Page 33 of Masked Darling

“Makes sense,” Kade replied, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut as he pictured Madison’s face and how scared she must be. “Is Mont your main guy or something?”

“Yeah, he’s our leader. We can talk to him if you want. If you’re serious.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said, his voice flat, though the fact he wouldn’t gain access to Madison as easily as he’d hoped felt like he was suffocating. He couldn’t be too eager, or it would come crashing down and he’d have no chance.

The men nodded in acknowledgment, not offering much more than that.

“So,” Kade breathed as he threw his cigarette down and put it out with the heel of his boot. “How do I get in touch with Mont?”

The one man who hadn’t spoken yet of the trio shrugged his shoulders.

“He’ll find a way to get in touch with you.”

CHAPTER TEN

Cold.

Why is it so cold?

Madison’s eyes snapped open, her pulse pounding in her ears as she struggled to focus on her surroundings. The sharp tang of mildew and stale cigarette smoke filled her nostrils as she tried to breathe. Her hands were bound tightly behind her, and as she tried to move, a wave of panic hit her like a freight train. She tried to get up but the best she could do was turn to the side where she was met with the eyes of a dozen other young women.

She blinked the dryness from her eyes and her throat burned as she tried to speak and failed. Her body ached from where she’d been knocked out, her head still fuzzy, but the instant realization hit—she was in trouble. Real trouble. Her thoughts scrambled back to the parking lot outside The Serpent Pit. She had just gotten out of her car and went to lock it when she was attacked. Now, here she was, tied to a radiator in what seemed like a small hotel room. She wasn’t wearing her clothes. Where were her clothes? Why weren’t the girls talking?

Help me,she wanted to scream.

But all she could do was try not to go into hysterics. She tugged against the ropes binding her wrists to the porcelain behind her, but they were too tight. The cold air of the room nipped at her exposed skin, her breath shallow as the anxiety began to threaten to take her vision. She was vaguely aware that she still had her bra and underwear on but the bottoms were wet like she must have pissed herself while unconscious.

Stay calm.

Footsteps outside the door made her freeze. Madison could hear their muffled voices from outside. The girls looked at each other nervously and one blonde girl started to silently cry as she laid her head in the lap of a dark-skinned girl with black braids down to her waist. All the women were only in underwear like her and carried some very obvious bruising on their arms, legs–faces, even. The blonde seemed to be holding an injury on her thigh as she cried, and when the woman whose lap she found solace gently pried her hand away, Madison saw it wasn’t an injury but a very fresh tattoo of what looked like a Green Lightning bolt.

As she looked around the room, all the girls had the same tattoo somewhere on their bodies. Most only had that one singular tattoo, but others had body art beside that from before it seemed. All of them had a lot of face piercings, too. It made no sense why they would have taken her, she didn’t look like the kind of girls they kept on hand.

“She awake?” one of them said, his voice muffled by the door.

“Probably,” another voice answered. “Let’s see how long it takes before she starts begging.”

Madison gritted her teeth. She wasn’t going to beg. Not for them. Not for anyone.

The door creaked open, and one of the men entered—tall, with scruffy stubble, and a smirk that made Madison’s skin crawl. His eyes roamed over her body with a predatoryappreciation as he took in her form, but his gaze quickly turned to the ropes.

“You’re up,” he remarked, as if it were a casual statement. “Thought we’d have you out for a little longer.”

Madison jerked her head toward him, defiance shining through the green in her eyes.

“Go to hell,” she spat, her voice finally coming back to her.

Her chest tightened in fear, but she wasn’t going to let them see it. She wouldn’t give them that satisfaction.

The man chuckled low in his throat, leaning casually against the doorframe. “You think you’re in control here, huh? It’s cute. You’re not, sweetheart.”

Madison heard a sob from the group of girls but didn’t look towards them.

“You know,” he continued, taking a slow step toward her. “You’re gonna be here for a while. We’re going to have some fun and then we’re gonna make some nice change off of those pretty green eyes.” His eyes bored into hers, but she held his gaze, unflinching. “It’s a real shame I can’t sample you until the weekend. Boss’s rules, ya know. But you’re gonna love it,” he paused to turn to the others. “Right, ladies? Don’t you just love our parties?”

Madison’s heart kicked into overdrive as the girls wailed and a chorus of “No!” echoed around her pounding head. Her mind instantly began piecing things together.

A party.

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