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    We entered an empty open parking lot and stopped beside a silver Lexus NX with fully tinted windows. Lily took some stylish keys from her belt and unlocked the car.


    "Hot damn, that''s some car," I comment in my style. "So you weren''t lying about being well-off, or do you also moonlight as some kind of thug?"


    In response I get a hit right to the solar plexus. Even under the stimulant I feel pretty sharp pain, convincingly stagger back against the hood and pretend to be gasping for air.


    "Ahh... Clearly you''re not worried about getting it dirty," I wheeze, naturally coughing and leaving drops of blood and dirt on the car. "Did I touch a nerve or something?"


    "No, I just want to comfortably put these on you," she said coldly, pulling out green handcuffs from somewhere in the back seat. Judging by the color, they have some magical effect, but I doubt I''ll feel anything.


    In a second Lily appears behind me, pulls my arms behind my back and there''s a restraining click. She has insane speed, but seems like she still doesn''t quite match Jane''s level.


    "I wouldn''t have resisted anyway."


    "We''ve been through that, so I prefer to be maximally harsh with you," she says firmly. "And if you''re so curious, I''m not involved in any criminal activity. My dad really does have a lot of money. Get in the front."


    "Haha, I was expecting the trunk or back seat with my mouth taped shut."


    "If you were a good little dog, you could ride wherever you want. But since I don''t trust you one bit, you''ll stay where I can watch you."


    "You''re being awfully rough with someone you wanted to hook up with romantically and passionately just hours ago—"


    Lily interrupts me by slamming my face into the hood. Surprisingly it doesn''t dent, though it gets even dirtier. There''s almost no pain, but I wheeze anyway.


    "You perfectly well understood that was all an act, which you fell for," she says authoritatively. "Don''t push me, or I''ll beat you so bad you won''t be able to talk."


    "Ahh... Okay-okay... But babe, you clearly don''t care about keeping the car clean," I taunt and burst out laughing.


    Lily purses her lips, anger flashes in her eyes and the next second I get a series of knee strikes to the stomach. I fall back onto the ground, she sits on top and hits my face with both hands, then gets up and kicks me in the side to flip me onto my stomach.


    Blood flows from my nose and mouth, I convincingly groan and breathe heavily. It feels like taking a decent spill off a bicycle. Without the stimulant, I''d be genuinely screaming like I''m pretending to.


    I half roll my eyes and act like I''ve fallen into a semi-conscious state from the pain.


    "I warned you, asshole. Now you''ll think three times before daring to run your mouth again," the girl laughs, dragging me back.


    Perfect, exactly the reaction I was provoking. Now she''s sure I''m weakened and can''t move normally. This will significantly lower her guard, I thought. Can move on to the next phase.


    The stimulant exceptionally improves brain function and mental capabilities. In a normal state I wouldn''t have figured out how to play the situation so quickly.


    Lily effortlessly lifts my body and throws me into the front seat, I let out a fake groan. Then she jumps right over me into the driver''s seat, starts the engine, puts on some relaxing retrowave and carefully pulls onto the road.


    Combined with the almost full moon and comfortable seat of the luxury car, it creates an awesome vibe atmosphere... if you ignore my position as a beaten prisoner.


    Not wasting time, I carefully start working at the handcuffs with my functioning right hand to assess their strength. Fortunately she threw me half sideways and has limited peripheral vision.


    A couple times I have to stop as I anticipate they''ll make a clinking sound. After a few minutes I realize they definitely don''t have any extra weight or effects, like spikes piercing your hands if you squirm. Most likely they have some basic magic immunity or a kind of "silence" effect that prevents spellcasting.


    Next I slowly press my left hand to my back, "narrow" the fingers of my right and pull it back. The cuffs are fairly narrow and dig into the skin in front of the palm, but physically their material isn''t very strong. Applying a bit of force I push the cuffs forward, but this is accompanied by some stinging.


    Freeing both hands won''t work, but if I use my maximum strength, following this method I can get the right hand out, though it will be badly scraped. Really, I don''t need more than that, since the next second I''ll need to grab the gun. Just have to time it right and play out the scene.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    I relax my arms and glance at the navigator on her phone. From my angle it''s turned too much sideways, I can only make out a clearly zoomed out map and blue arrow pointing almost straight up. This means we''re heading somewhere to the north of the city, but outside still just regular streets.


    Staying alert to my surroundings, I simultaneously turn over thoughts about why Lily needs all this. The dialogue between Caroline and Paul immediately comes to mind, where the latter begged to at least be used as bait for other participants.


    Can a normal person serve in that role while disguised as a supposedly weak mage...?


    No other even halfway coherent theories come to mind, but this chain of reasoning suddenly leads me to wonder about Lily''s identity as a participant. Why is she in such a good financial position but with low status? She must have a magical family, but from her tone you wouldn''t think her dad was detached from anything, though logically he should have the same status. Why did he let her participate in the Game? There are clearly some missing pieces here...


    While everything''s stable, I decide not to limit myself to guesses and directly find out as much as I can. Waiting about five minutes for realism, I act like I''ve somewhat recovered, moved around and comfortably fell back against the seat.


