I ignored the fact that I wasn’t dressed for the chill in the air, or the fact that I was sneaking around my house to figure out what the fuck was going on in it. I paused as I pressed myself against the house and glanced at the driveway, wondering absently what kind of car he had come in.
A guy like that wouldn’t be driving around in a lime-green Gremlin or a Volkswagen bug. For starters, I doubted he would fit in one of those cars unless he was folded, but I was curious as to what he would drive.
There was nothing. I was about to head back inside when a window a few yards away from me opened, and Alden glanced around nervously as he placed new salt just outside on the ledge as they spoke. I waited for his head to move back inside, and then snuck as close as I dared to it. As my heart beat wildly against my chest, I tried to quiet my breathing so I could hear what they were saying.
“The Guild is almost finished, yet there’s still rooms inside the catacombs we can’t get into. So, if you know what’s inside of them, you need to start talking,” Adam said softly, and I froze.
“Couldn’t Olivia get into them like she did with the room that had those grimoires in it?” Alden’s voice was smooth, as if he wasn’t discussing treason against our coven in my house.
“We haven’t asked her yet, considering she’s pregnant and Ristan is being an overprotective asshole. He’d probably rip my heart out and eat it if I even suggested sending her in right now. Synthia is planning on asking him, but she’s been rather busy. All things considered, I didn’t want to bother them if you already know what’s inside there. Plus, now that the leyline witch is out of there, it’s safe to start gathering the little ones to live and train there again. Syn wants it up and running soon; seeing that other Guilds are falling, those children will have nowhere to go.”
“Has Synthia figured out what Lucian wanted from the catacombs yet? She made that deal with him without considering what it might have been first, and that worries me.” Alden’s voice turned stern, as if his own words disturbed him.
“No, but you know he’ll get it. Eventually. She won’t break her word to him.”
“No, no…once she gives it, she will honor it. God help us if it is something that threatens this world and yours, Adam. I worry about what he’s searching for, and how it will affect the Guild or this coven. Not to mention, the other night, Lucifer made another move that would have been almost as disastrous as his last one was. Do me a favor and keep an ear out, let me know if you hear anything. I’ll pour through the files you brought me last week; see if I find anything in them.”
“You do that,” he said. “Lucifer, huh? Sounds like a fucking mess you have here, old man. You need us, you know how to reach us.”
“Adam, use the door. The house is warded and spelled against every creature possible. These witches are smarter than most.”
“Fine,” he groaned, and I heard the window close, as the door opened to the hallway. I moved towards my car, hiding in the shadows as the man stepped from the house, walked into the driveway, and then disappeared.
I stood there, staring at where he’d evaporated into nothing. As if he just ceased to exist. I leaned against the car, staring at the mansion across the way before I turned towards the backdoor. I had barely made it through the door when I heard footsteps heading in my direction, so I dropped onto all fours on the carpet.
“Kendra?” Alden called out, and I answered him, as he came around the corner and found me, pretending to examine the carpet where it had become threadbare in places. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Only so much Lucy a girl can handle,” I lied with a tight grin.
“Don’t think your momma would agree with you on that one, kid,” he smirked, and studied me closely. “Lucian was a gentleman last night, wasn’t he?”
“Perfect gentleman,” I agreed. “Condescending asshole, but he kept his paws to himself.” I pulled myself upright and dusted off my hands. “I’m going to go out tonight with Kat and Dexter, so I’ll just go on in and shower, if you want to tell Mom?” I didn’t want to face my mother right now. Hell, if anyone could tell I was lying, it was that woman.
“You sure? Lucian said you shouldn’t be out alone.”
“I won’t be alone. I’ll be in his club with my friends.” I grinned brightly.
An hour later, I was walking up to Layton, who was tracking me with narrowed eyes. I paused in front of him, giving him a lopsided grin.
“I need to speak to your boss,” I stated boldly, expecting to be let in.
“He’s busy,” he growled, dismissing me coldly.
“I’m not here for pleasure, it’s business,” I replied icily.
He gazed back at me, his eyes roving over my curves, and what I was wearing seemed to be a footnote in his perusal. The dress was a double-slit maxi dress that looked damned good on me, and the top just happened to be a tube top, which meant no bra—which, apparently, he seemed to like. “Could have fooled me; ain’t no witches coming looking for business in a dress like that unless they’re in the business of looking for trouble. So tell me, Witch, you here to fuck or fight, which is it?”
“Neither,” I replied primly as I narrowed my eyes on him. “Where is he?”
“He’s below. You got the balls to go down there for your business?” he drawled as his eyes remained fixed on my breasts.
“You think I won’t?” I snapped, and he smirked.
“Go in; he’ll find you when he is ready to,” he growled as he lifted the red rope so I could pass through.
“Thanks,” I quipped, not caring if it sounded more like a fuck you.
I entered the club, hearing the fast tempo of a song that seemed to flow through me. I looked around, scrunching my nose as I took in the crowd, which looked more ‘other’ than human as they danced and moved to the beat. The vibe inside the club was sin, mixed with something darker.
