by Dark,A. A.
“Everleigh.” He paused and a sigh escaped. “I killed Master Norris. I just thought you should know.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I think you know why. I also think you’ve learned your lesson. We’re even. I raped you, you raped me with a pair of fucking scissors. You paid for your crime. It’s over.”
“Over?” My head shook. “It’s not over. You’re still wearing your face.” I let a slight smile come, forcing myself to take two steps toward him. West instantly balled his fists but kept his ground.
“That’s not funny, Everleigh. I know you don’t mean that. Enough of this. Just tell me you’re sorry and we can go home. We can see this as a pivotal moment in our marriage and learn from our mistakes. I’ve learned,” he said, tightening his lips. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about this and I realize that I hurt you. Not just physically, again, but … here,” he said, patting his hand over his chest. “I keep doing that—hurting you. I don’t want to. Not really, but I do, and I have to figure out how to stop. I can find something to take the focus off of you. We can get through this. I know we can.” He reached for me, curling his fingers as he seemed to hesitate in his decision. “It’s going to take time for me to trust you again. You’ll have to be cuffed to the bed at night because, well, you know. Anyway … I want you back. I want you to come home. I fucked up. I’m sorry. Be my wife, again. We were perfect before this happened. We can get that back.”
Emotions twisted inside of me. His words were everything the weak slave wanted to hear. It caused relief within her to swell so big that she could have died happily in that moment. The confliction my two personalities battled nearly brought me to tears. This wasn’t West. Not the real West. I’d seen him the numerous times he’d raped and beat me. So why didn’t the slave care? Why was she almost willing to take the horrible possibilities if it meant having the comfort of his love?
“Our perfect marriage wasn’t real. It was all pretend. I told you what I did to Eli. You’ve seen who I am. I can’t just go back and act like everything will be okay and we will work this out. Not when I’m dying to unlace those stitches and get back to what I started.”
Disgust and a tinge of fear appeared as he shook his head. “Stop saying that. You’re just afraid I’m going to hurt you again. You love me. I know you do. I’ve seen the real you. You can try to deny your feelings all you want. Deny them to me, to you, but we both know deep down that I’m the one who has your heart. I stole it from Bram and now it belongs to me, just like you do. Until your last breath, you’re mine.”
Eleven slowly rose to sit and I saw West’s eyes shoot over.
“I want a divorce.”
My words tumbled out from the panic that he might direct his anger at Eleven. West’s attention shot back to me and my sigh was almost a bit too loud.
“Excuse me?”
“I want a divorce. I’m a Mistress. I’m getting my own apartment. I don’t want to be married to you anymore. I don’t want to even see you. You have my word that if you keep your distance I will not come after you again. I just want to be left alone.”
“With him?” West’s rage intensified and his evil side came to life as he stepped closer. “Do you really think I’m going to let you live with another man, slave or not? Let you use or fuck someone else?”
“No one is ever touching me again,” I said, matching his anger. “Not him, not you. All men are liars. I hate men. From now on, I take care of myself. Starting with a divorce.”
“Never. You can try to divorce me all you want, but I’m telling you right now you will die as Everleigh Harper one way or another. Till death do we part, wife. Death!”
A yell left me as my unstable mind soared from the threat. “Then someday when you’re not expecting it I will come for you. I will finish the job and one of us will surely die. Although I do not think it will be me, I’m not afraid to leave this place. But you … you are. I saw your fear, husband. I saw what you look like when the devil knocks at your door. How does it feel knowing the one you love is the same person who’s going to rob you of your last breath?”
West’s eyes traveled over my face and he moved in, closing the distance. “I’m sure it rivals what it must feel like to turn your back on the only person who’s ever going to care about you. Does it hurt, baby? Is your heart mourning my loss? I bet all you want to do is drop this façade and throw yourself into my arms. You must feel so cold hiding behind those stone walls that hold you together. You can stop this, you know. All you have to do is come to me,” he said, holding out his arms. “Wrap yourself around me and we will never speak another word of this.”
The gesture was torture to my slave. And I broke her heart by staying in place. “You really want me so close? Don’t you fear for your face? For your life?”
“Look at you, pretending to be brave. Fine. You want to play this game; I’ll play. You like violence? You like cutting people up so much? As Main Master, I’m about to make your wildest dreams come true. In roughly one hour you’re to report to City Center. As a supportive husband, I will sate this sick need you have. You can now torture and kill as many people as you like … executioner.”
“W-what?”
My voice gave out and I barely recalled taking a step away from him.
“You heard me. What kind of husband would I be if I didn’t try my hardest to help ease my wife’s new compulsion? I’m sure the board won’t mind after what you’ve done. You clearly feel you’ll hurt me, again. It only makes sense to give you what you need so you can get this out of your system and come home. Surely, you don’t object?”
“I do object. I am no executioner. The only one I want dead is you!”
West smiled, shrugging. “I’m sorry, but I don’t agree. I’ve watched you in the red lights. You enjoy spilling blood. I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in this matter. Unless, of course, you think you can gain control over this need to harm me and come home so we can make this right?”
