Page 64 of Lake of Sapphire

Alec swore under his breath, “Sie, I’m not gonna lie, you are one lucky guy. Who knew all that was hidden beneath those clothes.” Alec smiled as he pointed to me and then my clothes in a bundle on the floor. Reagan swiftly scooped my dress and threw it into the fireplace before I could even blink.

No, no, no.

She smiled as the flames danced over it. I watched in horror as it disappeared, turning to ash before my eyes. How the heck was I going to get out of here with no clothes?

I clenched my fists at my sides. It took everything in me not to use my hands to cover myself, but I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. So I took a few steadying breaths before lifting my chin toward Alec.

He stood before me now, casually tracing his finger up and down my bare arms, causing the hair on my skin to rise. “Why such a long face, Princess? Come on, don’t make me compel you to have a good time with us too? I can if I must. I could make you smile, laugh, drink some more, dance with us?” Alec threatened with a deep laugh. He cupped my neck between his hands, his thumbs resting beneath my chin, tilting my head back, forcing me to look up.

“Wait,” I blurted as panic overtook my senses. To my surprise, Alec’s golden markings disappeared for a moment, allowing me to continue. I took a step out of his grasp and walked over to Sie, whose eyes went wide in surprise. It didn’t leave my mind that I was practically naked as he took in every inch of my body.

I couldn’t do this anymore. I couldn’t keep pretending. There was no way I could stand naked in front of all of them and smile as they laughed at me.

When I stood a foot before Sie, he let out a low breath. His eyes darted toward my breasts as I reached to unclasp my necklace. I placed the necklace in his hands, unable to hide the fact that mine were shaking as I whispered, “Now you can compel me to have a good time.”

No one said anything. Sie just stared at me, necklace in his hand, face unreadable.

“Compel her already, Sie. Should we have her dance on the table? Or have her remove what little clothes she still has left on?” Alec laughed, completely unaware of the tension going on between us. I heard him chuck his cup as he finished off the drink in his hand.

“Put this back on,” Sie seethed, ignoring Alec.

“No. Unless you are going to compel me to do it.” I responded, the bite in my voice noticeable. He let out a loud, frustrated sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know what to do. Good.

“I will compel you, Scottie.”

“What difference does it make,” I found myself saying. “If it’s you compelling me, or you watching as your friends do it?”

Peter stepped forward before Sie could say anything else. “Enough. Stop this.” He said as he grabbed me by the arm and threw his jacket over my shoulders. I was so thankful my back was hidden again. “I’m taking her back to her room now.”

I stormed out of the room with Peter, not bothering to look back at Sie or anyone else.

The last thing I heard before the door slammed behind me was Alec saying, “Relax Sie, she’s going to forget everything by morning.”

Only I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t forget one second of it, and Sie knew it.

I was walking at a record pace. I didn’t care about any glances I received from the servants still awake. Nothing could be worse than what I just endured. The humiliation. The shame. I shuddered as anger rippled through me.

Peter tried to grab my shoulders, but I shrugged him off. “Scottie, wait. I’m sorry. They shouldn’t have done that.”

I whirled, not bothering to mask how furious I was. “You’re sorry they did it in general, or are you sorry they did it tome?”

He didn’t respond, so I added, “Do you wish it was some other nix who walked into that party, Peter? Would you have stopped it then or played along with them?”

Disgust and disappointment washed over me that they were the Advenians Peter grew up with. The fact that they did this sort of thing to rank zeroes for fun made my blood fume. They controlled people for their own entertainment. Alec mentioned he was growing tired of playing with the servants. How many of them had faced what I went through tonight? How many endured worse but couldn’t remember to even feel the shame of what was done to them the next morning? “Just leave me alone, Peter.”

“Right and let you wander in the castle alone, half-naked, without your necklace. I’m coming with you,” he spat back.

Well, that answered my question about how much Peter knew. I tugged on the jacket he gave me, pulling it closer to my chest. It barely covered the top of my thighs.

“Fine, but I’m going back to my room.” I walked, and Peter followed.

When I finally was close to my door, Peter said softly, “I don’t like it, Scotlind. What they did to you, what they have done to others. I find it disgusting.”

“Then why let them? Why did you just stand there and let them do that?” I bristled as tears spilled down my cheeks. My rage was melting into something worse—mortification and pure exhaustion.

“Because if we stopped Alec before he had his fun with you, he would have come to your bedroom tonight, and it would have been much worse.”

“And how many other rank zeroes has this happened to?” I asked.

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