by KL Donn
Ignoring my little jab at him, King tells Daniel, “Continue. I know you aren’t here to share so little with us.”
“I think Andersson and the girl are key to capturing Thomas.”
“Talia,” I snarl. “Call her girl one more time, Danny boy, and I’ll slit your throat myself.”
“Sorry, boss.”
“Let’s use her then,” Luther suggests, and I want to kill him.
“No fucking way. Just because you used Ariel doesn’t mean I’ll serve Talia up on a silver fucking platter.” It’s a low blow, and I know it, but I don’t give two shits.
“Watch yourself, Cas, I can still whoop your ass.” Luther’s threat doesn’t scare me.
“You remember we had this conversation not too long ago, Luth? You remember being bitchy as fuck because your girl offered herself up when I suggested it, and I was sent to bumfuck nowhere. If you hadn’t sent me, I wouldn’t have Talia here. This is my choice, not yours.” I see the recognition in his eyes.
“What the fuck do we do then?” Luth bites out.
“We fucking storm that goddamn plantation until we find the weasel and kill anyone in our way!” I’m fucking ready to get this shit over with.
“Yes!” The blood thirst in Carver’s voice is more prominent than I’ve ever heard.
We all look to King. It’ll be his men we’re taking. “You two think you can do this without your feelings getting in the way?”
We both scoff. “Fuck feelings, these motherfuckers need to die,” Luther says.
“Carver will keep you both in line. I’ll stay with the girls. Daniel and Dimitri will go with you and whatever men you need.”
“The fucking cop?” I still haven’t met the man, so I don’t have a read on him and can’t trust his motives.
“Daniel, get him,” King commands.
As I explain the location of the plantation and all the roads, back and main, Daniel comes back with a large man. Dark hair and eyes blank, without a soul.
“This is Dimitri,” Daniel says, respect in his voice. The man obviously did something to impress the kid.
“You gonna rat us out when we kill these motherfuckers?” I ask, sizing up his worth with my own cold glare.
“Only if you don’t let me join the fun.” He smirks.
After a quiet, tense moment, I nod. “Andersson is mine.”
“Deal.”
TALIA
“Don’t fret, Talia, they’ll figure this out. They always do.” Ariel’s sweet in trying to soothe me when all I want to do is run into Castiel’s arms.
I overheard some of what they were talking about when the girls brought me to the kitchen to eat. Cas demanded they fill me up, saying I haven’t been eating properly.
I wish I could un-hear what they discussed.
Sold.
Me.
Why?
I don’t understand half of what’s going on other than people are going to die. Bad people. But people nonetheless.
“But why?” I ask my new friends—I guess. I know they don’t have an answer. Well, Ariel might. She is related to the McCray’s after all.
“There is no rhyme or reason to what they do, Talia. Don’t make yourself sick trying to figure it out,” Lilith says softly.
“I know.” I do, really. I just don’t want to be a burden. The broken girl always needing rescue. I wish Cas to see me as more. Want me as more.
Knowing I’m for sale, even with Timothy dead, I’ll always be an encumbrance. Someone has paid big money for me, and I fail to understand why.
I’m no one.
Nothing.
I’ve nothing to offer but tribulations.
“Get that look off your face,” Lilith demands. Her voice is hard.
“What look?” I ask. Hating that she can read me so easily.
“The one that says you’re ready to run. Castiel expects and deserves more from you. And I think if you look deep inside, you’ll see it, too.”
“I feel like it would be easier on all of you if I just went. Did what I was told.” I can’t look either woman in the eye. The very idea of leaving is more than my heart can bear.
“Look at me, Talia,” Ariel says. I meet her sympathetic gaze and breathe a sigh of relief that she isn’t judging me. “Luther found me as I was about to commit suicide. He literally caught me in mid-jump off a cliff. Lilith talked me off the edge not long after. Hell, I gave myself back to Timothy to get them the information to take the McCray’s down. I’ll tell you right now, these men, all of them, once one proclaims his ownership of you, they all do. They will walk through fire for us. And we for them.”
