Page 4 of Wild Elite

This was where the sound was coming from.

Stretching before me was a huge bedroom with a king-sized four-poster bed on my left, covered in a crimson and gold brocade duvet with matching cushions and pillows strewn over it. Dark wallpaper patterned with thin gold damask lined the room, and there was a roaring fire on one side in the carved stone fireplace. Above the ornate mantel was a large mirror with a strange symbol daubed on it in what appeared to be dark red paint. Somewhere else in the room, something—or someone—was playing a rhythmic chanting ritual song.

There was a chandelier light dangling from the center of the ceiling, along with other lights on sconces along the walls, but none of them were on. The room was lit entirely by the fire and several large flickering candles.

I gulped at the scene before me.

Two nude women were tied to the bed, their legs spread wide. They were blindfolded, so I couldn’t see who they were, but they were both moaning in bliss and writhing in pleasure, as much as their bonds would allow them to move. Three men in dark robes and black and gold bauta masks were with them on the bed.

One was roughly fucking the woman on the left, a gleaming dagger in his left hand, dangling precariously above her throat. Upon first glance, I thought I was witnessing an assault, but the woman was definitely moaning in bliss, her pleasured sounds punctuated by the occasional, ‘Oh, yes, yes!’ and ‘Harder!’

The second man on the bed was going at the woman on the right, and the third was hovering between them, groping every inch of the women’s skin, slapping their tits, and yanking their hair while he ostensibly waited his turn.

On the carpeted floor near the fire, another young woman was on her knees, her hands bound behind her back with black rope. She was topless, and the same strange red symbol I saw on the mirror was daubed on her chest. A masked man in a dark cape was standing above her, tipping some dark purple liquid into her mouth from a gold goblet.

His cock was sticking out of his pants, erect and ready, and when the woman had finished every last drop of whatever had been in the goblet, he roughly shoved his way between her lips, forcing her to suck him. Judging from the lusty expression in her eyes, that was exactly what she wanted to do.

Five other men were standing around the room, simply watching the proceedings. When I opened the door, only two of them looked up. The others were either too mesmerized by the ritualistic, orgy-like activities going on around them, or they simply didn’t care.

One of the men who looked over at me made my heart skip a beat. It was the guy from downstairs; the one who seemed to hate the mere sight of me. His mask was back on, but I could still tell it was him in the flickering candlelight.

I finally found my tongue. “Sorry, I… I was looking for a bathroom,” I stammered. Then I slammed the door shut and fled back down the hall, toward the main staircase. Lock the damn door next time, I wanted to shout back in the direction of the room, but I kept my mouth firmly shut. I didn’t want any of them to get angry and come after me with that dagger.

I heard footsteps behind me a moment later, and when I turned my head back over my shoulder, I saw the same guy who’d been staring at me earlier. He was following me. Maybe he simply wanted to explain to me what the hell I’d just witnessed, but honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it from him. Not when he practically looked like he wanted to kill me.

I pulled my mask back over my face and hurried down the stairs as fast as I could, then ran back into the main party room, quickly blending into the crowd. I found Katie standing alone near one of the back windows, checking out the view. Willa had presumably left to entertain other guests again, and there was no longer any sight of my mysterious stranger.

“Hey, how’s your head? Did you find the painkillers?” Katie asked.

I shook my head hurriedly. “No. I didn’t find the bathroom. I saw the weirdest thing when I was looking for it.”

Her brows knitted with curiosity. “What?”

I told her everything I saw, and her eyes grew progressively wider with each word. “Oh my god. That’s like, full-on Eyes Wide Shut stuff.”

I nodded vigorously. “I know, and it’s happening right now in that room up there,” I said. “Honestly, I can’t believe the door was actually unlocked!”

“Do you think Willa knows someone is having a wild sex party in her house?” she asked, craning her neck and peering over my shoulder, presumably trying to spot Willa so we could ask her.

I shrugged. “No idea. But it was really strange. Especially with the red symbols and the weird chanting stuff, not to mention the candles and goblets everywhere. Like… it clearly wasn’t just any old swingers party.”

“I knew super rich people were all hiding something sinister….” Katie said in a joking tone. Then her voice turned serious again. “Take me up there. I want to see.”

My brows shot up. “No way! Seriously, Katie, it was really creepy, especially the guy with the dagger. Please don’t go up there.”

She snickered. “Fine, fine.” She took a sip of champagne, then tilted her head to one side. “Hm. Maybe it was Crown and Dagger. I’ve heard all sorts of weird stuff about them.”

“Huh? Crown and what now?”

Katie’s mouth fell open. “You haven’t heard of them?”

“Er… no.”

“I swear to god you live under a rock sometimes. I mean, you’re going to Roden next year, and apparently that’s their recruitment ground. I can’t believe you haven’t heard of them.”

I waved a hand impatiently. “Okay, okay, I get it, I’m kind of a hermit most of the time. But who or what is Crown and Dagger?”

“Well, I don’t know if they really exist—it’s all just rumors—but apparently they’re some sort of secret soci—”

Katie’s sentence was abruptly cut off by a shrill scream from somewhere behind us. “She has a gun!”

Katie and I whirled around to see what the hell was going on. As we did so, we spotted a tall brunette girl slowly crossing the room, holding a black pistol. She was dressed in jeans and a gray hoodie, and her face was pale.

“I know they’re here somewhere!” she called out to no one in particular. “You’re all gonna pay for what you’ve done!”

She lifted the gun and aimed it in our direction.

Then she fired.

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