by T. L Hodel
Riley’s sapphire eyes rolled up, emotion glimmering under those thick lashes. “I love you, Micha.”
How long had I waited to hear those words?
This is the part where I declared my love for her. We run into each other’s arms and live happily ever after. That didn’t happen. I didn’t hold her. Didn’t tell her I loved her back. Didn’t even take a step closer.
I looked into those beautiful eyes, eyes I wanted to see every day for the rest of my life, and said, “Congratulations. You want a fucking cookie?”
I watched her heart break. Saw it tear apart in front of my eyes, feeling sick about it, but doing nothing.
“Right,” she whispered. A single tear rolled down her cheek staining her perfect skin like my cruelty stained her soul. “Sorry I bothered you.”
She turned and walked away, looking so broken, with her head hung and feet shuffling across the floor. I did that to her. I took this beautiful thing, and snapped it in half.
Stop her! Grab her! Kiss her! Do something! Don’t let her walk away!
“Riley.”
She stopped, hand on the doorknob. “Yeah?”
God, she was beautiful. Even now, heart broken and utterly destroyed, she was a goddess. Perfect in every way that mattered.
I swallowed my pain, said, “Nothing.”
I let her leave.
Because I was a fucking coward.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Riley
The first thing I felt was a sharp burn searing through my skull, followed by the cold hard surface under me, and how heavy my limbs were. It took a lot of effort to reach up and rub my temples. Even that didn’t dull the pounding ache throbbing in my ears.
I didn’t drink anything, did I? My mouth was so dry my tongue stuck to it, and when I swallowed, it felt like my throat was lined with sandpaper. Maybe I did drink? After Micha tore my heart out and stomped on it, I ran outside. Couldn’t breathe in the house. I remember standing by the fountain . . .
I shot up and immediately cried out, clutching my head. I was grabbed from behind and someone put a wet cloth over my face. Not just anyone. The Piper. I knew this because right before I passed out, he said, “I told you we’d meet soon little one.”
Shit! Was I really kidnapped?
One look at the stone walls told me, that yes, yes, I was indeed kidnapped.
And placed in a dungeon by the looks of it.
A torch burned on the wall in the far corner I could hear water dripping, and there was a musty smell in the air. In the middle of the room was stone slab with restraints, and on the other side, against the farthest wall, was a long table.
Wait . . . I’d seen that table before. Expect for the iron-barred gate across it, I knew that stone staircase, too. I gasped when a familiar whistle flowed down the dark tunnel.
This was the room Micha branded me in!
Since I had the dream, which Micha confirmed, I hadn’t really thought about it. My mind was so caught up on other things, I’d completely forgotten about it.
A groan to my left drew my attention to a darkened corner of the room. A crumpled-up form shifted. “Fuck. I didn’t think I drank that much.”
“Mason?”
I watched him push himself up to sit, and then glance around the room, brows furrowing in confusion. “Are we being punked?”
“More like kidnapped.” I stood and forced my heavy legs to move. Maybe the gate was unlocked?
“Really? You sure we’re not being punked, cause this seems like some sick shit Preston would do.”
“I’m sure.” I tugged on the gate, making the chain locked on the other side rattle. “Ever heard of someone called The Piper?”
“No.”
Guess I pissed him off when I told him yesterday to find another lackey. Wasn’t sure why he took Mason though?
“Well, that’s who took us.” I peeked through the metal bars. Nothing but more stairs.
Jesus, how far down are we?
“I wish I knew where we were.” I muttered to myself.
Mason grunted and jumped to his feet. “We’re in the basement.”
“So, everyone’s just up there?” My heart leapt with joy and I started yelling. Someone had to hear me.
“Oh God, stop yelling.” Mason groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Not the basement of the house. Just . . . the basement.”
“What? I don’t understand?”
“It’s where–“ He paused to sigh. “You know what? Let’s just say good things don’t happen down here, okay?”
