Verboten: An Inferno World Novella
Page 8
She may have been trapped here with me, but she did nothing to try and stop the evil inside of this house. She squeaked, drawing Jacob’s attention. He spun around and grabbed her, pulling her into the room with him.
Uncle Jacob’s eyes widened as he followed her stare to my dad’s limp body on my bedroom floor. “Shell, I—”
“Give me the knife,” I gritted out, holding my hand out for the knife he still had gripped in his right hand.
“What—”
“The knife, Uncle Jacob.” He blinked, but handed it to me. “She stood and watched every time he would touch me.” I stepped toward them and saw the recognition in Jacob’s eyes. He knew what I was about to do, and part of me wondered if he liked it in the same way I had when I watched him rip the life away from another person.
There was a darkness to him that called to part of my soul. One that I was helpless to resist.
Shell struggled against him, but he held her in much the same way he had his brother. “You let the evil in this house rule, and for that, I will now punish you.” I didn’t do anything fancy like slitting her throat, simply because I wanted to make sure she’d never take another breath again.
I darted forward and plunged the knife into her chest, feeling bone and gristle, and a second later, her body was limp. I extracted the knife and stared in fascination at the silver material covered in blood. I’d taken that from her, and I couldn’t bring myself to care one iota.
Uncle Jacob threw her body to the floor where she fell partly on my dad, and stepped toward me. His large palms cupped the side of my face, blood covering our skin and mingling together.
“You’re so fuckin' hot right now.” He dipped his head down and pressed his lips to mine, but it wasn’t the quick kiss he’d given me outside not fifteen minutes ago. This one was so much more than that. He dipped his tongue inside my mouth and twirled it with mine, pressing his body against me and showing me how turned on he was.
“So are you,” I managed to say when I pulled away and caught my breath.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that we need to come up with a plan, I’d fuck you right here.”
I groaned at the thought, let the knife tumble from my grip, and lifted up onto my tiptoes. “I want you to.”
He bent down and hooked his arms around my thighs, coercing me to wrap my legs around his waist, and moved us over to my bed. Within seconds he’d pulled his jeans down and entered me, and I didn’t care one bit that there were two dead bodies lying at our feet.
BETH
It was exactly sixty-three minutes from the time Uncle Jacob slit my dad’s throat to the time I dialed 9-1-1. We’d come up with a solid plan after we’d touched each other in ways I’d never imagined. If it wasn’t for the fact that this needed to be dealt with, I would have stayed in my bed with him all night.
Nevertheless, we had to do what was right. Which meant calling the police.
I dressed in the pajamas that were on the floor and splattered with blood, and proceeded to bang my head into my door for added effect.
The sirens were heard only a couple of minutes later, and I stared in the mirror, slipping on my game face. I didn’t know how long I’d have to play the grief-stricken daughter, or when I would next see Uncle Jacob without anyone else around. All I knew was that we’d be together again, no matter how long it would take or what obstacles we had to climb over.
The police detectives took my statement and I told them my story like I was reading from a script. An intruder had come in and headed for my bedroom where my dad had proceeded to run to help me. In the struggle, he’d lost his sweatpants and had his throat slit. Shell was next, and by some miraculous divine intervention, he’d only knocked me out.
The story was plausible, even though it was littered with holes. But the detectives bought it hook, line, and sinker. Guess I was a better actor than I’d thought.
Night turned into morning, and I was still sitting in my living room, surrounded with officers when another man entered the house. It was a man I’d never met before, but as soon as he looked at me, I knew he was a relative. There was no mistaking the same way his lips curved like Dad’s or the shape of his eyes that was almost identical to Uncle Jacob.
“Beth?” he asked, his deep voice causing my back to straighten. My body screamed at me to move away from him, but it was the veiled look in his eyes that had me nodding my head in answer. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” He was saying the words, but I felt the edge to them. It was the same edge I had, like he didn’t give a shit about the fact that someone had just been murdered. “I’m your uncle.”
He moved over to my dad’s chair, and all I could think about was that being the first thing I would burn from this house. I’d burn it all down to the ground if I didn’t need to sell it.
I nodded at the man I’d never met before.
“I called Jacob, he’s on his way.” He lifted a brow but when I didn’t say anything, he turned to face one of the detectives. “Can you tell me what happened.”
