by Liza James
"That guy, he's the one who helped Dom out of the clinic, right?" she asks me, and I vaguely recognize him as someone else I've seen before then. The night he was at the club, hounding me about my fighting. "Fuck, yeah. I forgot I've met him before. He came to the club once and was trying to talk to me about my fights. But no one knew of them then so I told him to fuck off."
"He probably loved that," she mutters sarcastically, but falls silent when we see Dom pull up to the curb in a large white van. Blacked out windows, dents and chipped paint spattering the sides of it.
An uneasy feeling springs in my chest. "We're missing one—" I say quietly, realizing my dad isn't in sight. A low and uncomfortable growl burns in my chest unintentionally, and Ruby looks over with wide eyes. "Down tiger, fuck. Keep that shit together until we're making them bleed."
I'm caught off guard my own reaction and pull everything back, shaking my head while trying to stay calm as I witness every man who's hurt Lyp over the last several weeks. I'm about to tell Ruby to call the cops now, let them know we're watching a drug deal when the cold, hard feeling of metal digs into the back of my skull and freezes my movements.
"Stupid, honestly. You've always been fucking stupid." My dad's low voice snarls behind us, a sick sound of satisfaction and annoyance. Ruby straightens her spine beside me, and I have to reach out and grab her wrist in order to stop her from whipping around and getting us both killed already.
She sighs in frustration, and I slowly turn on my heels to face the evil, sadistic eyes of the man who fathered me.
I say that lightly, reminding myself he was never a father.
"Didn't bring the girls, I see. That surprises me honestly, I wouldn't think you'd like to watch her ripped apart by greedy men in need of a fuck before they kill her." He turns his gaze to Ruby, the gun still pressed against my forehead now. "And you. I've heard all about you. Clearly, you never learn as well."
"Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you," I suddenly say, catching his attention when I swing one hand up to grip his wrist at the same time I knock the gun free of his hold with the other.
My knee comes up and slams into his crotch, while Ruby reaches for his gun and pulls it into her hands. My dad doubles over, groaning loudly while I grip his hair and drag him to the ground. He's distracted by the pain between his legs, so I have a moment to yank his head up and smash it into the cement. Blood splatters my hands as it seeps from the side of his skull and his hands frantically reach for my throat as he yanks me to the side.
Before Ruby even has a chance to pull the trigger, I hear the sound of her fighting against someone else. When I turn to look, Dom's strong arms are holding her back while my brother and Jed strip her of the gun.
I don't think they've found her knife, and when her eyes meet mine, I know she's keeping that secret concealed.
"Did you honestly think you could take all four of us?" Dom's low voice grates against our ears. The way he says it flashes over my mind in waves of remorse—this was a bad idea and part of me doesn't know why I made this decision.
I genuinely thought we could handle this. Or maybe, subconsciously, I thought my brother and father would pull out one last redeeming splinter of hope and would end up choosing me over their addiction.
Fucking stupid. He was right, this was fucking stupid.
Ruby is suddenly yanked away and when I scramble up to my feet, my brother grabs me next, throwing me over his shoulder and walking alongside Dom.
"You don't have to do this, you know," I remind him, tugging at the failed tether of blood between us. It means nothing, but I can at least try. "I'm your sister, Alex. Your fucking sister."
"What is that supposed to mean to me, K?" he says, his tone flat and dry with absolutely no emotion.
And it stings. Holy hell, it's the first time in years something he's said has actually stung.
I'm feeling too many things again, letting my guard slip with Lyp has weakened it in other places as well.
"Fuck you, you worthless piece of shit," I snap, slamming my fists into his lower back as I throw my weight and yank my knee toward his face at the same time. It connects, smashing over his nose as he cries out and accidentally drops me. I immediately turn to break away, but his hand wraps into my hair and he jerks me back so roughly I yell. Instead of lifting me back over his shoulder he drags me by my hair, my feet frantically scrambling beneath me as I try to walk.
But he's too quick, and I keep slipping as the cement scrapes across my skin and my hair stings over my scalp.
