Page 29 of Heartless Prince

But sleep never came. Even though my muscles ached and my eyelids felt heavy, I couldn’t make it happen. I lay stretched out on the white sheets for what felt like hours, though it could’ve been mere minutes. I had no way to tell.

A scraping noise came from my right again, and my eyes shot to the door. The slot was opening again. I could see hands pushing a tray inside. Food and water.

“Hey!” I sprang off the bed and got down on my hands and knees, trying to call through the slot to whoever was on the other side. “Please, you have to help me! I’m not supposed to be here!”

Whoever they were, they completely ignored me. The slot closed, and through the thick glass pane on the door, I saw them rise to their feet and stride away. My shoulders slumping in defeat, I leaned down to pick up the tray and carried it over to the bed.

There was a tall glass of water, some sort of reddish-brown tablet, and a bowl of oatmeal. I gulped down the water, wolfed down the oats, and ignored the tablet. Who the hell knew what was in it?

Then again, the water and oatmeal could be laced with god-knows-what as well. Shit. I didn’t think that through.

The door suddenly swung open again, and I turned my head and lifted my eyes to see a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit enter the room. He closed the door behind him and smiled at me.

My stomach clenched. It was Tobias King.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, motioning toward the plate. “But it’s just food. The tablet is just a multivitamin. You’ll only be drugged if you misbehave.”

I leapt to my feet. “What the hell is going on?” I said. “You can’t keep me here like some sort of prisoner. All I did was sneak into a dumb ceremony. That’s not illegal! It was just for a paper, but I don’t have to write it. Just let me go and I promise I’ll never say a word!”

He laughed mirthlessly, a sinister sound that made me want to throw up. “Firstly, the ceremony was on private land, so technically, sneaking into it was illegal. As for your paper… that’s not why you’re here, Tatum.”

Confusion surged through my mind. “I don’t understand.”

He patted the bed. “Sit down.”

“No.”

He shrugged. “Very well. This could take a while, though.”

“I’ll stand,” I said, not wanting to do anything this horrible man commanded me to do.

“Fine.” He took a seat on the end of my bed, a nasty smile playing on his lips again. “Tatum, we’ve been following you for a long time. We always knew about the silly little paper you wanted to write, and we also knew perfectly well that you intended to infiltrate our brotherhood as part of your research. We allowed it to happen. Why do you think it was so easy for you to make it in? Did you honestly think it was that simple? You didn’t suspect anything at all?”

I swallowed thickly. He was right. It did seem far too easy, especially for such a secretive organization.

“We have eyes and ears everywhere, so we knew all about the little plan you concocted with your friend. Every last detail. We just thought it would be amusing to play with you and let you think you had the upper hand. A lot of the men in the society love games, and stupid little girls like you are especially fun.” He paused and let out another chuckle. “They very much enjoyed last night. Those who were aware, that is.”

“What do you mean?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Well, obviously the actors and other staff had no idea what was really going on. Half the brotherhood didn’t even know what was happening. They thought your demise was all part of the show, and that you were a willing participant. But of the ones who were high-level enough to be made aware of the plan… well, they loved it. One of the men said he hadn’t seen such an incredible spectacle in years. The fear, the wild look in your eyes as it dawned on you that you were caught out. Amazing. So much better than the acting.”

I sucked in a deep breath. What he was saying made sense in a macabre way. Most of the actors and society members at the ceremony saw the fake virgin sacrifice, and they also saw that the girl was fine afterwards. So when they saw men rushing at me and someone jabbing me with a needle as I screamed and cried and tried to escape, they would’ve thought it was more of the same. More entertainment.

I finally sat down, my knees turning weak. “So you just let it all happen and tricked me for fun? That’s why I’m here?”

“Yes and no. It was amusing, but you’re here because you belong here.”

“I don’t. This is a mistake.”

“I think you’ll find you dobelong here, and there is no mistake. We bought you, and we own you.”

My mouth fell open. I stared at him in shock for a full twenty seconds before responding. “What did you say?”

“I said we own you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I thought you were supposed to be smart,” he said with a contemptuous look. “You were sold to us. Now you are our property. Understand that?”

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