“What Ariel is saying is that you’re Castiel’s woman. That means you’re ours, too. Maybe not in the same way, but we’re family. As broken and twisted as we all may be, we work.” I smile at Lilith’s words because they ring true.
I don’t get a chance to speak as the men come walking into the room, grave looks on their faces. Lilith shouts, “I don’t fucking think so, King!”
Shocked that she yelled at him, I stare as his eyes narrow in on her. “Watch your mouth, Lil,” he hisses.
“No!” The woman is full of rage. “We just convinced her that we’re family. Fucked up as we are, she’s ours. Don’t make me a fucking liar.”
My gaze meets Castiel’s. His eyes full of more than anger. He looks like he’d like to kill someone.
Immediately, I know.
“You need me as bait?” I look to King and Luther, knowing they’ll give me a straight answer.
“Not quite.” A man I don’t recognize says.
“Then what?” I’m getting annoyed with the game playing.
“A simple phone call,” he replies.
“And a lie.” Daniel, who I’ve met on previous visits with Castiel, voices.
“Lie?” Confused, I look to Cas. “What lie?”
He stalks towards me, menace in every step. His arms trap me against the counter as he leans into me. “You,” he murmurs, “have to beg your father’s forgiveness. You have to swear your loyalty to him.” The words are ripped from his mouth. “You have to tell him I used you. I hurt you. Tossed you to the side. You need to make us all sound reckless and tell him we’re coming for him in one week, and that you’re on your way home.”
“I have to go back?” I can’t hide the tremor of fear.
“You have to make him believe you’re going back, Talia.” Cas’ tone is flat.
As soon as Talia makes the call, we leave. Hopping on a Jet Stream that King acquired on short notice after deciding he was going to come along after all.
Listening to Talia tell lies, beg forgiveness, and promise to do as her father bid, left me in a murderous rage. Hearing the twisted things Androph had planned for my woman made my desire to light his ass on fire even deeper than before. He wants her to submit to Gustave, a man I once stopped from beating his own wife. A man whose depravation runs sicker than my own.
If I could have gotten her to agree to it, I’d have locked her tiny ass up. As it is, I have to settle for guards on her six every hour of the day. Dimitri and Daniel had a fight over that one which made me wonder how close they really are.
The choice of which men to bring and which ones to stay behind and guard the most precious treasures to us was a tough call. In the end, we decided on bringing only eight extra men and leaving the rest to defend the girls.
“Landing in fifteen,” Luther calls from the front of the plane. Unwilling to trust the pilot, he rode in the cockpit.
Carver sits in one corner sharpening his knives. Knives that have seen far more blood than any other weapon in our arsenal. Unable to remain still, his legs have been bouncing since he sat down. I know, on this day, he’s going to have far more fun than any other.
Daniel and Dimitri are set in a glare-off and arguing quietly about something they won’t let anyone else hear about. I’ve walked past them twice on the flight, and both times, they shut up before I can learn anything.
&nbs
p; King is briefing the few men we’ve brought on the layout of Andersson’s plantation after I drew a sketch of the land. Being a far better sniper than anyone else, King wants me on the hill behind the property, figuring Thomas will run out the back if he’s still there.
At this point, all any of us wants is the self-righteous weasel fucking dead. I don’t care what King wants me to do so long as I get my hands on Androph. I’m putting him to ground before the sun sets fully. Nothing he says or does will stop me from that. The sooner he’s eliminated, the sooner Talia will be free of his life.
“You ready for this, Cas?” King stands before me.
“I’m ready to get these assholes off our backs.”
“Shoot to kill,” he tells me as the plane begins its descent.
Solemn looks enter the faces of each man as we recheck our weapons and make sure nothing gets left behind.
“It’s showtime!” Carver hisses as he departs first.
