I heard a deep voice growl.
My face was wet, both of my shoes were gone, and I coughed and sputtered as I struggled to turn over and see what was happening.