Vengeance (Out For Blood Book 2)

by CY Jones

  “You need to come up with new insults, Shadow. You’re starting to become redundant,” he mocks.

  “That will require me to think about you, and you’re not important enough to cross my mind,” I retort.

  “I’m the man with the keys. I will say that makes me very important. In fact, if you were to beg nicely on your knees with your warm mouth around cock, I might let you go.”

  “I'd rather cut out my tongue than have your small cock anywhere near me,” I growl.

  “Why lie to yourself, sweetheart? My dick is not small. Would you like me to show it to you?” he taunts.

  “Get the fuck out of here,” Silas roars, snapping out his trance.

  “You’re no longer the golden boy. You can’t order me to do shit,” Hangman replies. “You three must not want to get out of here that badly. If Shadow gives herself over to me, I’ll let you go. As his most loyal soldier, O’Donnell will not deny my request to keep her.”

  “I will never be your own personal fucktoy. Why don’t you go hang yourself with that rope of yours?” I tell the arsehole.

  “You’re not thinking clearly. Don’t you want to save the men you love? Unlike O’Donnell, I know what it really means to have a soul bound mate. You three need to take my offer seriously. I will come back in an hour for your answer,” he says, turning on his heel and out the door.

  “You’re not doing it,” Maddie growls from his cell, already set on an answer.

  “But he said he’ll let you two go. You’ll live,” I tell them trying to be rational.

  “Fuck no. What kind of life will we live knowing you’re living in misery as his sex slave? You’ve already sacrificed yourself once for us, I will not allow you to do it again,” Silas says, grabbing my shoulders, leaving me with no choice but to stare deep into his beautiful multicolored eyes. “I won’t let you do this. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” I answer softly.

  “We will find another way, little bird,” Maddie murmurs from his cell, and I hope he’s right. That we’re doing the right thing.

  In a way, I think this is Hangman’s way of trying to save me for my brother. I don’t think he will actually touch me without my permission, but I don’t tell them that. The thought is even ludicrous to me.

  When Hangman comes back for our plates, Silas happily tells him to fuck off. Glowering at all of us, he shouts how foolish we all are and leaves us be in our dark, dirty cells. Would it really have been that bad to give my body over to him so that the loves of my life can live? In theory no, but I know my men. They would not have been happy to live their lives knowing what I’m going through for them.

  Twenty-Eight

  Hangman’s last stand

  Remy

  The next couple of hours I lay on my back on the dingy mattress, staring up at the ceiling. None of us speak, content on sitting in compatible silence while we plot a way to escape. As far as I can tell we won’t be able to make a move until these cuffs are removed, or we find a way to break through them. I’ve tried and failed many times to do just that. It seems like I can’t do anything extraordinary like that unless I’m pissed, or put in an extreme situation.

  The sound of footsteps catches my attention before Hangman, Red, and one of O’Donnell’s hired goons enter within eyesight.

  “Time to get up.Your future death awaits,” Red says gleefully, and I stare at the wicked girl with a smug smile on my face.

  “Why are you smiling? Does your death excite you?” she questions.

  “Actually, it’s your new look. O’Donnell has plenty of healers that could have fixed your face. Apparently you’re not worth it to spare one on,” I answer as I take in the red and silver mask covering the right side of her face. The remaining half of her hair that she has left is gathered up in a topknot on the side of her head and the half that was burnt off is now completely shaved to her skull.

  “Your flames were made of hellfire. Only an angel can heal me,” she snarls.

  That’s new. I thought fire was fire. I seem to learn something new about my powers everyday. Mostly from my enemy.

  “And yet you are too proud to ask Alice for help, or you have and she has turned you down,” I laugh, which only serves to piss her off even more.

  She’s about to fling herself at my bars when Hangman grabs her by the collar of her dress stopping her.

  “Escort your brother upstairs. I’ll handle her,” he orders, and she does as she’s told giving me one last parting glare as she hauls her brother away.

  When Hangman opens mine and Silas’s cell, the hired thug quickly steps in and grabs Silas harshly by the arm to pull him out.