    "And still... I understand the logic of your actions before, but now why the hell do you need me? You know I''m a normal person and useless. As I understand it, you can''t blackmail Jane with her bracelet anymore," I force out through coughing. To encourage dialogue I deliberately mention information Lily might not know.


    "Hmm, so it was her bracelet..." the girl whispers barely audibly. I''m only able to make it out thanks to the stimulant. "If you''re still expecting some other answer, then you''re even dumber than I thought. Let me be crystal clear: from now on you''re my obedient and powerless pet, until a certain point. Either accept it and submit, or keep acting tough and take some serious beatings. And don''t get any ideas about escaping—normal people will never find you, and there''s no mage out there who''ll come to your rescue," she says, her tone suddenly turning harsh.


    "You''re not what you seem... If you''re planning to torture me, I''ll tell you right now I don''t know anything."


    "You do have certain information and you will share it, like where you and your sister''s house is. That''ll be in the morning, and your future condition will depend on you and your behavior, since I only need you physically intact. Be an obedient toy—you''ll keep some freedom, and in the worst case—I''ll turn you into a drooling piece of meat."


    Magic can reduce someone to a vegetative state? Interesting...


    "Where''s all this hatred for me coming from? Because of unread messages?"


    "Don''t flatter yourself. I couldn''t care less about you—you''re just a tool to me. But it really pisses me off when things act up and resist, so shut up for your own good."


    When she finished speaking, she punched me in the stomach, causing me to double over and gulp air.


    Not much information, but one thing is very significant—despite her dismissive attitude, for some reason I represent high value to her, which needs to be used. Her ignorance about the bracelet reduces the chance that she caused all the chaos. The desire to visit our house, or rather base, can be interpreted different ways and speaks to lack of knowledge. Bottom line—this time she has a very convoluted strategy.


    Several minutes of silence pass, the surroundings finally change: we drive out of the main city area. I remember that northern Nightcrest has large administrative boundaries that include many suburban districts. If we need to find Lily''s base later, it''ll be somewhere in this part.


    Trees rush past outside, transitioning into a green park. On the other side buildings disappear and forest also begins. I notice we''re approaching a small bridge over a river. And it''s clearly high above it.


    Something clicks in my head—instantly a clear and simple plan forms with high chance of success. I don''t know the local geography, but there''s only one river and it doesn''t pass through other places. There won''t be better landscape.


    "Lily... I think I''m gonna throw up..." I complain in a strained voice.


    "You''ll hold it, we don''t have far," she responds indifferently.


    "I really... really don''t feel good. I can barely hold it in."


    "Shut it."


    "Lily, just a few minutes, otherwise I''m gonna puke everywhere... What can I do to you? I can barely move after you beat me up so bad," at the end I skillfully suppressed a reflex for convincingness.


    The girl turns her head and pierces me with a distrustful look while I supposedly gasp for air with my last strength. Finally she rolls her eyes and slows down, just as we''re driving onto the bridge.


    "You have a point, should take better care of keeping the car clean. Cuffs stay on, quickly puke in the river and back."


    "Th-thanks at least for that," I say with relief. She''s completely fallen for it.


    We stop roughly in the middle of the bridge. Lily jumps out of the car, opens my door and helps me to my feet. I pretend my head is spinning and nearly fall several times. After half a minute I start holding myself more or less steady and slowly approach the bridge edge, puffing my cheeks out strongly.


    The height is very good, plus there are several stone boulders right under the bridge, which opens up a better option. Time to act.


    I tilt my head forward, then deliberately lean my body forward and lose balance.


    "AAAAH, SHIIIIT!!! LILY, HELP ME!" I yell, bending over the railing and starting to fall.


    "IDIOT!"


    I''m already feeling weightless when I get yanked back by my hoodie and pulled back, set against the railing. I wasn''t wrong in assessing my value to Lily. And her speed really is inferior to Jane''s.


    "Why the hell did you get so close?! Puke while I hold you, otherwise you''ll—"


    Using all my strength, I suddenly rip my right hand from the cuffs with a bloody tear and strike Lily in the back full force. She needs a second to process what happened, but it''s already too late—she falls down with the rusty railing, letting out a small cry. At the last moment I manage to reach out with my left hand and grab my Glock from her belt.


    "Eat that, you crazy bitch," I smirk and immediately jump back from the edge. A white magical flash can already be seen from below, I need to run as fast as possible. Trying to capture her would lead to a doomed fight.


    I sprint back at full speed. Passing by her Lexus, I realize the need to deprive her of mobility advantage and precisely fire a series of bullets into its gas tank. The car bursts into flames.


    I figure the best option is to disappear into the park, so I turn right and jump into the thickest brush. There''s no sense of pursuit, but I can''t relax for a second. Meanwhile I take out my cell phone, which Lily hadn''t discovered, determine my location on maps and look at the route home through school.


    2 hours 46 minutes, fuck... Good thing under the stimulant I can run continuously three times faster than normal.