“Steady,” he murmurs against my ear. “We haven’t even started yet, and you will have a task to perform. Youwill remain silent unless spoken to, and you will not come unless I demand it.”
Before I can ask what he means, the massive mahogany doors swing open. My heart stops as approximately twenty well-dressed men and women file into the dining hall, taking their seats at the table.
These aren’t more hunters—they’re wearing expensive suits and elegant gowns, jewelry glinting in the chandelier light. They settle with the casual confidence of people accustomed to wealth and power, their eyes drinking in the obscene tableau before them like it’s dinner theater.
My blood turns to ice as I recognize one of the faces.
Mayor Pike.
Cora’s father strides through the doorway in an immaculate navy suit, his silver hair perfectly styled, his polished smile firmly in place.
The pieces click together with horrifying clarity as Mayor Pike’s eyes land on his daughter. Cora sits impaled on Dominic’s cock, legs splayed wide, her conservative upbringing decimated as Liam’s hand cups her breast. At the same time, Ryder’s fingers trace patterns on the exposed flesh of her inner thigh. The three men who captured her aren’t random hunters—they’re making a declaration of war.
This isn’t about desire. It’s about revenge. A means to an end,hisend.
Mayor Pike’s impeccably cultivated mask cracks as rage transforms his features. His face flushes deep red, his hands clenching at his sides as he takes in the sight of hisprecious daughter displayed like a trophy between three men who clearly despise him.
But the moment his eyes land on the scene—on his daughter impaled on one man’s cock while two other men’s hands roam my skin covetously—his face transforms—veins bulge at his temples as rage permeates his features.
“CORA!” he roars, lunging forward with violent intent. “Get your filthy hands off my daughter! LET HER GO!”
Mayor Pike’s bellow reverberates through the dining hall, and I watch in horror as Cora’s humiliation plays out for all to see. All the confidence she displayed earlier, all her rebellious determination to defy her father’s expectations—it evaporates in an instant. She looks utterly mortified, like she wants the marble floor to open and swallow her whole.
“Daddy, I—” Cora’s voice breaks as she tries to lift herself off Dominic’s lap, shifting as she moves to close her legs and stand. “Please, I can explain?—”
But Dominic’s grip on her waist tightens, keeping her firmly impaled on his length as Ryder and Liam grasp her thighs, splaying farther open, stripping away any last ounce of dignity she had left. His dark eyes burn with cruel amusement as he holds the mayor’s daughter exactly where she is, making no move to release her despite her obvious distress.
“Let me go,” Cora whispers, squirming against the trio’s iron hold. “Please, just let me?—”
Dominic’s hands only grip her harder, and I can seetears of humiliation pooling in my best friend’s eyes. The sight makes my chest ache with guilt and rage.
Xavier’s voice cuts through the chaos like a blade, cold and commanding. “Mayor Pike.” The words carry absolute authority. “Sit down and shut up before I have you removed from my establishment permanently.”
Mayor Pike’s fury reaches an unfathomable height, spittle flying from his lips. “That is my DAUGHTER! You can’t?—”
“Your daughter,” Xavier interrupts smoothly, his hand tightening possessively on my thigh, “chose to sign the contract. Shechoseto participate in the Hunt. The rules were made very clear to every participant.”
I feel Xavier shift beneath me, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. “She knew exactly what she was agreeing to when she put her signature on those documents.”
Mayor Pike’s hands clench into fists at his sides. “You sick bastards! She’s a child!”
“She’s twenty-three,” Xavier states flatly. “And a consenting adult who made her own choice.”
The casual cruelty in his tone breaks my heart for Cora, who is now on the verge of sobbing. I glance around the room at the other elegantly dressed observers, all of whom are watching this family drama unfold with varying degrees of amusement and discomfort.
“Was he—” I start to whisper, my voice barely audible. “Was Mayor Pike one of the ones watching the hunt?”
Xavier’s lips brush against my ear as he answers. “No. He’s a benefactor of Purgatory, nothing more. His monetary contributions buy him access to certain events, but he wasn’t part of the Hunt itself. It seems someone has forgotten they are to be silent. Perhaps this once can be forgiven as the drama was somewhat unexpected.”
Relief floods through me like cold water. The thought of Mayor Pike—Cora’s father, a man I’ve known since childhood—watching us during the Hunt makes my stomach turn. It’s bad enough that he’s seeing us now, in this obscene dinner theater, but if he’d witnessed everything that happened in the maze...
I shudder against Xavier’s chest, imagining Mayor Pike had been watching me as Xavier fucked me in the pool, or as he bent me over and took me in front of those three hunters. The humiliation would have been unbearable—not just for me, but for Cora. At least there’s some mercy in knowing her father wasn’t voyeuristically consuming every intimate moment of her degradation.
Xavier’s hand slides higher on my thigh, his fingers finding sensitive skin as he continues speaking with that same cold authority. “Your daughter made an informed decision, Mayor Pike. The same way you made an informed decision to accept our charitable contributions to your campaign fund.”
The implication hangs heavy in the air—Xavier’s money helped put Mayor Pike in office, which means the mayor owes him. Big time.
Mayor Pike’s face cycles through several shades of purple as the reality crashes over him. His daughter isliterally impaled on the cock of a man whom he screwed over to build his career. The irony is so inherent it’s almost poetic.