"Fucking cunt," he says angrily, shoving me into the back of the van alongside Ruby. We both tumble inside, shifting toward each other when Dom slams the doors behind us.
"Well shit," she mutters, moving back so she's resting against one side of the van.
"We still have our phones," I quickly remember, racing to pull mine out and check my service. Ruby does the same, but hers suddenly dies as soon as she illuminates the screen.
"Goddamn it," I say, quickly dialing in 911 before someone climbs in the driver’s seat. Immediately, there's an answer and the first shred of hope blooms in my chest. I try to get everything out as quickly as I can, using words like Dominique and The Nation, even Malin so they know I'm referring to a case they've already been working on.
But before I can tell them where we are, Dom is flying into the driver’s side, diving to the back, and ripping my phone from my hand. He clicks end instantly, throwing it to the ground outside and smashing it with heavy boot. He shouts at Jed, who drops to pick up the pieces and discard it somewhere far away from here.
Dom jumps back into the front seat, while my brother and father climbing into the van as well. Dad sits in the front while Alex moves to the back with us. His eyes stay focused on our frames, at some points he rakes over Ruby's body before moving to mine. Vile intentions rest in his eyes, and he licks his lower lip as he watches us.
"You're fucking sick, you know that right?" Ruby asks him, her voice tense and irritated at his obvious perusal.
"Do you want me to fuck you now? While you're still alive? Or wait until you're bleeding out beneath me?" His head tilts to the side and my stomach rolls in nausea at the way he so casually speaks.
How the fuck are we going to get out of this, I absently wonder. Now I've lost hope in the police finding us, Lyp and Aura have no idea we've left. And we'll most likely be dead by the time they wake up in the morning.
We drive through the streets of the city, swaying with every turn while my hands cling to anything I can in order to keep me upright. We're moving faster than I swear the speed limit allows, and I can’t help but hope we’re pulled over before we get to wherever we they’re taking us.
When I look to Alex, he seems to be a bit more tense, his feet tapping anxiously while his thick and meaty fingers twist together in front of him. My eyes narrow at the movements, and the energy now shifting around us.
I feel like they're nervous for some reason, and the thought strangely gives me comfort.
"What's going on?" I ask Alex, a smile tempting to tug at the corners of my mouth. "Afraid of something, big brother?"
"Afraid?" he scoffs, but I see the tiny beads of sweat pooling at his forehead. "Never. Now shut the fuck up until we get there. Then you can beg and cry all you like."
"I'll kill you before you ever hear me beg for anything." I speak the words slowly, deliberately dragging out each syllable while he watches my lips. Moving closer to him, I feel this swell of anger, of power burning in my chest at the situation Ruby and I are now in.
I don't give a fuck anymore. If I die tonight, I'm going out with a fight, and I'm saying everything I fucking think when I feel it.
Reaching forward, I trail the tips of my fingers up his arm and notice my dad glancing back over his shoulder. "Do you remember when we were young? I was seven, you were eleven." I pause in order to see how he reacts, and his lips twitch as the memory flashes in his mind I'm sure. "You lied to me that day. You told me al
l brothers touch their sisters like you touched me. You told me you were taking care of me, you were protecting me by showing me what I'd have to do when I was older."
I quickly dig my nails into the skin of his forearm, and as he yanks it back, Ruby launches forward and grabs him as well, holding him in place while I continue speaking. "Then, when I turned ten, and you spent three years grooming me for more, you told dad exactly how much of a slut I was. How I tempted you, how I seduced you. How I pushed you into touching me like you were." My nails dig deeper with each word, until he's hissing in pain and blood is pooling on his skin.
The van pulls to a stop, my father and Dom climbing out without a second worry about Alex. They don't fucking care about him, and I'm being gifted with the perfect opportunity.
"Shut the fuck up," he bites out, and I feel Ruby's other hand move behind my back.
"What? You don't like being reminded of your own sins, Alex? You don't like facing the reality of a sick, disgusting, worthless skin sack of shit?" Ruby leans closer as she speaks, distracting him while my hand moves back to hers and I feel the slender hilt of her knife.
