Page 43 of Black Hearts

“Don’t be sorry. You have to do whatever it takes. Take a few deep breaths, okay? I’m right here.”

I reached the staircase at the end of the hall. As Blaine had told me earlier, there was a door just off to the right with a little black sign on it. Security.

I knocked, feeling a lot braver now that I’d fooled one suspicious guard.

“It’s unlocked,” a deep male voice called out to me.

I slipped inside, leaving the wooden door ajar. There was a blond man sitting on a black swivel chair, his feet up on a desk as he watched an array of CCTV screens. He cast a vaguely mistrustful glance in my direction, but luckily, he didn’t seem anywhere near as bad as the patrol guard. “What is it?” he asked.

“I was told to come and offer you a snack while you worked.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Already ate dinner.”

I pointedly closed the door behind me and took a step forward. The guard’s sparse brows rose, and a slow grin spread across his face. “Oh, I get it. You’re the snack.”

I nodded and undid one blouse button, letting a hint of cleavage catch his eye. He glanced at the screens, then shrugged. “Nothing happening, anyway. Get over here, whore.”

I slowly stepped toward him. He grinned and took the radio, gun, and keys off his thick belt, placing them down on the desk. Then he unbuckled the belt and lowered his pants. “I haven’t had you before, but you look like you love choking on cock,” he said in a low voice, eyes gleaming with lust.

“I thought you might like a lap dance first,” I murmured. “They told me to make this worth your while as a thank you for all your hard work.”

“Hey, I won’t say no to that.” His grin grew wider. “Whatever gets you revved up, little girl.”

Bile and acid scratched at my throat, and I swallowed hard. I lowered myself onto his lap and began to grind myself around in my best impression of a lap dance, undoing more blouse buttons as I gyrated back and forth. The guard’s pink cock was out, grazing my left thigh, and I smiled to mask the fact I wanted to vomit on him.

I leaned back, balancing on my knees on his lap. Then I began to feign undoing my pants, just like I’d done only moments ago with the patrol guard. The man groaned. “Yeah, show me your pussy. Stop teasing me.”

“But I like to tease,” I whispered, playfully sweeping a hand across his eyes. “No peeking just yet.”

He didn’t move my hand, taking it all as part of the tease. “God, they teach you little sluts better and better every year,” he grunted, his cock growing stiffer by the second.

With my free hand, I reached into my right pocket and grabbed the small hypodermic needle Alex gave me earlier. I leaned farther forward, pretending as if I were going to kiss or nibble the guard’s earlobe, and then I quickly uncapped the needle and jabbed it into his neck, pressing down hard on the end.

It was the same animal tranquilizer Alex used on all his victims. The same one he used on me when he first took me. I knew exactly how effective it could be.

I clamped a hand over the guard’s mouth as he tried to let out a shout. One hand shot out and thrashed around on the desk, searching for his radio, but the drug took effect almost immediately, and he slumped back in his seat only seconds later, completely unconscious.

“Good girl,” Alex told me. “You’re a natural. Lock the door, then look at the screens and tell me what you see. I can barely see them on my phone.”

I did as he said and scanned the CCTV images. The kids were all in rooms on the second and third floors. Some were reading, but most were lying listlessly in bed.

Six maids were carrying trays of food and champagne out of the kitchen, heading for the ballroom. One remained in the kitchen; it looked like she was making cocktails. Three more were in what appeared to be a coatroom, organizing coats and scarves from the party guests. The few others were doing other mundane tasks like cleaning toilets and dusting skirting boards.

I focused my attention on the guards next.

“Looks like Blaine was right about everything apart from that one guard behind the wall,” I said. “There are two in the ballroom watching the guests, one patrolling around the rest of the house—that’s the really nasty one I ran into—and the others are outside. Not counting this guy.”

I looked at the unconscious guard next to me. I could kill him, but there was no point. He’d be long-dead from other factors by the time the drugs ever had a chance to wear off, so it would just be a waste of time.

“Where exactly are the outside ones?” Alex asked.

I squinted. “Looks like there are six scattered throughout the parking lot, I guess to stop anyone from leaving just yet. Then there’s four along the front of the house, two on either side, and another four along the back.”

“Okay. Hang tight, angel. I’ll do the parking lot first. Seems easiest.”

Now that there was no one around to watch for suspicious activity on the CCTV screens and alert the others, Alex could sneak around and dispose of the outside guards. It wouldn’t exactly be easy by most sane people’s definition, but as long as he was quiet, it was possible. The parking lot and exterior of the house were big enough that one guard probably wouldn’t see or hear the closest one to him crumpling to the ground, seeing as they were still yards and yards apart.

Still, I was scared for Alex. All it took was one extra-vigilant guard noticing something to set everyone else off. Then the Circle party inside would be warned and manage to escape before we had the chance to do anything to them.

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