by Stella Hart
“These are so pretty,” Pri said breathlessly. “I used to have a collection just like it, back in New Zealand. My grandma and I used to hunt down old antique dolls at weekend markets.”
“That’s cool. I always used to wish I had a dollhouse,” I said, recalling my childish desires. Back when I was eight or nine, I thought I’d be trapped in poverty forever, but I thought if I could just have my own miniature mansion in the form of a dollhouse, at least I’d be able to decorate that and picture myself inside it, living a life of luxury. Better than nothing.
I never got the dollhouse. My parents couldn’t afford it. And now, here I was, living in one of the world’s biggest and most luxurious mansions with the nickname Doll. Funny how life turned out sometimes.
“It’s kinda funny that one of the members collects all these dolls,” Pri said. “Don’t you think? You assume they’re all so dark and twisty, and then you see this.”
We both snickered. It felt good to laugh, to find some amusement and beauty in this terrible place.
“Took you guys long enough to find this room. Pretty, isn’t it? All these trophies everywhere.”
A breezy voice sounded from behind us. We turned to see Mellie sweeping into the room. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the doll cabinet. I had zero desire to speak to her today. Or ever again.
“You like the collection?” she continued, sidling up to us. “I bet you want one made of you, right?”
Pri turned to her. “What do you mean?”
“If you’re chosen as a hostess for the Artemis Festival, you get one of these dolls made in your image. It’s a huge honor. Also, it’s a way out of here.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed Pri’s arm. “Don’t listen to her,” I muttered. “She can’t be trusted. There’s no way out of here. Not unless you escape.”
Mellie sniffed and took Pri’s other arm. “I’m sure she can make up her own mind. Besides, I don’t mean that it’s a way to go home. I mean it’s a way out of the Lodge. That’s all.”
I was curious about what she meant, but I didn’t want her to know that. I stepped over to another cabinet and inspected a series of trophies. Mellie began to tell Pri all about the so-called Artemis Festival, and I kept my ears pricked, listening to every word. I knew at least some of it had to be true, because she’d already mentioned the festival to me a few weeks ago.
“It happens twice a year. A bunch of the guys from the society come here for a whole week of wild celebrations. They drink, they smoke, they fuck, and they hunt.” She waved a hand at one of the deer heads on the wall.
Pri shuddered. “Poor animals.” She looked sadly at the trophy on the wall.
Mellie patted her shoulder. “Oh, honey. Don’t be so touchy. Deer around these parts are pests. They chew up everything and destroy the environment. So hunting them is actually a good thing. It helps the local ecosystem and also helps other species flourish, which is hard when one animal population is too large. Besides, quickly shooting them is actually far more humane than the suffering and starvation they experience when the population is left unchecked.”
I rolled my eyes and turned away. Mellie was like a mini Chernobyl, shimmering with toxicity and constantly spewing poison into the air around her. Get too close and she’d spread it to you too. I’d regrettably fallen victim to it myself all those months ago, let her fill my head with noxious lies.
She was probably far worse for the environment than a few extra deer.
“I thought hunting permits were only given out in fall,” Pri said.
Mellie snorted. “This is private land. Besides, there are other animals around this area that aren’t deer, and they prefer to roam around in the spring.” She motioned to the bearskin rug on the floor.
“So that’s when the next festival is? Spring?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay. So what were you saying about the festival being a way out of here?” Pri asked tentatively. She was right on Mellie’s hook, dangling off every word.
“Well, because it’s such a popular event with so many attendees and they’re all in good spirits, one girl gets a chance to be voted in as the festival hostess for the week. She gets a ton of privileges, a doll made in her image for the collection, and at the end of the week, she’s allowed to leave the Lodge forever.”
“Seriously?” Pri’s eyes widened.
I wanted to tell her not to fall for the trickery so she wouldn’t get her hopes up. Fortunately, Mellie did it for me.
“Well, it’s not like she really gets to be free. Whichever man wins the most hunting prizes takes her home as a grand prize. So she’s allowed to live out in the real world with him. Sort of.”
“So… still a captive,” Pri said, her shoulders slumping.
“Trust me, most girls would think it’s better than being here,” Mellie said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Don’t have to be shared with other men, don’t have to go to any of the parties if they don’t feel up to it. Just one man, forever.”
My heart raced, and sparks of hope zapped through me. I stared at the golden medals in the glass cabinet on the other side of the wall, turning my face away from Mellie again so she wouldn’t see the excited flush rising in my cheeks.
If I could get voted in as a festival hostess, then my future escape might be easier. Escaping from one man’s house in the real world would be a hell of a lot easier than getting out of the Lodge with all its guards and security measures.
It wouldn’t be easy leaving Elias behind, not considering the feelings I’d developed for him, but I had to remind myself they were just physical. There was no future for us, and if I didn’t tamp my feelings way down, I’d never get out alive. I’d never be free.
“How do girls get voted in as the festival hostess?” I said, trying to sound breezy and nonchalant.
Mellie saw straight through me. She laughed, a mocking cackle that made my face turn hot with anger. “Oh my god, you don’t seriously think you could get picked?” she said, her pretty features contorting in a sneer.
