Page 107 of Wicked Knight

I look back at Sawyer and Savannah who are staring at him with cautious eyes.

No girl in their right mind would be caught dead with this guy, so I understand the look.

"I'll see you guys later," I say to them.

Savannah gives me a quick hug. "Be careful, Mackenzie," she whispers in my ear before moving back.

"I will," I reply, then summon all the strength in this world to move forward and head to Ryan.

Out the corner of my eye, I spot Dmitri on the balcony with Alek and Logan. He's already looking at me.

It's easy to get lost in him, but I know I have to be careful so I turn away and focus on the man ahead of me.

When I get to Ryan, he puts his hand out to take mine.

"Come with me," he says.

I take his hand and I feel like I'm being led to the gallows as he ushers me away.

"Did you get here okay?" he asks.

"Yes. Thank you."

He'd offered to pick me up and take me to the manor, but I told him I had ballet practice. I didn't want to be in a car alone with him.

The image of me being left on the roadside or in a ravine, mangled had me thinking of all the things I could tell him to keep myself safe. Thankfully, he accepted that I was practicing.

We go down the set of stone stairs and I wonder where he's taking me.

"Have you ever been here before?" He glances down at me.

"Just for a garden party. I've never actually been inside the manor before. It's quite lovely."

"My parents own it, actually."

I look back at him. "I didn't know that. It must be wonderful owning something like this."

"It is. It's been in my family for generations, so it's a bit of an inheritance. I own it once we're married, so consider it yours." He gives me a thin smile.

"Oh, thank you. I feel like a princess," I try to joke.

That creepy smile never leaves his face. Down we go, down and down until we reach the basement or the dungeon. This place looks like a dungeon.

We walk into a large room. There's a red sofa in the center.

It looks like something you'd see in Dracula's castle. Red drapes also hang from the windows. In the corner there’s some sort of fixture on the wall. "Come on over here. I have something interesting to show you," he says, leading me to the fixture, which now looks more like metal cuffs.

I feel like I should run away. Like I should back away at least, but I think better of it.

Better to see what he's up to than act like I'm scared and set him off. But my thoughts quickly change when he tightens his grip on my arm and then he's pulling me toward the wall.

"What are you doing?", I ask, suddenly alarmed.

With a hard shove he pushes me into the wall and cuffs my wrist in the object. It snatches shut.

“What the hell are you doing to me? Let me go.”

“I have a few questions for you first, my dear wife to be.”

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