by Sabre Rose
After banging on the door, Winston lets me in.
Star, Iris, Danielle and some whose names I don’t know, and one I’ve forgotten, briefly look at me, then lower their eyes again, all except Iris. Her gaze is defiant, and Winston slaps her for it. She merely lifts her chin, inviting his wrath. His raises his hand again, but I stop it.
“Don’t want her with red cheeks right before the auction, do we?”
Winton scowls and feigns coming toward her. “She’s not ready,” he says, then spits on the ground. “I haven’t been able to break her. Senior was too lenient with her. He didn’t give me enough time to correct his mistakes.”
The guilt of Iris’s eyes on me weighs heavily. “He wants her sold. No reserve.”
“I sure hope whoever buys her has a firm hand. He’s going to need it.” He hands me the lead that connects to her neck. “She’s up first.”
The leather burns between my fingers. “Come on,” I say to her.
But she refuses to budge, crossing her arms over her chest. It’s the first time I look at her. The first time I allow myself to see her properly, all the bruises that cover her body, the marks around her neck, her wrists and her ankles.
Closing my eyes, I breathe deeply. I can’t shut off my thoughts anymore. Mia has broken that ability within me. I can’t look at Iris and see what Senior or even Winston see. I look at her and see Mia, Everly, the mother I can’t remember, the daughter I may never have.
“Is there a problem?” Winston asks.
I shake my head and jerk on the lead, wishing I could burn this place to the ground with every miserable excuse for a human that allows this insanity still contained within its walls. Including me. Because I am the one tugging on her lead. I am the one taking her down the platform as the auctioneer drones on and until the hammer slams down. I am the one that jerks her back to her feet as she sinks to her knees, face covered by her hands as the tears fall.
As soon as my duties are done, I exit the auction room, wishing I could clean the filth from me before going to check on Mia. I thought that Everly’s presence would mean I would have to delay my plans, but witnessing the auction tonight only cemented the fact that I need to get them both far away from here. I will just have to figure out any issues as I come by them. But as I’m ducking and weaving my way through the hallways, doing my best to avoid being sighted, I hear his voice and I know I’m too late.
I duck into a doorway, poking my head around the corner to watch him towering over her as she backs into the wall.
“Fucking answer me!” he yells.
Her voice shakes. “No. No, he didn’t tell me anything. I think I just overheard him talking to Marcel.”
I watch like a coward from my dark corner as he leans down and takes her bottom lip between his teeth, sinking into the flesh until she cries out in pain. Unconsciously, my hand falls to the knife tucked against my waist. But now is not the time.
“Come,” Sebastian grabs her hand again. “You’re ruining your surprise.”
I sneak up behind them as he leads her to his room, only being able to catch a glimpse of her through the crack in the doorway.
Even though he whispers as he stands close to her, I can still make out what he utters into her ear.
“Don’t say a word.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
RYKER
I need to act now. At the risk of exposing myself, I race down hallways and up stairs until I reach Everly’s room. Cameron is stationed there, leaning against the wall at the side of her door. He blocks my entrance.
“Move,” I order.
“No one’s allowed in. Senior’s orders.”
“She’s my fucking sister,” I hiss through gritted teeth, aware of the seconds ticking by, each of them with Mia at the mercy of a drunk Sebastian. If he’s anything like his father, his cruelty will come to the fore like never before. I’ve seen the way Senior acts around his girls when he’s drunk. I need to get Mia out of here and I need to do it now. But I can’t leave Everly. As soon as they discover that I’ve helped Mia escape, she will be the one to pay the price.
“Take a walk.”
Cameron shakes his head and folds his arms across his chest. “You know how it is, Ryker. I’m just following orders.”
I take a step back, then race at the door banging loudly and calling her name. I don’t care if anyone hears. I can make up excuses. I can claim frustration that Cameron wouldn’t allow me to see her. What I can’t do, is walk away.
“Everly! Everly!”