I moved deeper through the crowd, pushing my way through until I got to the hallway that led below. Tonight it wasn’t blocked off. Normally there were men stationed at the entrance and you couldn’t get through. I looked around to be sure no one was watching, and smirked as a group of girls started down it; I caught up to them, blending in.
We moved down the stairs to the lower level, and I paused once we reached the dance floor. It was filled with half-naked men and women, all dancing to the hypnotic beat.
There was something beautiful and sensuous about the way they moved; it wasn’t anything like I had seen at the awkward high school dances or bars that catered to the college crowd. Their movements pulled me in and mesmerized me. I swallowed the urge to remove my dress and join them, forcing myself to go deeper into the secrets that lay in this level which we’d been forbidden to enter.
My eyes scanned the room for cameras, ducking my head as I passed some. I entered a winding hallway that branched in three different directions. I was about to go one way when I spotted Adam, who held hands with a girl as they walked deeper into what looked like a never-ending hallway. How the hell was this place so big?
I followed them, keeping enough distance that they didn’t see me. When Adam abruptly turned, I was forced to enter a dark room to avoid being seen. The door was opened just far enough so I could hear what they were doing. Was he really fucking her in the hallway?
Shit. How the hell was I supposed to get out of here if they were fucking? I moved further into the room, finding random sex furniture and toys set up throughout it. It even had a table big enough to hold a body. Weird ass shit. I moved to the glass wall that looked a lot like the one in Lucian’s office, but this one looked like tempered glass. I got closer and saw a group of people on the other side that looked like they were waiting for something.
They looked scared, almost terrified, but why? I heard a door open and watched as Lucian and Spyder walked in, both shirtless as they approached t
he group.
“You broke the rules tonight.” Lucian’s voice cut like ice shards through the group as a bloodied woman I hadn’t seen earlier moved into view. She was cut in several places, her body a mass of angry purple bruises. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you thought you could fucking do something like that in my club,” he demanded.
“Fuck you, you’re not king here,” one snapped. “She liked it, she screamed for more.”
“Is that so? It didn’t look like she was enjoying it to me.” Spyder tilted his head with a dangerous glint in his eye.
“Fuck you, too, shadow. You think we’d be here if we weren’t allowed? It’s a new world, there’s a new king coming. You won’t be here long,” another snarled, and I frowned, daring to look at Lucian, who smiled wickedly.
“You think he can take it from me?” Lucian challenged.
“He took your whore right from under your nose, didn’t he?” the guy taunted, and I watched as Lucian grabbed the guy’s throat with one hand and his shoulder with the other before literally tearing the man in half.
My hand flew up to my mouth, stifling the scream that tried to escape. My elbow hit the window and I stepped back, watching as one by one, they were killed in a manner that couldn’t even be considered remotely human. Horror movie, yes; human, not so much! My leg bumped something, and the sound of glass shattering on the floor made me look up down and then back up, only to find enraged midnight blue eyes locked with mine.
I spun and ran from that room of death as fast as I could go. My heart thundered in my head louder than the music that boomed inside the club. My feet moved faster than they’d ever moved before, because I’d just watched them kill someone, people, like, ripping them to fucking pieces. Lucian hadn’t even broken a damned sweat! Who did that?
I exploded onto the first dance floor, pushing people out of my way as I rushed through it and up the stairs to the upper level. I hid among the dancers, catching my breath as I made my way towards the door, but he was there, less than a few feet in front of me, waiting for me with a cold look in his eyes. He was the only one not dancing, staring at me as everything else moved around us.
I turned my head, intending to go out the side door, but somehow, he’d appeared there. Metallica’s Enter Sandman cut off the other song playing, and I felt my body trembling as he started towards me. I pivoted, scrambling back the way I’d just come from. I moved through the crowd to the next floor, finding him closer than I thought he could be on the other side of me. I spun around in a circle and then ran in the opposite direction, closing the distance between me and the staircase that led upstairs. I had almost reached it when he stepped out of the throng of bodies and blocked the exit. I turned again and hastily pushed my way back through the crowd, back in the direction I’d come from. He was hunting me, chasing me back down into the underground rooms of his club.
I hurried through the hallway without looking back, kicking off my shoes as couples embraced in the long winding hallway, oblivious to the monster chasing me, rounding a corner, planning to take the stairs up to the offices, but the moment my foot touched the stair, I looked up, only to find him slowly coming down the stairs. He was no longer covered in blood, which was insane because I’d just watched him slaughter a bunch of people.
What the fuck?
I twisted in the direction I had come from and ran blindly, looking for anywhere to hide from him. I rounded another corner and as I dashed towards the closest room, every door slammed shut. All except one, which had BOSS emblazoned on it. I sprinted inside and slammed the door behind me. I moved to the back of the room, where I found a floor-to-ceiling glass wall, I examined each side, trying to find whatever might make it work and let me out of this room. I touched it, and nothing happened. I pounded on it, and wondered if there was anything in the room that might break through it, but the moment I turned my head to look, I was slammed against the glass.
