Page 22 of Ruthless Legacy

“It’s cold, dickhead,” I snipe in reply. “And just to be clear. I don’t want in on your stupid juvenile club.”

Archer’s laugh is loud and cold. “Oh, Scarlet. You don’t get a choice. The elders have spoken.” He runs his hand over my cheek tenderly. “You’re in our world now. There are no choices, only duty. We’ve been told to initiate you and that is what we’re going to do.” He cups my face in his hands, his sharp eyes holding mine prisoner. “You ready to play, Scarlet?”

“Fuck you,” I growly. Two nights in a row these fuckers have disrupted my sleep and anyone that knows me knows I’m not a nice person to be around when I don’t get my sleep.

“You’ve got a fifteen-minute head start and then we hunt you. If you can avoid capture for the first hour, then you pass, but if one of us finds you,” he shakes his head and tuts, “that will be bad news for you, Scarlet.”

Archer and Seb step back and I’m shoved forward and almost stumble to the floor.

“Tick tock, Little Red,” Rafe says, looking at his watch and reminding me I’m on the clock. Part of me wants to tell them they can shove their elitist game up their arses and stay exactly where I am, but another part of me, the part that loves danger and excitement, is itching to run and play their little game.

With a chain of expletives, I run off into the dark of the night and don’t look back. I’m in the middle of a thick forest. As I run, branches and nettles catch at my bare feet and legs, and I run into a twig that cuts across my cheek. I have no idea how long I’ve been running, but I snake off to my right and do a zig-zag pattern ensuring that I’m not running in one direction. One thing in my favour is that I am a fast runner. I’ve hightailed out of illegal factory parties and fight rings more times than I can count on my two hands.

I run for what feels like another five minutes until I find a rock crevice that I can hide under. I shove my body underneath the cold wet rock and tuck myself in, as tiny as I can, and then I sit and wait. I’m on high alert, listening for any slight noise or sound. An owl hoots in the night sky and I jump a mile. My heart is pounding in my chest and adrenaline courses through my body. I want to believe I can beat them, but they have an unfair advantage. They have grown up here and will know these woods like the back of their hands. I also get the feeling that they’ve done this before. I curse myself for wearing a white vest top and pale blue shorts, not exactly the best colours when you are trying to blend into the night.

What will they do to me if they capture me? I remember the wicked glint in Archer’s eyes when he told me I’d regret it if they caught me. I can’t believe I’m out here in the dead of night playing manhunt, a game for ten-year-old children, but here I am. For what feels like forever, I hide. I’ve no watch on so I can’t tell the time.

I rest my head against the rock face and close my eyes. I’m exhausted. I hardly got any sleep last night thanks to the Aceholes, and now here I am again out playing their games when I should be fast asleep in bed. My eyes snap open when I hear a twig snap over to my left and I freeze, trying to breathe as quietly as possible. Fuck, I fell asleep!

“Come out, come out wherever you are,” calls a menacing voice that I recognise as Archer’s. I should have known he’d be the one to hunt me down. Out of the three of them, he’s the darkest of them all. I should know, I can recognise a soul as dark and damaged as my own.

I stay still, praying that my breathing doesn’t sound as heavy as it does in my mind. My heart beats ten to the dozen as I look into the blackness of the dense forest night. These stupid boys and their stupid club that I want no part of, and yet here I am playing their games in the dead of night. I also can’t deny that being out here and knowing the three of them are hunting me and not knowing what they’ll do when they catch me is kind of giving me a rush. The same rush that I get when I’m fighting in a ring or when I’m joyriding.

“I can sense you, Scarlet. I know you’re here somewhere,” he announces into the night, his voice confident and menacing. “I can smell your fear.”

I scream as I’m yanked from my hiding spot and pulled tight against a body. I fight and hiss and kick and he just laughs coldly, like he’s loving every minute.

“Well done, Scarlet. You lasted longer than most of the girls who have gone before you. Two hours is good going.”

I shiver against him. My body seeking the warmth that he offers. “Why is it anything involving you normally ends with me cold and wet?”

He cocks a brow and smirks at me. “Are you admitting that you are always wet around me?”

I glower at him even though it’s dark. “You know what I mean, and the day you make me wet in that way will be the day that hell freezes over, and the dinosaurs return from extinction.”

He chuckles, still clutching my body close to his. “We both know that’s a lie. I’m afraid you’re not going to like the next part of this.”

I don’t have time to ask what he means before I feel a sharp prick in my arm, and I look down to see him withdrawing a needle.

“You drugged me, you bastard,” I hiss. How dare he fucking drug me. “I’ll kill you for this,” I promise him, before my eyes roll back

“I’m sure one of us will kill the other before all this is over, Scarlet.”

I jerk awake and, in a panic, look around me that the last thing that happened to me was Savage putting a needle in my arm. I’m trussed up like a pig in a slaughterhouse, my arms tied above me with chains as I dangle from a metal rod that runs the length of the room. The tips of my toes can’t quite touch the cold, hard ground. It looks like they’ve bought me to a cellar somewhere. There are no windows, only some wooden stairs that lead to a door, where light shines through the bottom, letting me know I’m not alone. I’m also stripped down to just my panties. I wasn’t wearing a bra when the fuckers kidnapped me from my nice, warm bed. In this position, my breasts are thrust out and the cold air has made my nipples stand to attention. There is no point in trying to get free. I’ll just end up making myself tired and sore, so I’m better waiting for the three Aceholes to return and see what they intend to do with me. I listen intently for any noise, but I can’t hear anything, no voices, no movement, just silence.

I have been in some situations because of my shenanigans over the past few years but never a situation quite like this. This is a new one for me. I’ve no idea what time it is, but I know they can’t keep me here all night. At some point, they will have to return me to my home, otherwise Edith will know I’m missing and call the police. Will she think that I have run away? I hate the thought of worrying Edith unnecessarily.

I’m jerked from my thoughts when I hear the door being unlocked and light floods the dark space. The silhouette of three figures looms in the doorway, still and silent, until they slowly descend. Their heavy footsteps echoing in this large, empty space. The kings of this fucking stupid club. Well, fuck them and fuck their games.

Archer tilts his head and observes me as he comes to a stop a few feet in front of me. He’s wearing black joggers and a black vest. There is nothing on his feet. He drinks me in, with a fire burning in his eyes that tells me he enjoys seeing me like this, strung up and helpless. And that’s what I am — helpless.

They could do anything to me down here and I am powerless to stop them, and I hate it. I hate not being in control.

Seb and Rafe come up beside him, both staring at me. Seb groans and grabs his junk through his pants. “Man, how fucking good does she look strung up like this? God, what a turn on.”

Archer doesn’t answer, he just continues to watch me, like a predator eyeing its next hunt before going in for the kill.

“So, come on, don’t keep me in suspense,” I snap. “What is next in your little game?”

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