“Why not?” Pri asked.
She scoffed. “Neither of you have a chance for the next festival. The girls that get picked are chosen because they are memorable to the men. All of them have done something to make themselves stand out. In a good way, I mean,” she said, casting a dark glance at me. “And so far, the only memorable thing you’ve done is stab someone. The president of the society, no less. Not exactly good, is it? As for you, Priyanka, you’re basically invisible. You haven’t even gone to a party yet. The members barely know you exist.”
Pri frowned. “But there’s still a chance we could be picked in future, right? For other festivals?”
“Sure. If you’re really good. But you’re competing against a hundred other women, and usually only one gets picked per festival. So don’t get your hopes up too high.” She turned her withering gaze back to me. “Especially you, Tatum. After all the shit you’ve pulled, you’ll never be picked. Not in a million years.”
I squeezed one hand into a fist by my side. Ooh, I was so tempted to hit her.
“How’s Henry doing?” I said instead, giving her a sweet smile. I knew her brother was a sore point for her. He was a traitor to the society, a stain on the edge of her narrow world.
She glared. “None of your business.”
“Still exiled, I presume. How do you know he won’t risk everything one day and turn you all in, even if it gets him killed?”
I was baiting her, trying my best to annoy her, because I was so goddamned sick of her. If I made her angry enough, she might leave me alone and pick on someone else.
Mellie snorted and folded her arms across her abdomen. “I very much doubt that. What’s he gonna do, call the New York Times and unload what sounds like a tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory that he has zero proof of? It’s literally just his word against everyone else’s. He’d be toast, and nothing would ever come of it. So shut the fuck up about him or you’ll regret it.”
When she was do
ne talking, she flounced away. She’d had the last word, as always, but I’d succeeded in annoying enough to make her leave. I counted that as a win.
“I know she said we don’t have a chance, but we should still try to get picked as hostesses, right?” Pri asked, staring at the dolls again. “I’d do anything to get out of this hellhole and go home with another man. Even if he’s horrible, he can’t be worse than the man they’ve assigned as my master.”
My heart ached for her. At least Elias was trying to be sympathetic to me these days. He may still be my jailer, but at least he didn’t leave me covered head to toe with bruises after sex like Pri’s master did. If I didn’t get picked for this upcoming festival, I hoped she did.
I patted her shoulder. “You’re right. We should definitely try.”
She shook her head slowly. “What are we supposed to do to make them vote for us?”
“Everything we can,” I said softly.
An image of Elias flashed in my mind, and my stomach lurched once more at the thought of leaving him behind. It felt like gnawing off my own arm. Cutting out my own heart.
Shit.
Maybe I was wrong earlier. Maybe the feelings were real. Something more than a physical response.
It certainly seemed like it, but it didn’t make a damn lick of sense to start falling for a guy like Elias. No matter how I tried to spin it, our bond wasn’t a real one. Not like normal couples in the real world. It was forged in molten hatred, forced upon me in my darkest hours. That sinister black thread would always be woven through every inch of the vast tapestry that made up our relationship.
My feelings and desire for Elias couldn’t cut that thread out, regardless of how strong they became. There would always be some deep-down part of me that resented him for everything that had been done to me over the last few months. But on the other hand, he was still my lifeline in this place. I had to respect that.
So for now, as long as it suited both our ends, we could remain in this twisted affair. I would let him touch me, caress me, punish me, fuck me. I would do anything he pleased, and at night, we would hold each other beneath the sheets and pretend it was the real thing, ignoring the dark divide between us. We would simultaneously be separate and together.
But not forever.
10
Tatum
I woke the next morning to the sound of a Lodge maid setting something down on the coffee table by the sofa.
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up. “What’s that?” I asked, craning my neck.
She lifted a vase from the table. “Flowers from your Master.”
I got out of bed and padded over to her. The vase was patterned blue and white china, filled with a mixture of pale and dark pink carnations. “Thank you for bringing them,” I murmured. “They’re beautiful.”
The maid nodded and left. I leaned down to breathe in the scent of the carnations. They’d always been my favorite flower. Beautiful and sweet-smelling, yet so underappreciated by so many people.
When I got back up, I realized there was something else on the table. A letter and a Venetian mask made of superlight golden filigree metal adorned with gems.
I tore open the envelope. Inside was an embossed invitation from Elias, humbly requesting my presence at a party tonight. If I chose to attend, I must wear the mask and a formal gown. No bra or panties.
I set the invitation down on the table and picked up the golden mask. It seemed redundant to wear it with Elias tonight. There were already masks on the two of us, invisible and ever-present. We hid our true thoughts and natures behind them as we pretended this was all normal. Pretended I actually had a choice in terms of attending this party.
Of course I didn’t.
After breakfast, lunch, and a long day of exploring in the west wing of the third floor, I returned to my room to select a gown for tonight’s party. Elias had had me measured and fitted a few days after my arrival, so my closet was now overflowing with beautiful designer dresses.