I stared down at my bare feet, moving my toes and becoming fascinated by the dried blood. I wasn’t sure whose blood it was, but I had to get it off me. The more time that passed, the more I realized what we’d done.
We’d taken two lives without thought, and part of me wished I hated myself for it, but I didn’t.
The voices continued on around me, but none of them mattered, not until Uncle Jacob’s mixed in.
I lifted my head, my gaze finding his as he stepped farther into the room, and I blinked. I was starting to doubt our story holding up, not just because I’d been up all night, but the lack of sleep was also coupled with the pounding of my head where I’d done a too good job at trying to knock myself out for the sake of our story.
“Baby girl,” he sighed, and crouched down in front of me. “I’m so sorry.” His words rang true, but I knew he wasn’t talking about their lives no longer being in rotation, but what had been happening before that. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my head to his chest where he proceeded to rock me. “You’re doing good, baby girl. I promise, it’ll all be over soon.”
I closed my eyes and let his body engulf mine, wishing I had a fast-forward button that could bring me out on the other side.
JACOB
Lying had never been a problem for me. From the time I could recognize what was going on around me, I knew I had to lie. It was an unspoken agreement in our family. Secrets were secrets for a reason.
I covered Beth’s body with a blanket as the detectives left, telling us that when she woke up she’d need to head to the station and then stay in a hotel. In the meantime, all that was left in this house were me, her, and my oldest brother, Luke.
The man who took what he was brought up with to the next level. We’d only heard murmurings about who he was and what he’d done in his life. I’d even gone to his house once and seen the way he lived, but I hadn’t stayed longer than an hour.
His house was full of demons no priest could exorcise.
Luke leaned back in the chair that Hal had always sat in and stared down at Beth. I hated the way he was looking at her, but I also knew she wasn’t to his taste. There wasn’t enough of his blood running through her veins for him to entertain the notion of her.
“She’s such a small innocent girl, huh?” I gritted my teeth, not willing to let him bait me. He raised his brow and I crossed my arms over my chest where I stood against the wall. “I wonder if Hal ever felt what it was like to be inside his own flesh and—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I roared, his words too close to home for comfort.
His answer was to laugh at me. A full-blown laugh that made him err on the edge of crazy. He slapped his hand against his thigh and pointed at me as he waned down to chuckles. “I knew it.” He shook his head. “Not so different after all, are you, baby brother?”
“Fuck. You.” My nostrils flared and I stared right into his face. He may have always had the upper hand on me when I was younger, but
he had no idea the damage I would cause and lengths I would go to to protect my niece.
“Why don’t you just admit that you’ve fucked her?” He leaned back in the seat, his lips pulled up into a shit-eating grin. “Why can’t you say that you like being inside pussy that came from your bloodline?”
I ground my teeth together, not willing to answer because it was more than that. It was more with Beth, both she and I knew that, and I didn’t have to explain it to him.
The silence stretched between us and finally he stood. “It’s not your fault.” His voice was softer now, and I looked over at him. “It’s just the way we are.” He shrugged and pushed his hands into his pockets. “You gotta accept it and live the life you wanna live, and if that means fucking her”—he tilted his head at Beth—“then so be it.”
He moved across the living room, halting at the door, and glanced back. I didn’t know if he was waiting for an answer, but I didn’t expect him to say, “I hope you got rid of the weapon, wouldn’t want that young thing being all on her own with only her uncle Pater to help her, would you?”
I heard his threat loud and clear, though I doubted if he’d follow through with it. Either way, he had nothing to worry about and neither did Beth. I’d take this secret to my grave, whether that was sooner or later.
Epilogue
BETH
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” The priest spoke words I’d only ever heard at funerals on the TV or in the movies. Usually the burial site was surrounded by loving family members who would cry at the loss they had received, but all that stood around this one was a daughter who had zero regrets, and a handful of work acquaintances that thought they should pay their respects to their dead co-worker.
Two weeks had gone by, and in those fourteen days, I’d not seen either of my uncles. Neither of them showed up at the service, and I didn’t expect to see them here either.
The house had been cleaned and put on the market, and in the meantime, I stayed in a hotel. I only had a few weeks left of my senior year, and then I had no idea what was happening. I was meant to be going to college, but I couldn’t think that far ahead, not yet anyway.
