Bella bit her lip as she tried to think of all the things she might well be in for in Victor's dungeon. She knew he wouldn't actually hurt her the way Jeff had, so that left boundaries of a different nature to consider. "You mean like sex, don't you?"The surprise on his face made her second guess it. "No. Not that I would be opposed to it," he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "But I'm more referring to other forms of physical contact. I believe the euphoria associated with controlled pain helps to access deeper states of consciousness, but if you're not comfortable with that sort of thing, we'll find another way." "How much pain...?""Even a small amount can be hypnotic in the right context. Set the right mood with a bit of sensory deprivation and the mind plays all sorts of tricks," he said, his voice growing husky as he threaded a strand of her hair through his long fingers. "I don't need to leave a mark to make you writhe."She didn't doubt it. She

"No," Bella said, trying to tune him out amid the rush of blood in her head. "That's just—please stop, Victor."“It’s getting weak, isn't it?" He murmured. Something about his words told her he wasn't talking to her. Not that she could answer, anyway. The pain was no longer a weak hum, it was a full-on roar.“I said stop!” she seethed. Victor stared at her in shock. She waited for him to hit her the way Jeff had the one time she’d ever made the mistake of raising her voice to him, but he didn’t. Instead, he said, “Alright.”“I’m sorry.”“Don’t be,” he murmured. “I saw an opportunity and I went for it. It was rash. I’m the one who’s sorry.”“You really think I’m sick because of Jeff?” she asked shakily. “Because he uses it to control me, even from afar?”“I’ve seen it before,” he answered sympathetically. She hugged herself. The blanket was doing nothing to keep her warm when the chill was coming from the inside. She’d convinced herself that running from Jeff wou

Bella turned to Darian, seething. "You should be ashamed of yourself," she spat. Her words staggered him for a moment. A moment was all she had to diffuse the situation if the house was going to still be standing by the time all was said and done. "You talk like you own me or something, even though all you've done since that night my whole world came undone is disappear. So you saved me in the woods. I'm grateful for that, but I've spent this past week knowing that if your friends found your body somewhere, I was going to have to live with the fact that it was my fault for the rest of my life." Tears were streaming down her face, despite her best efforts. The salt mingled with the metallic scent of Victor's blood that was so much stronger than it should have been. The scent and the sight of it on his lips was making it hard to stay focused. Darian looked like he was about to argue, so she preempted him. “Let me finish. I know it wasn't your fault that you had to

The days passed in a series of repeating patterns for Bella. No matter how early she woke, Darian was already gone to do whatever it was that he did in the morning. When she felt like getting up, she headed downstairs, and there were almost always a few others in the kitchen. If it was Foster, Brendan, Jason, or Clara, she had company. If it was Clarence, they sat in less than companionable but mutually understanding silence. After breakfast, Bella would usually just hang out in the lounge area. Sometimes Sandrawould come in to sneak her homework in order to help her keep afloat in her courses just in case she survived her transformation. He would ask questions about her life at the Lodge, and she could tell he didn't understand her melancholic demeanor when she was clearly "living the dream." It was hard to keep him in the dark, especially now that she knew he hadn't been the one to enter her in the contest. Mostly, he just wanted to share school gossip th

"The way I'm is acting? And how exactly is that, Darian?" she demanded, standing. She planted her hands firmly on her hips and stared him down, willing herself not to give in to the shiver that was creeping up her spine. "Because all I see is you acting like a fuming child who's jealous that his older brother is getting more attention."Darian's fist clenched and for an instant she feared he really was going to hit her. Instead, he turned around and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his desk drawer. His fist enveloped the carton and he stalked out of the room. Against her better judgment, Bella followed him. The one time she had followed Jeff when he had stormed out of the apartment after an argument, she had ended up with a broken jaw. After that she learned that it was better just to cower and hide. It occurred to her that she could remember that now without the familiar hum of pain in her mind. Victor's efforts were working, just not fast enough.If there