I pull it into my hand, dropping it between my crouched knees as I pull his attention again. "Do you know what dad did when you told him I was your little slut?" I scoff, a sick smile pulling wide over my face. No one has pulled us from the van yet, but I know I'm quickly running out of time. "Oh wait, of course you know. You were there, you watched from the corner of the room as dad made me do those same things to him. Mom was gone, already getting sick, and you both told me she'd die earlier if I put that kind of stress on her. If I told her how badly you both fucked me, I’d lose her sooner."
"You're sick, you know that? You were always a fucking slut. Ever since you were young, dancing around the yard in little shorts and tank tops. Exposing your skin, tempting men and seducing them with your fucking sexual demons. A little fucking whore, from the very begin—"
My hand launches forward and between his legs, the tip of the knife piercing his crotch as I slam it forward. He screams, fucking screams mid-sentence and throws himself back and away from me. But Ruby is on him, climbing behind his head while I straddle his legs.
I drive the knife in further, pulling it out and stabbing it back in as he screams again. Blood splatters the space, flooding his soaked jeans and my hands.
"Fuck you for ever touching me. Fuck you for touching Lyp." The words fall between tightly gritted teeth, burning my throat as they fall free and my brother gasps for breath below me. "You are nothing."
The back doors swing wide open as Dom races inside and yanks me back by my hair, my dad goes for Ruby at the same time and we're both quickly being pulled from the van and thrown onto the cement below us.
My hands are stained in the blood of my brother, my heart pounding with every breath and my chest heaving rapidly. Ruby is beside me, not an ounce of fear radiating from her frame. I look to her and she smiles, literally fucking smiles as she glances down to my red hands and forearms.
"I think we're sick," I mutter, as Dom stalks back and forth in front of us. I can hear my dad yelling from the van, trying to help my brother while he bleeds out and dies.
"No way," she replies calmly, turning her gaze back to Dom as he stops and watches us. "We're invincible." She tilts her head to the side, a little laugh escaping her when Dom instantly jumps forward and swings his boot up and into Ruby's face.
She flies back, her head bouncing off of the cement so terrifyingly that I dart forward and reach for her. But Dom's racing toward me now, throwing his fist against my jaw as I fall in the opposite direction.
My head spins, blood flowing from my lip and nose as it rests against the cold cement. I laugh, the sound bitter and tired as an explosive pain radiates through my entire head. I can taste my own blood, the metallic wash lingering on my lips and over my tongue while I swallow.
I want to sit up, but fuck, I've never been hit like this before. I groan out as my fingers scrape along the ground, using every ounce of my strength to push myself up when I hear Ruby's own pained laugh rolling alongside mine.
When I finally sit up, Ruby is also adjusting herself beside me. Dom is crouched directly in front of us, his heavy fists linked in front of his chest while his gaze bounces back and forth between us. "Not so invincible, are you?" He tsks, as if we give a single fuck what he has to say.
"Hey Dommy," I say, lifting my hand to my jaw as I work it back and forth over the hinges. "You still have a thing for raping women, I see?" His eyes settle on me, black orbs of evil corruption flooding my frame. "I heard what you did to Lyp. I also know you were planning on what, cutting off her fucking clit for liking women?"
His eyes widen, his nose flaring in rage as a tick rests in the back of his jaw. "You know nothing of The Nation and our ascension. You would never understand the power Sunflower and Wildflower both hold to our people."
Ruby balks, loudly and slaps her hand over her own mouth to stifle the sound. "Sorry, sorry. I don't know how I forgot you're such a delusional little cunt."
Dom shifts toward her, but I fly toward him and grip the front of his shirt with my hand. His eyes snap back to me, and his hand wraps around my throat as he forces me in place before him. I tilt my chin up slightly, rolling my tongue around the blood still pooling in my mouth. "I had an idea," I whisper, my lips tugging up in a salacious smile. "Because you had such a good idea to purge Lyp of her pleasure, I thought we could do the same to you."
