Ash and Fire

Chapter 16

Turning her attention away from them, she brought her knees up to her chest, cradling her hands close to her chest and took in the room they brought her too. It wasn't a cramped room, but it was just big enough to fit the three men and herself comfortably enough to move around. Two small square, tall tables were set against the walls on each side of the room, stools on either side that the three men took up. The only door was across from her, making it impossible to bolt past three men. Her stomach dropped at the one item in the room she avoided looking at the whole time-a chain with a hook that dangled from a beam in the center of the room.

"There's no way out," a soft voice echoing in the room, startling her.

Lydia glanced over where Marcus and the other man sat. The black-haired man's features held no emotion, but her body froze the moment she gazed into his icy green eyes that were already on her. Distant, yet calculating eyes that pierced through her. It felt as if her heart was beating like a bird's wings as it flew and still at the same time.

Slowly, she shook her head, denying his acclaim to what she was doing. Escape already seemed impossible when she had to pass three men to get to the door and the fact they didn't attempt to stop her from screaming, she had a feeling they weren't anywhere anyone could hear her even if she tried.

"You admiring something else in the room then, darlin'?" Travis taunted the question with glee.

Lydia's eyes widened slightly at the question, the chain taunting her mind from a few feet away. She intertwined her fingers together, tightening her muscles to stop them from shaking, knowing Travis wanted to get a rise out of her. Whether that was to see the terror she knew was fully well displayed in her eyes or draw her attention to him. Her focus didn't deter from the black-haired man's gaze. She didn't see the point when he had already seen the fear in her eyes. Her gaze shifted to her dress when Marcus turned his attention to her. One was one too many for her fears to be shown.

Flinching as one of the stools scraped across the wooden floor, she tried to curl into herself more as heavy footsteps made their way to her.

"We can get started now that the host of the show is awake," Marcus commented, gripping her chin between his thumb and pointer finger, making her peer at him. "Isn't that right?"

Lydia hated the shiver that ran down her arms, fueling the delirium in Marcus's eyes as a dark chuckle came from within his chest.

Marcus grabbed her hands, yanking her up when he stood. She barely steadied herself before he began dragging her to the middle of the room. The chain haunting her vision as she dug her heels into the wooden floor, pulling against his arm. She stumbled into Marcus's side as he tugged her forward, quickly pushing herself away from him, but still couldn't get out of his grasp. He forced her hands above her, placing the rope that bound her hands together onto the hook above her.

"Look at that. Prefect," Marcus beamed, his eyes shining with glee.

The terror that coursed through Lydia couldn't be hidden as her body shook with apprehension. Marcus didn't stare at her like she was a prize he was about to conquer, but a tool used to be broken for his satisfaction. Asher's words rang in her head at what got Marcus off, though she didn't find anything in the room that could be used as a weapon.

She tethered on the tips of her feet, the muscles in her arms straining as they bared the brunt of her weight. She peered up at the chain, her shoulders straining with the movement. Her chest expanded rapidly to accommodate the oxygen she needed as panic set in when she couldn't reach her hands over the hook of the chain. She dangled on a hook, her life literally in the hands of the men around her.

Another chair scraped across the floor, wincing as the chain rattled with her movements. She could tell it was Travis that had gotten up from where the sound came from, his footsteps lighter than Marcus's. She curled her fingers around the chain, letting the cold metal seep into her skin that had become hotter. She knew it was the adrenaline pumping through her that made her begin to sweat, but it would do nothing but feed the panic that already coursed through her veins.