Page 48 of Vicious King

Still, I was undeterred. I wanted freedom, craved it like my lungs craved air.

Tobias and his men obviously thought I would be tired of fighting after stuffing me in this box. Broken, beaten. They thought I’d give up, but all they were really doing was making me even more determined to get out of this hellhole and expose them to the world.

Unbeknownst to them, I still had another trick up my sleeve.

My old tentative plan to suck up to the society and try to get voted in as a hostess for the next Artemis Festival was still on the table. The festival was coming up very soon, at the beginning of spring, so time wasn’t on my side, but I was still resolute. Tobias and Elias might not vote for me, but I could still try and make sure the other members did.

Whoever won me as the grand prize wouldn’t set me free, but he’d take me far away from this place, and wherever that was, it had to be better than here. Had to be easier to escape from. I wouldn’t stop trying, wouldn’t stop fighting.

And then, when I was finally free, I would make Crown and Dagger pay.

My blood felt like fire in my veins as I psyched myself up for the plan. As much as I’d succumbed to weakness after failing to escape in the past, I wouldn’t this time. I was done with that. Done with giving up and crying and going into dark places in my mind, the kind of places that tried to force me off cliffs just to end the pain. Never again. They could do whatever they wanted to me here, and I would only come out stronger each time. More hell-bent on revenge.

But I couldn’t let them know that. In order to be selected for the festival, I had to be memorable to every man here. I had to seem happy, like I’d finally accepted my place in the Lodge and learned to love it. I had to be subservient, obedient, welcoming. The perfect slave.

From now on, that would be me. I would be sweet and charming and smile invitingly at every member I saw, not just Elias. I would do things to get noticed by all of them in a positive way. I would say what they wanted to hear, do whatever they commanded, move the way they told me to move. Fight back by pretending not to fight. Pretend to be good, pretend to be happy, pretend to want every single man in this place. Tatum Marris, the perfect slave.

The perfect festival hostess…

It was just like the idea I had right before I nearly slipped over that cliff all those weeks ago, only with a slight twist in that the sucking up didn’t only apply to Elias. It now extended to every single man in Crown and Dagger. By the time I was done, every man here would want me and vote for me.

After what might’ve been one hour or three—I had no way of knowing—I heard something from outside the coffin. Pounding footsteps. Voices echoing through the cave.

My heart simultaneously lifted and sank.

Elias had arrived.