  "Wait for me upstairs. I’ll be there in a minute,” Hangman orders as he looks my body up and down. I’m still wearing the beautiful dress from the other night which is now a wrinkled dirty mess. “And Silas, if you try anything, I will slit her scrawny neck,” he tells him, and Silas lowers his shoulders in defeat. He will not make a move with my life on the line.

  “I will be fine,” I tell him as he walks past, trying to placate him.

  Once we’re alone Hangman makes his move, and grabs me by the neck pushing me hard against the wall. His face is only mere centimeters from my own. So close that I can see every facet of every color in his hazel eyes.

  “What are you doing?” I ask, barely able to breathe.

  “Change your mind, Shadow. Be mine. If I take you upstairs, what O’Donnell has planned does not end well. There is no happy ending,” he pleads, and then before I can answer he closes the distance kissing me hard.

  His tongue forces its way in between my lips, and he takes my mouth like a desperate man dying of thirst, scared that the source of water in front of him is nothing but a mirage. Using his other hand he pulls my hand down to his crotch so that I can feel his hardness straining against his jeans, and when I grip his cock through the fabric, he growls into my mouth. Moving his hand from my neck, his mouth starts to move down the column of my neck leaving a trail of tender soft kisses in its wake, and I give into the feeling. Closing my eyes, I tilt my head back onto the wall. I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to save me for my brother, because he loves him. He loves him enough to be with me, but I am not my brother. I can never fill that space in his heart.

  Lightly, I place my hands on his chest and push. With him distracted I’m able to push him back giving us both enough space to breathe.

  “Stop being stubborn, and take what I have to offer,” he growls. His lips are red and swollen, and I guess mine don’t look any different.

  “I can’t. I have mates. Mates that love me. I can't and will never give my body to you. You love my brother, not me.”

  “You’re being a damn fool. You saw what happened to Gabriel. Do you want that to happen to you, to your mates?” He pushes.

  “Of course not,” I shout.

  “Then take my deal,” he shouts back.

  We’re both silent, both breathing hard from whatever the fuck is going on with us. I feel something. I felt something when he kissed me this time. A pull that I have come across before many times over, but different. I don’t know what he is to me, or why he’s so desperate to save me if not for my brother’s sake. Willingly closing the distance between us, I palm his cheeks, and gaze deep into his eyes. Moving so close that our lips are close to touching.

  “I am not my brother, I cannot replace him,” I say gently, and through his gaze, I see something die inside him. I am not going to change my mind, and he knows it. Sighing hard, he nods his head and grabs onto my arm leading me out, and into an uncertain future.

  Once we make it upstairs to a barren room both my men look me over making sure that I am ok. When Maddie notices my swollen lips, he snarls in Hangman’s direction.

  “You’re such a whore. Did ye give Hangman a quick fuck thinking it will save your worthless life?” Red laughs.

  “Fuck you,” I spit out hatefully.

  “Looks like you have already done that,” she taunts
.

  “Enough,” Hangman shouts, tossing a burlap sack at Red. “This petty feud you two have going on is getting old. You won, she lost. Now get your shit together, we have a job to do,” he chastises the bitch.

  Taking the sack he held in his hands, he throws it over my head.

  “What the fuck,” I growl.

  “Shut up,” he responds, pressing hard onto my back so that I move forward. Nice Hangman, the one that pleaded for me to take his offer is gone, and now the cold assassin is in his place. Whatever we had before is gone once I crushed his hopes by turning him down. I choose love. I choose my mates, and I do not know what Hangman is to me. Maybe I’ll never know now.

  I can’t see anything through the sack. Which I guess is the point. I can only rely on my other senses as we’re lead to our death. I know exactly when we are all outside. A cool breeze runs across my bare arms caressing my skin, the sound of a loud click from doors unlocking rings in my ears, and the smell of expensive leather fills my nose as we’re pushed inside a car.

  Through the drive no one says a word. They’re all content on letting us wonder about our fate in silence. It’s actually worse than being told what will happen to us. My mind is blazing through many different scenarios of our end. I’m not going to lie, I’m scared. More scared than I have ever been in my entire life. I do not want to die. I’ve already lost two years of my life. How is this fair? But that is a lesson I already know. Life is not fair. Survival of the fittest, and all that jazz. Nature has already proven that fact. Why should my own existence be any different?

