Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the only daughter of the wealthy mayor, is merely a young woman who wants to live life one adventure at a time. But when a man dressed in all black actually grants her that wish, she's torn on whether to explore the world wit...
"A torturer lacks an important skill. Sure, he is the master at torture and even manipulation, but his lack of remorse is what leaves him vulnerable when the strong trick him into believing that they are weak."
— Forbidden Fruits
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CHAPTER SIX
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Marinette wasn't awoken by the sound of birds chirping or the warm gleam of the sun's rays kissing her skin the following morning. Instead, satin sheets were ripped mercilessly off of her body without warning, leaving her skin pricked with chills underneath the desert night sky.
Frightened, Marinette scrambled to sit up, her eyes struggling to adjust from sleep, only to be greeted with an unknown figure looming over her.
"Rise and shine, sleepin' beauty!"
It was too dark to make out any features, but Marinette could recognize that scratchy voice anywhere. It belonged to the only other woman (besides herself) who was stuck with these men. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness once more, she could see the woman's devilish grin, as if her intentions were to overall make Marinette's life miserable. Marinette frowned at her.
Weren't women supposed to overall stick together?
The woman stepped back, cackling as she turned, leaving Marinette to sink further and further into the full-sized mattress. Marinette threw her head back into her pillow and groaned, casting an arm over her eyes. She had really hoped that being kidnapped by Chat Noir while also being trapped in an abandoned inn with him and all of his followers had been a dreadful dream.
But no, of course it wasn't a dream. It was real.
The moon was still high in the sky, which led her to believe that hours still remained until sunrise. Marinette slowly sat up once more and yawned behind a closed fist as her eyes surveyed the ruckus of the room confusingly, watching as men paced back and forth attending to the tasks they were given. In the center of the room, a small table had been dragged out from the corner of the room, and surrounding it were Chat Noir and several others. A lantern was placed in the center of the table, illuminating the hand-written map the men were studying.
Marinette briefly glanced over at the window, finding the wooden chair in which Chat Noir had been sitting the previous night empty.
With the light, hushed chatter traveled throughout the room, and Chat Noir's words molded with the murmurs. She simply watched as his lips moved and he pointed at something on the map, his gaze then moving between his fellow allies as if he were seeking their opinion.
One of the other men pointed at a different spot on the map, his finger rather close to Chat Noir's original proposition. The two men exchanged a conversation she couldn't make out, and then she watched as Chat Noir grinned. He clasped the man on the shoulder, nodding in what seemed to be agreement.