“What the fuck are you doing?” Cameron hisses, grabbing me from behind and wrapping his arms around me as though he can stop me. I allow him to drag me back because the door handle twists and a bleary-eyed Everly stands in the doorway.
“Ryker?” She rubs her eyes, looking between the two of us. “Cameron? What are you doing here?”
I reach for her hand and tug her towards me. “I need you to come with me.”
“But it’s the middle of the night.” She’s confused as I pull her down the hallway. But she stops, jerked back by Cameron grabbing her other hand.
“I can’t let you take her.” He shakes his head, though the movement is hesitant and unsure. He’s not used to working against me. He’s used to working with me.
“Your orders were that no one was allowed in. You’ve kept that promise.”
“What’s happening?” There’s an uncertainty to Everly’s voice. Fear. “Ryker tell me what’s going on. Where are you taking me?”
“It’s okay,” I quickly assure her, stepping between her and Cameron. “It’s just a misunderstanding. Everything is fine.” I lean close to Cameron, discreetly retrieving my knife and hold the blade just above his hip. “Don’t think I won’t use it,” I say so close to his ear Everly can’t hear.
Cameron nods once in understanding. “I didn’t let anyone in.” He backs away. “I was here all night. I didn’t see a thing.”
I nod and reach back for Everly’s hand. Her skin is hot and clammy. We start to walk down the hallway as I slide my knife back beneath my belt unnoticed.
“Ryker?” Cameron calls out. “Don’t make me be the one to pay for this. Remember all the times I’ve had your back.”
I don’t respond, racing down the hall, dragging Everly behind me. She stumbles as she runs, and I have to pull her to her feet.
“How much did you have to drink?”
“Senior said I could have as much as I wanted, just for tonight.” She pants as she speaks, the combination of being drunk and running, too much for her.
“I’m so confused, Ryker. Where are we going? Why are we running?”
I pull her into the room opposite Junior’s just before the door opens again. Looking at Everly with wide eyes, I bring my finger to my lips, begging her to remain quiet. She looks at me with confused eyes but does what I say as Junior exits with Mia’s friend, laughing as they stumble down the hallway.
He leans in close to whisper in Roxy’s ear. “I’ve got a friend who likes to watch.”
She slaps him playfully and laughs. “You pervert.”
I’ve got no time to wonder what they were doing.
“Wait here,” I warn Everly as soon as they disappear. I dash into the door they just exited, desperately praying that Mia is still inside.
“Mia?” I call out, spinning around, my eyes scanning the room for any sign of her. “Mia?”
A faint sound of banging comes from the closet. I rip the door open, not once stopping to wonder if it’s her or not, and find her bound and gagged, sitting on the bottom of the closet floor, eyes wide and cheeks stained with tears. Pulling her to me, I lift her out of the closet, turning to find Everly behind me. I freeze, and she reaches out to stroke a strand of Mia’s hair back from her face.
“Are you okay?” Her eyes are stuck on Mia. She takes in the material stuffed into her mouth and the binds around her feet and her hands as I lower her to the bed. “What’s happening? What’s going on. I don’t understand
.”
I work at the knot holding Mia’s gag in place, cursing at how tight and difficult it is. “I’ll explain everything later, I will, but for right now we need to get her out of here. We all need to get out of here.” I beg with her to understand. But her whole world is being confronted with a dark reality so different from anything she imagined it to be.
“Did—” I hear the gulp of her swallow. “Did Sebastian do this to her?”
I stop toying with Mia’s binds and turn to her, gripping her hands in mine and hoping the importance of our situation leeches through the connection. “I promise I will tell you everything later, but we need to leave. Now. Do you understand?”
She nods. Her chin wobbles and her eyes glaze over with tears, but she nods.
I turn back and continue working on Mia’s binds. “Are you okay?” I whisper. “Are you hurt? Everly, undo the knots around her hands, would you?”