  We drive for what seems like forever. Far enough away that we have to stop to refuel the car twice before reaching our destination. When I hear the door opening and the sound of footsteps hitting gravel, I prepare myself. More than anything I wish I could have seen all my mates for the last time, and it was their lips on mine last and not Hangman’s. I wish my fathers well, and pray to whatever God there is that my brother can make it without me. He is strong, but I am and will always be his weakness, the same as he is for me.

  A warm hand grips my arm tightly forcing me out the car, and the voice of the man I wish to be in my place fills my ears.

  “Do ye wish to say anything?” O’Donnell asks.

  “Yes, I hope when my real dads finally kill you your death isn’t quick. That every death you’ve been responsible for torments you until you bleed out and the light leaves your eyes, and when you’re stewing in hell, I hope the devil will see you fit to burn forever as punishment for trying to take over his image.”

  “Defiant until the end. Goodbye, daughter.”

  The same person who pulled me out the car tugs on my arm, and pulls me forward away from O’Donnell. Breathing in Hangman’s scent of spicy leather, I wonder what his deal is. Why am I feeling this pull to him now? His grip is firm, but gentle. Will he be the one to put the bullet in my head? It seems like some kind of sick poetic justice if it is. We walk in silence, so quiet I swear he can hear the sound of my frantically beating heart pounding against my chest. It’s almost like we’re on a casual stroll, neither of us in a hurry to get to our destination. I wonder where Silas and Maddie are. I know they were in the car with me, because I can feel them, but now all I feel is the pull of the distance I’m putting between them, and whatever the fuck I’m feeling that’s putting Hangman in my path. Not a mate. At least not yet. It’s like he has a role to play that has not yet been completed.

  “Remy,” a familiar voice says, and my heart jumps. I must be dreaming. Going through one of my visions as I lay in that dingy cell, because there's no way he can be here, or maybe I have finally gone mad. But I know I’m not dreaming when the sack is lifted from my head, and a familiar pair of turquoise-blue eyes the same color of my own gaze straight back at me.

  “Rowen,” I whisper, and a tear slips from my eye.

  Closing the distance between us, he gathers me in his arms, and his familiar scent fills my nose bringing on a barrage of memories all at once. Memories of me and him happy together. There were never two people more close than us.

  “How are you here?” I ask when I pull back, holding him at arm's length.

  He doesn't answer. He pulls me closer, and hugs me tighter. We stay like this for a long time. Neither of us wanting to let go, fearing that we will shatter the dream as soon as we do. When he does finally pull away, he turns to Hangman who has not once tried to rush our long homecoming.

  “Where are the others? The deal is for all three of them?” Rowen says, narrowing his eyes.

  “The boss said only to take her. You will have to take that up with him yourself,” Hangman answers, and I catch the small tick in my brother’s jaw that he’s not pleased with this response. Whatever deal he made, O’Donnell is content on fucking him over.

  Row gives some kind of signal, and Hunter runs up to us and gathers me in his arms.

  “Damnit, siren, I’m so fucking glad to see you,” he murmurs against my skin.

  “Take my sister back. I will go speak with O’Donnell about upholding the whole deal,” Row orders, and Hunter gives him a funny look.

  Tossing the key to my cuffs to Hunter, Hangman instructs him to not unlock them until they are a safe distance away.

  “No Row, you can’t go back to talk to that madman,” I say, turning back to my brother. What the fuck is he thinking?

  “Bean, you know as well as I do that I don’t have a choice. You will not live if they die,” he answers logically.

  “Ok, but why does it have to be you? Send one of our dads or both. I know they’re here too.”

  “O’Donnell will not listen to anyone but me. Let me do this for you please,” he begs, and I feel my resolve slip. It’s pointless to try to change his mind. He’s as stubborn as me, and apparently as self sacrificing.

  Reluctantly, I let Hunter pull me away as Row leaves with Hangman to face off with the devil. What he said makes sense, but I cannot shake the feeling that this is wrong. That if I allow him to reach his destination, he will not be coming back.

  “Princess,” Cody says gathering me in his arms and twirling me around in the air.