“Be here, ready and fucking waiting,” Luther orders the pilot, who just nods and looks ready to piss his pants.
Four SUVs are waiting for us as we disembark. Anticipation runs through my blood during the drive. Luther slows our vehicle as we come upon the hill I’ll be perched on. Shedding my coat, I grab my rifle and jump out.
“Give em hell, Cas!” he yells as I begin my trek into the shrubbery.
TALIA
I had to get away from Lilith and Ariel shortly after the guys left. Their happy attitudes were getting on my nerves. I understand they wanted to remain upbeat and positive. Keep me in good spirits. Except, right now, I need to be able to be upset and worry. We’re surrounded by men that are armed to the teeth, and I just want to be alone.
Locking myself in Cas’ room only seems to intensify the fears growing inside of me, so I trek out to the gardens that Lilith pointed out while we ate lunch.
Finding so much foliage, hidden nooks, and nature in such an ominous place gives me a sense of peace. I’m able to sit in the middle of the grass, close my eyes, and imagine the future. A future with Castiel as my everything. A future filled us and our dark desires. A future that, just maybe, might involve children of our own.
Most women wouldn’t dream of bringing new life into the evil often surrounding these men, but I’m not most women. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that Lilith was right. Once claimed, you belong to everyone. These men may be hard, dark, often times evil, but they are also loyal, fierce, and protective as anything I’ve ever seen.
“Talia.” Hearing my name being called from one of the walls surrounding the property, I gaze around. Not recognizing the voice, I stand, feet perched to run at a moment’s notice.
“Talia,” they call again.
Taking a step closer, I ask, “Who’s there?” As I take another one, there’s a rustle in the bushes.
“Talia.” Turning in a circle at the sound, I’m aggravated that I can’t see anyone. I’m more annoyed at myself for moving forward.
I should be running away not going closer. I can’t help myself, though. It’s like a horror movie where the idiots head towards the scary noises and get slaughtered instead of running.
Why can’t I go back? Why am I still walking? Ugh!
“Who’s there?” I ask again in a whispered voice.
“Talia.” In the back of my mind, I hear someone screaming go back, go back, but I can’t stop. And it isn’t until I’m face to face with Gustave and Thomas McCray that I even realize I’ve fallen into their stupid trap.
“Every bit as dumb as I thought.” Gustave laughs as Thomas grabs my arms.
“No!” I scream as loud as I can. “Let me go!”
I can hear people calling for me, but I’m too far from the house to be seen.
“Come quietly, and we won’t kill the girls,” Thomas sneers.
Shit.
I know they’ve already been tortured once. They’ve both gone through hell. How can I possibly be the reason for their demise as well as my own?
“Lead the way,” I grit out through clenched teeth.
CASTIEL
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
If they don’t have a long fucking beard or look like a rat, I’m picking them off like targets at the end of the range. Only my preferred target moves. Breathes. Screams when I miss the heart or head.
The recoil, a punch to the gut to most men, is like a stroke of my cock to me. Talia’s fist circling my flesh, pumping as I unload into her succulent mouth.
Fuck can that girl suck my dick like she was born to it.
Watching the bodies hit the ground sends a violent craving rushing through me to rip into Talia’s sweet ass. I want to pound her so hard that she screams until she comes apart.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The bodies pile up like a brick wall. Even with the knowledge that I’m here shooting them down, they still come. Their blood, a river of red overcasting the grass.
“You got either of them yet, Cas?” King comes over the comm in my ear.
“Nope. Just having fun shooting fish in a barrel.” The field behind the house is wide open, so even if I miss them the first time, I get a second go of it. They can’t escape my bullets no matter how hard they try.
“House is clear,” Luther says just as I spot the man I want exiting the back door.
“Got Androph in my sights,” I tell him.
Bang.
The most important body drops to his knees. My bullet embedded through his gut and into his spine.
“Got him,” I hiss, overcome with the need to let out my frustrations.
