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Cassie&039;s heart pounded in her chest, as she walked to her Pairing Two guards acco behind to make sure she didn&039;t try to run away Cassie was so her bare feet fall one in front of the other, as she followed the guard in front down the long hall Each of the girls was taken out one at a time Alice was escorted away first She was beautiful, but the sullen expression in her eyes made Cassie&039;s heart break There was no way to stop the Pairing

As they walked down the long hall, twodrapes closed to keep out the night chill Cassie watched theh the floor to ceiling glass This was the last tiht, she&039;d be a different person There was no way she could go through with this and reaze to the carpet, Cassie knew Cole was neck-deep in his escape plan by now She hoped that sacrificing herself gave hiet away undetected No one atching for hi He wasn&039;t Paired with anyone

As they neared the roo, Cassie&039;s stoh the palace ar in slower uard at her back pressed a hand to her shoulder and shoved "Hurry up"

Cassie stu the vaain His hand felt like a rotten apple The outside was still smooth, but theto heave Cassie steeled herself and kept walking She ignored the tension in her throat that was choking her, ignored the rising bile, ignored her treh She chose this path It was her life and this hat she decided to do It was best for her and Cole

"No regrets," she whispered to herself when they stopped in front of a large wooden door The dark as carved with cherubs and swags of flowers that existed when the world aruard had a chance to open the door, Cassie reached for the handle and twisted "No regrets," she said more firht that Cassie could hardly breathe Stepping further into the roolass It was sray, so that it didn&039;t draw attention to the ros that lined the ceiling of the room Cassie sed hard A poster bed with a slatted headboard was in the center of the room, the s directly above There were a few va down at her She could nored them and walked toward the bed She didn&039;t see Brent For some reason, he wasn&039;t here yet That was odd Cassie always thought that they brought the girl in second There were things that the vampires told the ht That included the location of rope, as to make their encounter more successful

Cassie stopped when she reached the bed Turning slowly, she looked around the roo but black paint A lahtstand next to the bed When examined more closely, she could see that the fla It was a safe-lalass that wouldn&039;t shatter and oil that wouldn&039;t burn if the laed Cassie bent over to watch the fla in the first place

At that moment, the door behind her creaked open, and Brent said, "Stay just like that and things will go well for you" His voice dripped down her spine like ice Cassie straightened and turned quickly, her hands flying up to cover things that she didn&039;t want to reveal Brent laughed, "The vamps took a little extra ti, Cassie And I told them I&039;d do whatever it takes toto be? The easy way?" He grinned wolfishly and Cassie&039;s pulse shot into heart attack territory A piece of rope appeared in his hands He snapped it, and itnoise as he moved toward her "Honestly, I prefer the rope"

Cassie&039;s spine straightened Her heart pounded relentlessly against her ribs, telling her to run, but she didn&039;t Cassie forced her araze Sheshe didn&039;t plan for was her voice, but when she spoke she didn&039;t recognize it, "Honestly, I&039;ll let you do whatever you want as long as this Pairing is successful The girls told s you need to do to make sure it is"

Brent stopped in his tracks, his jaw fell open Cassie grinned in response "You&039;re going to let me?" he asked, baffled

Cassie folded her arher, before throwing her hip out Brianna had done it so ure look curvy "Why wouldn&039;t I?"

"Your brother, he said - " Brent stammered

Cassie cut hi about another guy? Or would you like to get on with things?"

"Get on with things," he said obediently For once, Cassie was glad she listened to the girls gossiping They said a powerful woirl who knehat she wanted Cassie played the part to the extreme She walked up to Brent and yanked the rope froht noant you on the bed" When he only ed to stare at her, she barked, "Now!"

Brent ran to the bed and ju, suddenly compliant Cassie felt sick She didn&039;t kno far to push things Walking slowly toward the bed, she held her shoulders back, forcing her chest out Swaying her hips as she walked, Cassie stole a peek at the s above One figure stood at the glass watching the up was stupid It uts right now, not less

Cassie&039;s lips pulled into a s one leg, Cassie cli slowly, letting him watch her

"Cassie, I had no idea - "

"Shut up If you talk again, I&039;ll gag you" Brent&039;s sorously The stories that were going to circulate about her tomorroould make her face burn for a year There was no way to hide soht, Cassie did what she had to She crawled to Brent, where he lay in the center of the bed with his back against the pillows He was looking up at her with excitement clearly strewn across his face Cassie s hi hair fell over her shoulders; her dress gaped giving hi to forget tonight, Brent Ever" Before he could grin any harder, Cassie leaned forward and pressed her lips to his

Revulsion shot through her, but Cassie didn&039;t pull away As the kiss deepened, Brent&039;s hands lifted and slid down her sides, cupping her butt and pulling her closer Cassie wanted to punch hied aher As she kissed hiled in his hair, while the other reached down the front of her bodice

When his hands came up to remove the dress, Cassie whispered in his ear, "Allow me" Brent&039;s body was so tense If he didn&039;t let her, she knew she was screwed

"Damn, Cassie Do it Strip" Brent&039;s voice was husky, and he grinned at her as he said it He had no clue

Cassieto climb on top of Brent, but her hand reached down her bodice, and gripped her improvised weapon Cassie used the fashion tape to secure the tiny pair of scissors Miriauards didn&039;t check The metal was cold and sharp as knives One flick with these and Brent would bleed out Cassie slowly slid one leg over Brent and leaned in close to hi dark hair blocked the shears fro to him No one would interfere

Brent sucked in a startled gasp, "What the - ?"

"Shhh," Cassie leaned down and whispered in his ear, "We&039;re doing things my way If you don&039;t I&039;ll shove these scissors into your guts and you&039;ll bleed out before they realize what&039;s happened" Cassie&039;s eyes lifted to the hen she said it The vamps could only watch what they could see, and despite their precautions, Cassie got a weapon into the room No one suspected her Poor weak Cassie She played to that assumption Weak didn&039;t mean stupid

"What do you want me to do?"

As Cassie opened herabove them shattered Brent screalass fell like rain Cassie rolled off of Brent and onto the floor, yanking the blanket at the foot of the bed over her bare skin The scissors went flying Before she could peek out, a strong hand was on her, wrapped around her arht? Cassie, talk toher

Cassie&039;s eyes ide "Are you insane?"

Cole shook his head, "Not today" The way he said itserious Cole looked at Brent, ready to do sorabbed his arm as Cole spun towards Brent