“Alright then, oh wizard of basement knowledge,” I said. “How do we get out then?”
His green eyes rolled up to meet mine. “We don’t.”
“So, we’re just stuck here?”
“Pretty much.”
I couldn’t accept that. Mason could stand there if he wanted to, but I was going to find a way out. Or at the very least, a weapon.
My search began in the part of the room lit by the torch. I thought about using that – fire was a good weapon – but it was too high for me to reach. The rest of the room didn’t offer much more than a couple of small rocks, and a brittle branch.
“You’re wasting your time,” Mason said as I felt around the last corner of the room. “This room hasn’t been used in years. You’re not going to find anything.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do actually. I was the last one to use this room.”
I stopped and glared over at him. “What did you use it for?”
“Come on Riley . . . you know what I used it for.”
Images of being tied to that stone slab flashed through my mind. I touched the back of my neck, wishing I could feel a mark. A bump, a scratch, anything to remind me that if even for a fleeting second, someone wanted me.
He broke me, just like he said he would.
I lurched forward and hurled, throwing up what little contents my stomach had left on the floor.
“Who?” I whispered, whipping my mouth with the back of my hand.
“It doesn’t–”
“Who, Mason?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“God damnit who?” I demanded.
“The person I loved is dead okay,” he barked out angrily, “So just drop it.”
“Oh Mason,” I said, feeling like a complete ass. “I’m sorry.”
He brushed his hand down his face, smoothing out the scowl. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine,” I said, tears springing from my eyes as I slid down the wall to the cold floor. “No one should feel that kind of pain.”
“Micha?”
I remained silent, preferring to chew on my lip versus deal with the hollow ache in my chest.
Mason sighed, and slumped down beside me. “You told him you loved him, and he threw it back in your face, didn’t he?”
It hurt like hell to hear, but what did I expect? I knew not to give the devil my soul, yet somehow, he still took it. And he ripped it apart. My chin quivered as hot droplets dripped down my face. I didn’t stop Mason from wrapping his arms around me. I’d take the comfort. I needed the illusion. It was an empty comparison to what I craved, but it was better than nothing.
“He’s just afraid, you know.” Mason said in a soft voice. “He’ll come around.”
“Micha’s not afraid of anything,” I grumbled into his chest. The devil doesn’t feel fear, he causes it.
“Do you know how our mom died?”
Everybody knew that.
“She drove into Cherry Lake.”
“Yeah,” he sighed, and then quietly added, “with Micha and me in the backseat.”
What?
I looked up at Mason with my mouth hung open. Their mother tried to kill them? Oh my God! What kind of mother would do that? My chest ached when I thought about the look on Micha’s face as I walked out. It looked like he wanted to stop me, but he didn’t. Maybe he was afraid, and who could blame him? The first woman he loved, betrayed
him in the worst possible way.
And then I betrayed him with The Piper.
“Mason, I’m so sorry. Parents are supposed to take care of you and love you.”
“Doesn’t mean they do.” He shrugged. “Besides, I barely remember it.”
I wanted to cry for him, and for Micha, and Logan, and all the other kids who went through hell.
“It’s okay,” he said, tucking me under his arm. “And don’t worry about Micha. It might take him a bit to figure it, but he does love you.”
“Indeed he does.” We both sat up straight, suddenly alert at the sound of a new voice. A tall man with short blonde hair and bright green eyes swung the gate open and stepped in the room. “I have to hand it to you, little one. I thought it would take longer for him to fall, but it seems the boy was halfway there before the game even stared.”
I scanned his black jeans and white shirt. Though his face was cloaked in shadows, he seemed oddly familiar. “There was no game.”
He tipped his head and I could make out a smirk tugging on the corner of his mouth. “There’s always a game.”
He stepped into the light and Mason swore under his breath. “Ryker.”
