THE CRIMSON VEIL

A Face From the Past

CHAPTER 3

Elara's POV

I stared at him.

At Lucien Arkhov, billionaire tech mogul, standing in his private gallery telling me I was some kind of prophesied sacrifice.

Then I started laughing.

It came out high and slightly hysterical, but I couldn't stop it. The absurdity of it all crashed over me like a wave.

"You're insane," I said, still laughing. "You're actually insane."

Lucien's expression didn't change.

"I understand this is difficult to accept."

"Difficult to accept?" I bent down and grabbed my portfolio bag, slinging it over my shoulder with shaking hands.

"You just told me I'm supposed to be sacrificed in some blood ritual because I look like a woman in a three-hundred-year-old painting. That's not difficult to accept. That's completely insane."

"Elara—"

"No." I held up my hand, backing toward the door.

"I don't know what kind of game this is, but I'm leaving. Right now."

I turned and walked toward the double doors as fast as I could without running.

"You can't leave," Lucien said behind me. His voice was still calm. Still controlled.

That scared me more than if he'd shouted.

"Watch me," I said, reaching for the door handle.

It didn't budge.

I tried again, pulling harder. The door was locked.

"Let me out." My voice was getting higher. "Let me out right now."

"I'm sorry," Lucien said.

"But I can't do that."

I spun around to face him.

"You're holding me prisoner?"

"I'm protecting you."

"From what?"

"From people who would kill you to prevent the ritual. From The Crimson Veil's enemies. From yourself, if you tried to run without understanding what you're running from."

"I understand perfectly." My hands were shaking so badly I had to clench them into fists.

"You're a psychopath who lured me here with a fake job offer. That's what I understand."

Lucien took a step toward me. I pressed my back against the locked door.

"The job offer was real," he said.

"The painting does need restoration. And you will be paid the fifty thousand dollars as promised."

"I don't want your money. I want to leave."

"I'm afraid that's not possible."

The calmness in his voice, the absolute certainty, sent ice through my veins.

I looked around frantically. There had to be another way out. A window. Another door. Something.

But the windows were too high. And the only other door in the gallery was behind Lucien.

"Please," I said, hating how my voice cracked.

"Please just let me go. I won't tell anyone about this. I'll forget I ever came here."

"You can't forget," Lucien said. "Because it's already begun.The ritual is in three months. You're safer here than anywhere else."

What was he even talking about?

He was completely delusional.

And I was trapped in a mansion with him.

"Help!" I screamed, pounding on the door with my fists.

"Someone help me! I'm being held here against my will!"

"No one can hear you," Lucien said. "These rooms are soundproofed."

I kept screaming anyway. Kept pounding until my hands hurt.

Then I heard footsteps in the hallway outside. Multiple sets of footsteps.

Relief flooded through me. Someone had heard. Someone was coming.

The door unlocked and swung open.

Four men in dark suits stood in the hallway. Not rescuers. Guards. The same kind I'd seen at the entrance.

They looked past me to Lucien, waiting for orders.

"Take Ms. Voss to the east wing," Lucien said.

"The prepared room."

"No!" I tried to run past them but they were faster.

Hands grabbed my arms. Strong hands that I couldn't break free from no matter how hard I struggled.

"Let me go!" I screamed, kicking out at them.

"You can't do this! This is k********g!"

My foot connected with one guard's groin. He didn't even flinch.

They lifted me off the ground. My portfolio bag fell from my shoulder and hit the floor.

"Stop! Please!" I twisted in their grip, trying to break free, but they held me like I weighed nothing.

I looked back at Lucien, still standing calmly in the gallery, watching this happen.

"You're insane!" I screamed at him.

"You're all insane!"

His expression didn't change.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way. But you'll understand soon."

The guards carried me out of the gallery. I kept struggling, kept kicking, but it was useless. They were too strong and there were too many of them.

We went through hallways I didn't recognize. Up a flight of stairs. Down another corridor.

I screamed for help the entire way. My voice echoed off the walls but no one came. No one even looked out of the rooms we passed.

Finally, they stopped in front of a heavy wooden door.

One guard unlocked it while the others held me.

The room beyond was large. A bedroom, expensively furnished, with a massive bed and elegant furniture and windows that showed the forest outside.

It would have been beautiful if it wasn't a prison.

They carried me inside and set me on my feet.

I immediately lunged for the door.

One of the guards caught me easily and pushed me back.

"Please don't make this harder than it needs to be, ma'am," he said. His voice was polite but firm.

Then they all walked out.

The door closed behind them with a heavy thud.

I heard the lock click.

I ran to the door and tried the handle.

Locked. Of course it was locked.

"Let me out!" I pounded on the wood with both fists.

"You can't keep me here! This is illegal! This is k********g!"

Silence.

I kept pounding anyway. Kept screaming.

"Please! Someone help me! Anyone!"

Nothing.

My hands started to hurt. I didn't care.

"Let me out! Let me out right now!"

Still nothing.

I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and tried to call 911.

No signal.

I tried anyway. The call failed immediately.

I tried texting. The messages wouldn't send.

I ran to the windows. They were beautiful, floor-to-ceiling glass that offered a view of the forest surrounding the estate.

I tried to open them. They didn't budge. Not locked. Sealed somehow.

I looked around frantically for something to break them with. Grabbed a lamp from the bedside table and swung it at the glass.

It bounced off with a dull thud. The window didn't even c***k.

Reinforced glass. Of course.

Everything about this room was designed to look beautiful while being completely inescapable.

I sank to the floor, my back against the door, my hands shaking.

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening.

I was trapped in a mansion with a lunatic who thought I was some kind of prophesied sacrifice.

And no one knew where I was.

I'd told my roommate Maya I had a consultation outside the city, but I hadn't given her details. Hadn't told her the address. Hadn't even mentioned Lucien Arkhov's name.

I'd been so desperate for the money, so focused on the fifty thousand dollars, that I'd walked right into a trap.

Tears burned my eyes but I blinked them back. Crying wouldn't help. Panicking wouldn't help.

I needed to think. Needed to find a way out.

But first, I needed to get through this door.

I stood up and started pounding again, harder this time, putting all my weight behind it.

"Let me out!" My voice was getting hoarse but I didn't care.

"You can't keep me here! Someone help me! Please!"

I pounded until my hands were red and aching.

Pounded until my voice gave out.

Pounded until I couldn't ignore the horrible truth settling in my chest.

No one was coming.

No one could hear me.

And I was completely, terrifyingly alone.