Dethroned (Darker Places Book 3)

by Nicole Cypher

  "Do you remember the last time I brought you down here, and I asked you to trust me?"

  I swallowed before nodding. Heat spread throughout my skin, and my heart pounded in my chest. I understood then what he'd meant the day he brought me down here when he promised to help me deal with the fear of this place. My body responded with desire even as my brain screamed to run. In a way, it did make it better. It didn't change the situation, but at least I wasn't consumed with fear. There was something else to compete for my attention.

  "And did I come through?"

  Even more blood rushed to my already heated cheeks, and I averted my eyes. He couldn't possibly be turned on right then. The lust I'd seen so many times was nowhere to be found. He was so serious now, and I hated it.

  His hand cupped my cheek and forced me to look at him. "What I mean is, were you able to trust me? Did I hurt you in a way that broke a promise?"

  I stared into eyes filled with darkness. As much as I wanted to tell him he had hurt me, and that I'd never wanted any of it, I couldn't lie. "No," I whispered, with a shake of my head.

  "Good." His hand still cupped my face and he ran his thumb over my jawline. "I'm not a good person, Laila. I know you hate my brother, but he's ten times the man that I am."

  "Why are you telling me this?" I asked, leaning into his touch as if it alone could save me.

  "Because I want you to know that regardless of the things I've done, and the things I'm about to do, you can still trust me."

  My eyes widened. "Jake, what are you talking about? What does that mean?"

  He took a step back and retrieved the pancakes from the bench. He tore off a piece and brought it to my mouth. "Open."

  I turned my face away and shook my head. "Jake, please. I'm sorry I lied to you, but—"

  "None of that matters now, Laila. Come on, take it."

  He held the pancake to my mouth again, but I shook my head. "I'm not hungry." My voice filled with emotion, most of it being confusion. He kept doing this, filling me with hope, snatching it away, and then giving it back. Here I was hanging in a torture chamber, and he still managed to confuse me with his intentions. If this was a game it was the cruelest one yet.

  He tossed the plate to the floor and gripped my hair. My eyes bugged from my skull as his mouth was an inch from my own. "Do you trust me?"

  His breath kissed my lips as he spoke, and I closed my eyes as I inhaled his scent. I didn't have to consider the question too long because his lips crashed into mine before I gave an answer. He forced me even closer with his grip in my hair, and I melted into it. Fuck, I needed this. Even if it were just a lie, I needed it. If in the next moment he shot me, at least I wouldn't have died in fear.

  He pulled back abruptly, both of us panting as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "It's going to be okay, Laila."

  I cried out as he put the gag back over my mouth and left the room. My eyes closed and I groaned in exhaustion. I wish I could've believed him.

  18

  Jake

  My phone had dinged seconds before I descended into the basement. I'd stared at the screen and contemplated abandoning bringing Laila breakfast. My PI sent the footage. It currently waited in my email, and my nerves itched to open it.

  I needed to see her first. Indecision raced through me since she'd been at the manor over what I'd do with her when it was over. Today, I had to decide. And when I spotted her dangling in chains, exhausted but still fighting to stand, I realized my mind had been made up days ago. I couldn't kill Laila. Not now. Not ever.

  After rushing up the stairs and typing the passcode for the door, I made a beeline for my office. I was so fucking ready for this to end. The mole wouldn't get my mercy as Laila had. I wondered what she'd think of me afterward. She must've known I was capable of extreme violence, but would she understand? Probably not, but it was an issue for another time.

  "Dravin," I said, stepping into my office. He sat at my desk with his face scrunched.

  His gaze met mine. "The Internet isn't working. I thought maybe it was just my computer."

  Frustration instantly filtered into my veins. You've got to be fucking kidding me. I walked over to the computer but paused as I spotted the pair of scissors on my desk. It wasn’t as if I did a lot of arts and crafts, so I didn’t have many reasons to use them, and I hadn’t been the one to take them out. I bent down at the computer and gently tugged at the cords hidden on the back side of the modem. The cut ethernet cable easily came loose and rested in my hand.

  My mind reeled, and my first instinct was to blame Laila, but that was impossible. She’d been in the basement all night. My heart pumped faster as I hurried to pull my email up on my cell. I still had the phone company's data plan. The WiFi wouldn't affect it.

  “What the fuck?” Dravin asked, as he peered down at the cut cord.

  I didn’t respond. I stared at the swirling circle telling me the video was loading. Dread sank into my stomach at what I might find, and Isabella’s odd behavior began to make more sense.

  It couldn’t be her. Please don’t let it be her.

  "What's up with you?" Dravin asked, standing and making his way over to me.

  I pressed play and fast-forwarded the video until Laila appeared on the screen. Dravin stared over my shoulder and breathed down my neck. My face twitched in annoyance, but I might as well have told him. It wasn’t as if I'd allow him to take any of the credit.

