Treachery

“And you’re worried she’s still in danger after this?”

I nod and strip off my shirt. Thankfully, we’re not dressed up for this like we used to be for the gauntlet parties. Ru

Gabriel does the same as we get closer to the last round.

“She should stay with you until we get that figured out. It’ll be safer that way.”

I run my tongue along my front teeth and try not to think about how much everything with Luca is bothering me.

“If she wants to. I gave her the deed to her house over a month ago, and she hasn’t told me she’s choosing to stay. She might be safe in Georgia.”

“Was her father safe?”

Our eyes meet after he asks the question.

Gabriel cocks a brow and turns his gaze to the stretch of woods in front of us.

“I’m just saying, Ta

“She doesn’t have them.”

“Will it matter to them?” he asks. “I highly doubt they believed those servers were in her apartment, yet somebody was looking for something. And we both know it wasn’t her creepy dead people box they wanted.”

I chuckle at that.

“She needs to stay,” he insists. “And that gives you more time to stop pussing out, and finally tell her she’s not going home. Not unless she wants you tracking her down and dragging her back.”

Glancing at each other again, I know he’s right. I’m not sure I would let Luca leave even if she was safe. But it is convenient as fuck to have a reason besides the fact that I said no.

Luca will do what she wants. That’s just who she is. But it’s my job to convince her that she’s better off in my bed than anywhere else in the world.

“Time to go,” Sawyer a

We slip on our masks and take off at a run, Sawyer going one way, Gabe another and me another.

From what we heard, the other guys already have Clayton corralled near the back area, so I head in that direction, making a wide half circle in case Clayton managed to escape.

I hear Gabe whistle in the distance to my left, and I turn toward the sound.

Within a minute, Clayton takes off down a trail, his gait unsteady. From the looks of him, he’s already been knocked around hard, but I have a special hatred for this fucker.

Remembering how he almost killed Luca, I cut through a stand of trees and burst out beside him, my elbow catching him just right to knock him down. He tumbles just as Ezra comes up from another direction to grab his foot and drag him out into a wider clearing, two more of the guys waiting.

With the masks, we look like demons within the shadows and scant moonlight. Clayton’s mind has to be spi

The alcohol and what we added is enough to trip him out, but the ru

He screams as Ezra drags him to the center of the clearing and drops him there.

We all scatter again, because it’s not the violence that terrifies the mind, it’s the fear of not knowing where we’ll come from next.

Damon comes up behind me as we wait for Clayton to push to his feet and gather his bearings.

“He’s already pissed himself,” he says, laughing. “You can smell it on him. He got caught up in one of the net traps and lost his fucking mind.”

“Did you run him into it intentionally?”

“Fuck yes,” he laughs again. “This guy is way too easy.”

Clayton finally stands up and stumbles around, and I waste no time rushing out to grab his leg as I run past and drop him to the ground. Every time he gets back up, another one of us runs out to do it again.

He’s crying by the time we’re done, and I know the game is ending soon.

Casting a quick glance at Mason, I tip my head to tell him to grab the rope we’ll use to hogtie Clayton and carry him out.

It must look like he’s stepped into hell when we all emerge from the woods, our masks in place, the moonlight and shadow making us appear like the demons we are.

Clayton attempts to crawl away, but we drag him into the circle, bind his hands and feet and lift him up. He goes limp, the smell of sweat and urine wafting off of him.

It’s quiet when we reach the trailhead, the light of flickering fire dancing across our masks and bodies. Clayton thuds to the ground when we drop him, and I crouch down to turn him to his back.

I wonder if he’s so far gone that he won’t understand what I’m telling him.

“This was a warning. Fuck with Luca again, or tell anybody about this, and I’ll finish you. Do you understand?”

He nods his head, and I nod right along with him.

“We’ll take you home now and tuck you into bed. And you’ll wake up tomorrow like nothing ever happened.”

Pushing to my feet, I wait as the guys run out again to gather everything up. We leave thirty minutes later and make the drive back to Clayton’s.

After leading him into his house and Shane drops off his car, we head back to my house. The guys will take off as soon as we get there, and I’ll be left to deal with one last issue that needs to be resolved.

I have no idea how I’ll confront Luca about what I want, but in the end, I’ll only give her one option.

She stays.

She’s mine.

I’ve claimed her.

There is no other choice.