My nose crinkled. Who was Ryker? Should I know that name? Mason sure didn’t seem to like him. His arm tensed around me as he pulled us both off the floor and onto our feet. I recognized the stance he took. It was defensive, which considering Mason was the attack first type, didn’t exactly pose well for us.
I leaned over and whispered, “Who is he?”
“I’m disappointed. We are practically family after all,” Ryker said, giving me a small frown. “Your father did marry my wife.”
It was then that I saw the similarities. The way his jade eyes sharpened. How his mouth tipped up just a bit on the right. Ryker was Logan’s dad, the same man that gave him all those scars.
“You’re a piece of shit,” I growled loudly. “What kind of man beats his own son. What’s a matter, don’t have the stones to pick on someone your own size? You have to target a little boy.”
“Riley, don’t.” Mason tried to stop me when I stomped forward.
I should’ve been scared, maybe kept my cool? But all I could see was that look in Logan’s eyes. I wanted to punch his dad. Hell, if I could, I’d dig up Micha’s mom and punch her, too. My mom was a drunk, and my dad signed that contract. They weren’t winning parent of the year, but they would never do something like that.
“You don’t deserve the title father.” Ryker cocked his head, and watched me march closer. The amusement in his eyes only fueled the fire raging through me. “I’m not afraid of you. You’re pathetic. A nobody. A cow–.”
His fist shot, hitting me in the gut, and knocking all the air out of my body. I crumpled over, gasping through the pain climbing my ribs to suck in more oxygen.
“You son of a–”
The sound of a gun cocking shut Mason up. “Sit down, boy.”
“Fuck you,” I growled through my coughs.
“Such a big mouth for a such little girl.” Ryker crouched and swept away the hair stuck on my forehead. “My son would still be standing right now.”
I couldn’t have fought if I wanted to when Ryker hefted me over his shoulder. Pain had rendered my body useless.
“Why are you doing this?” I squeaked out.
“I have many different reasons,” Ryker answered. “Betrayal, revenge, things like that.”
He dropped me on the stone slab, and I cried out as a hot slice of pain shot up my spine.
“The Kings wanted me gone, and they used my son to do it.”
Who are the Kings?
Before I could ask, or catch my breath, cuffs were clipped around my wrists.
“My own flesh and blood. Can you imagine?” He grabbed my leg and paused to look off in the distance. “I think that was the only time I was proud of the boy, but he couldn’t even do that properly.” After securing my ankle, Ryker moved to my last free limb. “I suppose I can’t say much more for my other son, either.”
I tried to kick out of his grasp, but it was no use. Once the metal cuff was clipped around my ankle, completely securing me to the slab, Ryker sauntered around, and looked down at me. “Isn’t that right Mason?”
Oh my God! The eyes!
Both Mason and Logan had the same deep green color as their father.
I looked over at Mason, who didn’t seem surprised. “You knew?”
“He knew,” Ryker answered for him. “Should’ve seen his face when he read the paternity papers. Instead of doing something about it, he buried himself in a mountain of drugs and alcohol. Sad really, I had hope for the boy.”
I looked over, wishing I could comfort Mason. He swallowed and turned guiltily away. This man didn’t just drive his own son to become an addict, he watched it happen. I’d have done anything to stop Mom.
“So, that’s why you’re doing this? Because Mason’s a Kessler?” I lifted my head as far as the binds would let me. “Good. He’s better off. You. Don’t. Deserve him.”
Ryker barked out a laugh. “I like you. You’ve got spunk.”
“Why don’t you uncuff me and I’ll show you how much spunk I have,” I growled, tugging on my binds.
“As much fun as that would be, it would accomplish nothing. It’s the keys to the kingdom that I want, and you and Mason are my ticket to that.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know who you think you kidnapped, but Mason and I don’t have the keys to anything.”
Mason’s dad was a shrink, and mine was a cop. What was he after? Some therapy sessions and a little prison time?
“As you so willingly pointed out, Mason is a Kessler, and you little one,” Ryker’s green eyes locked with mine, “are the golden boy’s finest prize.”
