Page 13 of Sinful Palace

4

Willow

Yawning loudly,I opened my eyes. My limbs felt weak and boneless, and my vision was blurry, like I was viewing the room around me through frosted glass.

With a start, I realized it was glass. I was encased in it, trapped in a long rectangular box the size of a coffin. On top of that, I was completely nude.

“What the hell?” Wide awake now, I pressed my hands above me, pushing on the lid. It didn’t budge. Fear pumped adrenaline through my body, and I started to scream. “Logan!”

“Good. You’re finally awake.” I heard his voice from somewhere near me, but it was faint, like he was talking to me through water.

“Where are you?”

“Here.” I saw him step up to the right side of the tomb-like structure. “You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”

Of course I was. Who wouldn’t be in a situation like this?

I dragged several deep breaths into my lungs in an attempt to stave off the insidious sense of impending doom, like my therapist Dr. Monroe taught me months ago. It didn’t help. Little black spots started swimming in my vision, and my chest ached with fear as my breaths turned shorter and harsher. Panic bubbled up in my throat, leaving a foul taste in my mouth.

“Why am I in here?” I choked out. “How did I even get in here?”

“I put something in your hot chocolate last night to make sure you went to sleep for long enough to put you in there,” he said. His voice dripped with smug superiority, like I was the dumbest person in the history of the world for accepting a warm drink after a rough night.

To be fair, it was quite a dumb move. I should’ve known better than to accept anything masquerading as generosity from a man like Logan. I should’ve known he didn’t care about me enough to get me something as small as a drink without some sort of vindictive ulterior motive.

I pounded on the glass again. “What is this?”

Logan took a step closer. “A new punishment system I’ve worked out for rule violations. Not counting escape attempts, of course. You know the punishment for that all too well,” he said. His voice was clearer now. Sharper. “Seeing as you burned our house down, we don’t have a dungeon for the time being. But that doesn’t mean I’ll let you get away with anything and everything.”

“I said sorry,” I whimpered, pounding on the glass with my fists. “Please let me out. I feel like I’m going to die.”

“That’s the point.” He crouched so his face was nearly at my level. He was so close now that I could see the twisted amusement flashing in his eyes. “I told you last night—sorry isn’t good enough. You agreed to be punished, didn’t you?”

I swallowed hard. That was true. I even begged for it. Begged for him to take his wrath out on me instead of my brother. However, when we arrived at Wonderland, I mistook his seemingly-generous mood for sympathy, figuring he must’ve decided to be lenient with me after the terrible night I’d endured.

That was stupid. It should’ve occurred to me that he was simply biding his time. He rarely let me get away with ‘bad’ things, even if they were the most minor of infractions.

“You can punish me some other way,” I said, eyes wide and pleading. “You don’t need a dungeon.”

He shook his head. “No, this is actually for the best. I can’t keep leaving marks on you with floggers and canes. People would notice eventually, and I can’t have that.”

Hot tears spilled down my cheeks. I couldn’t wipe them away, because there wasn’t enough space in the glass box to move my arms up to my face. “Logan, please,” I sobbed. “I can’t breathe.”

“It just feels that way,” he said. “There are a few small holes to let air in. How do you think you’re hearing me right now?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to pretend I was anywhere but this box. On a tropical island, in a lush meadow, on a ski-slope, sitting by a warm fire. None of it worked. The crushing knowledge of where I really was easily outweighed my imagination, no matter how hard I tried to pretend I was fine.

“Please, Logan. Let me out,” I whimpered.

“No.” He stood up again. “From now on, if you step out of line, you go in the box. If you’re really bad, I’ll do this.”

He stepped away for a moment. When he returned, I saw a black sheet in his hands.

“No! Don’t!” I screamed, realizing what was about to happen. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

He scoffed. “Anything? Is this like the time you begged me to fuck you to avoid punishment?” he asked. “Because that was a one-time thing. It won’t work again.”

He tossed the sheet over my enclosure, leaving me in pitch darkness. I wailed and kicked at the glass, but he ignored me and left the sheet in place.

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