  When he sets me back down to my feet, I look over his shoulder at my dads leaning anxiously on their SUV. My heart skips a beat to see them safe, but my body refuses to feel the same happiness. Something isn’t right. Something isn’t right keeps screaming in my head, and I remember Hangman’s words from earlier. What O’Donnell has planned does not end well. There is no happy ending. Letting me and my mates go does not add up unless….. A distance memory fills my mind. A conversation I once had with Rowen on the beach when I first found him after he ran. His heartfelt plea of why he did not tell me the truth about ourselves.

  Our mother has prophet blood in her. I must have taken after her, because I get visions as well. I saw firsthand what would happen if I told you. You died, bean. O’Donnell killed you the same way he did our mother, and he let your body burn in the very same compound you wish to see burn down to the ground. I saw you die, bean. Do you have any idea how deep that shite hurt me? You can go on without me, can survive, but me? I’m not that strong. I could never live in a world without you in it.

  “Come on, sweetheart, let's get you home,” Conners voice interrupts my reverie which only serves to bring my fears further to the surface. His body is tense, and they’re all anxious as fuck to get me away from here.

  “Take these cuffs off me,” I order Hunter, and he shakes his head.

  “Not until you’re safely in the car,” he answers.

  “Take these fucking cuffs off me, now,” I growl. I can feel my power gathering, no longer content to stay dormant, and I know without a doubt my eyes are glowing an unearthly blue.

  “I can’t,” he answers, looking down with shame.

  It’s as if his words are the last straw to break the camel's back, and my anger fills my body to the point of bursting. Pulling on my arm, I yank free from his grip, and take off down the road before either one of them can
stop me. Yanking my wrist apart even harder, I break the chain to my cuffs, severing whatever power the nullify stone held over me, and my powers rises to the surface. Row you stupid git, I will not let you die for me. As I run my power fuels my fire, and I give in to that feeling. Soon two feet turn into four paws as I shift mid run, and quickly close the distance between me and my brother. I can hear the sound of pursuit behind me, but I’m too far ahead for them to stop me.

  When the car I rode in comes into sight I howl as I take in the scene in front of me. My mates with their heads still covered with the burlap sacks on their knees on the ground execution style, and my brother. My poor naive, idiotic brother staring death in the eyes as O’Donnell holds out a Glock aimed at his forehead. He plans to kill my brother the same way he did our mother. I will not let that happen. I will not fail him like I did Silas’s mother. Hearing my wolf’s howl is just the distraction I need, because O’Donnell eyes widen in fear when he sees me coming for him.

  The events that pass almost feels like they happen in slow motion. Red pulls her gun and fires in my direction, and I dodge barely missing a bullet to the heart. With a shaky hand, O’Donnell pulls the trigger to his gun, and Hangman jumps in front of my brother, taking the hit, and they both fall to the ground. Dodging more bullets, I take down one of O’Donnell’s hired goons. My massive wolf jumps on him and snaps his neck between my strong jaws before shaking him free. Alice jumps into the frey, yanking me back by my tail before she’s blown back by a wall of fire as Cody keeps her at bay. Turning my attention back to O’Donnell, I run after him as he tries to escape in the waiting car, pulling the driver out, and throwing him onto the ground. When he tries to close the door, I clamp down hard on his wrist and hold tight, pulling him from the car. I relish in his shrieks of pain, and I bite down harder filling my mouth with his foul blood.

  With my focus solely on O’Donnell, I do not see when Alice gets to her feet and jumps into the passenger seat, nor do I notice the gun she pulls from behind her back until she shoots and the bullets hits my side, and my wolf whines in pain, but I do not lose my hold on O’Donnell. In a last ditch effort I bite down harder on my grip on him, and sever his hand from his body as I fly back onto the ground from the force. Through his screams of agony, he pushes down hard on the gas taking off in a cloud of dirt, leaving whatever men he has left standing behind. The sound of another car peels off in the distance, but I do not care. The only thing I care about is the large dark lump of my brother’s body lying on the ground. Shifting back to my human form, I drop to my knees over his body. Hangman is lying on top of him with blood bubbling from a large hole in his chest. I move him gently from my brother laying him beside him as I take in my brother’s injuries.