“I will never come back to you.”
“Then I hope you enjoy killing your own kind. See you in an hour. I do believe we have a young one for you. I wonder what the wheel will stop on this time?”
The door barely shut behind West before I was spinning and racing for the toilet. The heaves pulled at my empty stomach and I was glad I couldn’t eat the food that had been brought, earlier.
West would make this hard on me. He’d find my weaknesses and use them against me.
“Mistress?”
A hand settled on my back and I jumped, slapping to the side to try to get Eleven away. I couldn’t handle touch. I couldn’t bear any sort of closeness to anyone right now.
Bile burned my throat and tears escaped from my eyes. I was so drained by the time I was finished that I could barely walk to the sink to wash out my mouth.
“I know you don’t want to acknowledge me right now, but I need you to hear me out. You have one of two options. One, you go back to him and one of you kills the other. It’ll happen after what I saw. Or two …” I glanced up, collapsing to the bed as I listened. “You become the executioner. You kill whoever he sends before you and you do it with a big fucking smile on your face. It’s not something anyone should have to do, but if you’re going to have a life in any way, you have to block out the victims and do whatever is needed. They’re going to die anyway. We both know that. Who takes their life makes no difference. That’s just the way this place works.”
“I hate it here,” I whispered. “I should have escaped when I had the chance. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Whatever it was, it’s irrelevant now. This is your life. I am your life. I need you,” he said, lowly. “We’ll talk about escape later. For now, you have to be strong. You can do this, and afterward, I will be there for you. I’ll do my best to be a good slave.”
Chapter 11
Bram
Duty, honor, love.
Love never came first. It hadn’t in all my years. Just because I
found it once didn’t mean the emotion could bypass what I knew had to happen. Maybe revenge intertwining with duty had blinded me from who my heart phantomly ached for. Everleigh had been all I wanted. Everything I had ever wanted. But what West had done when he had me stabbed—who I saw him turn into afterward, fed the man I’d kept locked away inside of me. The evil I harbored was the only side that existed anymore. I wanted him to pay. I wanted him to suffer worse than what I was seeing and couldn’t stop. I wanted him to think he had it all, only to watch his horror when he realized it was never his to begin with.
Dr. Cortez said my state of mind was normal due to all the surgeries I’d had to repair my heart. All fucking three of them. Depression, numbness of emotions, they were commonly associated with major operations. Especially, the heart. But emotions aside, what I’d undergone took a toll on my appearance as well. I looked more on the verge of death, than life. The dark circles, the weight loss. I was weak. I should have cared more than I did, but I didn’t. Nothing mattered but catching up on what I had missed during all my time of recovery. I’d only been able to start the footage a week and a half ago between sleep, but already I knew West was a dead man.
There was nowhere I was associated with that didn’t have cameras present. Whitlock, my penthouse in Chicago, even my limo. I had footage of everything. It was a safeguard in case there came a point where I needed to see something. And luckily, I had taken the steps to witness what my best friend couldn’t hide.
Rape. More rape. Beatings. Making her skin the red-headed girl. A lashing. I was fucking sick at what happen to my slave. I thought I had her safeguarded. I was led to believe she was okay while I was recovering. It was all a lie—a secret my guards kept from me until I healed enough to be able to handle the truth. And now I knew.
Nothing was going to stop the wrath I planned to bring to everyone who betrayed me. Not just West, but the Masters who followed him. I had nothing left to lose. The world thought I was dead and they could continue to believe so. I’d never go back. Whitlock was my curse. Now, I’d make this damned place burn with us all.
“Master, they’re coming, again.”
My lids lowered the smallest amount and I turned away from the view of my window. My apartment on the fourth floor was safe. What no one knew was all throughout Whitlock there were hidden passages. Secret doors and safe little panic rooms. Not all apartments had them, but some. And this one was a gem. It used to belong to one of the board members under my grandfather. I could get anywhere in Whitlock from this place. Lately, when I wasn’t trying to self-destruct, I did.
“That’s three times in two hours. You think we’re getting under West’s skin?”
Derek threw me a look. “That’s the understatement of the year. It was Master Norris. Bastard. I told you we should have killed him.”
I clenched my teeth, following through the hidden door in the closet. “He needed to tell him. I only wish I could have traded places with West. I would have made him suffer a million times worse than that little show he gave us.”
The room opened up into a smaller one that housed two chairs and two cots. I went right to my computer, pulling up the footage. With the screen split into four, I took in Everleigh’s white room, West’s bedroom, the apartment I was in, and the hall leading to my place.
Derek was right. Guards darted down the hall, pushing open the doors and going inside in groups of two. Although I should have been cautious of them finding me, I felt nothing but the anger that festered. Rage was the only thing I felt anymore.
I enlarged Everleigh’s room, putting on the headphones so I could hear what was being said. I hadn’t checked on her live feed for hours. I’d been so lost in catching up on her and the other Masters from weeks ago that time flew by. I ended on her murder of Eli. A murder I hadn’t even known had happened had Derek not filled me in on the details of why Everleigh walked out covered in blood. Her confession to West had gotten around. If it was true or not, I wasn’t sure.