Midnight eyes ate at mine as he pushed me against it and grabbed a handful of my hair as he pulled my head back. “You shouldn’t be here,” he snarled. He was pulsing, his power vibrating, filling the room with raw current. “Not tonight, not when I need a release from what you did with the devil.”
“My coven knows I’m here, Lucian,” I whimpered as his mouth touched my throat and a growl rumbled from deep in his chest. He rubbed his nose over my cheek, allowing his heated breath to fan my flesh.
“You think they can save you from me?” he murmured as his fingers cradled my neck. “No one can save you from me tonight, no one.” His mouth touched my shoulder, and then he pulled the top of my dress down, ignoring the scream that ripped from my throat as I pushed him away from me.
“If I don’t go home, they’ll know I’m missing,” I babbled as I struggled to pull my top back up as I danced around him. I started backing away as he prowled closer, shaking my head. “Lucian.” I held my hands out to ward him off. “Please,” I gasped as my legs hit something soft, yet firm, and I fell backwards.
He loomed over me, shirtless. Beautiful in a terrifying way that left me both breathless and dumbfounded, which made me realize I was no better than the witch in the dream I’d had about him. Maybe that was why I’d dreamt it.
“Please what, Witch?” he growled as his arms reached for my legs. I scrambled, backing up on the bed as he smirked and stalked me across the mattress. “Please wreck your pretty pussy, or please let you go? I only have it in me to do one, and letting you go isn’t really an option.”
“I have to go,” I squeaked, trying to figure out how to get around him, but there was no way to do it without throwing myself off the bed. “Before someone notices I’m gone and comes looking for me.”
“I don’t think so; you told Alden you were coming here, so they know where you are. You’re out with friends, isn’t that right, Adam?” he asked over his shoulder. “Won’t be home until late,” he finished, not bothering to look guilty as he watched me squirm. My eyes moved to the door, where Adam leaned against the frame, watching us.
“You! You set me up!” I accused, and snapped a deadly glare at Lucian. “You set this up, why? Because I lip off to you? Because I don’t take orders well?”
“Because you let Lucifer fuck what’s mine, and I don’t like sharing my toys,” he snapped, pushing me onto my back as he followed me down. “There’s also your flagrant disobedience and unwillingness to follow my rules. You were warned to stay away from the lower levels repeatedly and yet you refuse to listen. Just because there wasn’t a guard posted doesn’t mean I don’t know everything happening inside my club.” He claimed my mouth, hard, demanding I open to him.
I moaned against him, bringing my hands up to cradle his face, uncaring that we had an audience. He pulled back as he stared down at me. “Before this night is over, I am going to fucking make sure you know the difference between me and Lucifer. There will be no question as to who is fucking you from now on,” he warned, pushing his sex against mine, forcing me to wrap my legs around him until our bodies were flush. “You’re so fucking beautiful. So utterly fucking perfect,” he purred as his tongue swiped against my lips, coaxing them open even further.
My body was ablaze with a need only he could fix. I whimpered his name as he pushed my dress down, his hot breath fanning my nipples as he laughed coldly. I was oblivious to everything else happening around me as he lifted himself up and pushed my dress down, and pulled it off of me then he was back, kissing me until I was making noises with how much I needed him to fix the ache he’d created.
Lucian pushed my hands away from him and I moaned, struggling to touch him, but then his mouth lowered, catching my lip as he gently bit into it. I cried out, feeling my body respond as it arched, and my nipples hardened, desperate to be sucked.
“I need you,” I whimpered, unmindful to anything but him. I wasn’t even sure why I needed him only that I did. He kept saying that I was h
is, and I couldn’t even bring myself to argue it. I’d never been his before, but I wanted to be in ways I didn’t understand.
“Soon,” he promised, glancing beyond the bed as he once again lowered his mouth against mine. My feet were yanked from around him and I stilled, feeling hands on my ankles, both ankles. I pulled away from him to see what was going on. He watched me as a wicked laugh rumbled through his chest.
“What are you doing?” I whispered as an uneasy feeling took hold when I saw Bane and Layton securing my ankles as I struggled against them. Swiftly they moved to secure my wrists. I slowly put it together, and my body trembled as I looked around at the men who looked down at me. This wasn’t what I wanted or needed. I stared up as Lucian sat back, exposing me to the men. My panties were all I still had on.
Bane tightened the rope through the loops in the restraint cuffs on my wrists and as he straightened up, he glanced down at me with a hungry look in his eyes. I was tied to the posts of the bed, which were too thick to break or get away from, spread out and vulnerable as they watched me squirm.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded.
“Claiming you,” he smirked, stepping away from the bed.
“Let me go!” I spat, fighting against the ropes as I struggled to get away. “I will kick your fucking asses!” I knew it didn’t matter what I said or did, because it wasn’t as if I could actually kick their asses—yet.
Layton cleared his throat, clearly amused, and tipped his head at Lucian. “It’s going to take a little while to get everything prepared, you want me to get the others in here?”
More?
Fuck this.
I whispered a spell, but nothing happened. I chanted it inside my head, over and over, as tears began to slide down my temples into my ears. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing to me? You won’t get away with this shit,” I warned.
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