After several minutes of indecision, I chose a gown I could only describe as fantastic, with an intricate texture made up of hundreds of different pieces of black and gold fabric. I figured it would go well with the mask.
A striking middle-aged woman knocked at my door at six o’clock, saying she’d been sent to do my hair and makeup. I sat at the vanity as she fussed over me, and I wondered if she used to be a sex slave here, like the maid from earlier. Mellie once told me they were forced into other jobs at the Lodge once the men were tired of them.
I didn’t dare ask the woman, though. We weren’t supposed to talk about our captivity under any circumstances, and I didn’t know her well enough to trust her. The only person I could really talk to in this place was Pri.
The makeup artist left at a quarter to eight, and I was alone again until Elias knocked on my door at nine. He was wearing a tuxedo and a black and gold Venetian mask. As usual, the mere sight of him almost knocked the breath right out of my lungs.
“You look incredible,” he said, taking one of my hands and planting a kiss on it. His hot lips sent a bolt of fire through my veins.
“Thank you,” I murmured. He didn’t let go of my hand. Sugary trickles of desire wound up my spine. “Let me just get my mask.”
He nodded and stepped into my room, waiting for me to fix the mask on my face. I’d accidentally left the TV on, playing an old episode of Grey’s Anatomy. On the screen, a woman was howling and scrunching up her face as she tried to push out a baby.
“Nice image right there,” Elias said, a twinkle of dark humor in his eyes. “Just what we need to get us in a party mood.”
“Sorry. I forgot to turn it off.” I grabbed the remote, and I was about to switch the episode off when the straining pregnant woman onscreen reminded me of something. “Wait… before we go, can I ask you something?”
I half expected him to narrow his eyes and say no, but he nodded. “Make it quick. We’re already a bit late.”
I hurriedly told him what I’d seen up on the third floor the other day, in one of the private medical wings. His brows furrowed, and he shrugged. “It wouldn’t be any of the girls who work here. They’re all on contraception. It’s written in the contracts that they have to be.”
“That’s what I thought. So who were those women?”
“No idea. Could be guests.”
I arched a brow. “Guests?”
“Honestly, you’d be surprised at the people who come here just for vacations. People you’d never expect. But it makes sense. It’s a luxury retreat, after all. Bigger and better than most hotels. Those women are probably the wives of some rich guys who like to play, so they’re enjoying their pregnancies here with their husbands instead of staying at home.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “I guess.”
I couldn’t think of anything worse than being pregnant and swollen and partying at a place which was essentially a high-class brothel. But each to their own.
Elias held out a hand. “Let’s go.”
He took me down to the ground floor and led me through an arched double doorway which went into the party room I spotted on my first day here. It was already packed with people, and the atmosphere was electrified with energy.
The lights were dimmed, creating a heady atmosphere, rich with sinful anticipation. Musicians played ethereal instrumental songs with lilting strings and gently-throbbing drumbeats on a stage at one end of the room. Trays of pills and white powder were being passed around the room by waitresses, along with brimming cocktail glasses and golden goblets.
Pri walked right by me with her Master, flashing me a tight, nervous smile. She was wearing a collar as well as a mask. It was black with a large silver pendant, and the word ‘slave’ was inscribed on it. With a shock, I realized all the other women were wearing them too. Elias hadn’t given me one.
“Elias,” I murmured. “Why don’t you make me wear a collar like the others?”
He frowned. “I don’t want you to.”
That seemed
to be all he had to say on the subject. It was a far cry from just a couple of months ago when he roughly dragged me down a hallway, promising collars and heavy chains as soon as I arrived at the Lodge. So maybe he really felt something for me and didn’t want to enslave me anymore…
Or maybe he simply didn’t like the way the collars looked, and I was reading too much into it.
My gaze drifted over the sea of masked faces as Elias led me toward a bar set up in the far corner of the room, near a chaise lounge. The women were all in towering heels and expensively-cut gowns in every color of the rainbow. They were all beautiful and toned, but I noticed Elias didn’t look at a single one of them.
Several men glanced my way. Even with their masks, I could see they were sizing me up. One of them leaned over to his acquaintance and murmured something, and the other nodded, his gaze fixed on me. My stomach lurched. I knew I was meant to say yes to any men who wanted me if Elias chose to share, but the thought of servicing these horrible men made me want to retch.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Elias murmured in my ear. “Stay here.”
He went to the bar, and I hovered around the edge of the room, patiently waiting. The music grew louder, a thumping rhythmic beat that seemed to infuse the room with excitement. The underwater lights in the indoor pool in the center of the room pulsed over the naked bodies frolicking within, making their skin glow.
Not far from me was a writhing group of men and women on a red velvet lounge as big as a double bed. They were grinding together, hands tearing at dresses and suits, gliding over bare skin, kissing hungrily in the flickering lights. There were threesomes and even foursomes as they carried out all kinds of sex acts.
One moaning woman had three men inside her at the same time. One in her pussy, one in her ass, and one in her mouth. She didn’t seem to be in any pain. Her lips were parted in bliss, and orgasmic cries tore from her throat.