“It’s going to be okay, Mistress. Look at me.”
My pulse increased through the hatred as I took in twenty-three-two-eleven. He was so much older than I remembered, but there was no mistaken my father’s precious slave.
“I don’t want to do this,” Everleigh whispered. “I know I have to, but … what if I can’t?”
“He wants you to fail and give into his demands. He wants you to go back with him. Only you can put him in his place.”
“What if I talked with Master Kunken? Maybe he could—“
“He left you here for almost a week longer than he had to. He’s playing both sides. The Master will not help you from what your husband wants.”
I growled, then. I couldn’t bear to hear that term associated with my slave. Husband. The word stabbed through my heart worse than that fucking knife ever had. Married? He fucking married her? My Everleigh? Yes, of course he had. Watching their wedding was one of the hardest things I had ever gone through. It was the only thing that hit a chord for the love I had for her, but it didn’t bring it back. Not like I prayed it would.
“You’re right.” She said, sniffling, and wiping away a tear. “There’s no way around it. I’m going to have to go out there and become what they all want. I have to be the executioner.”
I shot up to sit straighter, shaking my head. Executioner? What the hell had I missed?
“Remember what I said. You’re stronger than him. Here,” he said, placing his finger against her temple.
Their voices were so quiet that I strained to hear.
“I am. No one can break me. Not him, not the Masters. I will show West that I’m not to be messed with. He can try to push me all he wants, but my pull is stronger. I will rise, Eleven. I will rise and I will win over everyone here. Then, when I kill my husband, I will rule,” she said, grinning. “No one will ever dare mess with me by the time I’m finished.”
A smile came to the slave’s face and I saw his sudden awe. I turned to Derek, who I knew was watching the feed on the guards, and removed the headphones.
“You’re positive twenty-three-two-eleven can be trusted? I can’t stand him being so close to Everleigh.”
“I give my word, Main Master. He won’t hurt her. He’ll stick with the plan. It’s the only way he believes he’ll escape this place.”
“Not good enough. I don’t like this. I can’t even believe I let you convince me. You never told me the extent of your relationship with him.”
Derek glanced to the monitor he watched and I could see how uncomfortable he was.
“Eleven, as they refer to him, and I, have known each other for a long time. I met him shortly after you locked him away in the White Room. I was pulling guard there for a while and we kept crossing paths. We became lovers. Years later, we’re still just as close.”
I blinked through my surprise. “Lovers? Do you … care for him? As in, love him?”
Derek wouldn’t meet my stare. “I do, but that will not interfere with my duties. I know I could never actually set him free. When he learns the truth, I believe he’ll never speak to me again. Especially after he’s returned to the White Room. I’ve accepted that.”
“Good, because you’re right. He can never leave Whitlock. None of us can.” My voice dropped and I went to take in the feed of Everleigh, again. A guard was handing her an outfit covered in plastic. She seemed nervous, but she reached out and took it while Eleven was handed some sort of plastic box.
God, how had things gotten to this point? Only months ago, she was my scared little mouse. There was nothing skittish about her reactions anymore. The slave I once loved had grown into a woman I didn’t even recognize. She held herself taller. It was as if she’d been through so much hell, she didn’t fear facing the worst. Sure, she had apprehension, but she wasn’t a sobbing, crying mess, refusing to do what she was being forced to. She wasn’t begging for mercy. No. Everleigh wouldn’t after what I’d seen.
“It appears we have a new executioner,” I said, glancin
g back over to Derek.
“Executioner?”
I nodded, pushing to stand. “It seems as through West is trying to trap her into going back with him. Either she gives in or she executes the slaves in City Center.” My head shook. “Fuck, I don’t like this. Something isn’t right. Eleven mentioned Master Kunken keeping them there a week longer. Have you heard anything on that?”
“He’s setting her up living quarters. Although … the guards on our side haven’t heard anything at all about the cleaning or preparing of anything. All remains quiet. Rarely does anyone speak of anything concerning Master Harper’s situation.”
“No, but Master Kunken is smarter than he gets credit for. He’s up to something,” I said, lowly. “He wouldn’t need a week. He’s either in with West, which I can see, or he has ulterior motives for her. That would be too risky. Dammit. I need to get caught up on what is happening. There’re so many angles to watch. So many sides.”
My eyes closed and I couldn’t deny how tired I felt. My body was still so weak. Still healing. I should have been resting as much as I could, yet I spent almost all night walking the fortress until dawn. I couldn’t help it. I was trapped on what I should do and what I wanted. A part of me longed to have Everleigh under my care—safe. But that part was forced and it ate at me even more. I wanted it because I knew it was right. Not because I actually felt the need to keep her protected. Nothing had turned out like it was supposed to. Lyle, my former High Leader, had all of this sorted out. After he was killed, it all went to shit. Everything I’d spent days perfecting … gone. Chaos erupted and West got the upper hand. Until I was healed, he’d have that over me. The guards were terrified to even let my name slip off their tongue. Trying to convince them I was still alive and to take my side wasn’t as easy as I had first thought it might be.