Page 173 of Plaything

“Y-you can’t call me that,” I tried to explain. “I just need a second to make it stop,” I rambled.

“Can you pull over?” Dominic asked in a hushed voice.

The truck came to a stop on the side of the road. I opened my eyes, feeling how wet my palms were now. We were almost home, and trees surrounded the road—no other cars were around.

Dominic threw open a door and tossed me into it. I stumbled over my legs, struggling to find balance in my heels before I fell to my ass.

Charles dragged me through the house before jerking my body into my room. “I’ll unlock this door in the morning. You insulted me in front of my guests!”

“All I did was say hi; you told me to greet them!” I defended.

“Dressed like a whore! Not only are you a national slut on the news, but now you’re throwing yourself at my colleagues,” he spat. “I’ll let you out in two days, maybe that’s enough time for you to reflect on your actions.” He slammed the door behind him and locked it.

“Come here, Odette,” Dominic suddenly stood outside the door, holding his hand out into the cold night. Aiden had gotten out of the car, leaving a space for me to exit.

Blinking several times, I tried to get my eyes to focus, but their features were blurred like the men in my dreams. I knew it was Dominic, and the blur next to him was Aiden. Niko was behind me, and Wyatt was turned towards me from where he sat in the driver’s seat.

The cold air against my skin was a sign that I wasn’t dreaming, but I still pinched myself hard just to be sure. I must have fallen asleep on the drive home, and this was just a bad dream. The pinch stung before a hand was placed over my own, stopping my nails from digging into my skin.

“You’re awake, Odette—” Aiden’s voice was cut off.

“She’s completely asleep. She never recalls these little meetings of ours.”

“Her eyes are open.”

“Dead to the world, I assure you. If she had the slightest clue, do you think she would have greeted us so formally at dinner?”

“And what if she wakes?”

“Charles has been slipping her melatonin. I assume to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, placing my eyes on my elbow. What the fuck was wrong with me? I couldn’t make the voices or the memories stop. “I can’t wake up,” I tried to explain. Maybe I wasn’t making sense to them, but I couldn’t think. I only remembered in my sleep; this had never happened when I was awake. It was an attack, one after another; voices and blurred men flashed in my mind, sometimes comparing to my professors—I hated that the most.

“Odette,” Dominic’s voice was soft. I felt his hands on me briefly, pulling me to the edge of the seat—burning my ass in the process—until my legs were dangling outside the door. He pulled my arm away from my face, leaving my wet cheeks cold in the winter night breeze. “Open your eyes,” he instructed.

I shook my head. If I did that, I’d only freak myself out more. They didn’t look like themselves—they looked like the men in Charles’ wing. It was a cruel trick, and I wanted to give myself a lobotomy for comparing them, even if I had no control over it. My professors were perfect, kind, and patient; I adored them. They were nothing like those men.

“Trust me,” he pleaded, tenderness and understanding in his deep tone.

Drawing in a shaky inhale, I blinked my wet eyes open, seeing Dominic before me and Aiden behind him in a blur. I felt his finger under my chin, tilting my head up. “See the stars?” he asked. I nodded. “Find Orion’s Belt,” he directed.

“What?” My voice came out in a confused whisper as I pushed my eyebrows together. Stargazing was the last thing on my mind. I attempted to look back down, but Dominic’s finger wouldn’t let me.

“Good girl,” Aiden praised from where he leaned against the bedpost. “Now take your panties off and show us our pretty little toy,” he ordered.

“She’s such a pretty little thing, isn’t she?”

“Find it,” Dominic said again, breaking the echoes.

It was quiet as my eyes wandered the night sky, trying to find the three bright dots in a line. I knew little about astrology and had no idea which direction to start in. My attention moved from star to star, only taking a minute or two to find the belt. I didn’t look away from the constellation as I spoke. “Right there,” I nodded up at it, my heart beginning to settle.

“Good,” he praised in a smooth tone. “And now the Big Dipper,” he continued my scavenger hunt.

I didn’t understand, but I again began playing Connect the Dot with the stars. My shoulders relaxed as I searched. The echoing voices died out, and I began to wonder if the Big Dipper was even visible from where I was. Maybe it was hidden past the tree line.

It took me much longer to find than Orion’s Belt, but eventually, I found the hook shape. I lazily pointed to it, my limbs heavy and exhausted from tonight’s activities. “There.”

His finger was removed from my chin, and my neck relaxed, allowing me to look ahead again. Dominic’s features were clear, lit by the moonlight and residual lighting from the truck’s headlights. From his concerned eyes and pressed lips to his disheveled brown hair, he looked like my safety. “Better?” he asked, his eyes flickering between mine.

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