So I stared down at the dark wood coffin as it was lowered into the ground, hoping that the man inside would rot faster than everyone else.
I bent down and pushed my fingers into the mound of dirt, going through the motions. Once this grave was covered up, I could move on. I could close this chapter in my book and start with a fresh, blank page. My story was only just beginning.
The gritty dirt scratched against my palm and I stood. I didn’t have anything I wanted to say aloud to my dad, so I said it in my head instead. Fuck you. You deserved this. Burn in hell. Then I threw the dirt onto the coffin and stayed there.
I didn’t move when everyone left, I didn’t stray from the side of the dirt as a couple of men came to bury him with it, and I didn’t move when the clouds opened up and cried tears of rain.
The water mixed in with my own tears, but I knew I wasn’t sad because my dad was gone. I was relieved. Relieved that I wouldn’t have to go another day with his presence around me.
It was over.
Finally over.
I hauled in a breath that filled my lungs completely and gasped at the sensation.
I was free.
I pushed my shoulders back, glanced up, and met the gaze of Uncle Jacob. He was standing behind a tree, lurking in the shadows like always, and the sight of it brought a genuine smile to my face.
He took a step forward, leaned against the tree, and crossed his arms over his black T-shirt. I couldn’t see his eyes until he pulled his sunglasses off his face. The dark orbs pulled me in, and when he crooked his finger at me in the same way I had at his fight, I stepped forward toward what I knew would be the life I was always meant to lead.
Inferno World
Original Series by Yolanda Olson
Inferno
Cinere
Sparks
Embers
Inferno World Novellas
Verboten by Abigail Davies
Malignus by Dani René—releasing May 24th
Iniquity by Emery LeeAnn—releasing June 7th
Burned by Jennifer Bene—releasing June 14th
Obloquy by Murphy Wallace—releasing June 21st
Acknowledgments
First I need to say a huge thank you to Yolanda Olson for asking me to be part of Inferno World. I’ve had such a blast writing my story and immersing into the darker half of my brain. You’re the best cult co-leader I could ask for!
Huge thank you to my PA, Paige Sayer. You’ve been a godsend these last couple of months!
Thank you to my BETA readers, Danielle, Paige, Liza, Nikki, and Yvonne. You ladies always make me a better writer, and for that, I’m eternally grateful!
Thank you to my proofreader, Judy. You’re always there for my typos and to correct my britishisms!
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to YOU. Thank you for taking a chance on this taboo romance and coming along for the ride. I’m aware this is something totally different to my usual books, but I’ve opened a part of my brain I’m afraid I’ll never be able to shut now!
Also by A. A. Davies
MAC Security Series
Book 1: Fractured Lies
Book 2: Exposed
Book 2.5: Flying Free (Standalone Spin-off)
Book 3: The Distance Between Us
Book 4: ReBoot
Book 5: Catching Teardrops
Six Book Boxset
Confessions Series
Book 1: Confessions Of A Klutz
Book 2: Confessions Of A Chatterbox
Book 3: Confessions Of A Fratgirl
Broken Tracks Series,
co-authored with Danielle Dickson
Book 1: Etching Our Way
Book 2: Fighting Our Way
Destroyed Series,
co-authored with L. Grubb
Destroying the Game
Destroying the Soul
About the Author
A. A. Davies is the darker half of Abigail’s brain. She decided to release this book as A. A. Davies so readers would automatically identify it as a dark romance.
Abigail Davies grew up with a passion for words, storytelling, maths, and anything pink. Dreaming up characters—quite literally—and talking to them out loud is a daily occurrence for her. She finds it fascinating how a whole world can be built with words alone, and how everyone reads and interprets a story differently. Now following her dreams of writing, Abigail has found the passion that she always knew was there. When she’s not writing: she’s a mother to two daughters who she encourages to use their imagination as she believes that it’s a magical thing, or getting lost in a good book. If she’s doing neither of those things, you can be sure she’s surfing the web buying new makeup, clothes, or binge watching another show as she becomes one with her sofa.
Connect with Abigail
Reader group—Abi’s Aces
Newsletter
www.abigaildaviesauthor.com