Page 43 of Psyop Kings

He hits the B, and we begin our descent.

Are we going back to the pool? To his father?

“Where are we going?” I demand, finally finding my voice. “Where are you taking me?”

I’m at a disadvantage since I’m in nothing but a robe.

“Chalet de la Nuit,” he answers in a cold tone.

“We’re going to France?”

He makes a snorting sound as he rakes his gaze over me. “No, little girl, we’re not going to France.”

A flash of anger bubbles through me. He’s such a prick. “Don’t call me little girl. I’m an adult woman.”

Another snort.

I give him my most witchy glare, but he’s unmoved. The elevator dings and opens once we’ve reached B.

He steps out, tugging me behind him. We turn to the left and go down a long hallway with drab gray stucco walls. When we reach the end, a solid mahogany door stands in our way.There’s another keypad like the one on the elevator. I pay careful attention to the motion of his finger. A half a circle from top to bottom. Then he drags his finger up to the top of the circle and repeats the movement.

Two half-moons?

What is it?

The door clicks and then he turns the knob to open it. We enter a well-lit, cavernous space that smells faintly of oil.

It’s a garage.

My heart rate quickens. All I need is for him to open one of the garage bays and I’ll be given my freedom. I bite on my bottom lip to keep the grin from spreading.

So close.

What about Megan?

If I can get out of here, I can gather the proper resources to come back for her. I’ll never get out of here if I keep hunting for her with zero regard for my own personal freedom.

Guilt niggles at me.

I ignore it to take in the magnificent garage. There are probably twenty or thirty vehicles parked in the huge space, but I don’t see any bays that open. I’m not exactly sure how we get out of here. We walk past a champagne-colored Rolls Royce, a cherry-red Bugatti, and a pearly-white Aston Martin. None of them look as though they’ve seen the outside of this garage.

“This one,” Caius says when we come to a matte black Mercedes-Benz G-Class with strange triangular metal devices in place of wheels. He pulls a key fob from his pocket and hits a button to unlock it.

“What kind of car is this?” I ask as I attempt to figure out the crazy-looking wheels the Mercedes has.

“Your dad has one of these cars. Don’t act like you’ve never seen one.” He opens the passenger side door and releases my wrist. “Get in.”

Asshole.

He hits another button on his fob and a running board comes down. It’s still high off the ground, so I have to hike my leg up to reach it. I quickly scramble into the vehicle, careful not to flash him my nakedness under my robe. Once he closes my car door, he strides around to his side and climbs in.

The engine purrs to life. I pull on my seat belt, though Caius doesn’t bother with his. I’m eager to get out of this hotel of horrors and around some real people. Maybe Chalet de la Nuit will be somewhere in town. My chances of escape are increasing.

“Why are you people doing this to me?” I ask as he puts the vehicle into drive. “This is all just so…crazy.”

Rather than responding, he gives me the cold shoulder and pulls through his parking spot before turning right. We drive down a narrow corridor until we reach a garage bay. It must have a sensor because as soon as he reaches it, it begins to open.

So close to freedom.

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