His hand trembles and he flexes his fingers in a tighter grip around my neck. My breathing is hindered, straining with each inhale and exhale. But I keep going, continue pushing these boundaries farther with him. Nothing pumps the adrenaline inside of me harder, and I'm drawn to this toxic exchange after what he did to the girls.
"Seeing as you're a sick and pathetic rapist, we should cut off your dick like we did my brother. Purge you of any potential release, so you can never hurt another fucking woman again." My voice is low and harsh, heating the small space between us in venomous energy. I spit, my bloody saliva splattering across his face as he throws me back to the ground so roughly the wind is knocked free of my lungs.
"I have to get Alex to the hospital!" My dad screams, climbing into the front seat of the van as Dom looks his way.
Without a word, Dom walks toward the front of the van, and I'm caught so quickly off balance when he pulls out a gun and simply shoots my dad in the head.
Shoots my fucking dad in the head.
He walks to the back of the van this time, my brother still writhing and crying inside it. Lifting his hand again, he pulls the trigger once, silencing his cries before turning back to us.
"I'm not playing games anymore," he says calmly, lifting the edge of his shirt and running it over his face to wipe away my blood and spit.
Fucking hell. Everything changes, and the air turns cold and acidic around us. Ruby glances my way, and I think I'm too paralyzed to even process what's just happened. My hands tremble, but I don't feel the fear coursing through me.
I think I'm in shock.
"Now that I have your fucking attention. Listen clearly," he starts, swinging the gun around the air as he begins pacing the space. "As you can see, this room is set up intentionally."
Shit, I haven't even looked around the room yet. I've been so focused on Dom, on my brother, the blood on my hands. So, when I finally look to my left and right, I realize we're in the middle of some old industrial warehouse.
Steel beams span the space above us, tagged brick walls are lining each side. Dirt and grime cover the ground while old equipment from construction companies line the back wall. Those aren't the items that drag my attention however, it's the two, tall, cameras on either side of Ruby and me. To our left and right, stationed several feet away, alongside two large white lights.
What the fuck are we doing here?
My head spirals, and thoughts of countless potential outcomes come flooding my mind. For the first time since I've been here, I fee
l actual fear, and I work my ass off to ignore the quickly extending feeling as it swirls in my stomach.
He points the gun to both cameras. "Do you see those blinking red lights? They're recording." He laughs, sick and disgusting before pacing closer to us again. "You'd be surprised how much money I can get for two girls fucking on camera. And on top of that, killing them both afterwards."
Pound. Pound. Pound.
My heart runs wild, thrashing in my chest when I realize what he's getting at. This is beyond any nightmare I've ever had.
Ruby is absolutely still beside me, and when I look her way I see the tiniest fleck of fear in her eyes. Shit, if Ruby's worried, we're screwed.
"The Nation needs funds in order to operate. I've just lost my two suppliers of LSD," he nods to my dead father and brother. "And Jed is discarding your bike and phone right now. He'll also be going to your apartment and bringing the girls here."
Fucking hell. Now we're really fucked.
"If you think for one moment, you're going to get us to fuck the girls on camera, you're out of your fucking mind," Ruby replies slowly, intentionally, forcing the words through her fear like the powerful woman she is.
Dom laughs though, loudly as he rolls forward and rests the gun on his hip before standing again. "I would never force you both to have sex with my beautiful flowers. They're pure, untainted after I cleanse them. What a waste that would be when they both will hold such high positions within The Nation."
I narrow my eyes in confusion, and Ruby does the same when she looks to me.
"You both will be fucking each other." The demand falls on a sour tone and my eyebrows raise in disbelief.
"You really have lost your goddamn mind, haven't you?" I ask, my voice laced in complete and utter incredulity.
"No," Ruby states first, breaking the humor on his expression when he looks toward her.
"No fucking way," I add, and he steps forward between both of us and crouches down.
"Then you die. And I still sell that for a hefty profit." He lifts the gun and points it directly at my head. The barrel only inches from my skull as I meet him dead in the eyes. "This is a win-win situation for me. Either way. You can either prolong your death by giving me what I want, or I take your lives now. Your choice."