Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
It was Levi who tore off my bra, whipping and waving it over his head, hooting as Darren held his phone on me. Emmett tore off my pants and underwear. He stuffed my boy shorts in my open, wailing mouth. Levi was too busy tying my hands behind my back to act as my muzzle.
My tears flowed hot and free. Humiliation sank into my pores, tightening my skin tauter than a bowstring. I curled into myself—praying I’d disappear as Levi handed paintball guns to everyone.
I didn’t know Caleb, Darren, Silas, or Emmett apart from the fact they were also in my sister’s class. Whatever part they did or didn’t play in my sister’s death, I couldn’t say. But they sure as hell didn’t know me nor did they have a shred of proof that I hung Owen from the ceiling. None of that tamed the enjoyment on their faces as they took their guns and aimed.
“All right, boys,” Owen crowed. “Let’s see how she likes it.”
They let loose.
Paintballs splattered and broke on my tender skin. This would hurt if I was wearing the right gear. Naked and helpless—the strikes were agony.
I shrieked, curling myself as tight as possible and pressing my face into the carpet. The shots were vicious cruelty on my skin, marking their domination over me in the bruises that would last for days, giving warning to all the Dregs who dreamed about standing up for themselves.
A ball struck my temple, knocking me back. They fired wildly at my soft lips, blemished cheeks, and tender eyes—seeking to cause real damage.
My face soaked in paint and salty wetness, and I called out, for Winter.
I bawled for the brokenhearted betrayal of watching her friends turn their backs on her. I screamed for the agony of her alone and unprotected in the brutal hands of Owen and Levi. I cried because I finally understood why she gave up.
“Stop,” Owen ordered.
The paintballs ceased flying. I flopped limp on the floor, my entire body an exposed nerve ending doused in pain. My toes sang for mercy. My hair cried hanging on to my aching scalp.
I wanted to be cool and calm. To laugh in their faces and prove nothing they did could get to me.
I wanted to be a bear.
But on that floor with my own panties in my mouth and my punishment filmed on his phone, I was nothing more than a rabbit.
“What do we think, guys?” Owen asked. “Has the message sunk in?”
Caleb’s laugh was a nasty, hard sound. “Yeah, I think she’s learned her lesson. Next time she sees a Royal, she’ll bow her head and curtsey.” He shook Darren’s phone at me. “Or the whole world sees this, Sinclair. Got it?”
“No,” Levi sliced in before my brain sent the command to nod. “What kind of pussies are you, letting her get off this easily? She stunned Owen till he passed out in a puddle of piss. She turned him into a chicken piñata and hung him from the ceiling, and he didn’t get the option of not going viral.
“Everyone saw what she did to him.” Levi brandished a knife. “Everyone’s going to see what we do to her.”
“Hmm!” Panic flooded my mind. I rolled away, banging against the desk.
Emmett lurched away. “What the fuck, man?! Why do you have that?”
“No. No way,” Silas cried. “I’m not a part of this. I don’t even know this chick. I’m not going to prison for killing her!”
“Relax, idiot.” Levi closed the distance, limping slightly on his bad leg. “We’re not killing her. We’re giving her a gift.”
“Gift?” Owen repeated. He didn’t appear pleased at the knife in Levi’s hand, but he wasn’t shouting in my defense either. “What gift?”
“Sinclair will have a permanent reminder of what she is and”—he hauled me across the carpet and straddled me—“who she belongs to. Right here.” Levi tapped my forehead with the hilt. “Property of the Royals carved into that hard little head.”
I bucked, fighting harder than ever. My fear emboldened Levi, feeding the burning malice in his eyes to flames. At that moment, I didn’t question that he would set fire to a building with people inside. These were the eyes of a man raised by privilege, fed wealth, nurtured by lack of consequences, and turned on by power. He truly believed he could do whatever he wanted to anyone without punishment. Seeing as he was still strutting around Regalia after what he did to the Rogues and my sister, maybe he was right.
“What’s wrong, Owen?” Levi’s glare pinned him through. “You can’t do this? Too chickenshit?”
Owen jerked like his taunt was a physical blow. His red face shuttered closed. “Hold her still.” The other guys were slow to move. Owen barked at them again. “You four rank too low to be questioning us. Remember that. And then think about how many places you’ll move up after tonight if you put this Dreg in her place. Even Saylor Burkhardt will look at you with respect.”