At the bottom, she was surprised the dungeon was posh. Like a cave one might escape to in order to read a book if there had been strong enough light.

“Look around. Nothing is off limits. I want you fully informed. No excuses.”

Hesitantly, Faith explored the vast underground room. How it could be so big, so ominous, and so cozy all at once, she didn’t know. There was standard living room furniture and a bed and a small kitchen and a bathroom. Then there were several pieces of black- and red-leather furniture that looked like high-fashion torture equipment. The actual dungeon part had concrete floors, while the apartment area was carpeted, though it was all one, unbroken space save for the bathroom.

Along one wall were several hooks that held mysterious metal objects, riding crops, whips, and paddles. Underneath this section was a tray of sorts that slid out from a slot in the wall and held long pieces of metal and wood. She trembled as she ran her fingers along the top of one of the metal rods. She didn’t know what these rods were called, but she knew Leo hit people with them.

“Those are canes. Why don’t you give one a nice slice through the air? You don’t begin to truly understand it until you hear it.”

Her hand shook as she picked up one of the implements. The sound it made when it ripped through the air would have made her drop it and run if not for Leo’s words interrupting her panic.

“With my medical knowledge, there are so many things I could do to you and bring you back from.”

He was trying to scare her away. There was no other reason to say something so crazy when she was so close to giving him what he wanted.

Faith took a deep breath and placed the metal cane on the tray, but it slipped out of her hand and clattered on the concrete, bouncing several times, the tin sound ringing in her ears. She snatched it up and put it back, sliding the metal tray into the wall slot and taking a shaky breath to steady her nerves. Leo made no move to comfort her.

“Go ahead and check out the toy box. Everything I keep in there is made of materials I can clean. It’s all been sterilized, so it’s safe. Except the rope, but all the rope is new.”

The giant black leather container was Pandora’s box with all the evil of the world inside. Vibrators, dildos, handcuffs, ropes, anal plugs, containers of lubricant, and something black with a cord she didn’t recognize.

While the box was open, Faith imagined she heard screaming inside her head. Noise and warnings and anxiety swirled around her like invisible smoke. When she shut the box, they stopped. She turned to find Leo sitting on the red leather couch against the wall, his arms spread along the back, and she wondered for a second exactly how long she’d been staring into that box like some brainless zombie.