Chapter 3
979 Words
Scarlett
The hospital room is quiet after Rhodes announces the contract. Too quiet.
“You didn’t have to agree to the contract,” Isabella whispers.
“Yes, I did,” I say without looking at her.
Inside, everything’s messy.
I hate him. I hate that I need him.
But worse than hate is the doubt and my spinning thoughts. There’s doubt that this was the only option. But then again, maybe it was? Maybe I was already chained long before this contract. Chained to the idea of protecting Violet. Chained to the idea that no one else ever would.
Rhodes stands near the door, arms folded, that ever-present smirk on his face. He looks like he owns the room. Maybe he does. Power radiates off him like heat, and everyone here feels it. Even Jasper.
“We leave in an hour,” he announces. “Jasper, have the contract written and ready.”
“I need to sign it now?” I ask, voice sharp.
He turns to me. “Yes. I like my contract slaves obedient.”
I grit my teeth, saying nothing. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing me rise to his bait. But rage simmers in my chest.
I’m not a slave. I’m not.
Violet groans softly. I kneel right next to her bed. I hate seeing her in pain.
“Are you really going to sign the contract?” she whispers.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Why?”
“Because it will give you more time.”
Her eyes blink open, glazed with exhaustion. “He’s dangerous, Scar.”
“So am I,” I whisper.
But the truth is, I don’t feel dangerous. I feel cornered. Like prey.
***
The contract is ready.
Jasper hands me a scroll sealed in wax. Rhodes stands just behind him, silent and watching.
“Place your blood,” Jasper instructs, “and then his. It must bind with truth.”
A ceremonial dagger gleams in Rhodes’ hand. He passes it to me, and I press the blade to the pad of my thumb. It stings. Blood wells up.
This is nothing.
I press my bleeding thumb to the parchment, and there’s a glow. Magic flares out. Wild and pulsing. The contract seems to breathe, and then I groan as I’m overwhelmed by pain.
My left arm feels like it’s being torn open from the inside. I bite my lip to keep from screaming.
Red pathways burn their way into my skin on my left arm like molten metal. Those paths coil around my wrist and crawl up my forearm like a vine made of flame.
A chain.
My mouth opens in a gasp at the tattoo, and I clutch the table for balance.
“Pain suits you,” Rhodes murmurs. “So does the chain.”
I grit my teeth harder, silently begging my body not to give in. Not to shake. Not to scream. He’s watching. And I’ll die before I let him see me break.
The parchment shudders as Rhodes steps forward and adds his own blood. The seal pulses with a deep red light, then vanishes in a gust of smoke and sparks.
It’s done.
The contract is sealed, and Rhodes is my new master.
I’ve never felt so trapped in my life.
***
One hour later, a white limo with tinted windows arrives.
Violet is weak and nearly unconscious. Rhodes is cradling her against his chest with effortless strength.
“Get in,” he says.
I gulp and get inside the limo. Isabella does too. Rhodes is the last to get inside with Violet.
Once we’re all seated, the limo moves.
Rhodes doesn’t speak. He is sitting beside me while Violet and Isabella are sitting on the other side of the limo. Annoying. Why did Rhodes have to take the seat beside me?
At one point, his hand brushes my thigh.
Accidentally?
I jerk away, heart stammering.
His smile is maddening, but he doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t have to. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
Dangerous.
I turn to Violet, watching her sleep.
What have I done?
Probably a mistake. Like I always do.
I stare down at my lap and fight sleep. I don’t want to fall asleep next to him. But my body is too tired to care if my soul is at risk.
Eventually, I fall asleep.
Then I dream.
Chains bind my arms while I’m struggling to move through a river of thick blood that is threatening to drown me. The levels are rising. Reaching my waist. Then my chest until I can barely make it forward. I hear Violet calling my name. She needs me. I try to swim. Fight. Do anything to reach her.
But the blood is trying to drown me.
I’m sinking.
Then I see him.
Rhodes.
Smiling down at me while I sink. His eyes are red like the blood and he c***s his head like a raven. “You sold your soul, Scarlett,” he says, voice silk and steel. “And soon I will make you drown.”
He grabs my outstretched hand like he is going to help me, and relief floods me when he pulls me up so the blood only reaches my chest.
But then...
He releases me, and a million arms covered in blood pull me into the ocean of blood.
I wake with a gasp.
Rhodes is watching me. “Sleep well, little slave?”
I open my mouth, but...no words come. My heart is pounding and I’m shaking.
Fear is my only emotion, and whatever Rhodes sees on my face makes him smile. “You dream of me already.”
I look away without denying it.
The chain on my arm is glowing, reminding me that I belong to Rhodes. That I’m his contracted slave.
The game has only just begun.
- Writer
