I’ve never been one to indulge in drugs and alcohol, but I’m certainly no prude. I had my experimental years right after high school. I got smart after watching a friend overdose at a party and I haven’t touched them since—the drugs, that is. I’m more than happy to have a glass of cheap wine to wash down my dinner. Not tonight though. I want a clear mind while dealing with these guys.
Sitting back in my chair, I make a point of not eating, though I know they’ve been hearing my stomach growling since the second I walked in here. “What is this?” I question, waving my hand around the table. “You think you can try to win my cooperation with a fancy meal and some wine? You’re fucking psychopaths. I’d be a moron to willingly accept any food from you. Who knows what you’ve done to it.”
Roman sits up straighter and slams the tip of his dagger down into the hard oak table. “Do not question our generosity,” he spits, his words filled with venom. “Eat or don’t. It doesn’t mean shit to me. It just means that you’ll starve faster. And trust me, it’s a long, painful way to go.”
Marcus laughs, relaxing into his seat and propping his feet back up on the table, acting as though he didn’t just fall into a rage induced episode not two seconds ago. His laugh is hollow and lacks any kind of humanity, just like the dark depths of his eyes. “I do wish that you would eat, Shayne. You’re going to need your energy for what we have in store for you,” he tells me, shocking me with the casual use of my name, though it’s not so casual. It comes out as more of a haunting torment. I hadn’t realized that they knew who I was. I figured I was a random hit, but that only goes to prove that they targeted me, which means there has to be a reason why.
My eyes flash back to Levi, seeing him as the least psychotic of the bunch. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He just grins, the thought of what they plan to do with me exciting him in a way that reminds me that these guys lack every quality that makes them human. They’re the grim reapers. Why do I keep expecting them to respond and react in a normal way? They’re not normal, far from it.
Seeing his brother’s excitement, Roman decides to take pity on me and offer me just a snippet of information. “You will earn food and water, Empress. Nothing will come to you for free, so consider the dress, accommodation, and your final meal as gifts.”
“Kill me now,” I mutter to myself before repeating his words. “I have to earn food and water? Look around you. It’s more than clear that you assholes already have enough hired help to keep your big-ass house running. You don’t need me slaving over you. What’s your game here?”
“You will not cook and clean,” Marcus spits, looking at me as though I’m stupid for clearly not reading their twisted minds.
I pull back, my chin raising as realization dawns. “You want me to be your little sex slave?” I screech. “Over my dead fucking body. You’re insane if you think I’m about to go spreading my legs for you sick murderers. What the hell is wrong with you? There would be plenty of willing chicks out there who would be down for your kinky asses. What’s the deal? You like it when they scream for you to stop?”
Roman’s eyes narrow. “We don’t rape women to get what we want from them.”
“Well you sure as shit ain’t getting me on my knees.”
His lips pull up into a smug grin, almost as though he knows something that I don’t, and damn it, that smile is as lethal as they come. I can only imagine what a real one would look like, but I’m not down to wait and figure it out.
I shake my head and stand, hating the feel of the cold marble beneath my bare feet. “I’m out,” I tell them, glancing around the table, still unable to believe that we’re in the middle of some bullshit dinner party. I mean, I expected a number of things to happen tonight, but this? Hell to the freaking no. “I’m not down for your twisted mind games and bullshit threats. Either kill me now or let me go.”
All three of them just stare at me, and I can only imagine the things going through their minds. When none of them decide to grace me with a response, I make my move, knowing that it could land me in a world of trouble.
I turn and walk for the door, holding my chin up with pride and foolishly hoping that they’ve had enough fun to allow me to walk straight out the door.
The sound of a chair scraping against the ground echoes through the room, but I don’t dare turn back. Instead, I pick up my pace, certain that someone is coming for me. My feet move faster as my heart pounds in my chest, and just as I reach the massive double doors, Roman's dagger plunges deep into the wood of the frame, mere inches from my face.
I come to an immediate standstill.
A sharp gasp tears from my lungs as my eyes widen with fear. “I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO LEAVE MY DINING HALL,” Roman’s booming tone tears through the room. “YOU WILL SIT AND YOU WILL ENJOY YOUR LAST FULL MEAL.”
I slowly turn, crippled with fear and unable to put one foot in front of the other. My gaze comes straight back to Roman’s and I stare at him as though his brothers aren’t even in the room.
He steps out from his chair and walks around the table, taking painfully slow strides toward me, stalking me like his pathetic prey as though he has all night to inflict his devilish torture. He doesn’t stop moving until he stands right before me, and I’m all too aware of his thick fingers hanging by his sides, knowing just how quickly they could snap my neck. “Poor behavior will get you nowhere,” he promises me with a deathly whisper, his breath brushing against my skin as he towers over me. “Don’t be fooled. If you make threats and offer us the chance to take your life, we will take it willingly, but here we are offering you the gift of life by allowing you to continue breathing. You are new here and do not yet know our rules, so for tonight, we will be lenient with you, but pull that shit again, and you will suffer the very real consequences. Is that clear, Empress?”
I swallow hard and nod, absolutely positive that he means every damn word, and while I put on a brave face, I’m not ready to die, not even close. I haven’t even had a chance to live yet.
Roman hovers over me, his eyes not budging from mine as his brothers watch on with interest. A lump forms in the back of my throat and I find myself starting to break. “Why me?” I murmur, asking the same question I’d asked of Levi, the very one he’d refused to answer. “There are so many other girls. I’m not who you need for … for whatever this is, and I … I’m not ready to die.”
Roman’s head tilts with that same psychotic expression that both of his brothers possess. His fingers come up and trail down the side of my face making me flinch with his contact. “Sit and eat,” he demands, his tone not matching his gentle touch. “Do as you are told and I will consider giving you the insight in which you seek.”
“You mean that?” I question, not prepared to trust his response.
“Do not question me in my home,” he growls, his fingers dropping away from my face. “I have told you that tonight you will be given leniency. How far that leniency goes is up to you. Now sit and eat.”
His hand reaches up again, this time moving around me, and I hold my breath as his skin brushes past my unkempt hair. He pauses for only a second, his eyes boring into mine, and without warning, he flinches, yanking the knife out of the door beside my head.