“Out back?” King asks.
“Yup.”
“He breathing?”
“For now.” I laugh as I walk out of the trees and into the setting sun. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes. I hope to fuck I’m the last thing any of these men see. Like an archangel coming for their souls. Damning them to hell. “Hey, Carver, have a little fun with the man.”
“With pleasure.” I can hear the sick amusement in his voice as I watch him come through the back door. Knife in hand. Smile like the Joker on his face.
If anyone were to look at him, they’d think he was just another man, even with the tattoos up his neck and down his arms; however, as soon as they met his dark gaze, they’d know the truth. Carver was no more than a stone-cold killer. The only pleasure he experiences is when he’s ripping someone apart. He baths in their screams of pain.
Screams from Androph propel birds into flight from their hidden perches in the trees as I approach. Carver is digging his knife into the man’s foot. Blood leaks from the side of Andersson’s mouth as he begs for mercy.
“Stop!” he screams again.
Carver looks to King. We all know he’s the only man who can rein in Carver’s sadistic edge. He’s the only one Carver will listen to when he’s quenching his thirst.
“Hey, man, this is Cas’ show,” King tells him.
“I think he’d look good with peg legs, don’t you, Carve?” I have no desire to be merciful to this piece of garbage.
I watch, fascinated, as Carver closes his eyes to slice the flesh just below the knee, exposing bone and muscle.
“Wait, wait, wait!” The man begs.
“What!”
“If you kill me, you’ll never know where McCray is or what he has planned.” A nasty light enters his eyes, and I have a feeling we’ve been played the fool.
“Call the girls,” I shout at King. “Speak, and maybe, I won’t burn you alive.” I tell Androph.
Fear flashes before defiance shows again. “Guess you already figured it out.” He laughs.
“What’s he want with them?” I growl. Luther steps forward.
“Talia’s missing,” King says as he hangs up.
“Where are they taking her?” I step on the bastard’s belly. The blood loss is wearing him out as he lays flat.
“To her new owner.” He laughs, more blood spurting from h
is mouth.
“Hey, Cas, thought you might like this,” Dimitri calls as he and Daniel come from around the house.
After handing me the gas can, I shake it a little. Hearing the liquid swish, I open it and pour it all over Andersson, who’s realizing exactly what’s going to happen.
Nodding to Carver, I wait for the man to beg again. He screams, but no words come out.
Luther hands me his zippo, and I flick it open. The small flame is all I need to light this man up. Kneeling, I tell him, “Last chance, or I burn you like a fucking Christmas tree.”
I see the war waging in his eyes. He wants to go out in a blaze of glory, but being lit on fire is going to fucking hurt for the minute or so he lives through it.
His mouth opens and closes like the fish I keep comparing him to before he finally speaks. “You have a warehouse. McCray thought it’d be a good idea to stick it to you that way. He plans on leaving a surprise as a parting gift.”
He’s fading quickly. “What kind of surprise?” I demand.
“A video. Of him and Gustave having their way with her.”
“That all?” I ask.
“Yes.” He groans, spitting up more blood. Flicking the zippo to a flame again, he cries out, “You promised!”
An evil smile overtakes my face. “I lied.” I drop the flame onto his chest and watch as he lights up. The sound of his screams doesn’t last nearly as long as the stench of his flesh. “Burn this place to the fucking ground,” I command as I walk away.
It wasn’t supposed to go down this way. They left to protect us. To eliminate the threat. In passing, I wonder if they have a mole. Someone who told my father the plan before it was executed, but then, I know that’s impossible because the men they left behind were kept in the dark on what was happening.
Nobody knows these men are here or that anything is going down tonight. I doubt Castiel and his guys have even landed in Louisiana yet. And here I am being taken hostage because of my morbid curiosity.
“Are you ready for some sweet Talia?” Gustave asks Thomas as he brushes his slimy hand down my cheek. The urge to bite him nearly overrides my common sense.