This wasn’t about Mason or me. He was doing this to get to– “Micha.”
“Close, but my aim is higher. It’s Louis I want, and what better way to eliminate the King, than to destroy his son?”
My heart picked up, pounding in my chest. I couldn’t let him hurt Micha, I wouldn’t. “I don’t care what you do to me, I won’t play your sick games.”
Ryker’s gaze narrowed. “I believe you.”
My cheeks puffed out with my exhale. Unfortunately, my relief didn’t last long.
“Mason,” Ryker called, “come here, son.”
When Mason didn’t move, he pressed the gun against my temple.
Mason pushed off the wall, and cautiously walked over. We looked at each other, not needing to say anything. Whatever happened now, it was just us. We were all the other had, and that would have to be enough.
Nothing could’ve prepared either of us for what Ryker said next.
“I’m going to give you a choice, son. You can climb on top of your brother’s girlfriend and fuck her or I’ll do it.” He held up the gun, “with this. You have thirty seconds to decide.”
My chest heaved as I glanced back and forth between Mason’s wide eyes and the gun in Ryker’s hand.
“You’re bigger. You can take him,” I tried desperately.
“I can’t.” Mason apologized with his eyes. “He’s a Navy Seal. He’d shoot us both before I got the gun away from him.”
“He’s right.” Ryker nodded at me, while tapping his watch. “Tick tock, Mason.”
Mason pressed his forehead down on mine and released a shuddered breath. “I’ll be quick, I promise.”
Ryker wanted to hurt me, Mason didn’t, and we were all out of options. Ryker could make us do this, he could try and rip us apart with his fucked-up games. But maybe, I could make this one hurt a little less for Mason.
I tipped my chin to give him a gentle kiss and whispered, “I trust you.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Micha
Someone kicked the back of the couch, jarring me awake.
“Micha, wake up!”
Don’t know who was yelling at me, just that they were too fucking loud.
“Fuck off,” I gru
mbled, throwing my arm over my face.
I wasn’t ready to get up yet, because when I did, I’d have to see that look in Riley’s eyes.
“Alright, that’s it. You brought this on yourself, son.”
What the fuck was my father doing here?
My head was pounding and my body ached. I spend most of last night punching the wall, and was not in the mood to deal with him. Guess he didn’t agree, because next thing I knew, the couch was tipped, flopping me on the floor with a thud.
“What the fuck!” I growled, sitting up to glare at my father. Logan was with him. The scowl on their faces told me I wasn’t going to like what they had to say.
Too fucking bad.
“Do you know where your brother and your girlfriend are?” my father asked.
Fuck!
Mase did it. He actually fucked Riley. I knew I should’ve watched the prick. “I’m gonna fucking kill him.”
“It’s worse than that.” Logan said, throwing me my father’s phone.
I looked down at the cued-up video.
“Press play.”
I cocked a brow at Logan and did as he said.
Ryker’s face appeared, looking as smug as ever.
“Hello, Louis. I hadn’t planned on having this conversation so soon, but Riley refused to cooperate so I had to speed things up. You and the Kings thought you had me, but you seem to forget I’m always one step ahead. Though, I gotta say, using my own son was pretty genius. I’m a little impressed that the boy had it in him.”
My stomach churned. Ryker wasn’t reckless. He had eight years to plan his revenge. If he came out of the shadows, and contacted my father, it was because he wanted us all to know he was alive. Which meant he thought he had the upper hand.
“You and the Kings played me and now it’s my turn. I only have one question for you, old friend. Do you know where your kids are?”
The video cut off.
Dread settled heavy in my gut. “Where’s Mase?”
“We can’t find him.” Logan gave me a worried look. “Can’t find Riley, either.”
“What? No,” I shook my head, knowing the words were a lie before they left my mouth. “He wouldn’t take Riley. She’s nothing to him.”