Mia shakes her head as I finally work the knot free. She coughs and splutters as she draws in fresh air, but when she looks up at me, her eyes focus on something behind me and they enlarge with fear.
“Sebastian.”
I stay kneeling before her, my mind whirling. Reaching down I grip the handle of my knife.
“It’s Maestro to you, is it not?” He stalks closer to Mia. “I had a suspicion that you would be up to something. Your friend is fine, by the way. I made up some excuse in order to get her to leave so I could come back to you so quickly as I could. I didn’t want to leave you alone for long.” His gaze moves to me, rage dancing in the blue. “A wise decision, I see.”
Everly is unafraid of him, unaware of the monster that lives inside him. “What’s going on, Sebastian,” she demands. “Why was this girl locked in your closet?”
I get to my feet slowly and turn to face Sebastian, the handle of my knife firm and comforting within my grasp. “Junior.”
Sebastian glares back at me, his expression one of demented rage. “Move out of the way.”
I lift my chin, adrenaline pumping through my veins and shake my head. “Make me.”
My plan was to escape without incident, without anyone realizing until the next day. My plan wasn’t to enrage Senior any further than necessary. And it certainly wasn’t to hurt his son and ensure that he would chase us forever. My fingers tighten and loosen on the knife. All I would need to do is plunge it into his side, just like I did with Marcel. One sharp swift movement and he would crumple over, leaning onto me as he drew in his last breaths.
“Ryker?” Everly’s voice breaks through my reverie. “Ryker, he has a gun.”
The coward smiles. “The girl is right. I do.”
I hold myself back aware that any move on my part might put the girls at risk. “Everly, leave.”
Sebastian looks me straight in the eye as his hand shoots out and shoves Everly, causing her to fall to the floor. “Stay right where you are, Everly. Unless, of course, you’d like me to shoot your brother, right here, right now?”
Cold metal presses to my temple.
“I—I—I don’t understand.” Everly’s words are hiccupped through tears. “Sebastian, please—”
“Silence!”
I press against the coldness, daring him to pull the trigger. “We’re leaving.” I keep my voice cool and calm, in stark contrast to his. “I’m taking Everly and Mia with me and we’re never coming back.”
“My father won’t allow it.” Sebastian’s eye twitches with barely concealed rage. “I won’t allow it,” he corrects. “You forget that I’m the one who has a gun to your head.”
I instruct Everly and Mia to leave, pleading with them to leave me alone with the monster, but Everly shakes her head.
“No. I won’t leave you. Sebastian, you’re scaring me. Put down the gun. We’ll go to Senior and talk this through.”
She still doesn’t understand. She doesn’t know how deep the lies go. She doesn’t know how well they have deceived her.
“Your brother is trying to take what’s mine. I won’t allow it.”
“Pull the trigger then!” I bellow, startling him and forcing him backward. “Do it!” I taunt. “Pull the trigger!”
“Don’t think I won’t!” Sebastian yells back, but his fingers tremble, showing his fear.
He’s never done it before. He’s never pulled a trigger, used a knife or wrapped his fingers around someone’s throat until they ceased to exist.
And he can’t do it now.
I keep taunting him, insulting him, calling his bluff and provoking him until he is backed against the wall. But instead of cowering into a mess like I expect him to, he lowers the gun, pointing it lower on my body.
“Oh, I don’t plan on killing you, not yet. And for all your attempts at bravery, Ryker, you are forgetting one thing. Even with you gone, they will still be here.”
His words hit me harder than any bullet. My rage had clouded my mind, forgetting the truth of the fact that he has the upper hand. And he knows it. He sees it in my eyes as he pulls out his phone and instructs Cameron to come and guard the girls. If I resist, they will be the ones to pay.
Mia tries to intervene. She begs and pleads, promising to be his forever. I can’t look her in the eyes, knowing I have failed her once again as Sebastian leads me out the door.
He takes me to one of the unused stables at the back of the property, far away from the mansion and ties my wrists with rope that cuts into my flesh viciously. He leans down low and hisses in my ear.
“I’ll save you for later. Right now, it’s time for Mia to face her punishment.”
sebastian
CHAPTER THIRTY
SEBASTIAN
She’s nothing but a limp mess of flesh and bones on the bed once I’m done with her. She doesn’t look at me. She doesn’t move. She just lies there, one eye stuck on the ceiling as though it holds some secret I’m not privy to, the other swollen shut.
I finally let my monster loose. Before he had been chained. But tonight, I let him unfurl and unleash his rage. My blood hummed and hissed. It bubbled and it boiled until it overtook me, controlling my actions and feeding my desires.
I stand beside the bed, arms stretched wide and let out a roar.
I am a beast.
I am a lion.
I am a fucking god.
Mia’s one eye moves over to me. There’s no emotion held in it. No fear. No submission. No defiance. Nothing. Red welts grace her neck like pearls, hungry and raw. Her mouth is still secured tightly so no sound can escape. My eyes travel across the marks on her body, each a delicious memory I will treasure forever.
Or, at least until I make fresh ones.
Part of me wants to hoist her over my shoulder and dump her before Ryker, her suffering to be his punishment. But it is not enough. He deserves more. So much more. He is a bug on my shoe that I must crush. A stain on this earth which I am duty-bound to remove.
But not yet.
Not before I have made him suffer.
My father instructed me that she was out of bounds, but I think even he’d agree that this was a special situation.
Lifting my gun, I wave it in the air.
“You just stay there, my sweet songbird. I will be back for you soon.”
mia
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MIA
As soon as the door closes, I allow myself to cry. But with each shudder of breath, each whimper of sorrow, my body is racked in pain. At some stage during my punishment, he brought me back to my room. I don’t remember when. I don’t remember how, whether I walked or whether he carried me. All I know is that time stood still but the punishment lasted forever.
I keep seeing his face twisted with savagery. He was brutal. I hoped the earth would open up and swallow me. But it never did. I was never granted the escape of passing out. I was never granted the peace of going somewhere else in my mind. He kept me present, using words and imagery of how he was going to punish Ryker and Everly to ensure I could never let go.
And when
it was over, he let out an animalistic roar of triumph, rewarding the beast he had unleashed. It was then I understood his father keeping me from him at the beginning. It was then I understood his insistence that Ryker be the one to train me. If he had come to me like this the first time, I don’t think I would have survived.
Dragging myself off the bed, I get to my feet, clutching on the wall for support. The window is so far away but slowly I make my way there and pull back the curtains. The sun blinds me. It’s high in the sky. The festivities and celebrations of the night before are long gone.
And so is Roxy.
And Ryker.
And Everly.
I’ve never felt so alone.
The door bursts open but I am too tired and too sore to be scared. It’s only when I turn and see Everly’s frightened eyes that my body registers any emotion at all.
She gasps when she sees me and starts to run towards me, but Sebastian catches her hair and yanks her backward. He’s been up all night. His eyes are demented and glazed. He waves his gun around as though it is nothing more than a toy.
“Come with me,” he says in a sing-song voice, dragging Everly behind him. “Let’s go and visit Ryker.” He shoves a shirt at me instructing me to pull it on before twisting the hand with the gun into my hair, and dragging us both out the door.
The hallways are deserted. There’s no one here to save us. No one here to care. Even a glimpse of Senior would warm my heart right now. At least he would be able to pull his son back from the brink of insanity. But Sebastian just drags us through the house and outside with Everly crying and sobbing, pleading with him to stop. But he’s deaf to her cries. Or he revels in them. It’s hard to tell.
The stones of the gravel dig into my feet, but I don’t feel anything. It’s only when I fall to my knees and the pain reverberates through my entire body that I whimper. And then, all Sebastian does is drag me back to my feet, cursing and muttering under his breath. I don’t listen to what he says. I don’t care.