  "It's surveillance footage from Laila's meeting with the mole."

  Dravin's breath on my neck ceased, and the room filled with tension. Neither of us spoke as we watched Laila sitting alone for several minutes in the bar. I let it play at regular speed to prevent myself from missing anything, and maybe a little to prolong my suspicion.

  A man sat at a table, and my eyes closed when it I saw who he was. Even in a baseball cap, it was undeniably Maddix.

  I didn't wait for Dravin to recognize the mole. I shoved the phone back into my pocket and jogged into the hall.

  "Maddix," I said, my head snapping in the direction of a guard. "Do you know if he's landed yet?"

  The guard looked puzzled by the question, but Dravin answered for him as he stepped out of the office. "I think your guy arrived a little while ago."

  "Shit," I exclaimed, racing toward the stairs. I took them two at a time and ran until I was in front of Isabella's bedroom door.

  "Isabella," I yelled, storming into the room. Clothes littered the floor and drawers hung open. My eyes locked onto the drawer she kept her mother's earrings in, ones she cherished so much she refused to wear them. My hands shifted lose paper and junk around in the drawer, but they were gone. I was too late.

  Dravin, along with two other guards appeared in the doorway. "We've got em'," Dravin said. "They took out a couple guards, but they didn't get down the driveway."

  A lump formed in my throat, and it became difficult to breathe.

  "Both are being taken to the basement now. You ready to end this?"

  I closed my eyes a moment to gather myself. Betrayal stung like a thousand bees all at once, but I forced the breaths in and out of my lungs. It had to be done. And it had to be done now. I opened my eyes and straightened my spine.

  "Let's do it."

  Laila

  This time when the first door to the basement opened, more than one set of steps stormed down the stairs and there was yelling. One of them sounded like Isabella. I straightened and listened close as a herd of people barreled into the room.

  I moaned past the gag as both Isabella and Maddix were roughly handled by four men. Both of them fought like wild animals, but it did no good. Maddix had been beaten before being brought down here, with blood from his smashed face dripping onto his torn shirt. Isabella had taken a punch to the eye herself, and I screamed behind the gag.

  This was it. This is where it all ended. I grieved with tear-filled screams muffled behind the gag. I was terrified for my own life, but I felt responsible for Maddix as well and guilt for eve
r having ill feelings towards Isabella. We were all on the same team, and the enemies were the two walking through the door with insidious expressions.

  Jake met my eyes only a moment before looking away.

  "Enough," he yelled in a voice full of authority.

  The screaming halted, and all eyes turned to him.

  "Master, please—"

  "Stop talking, Isabella," he said, motioning the guards to a couple of chairs with restraints. One of the chairs was one I'd sat in during the torture sessions, and I couldn't help the whimper that came from behind the gag.

  Jake's eyes met mine again, and this time I was the one to look away. Neither remorse nor hesitation showed on his face, and all I could think about was our earlier conversation. He'd said I could trust him, and a small voice in the back of my head still did.

  I lowered my gaze to the floor, unable to watch as Maddix and Isabella were strapped down in the chairs. Isabella had resumed screaming, and one of the guards backhanded her across the face. I didn't look, but the sound of his hand connecting with her cheek filled the room. She spat what I assumed was blood seconds later.

  My refusal to watch what was happening ended when a gun cocked. My head snapped up and spotted the gun in Dravin's hands. All four of the guards backed toward the door. Jake stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets and eyes locked on the two in the chairs.

  "What do you think, Cryson? Should we torture them first, or just get it over with?"

  Jake didn't respond for several seconds and his gaze never left Isabella and Maddix. My gaze darted between Jake and the chairs to determine his line of sight, and Isabella appeared to be the one he focused on.

  "Please, Master. Please don't." Isabella shook with sobs. I hadn't known the woman long or very well at all, but I guessed she wasn't one to beg. I began my own pleas behind the gag.

  Jake glanced at me and shook his head, silencing my screams.

  Finally, he turned his attention to Dravin. "The mole first. No torture. I just want to be done with this shit."

  Dravin’s lips pulled into a disgustingly evil grin and nodded. "Works for me," he said pointing the gun at Maddix.

  Maddix closed his eyes and sat still while both Isabella and I screamed at the top of our lungs. I screamed so loud my throat burned as if acid had been poured down it. It did nothing to deter Dravin. The blast of the gun echoed on the walls. My ears rang, and my eyes widened at the blood leaking from Maddix's slumped over head.

  "No!" I screamed as I thrashed in the chains. All the soreness from earlier was gone, leaving me a machine of pure adrenaline as I kicked, connecting with nothing.

  It caught Dravin's attention, and he aimed that disgusting grin toward me. Isabella sobbed and screamed, but Dravin didn't seem to notice her anymore. He focused on me.

  "What is it you said?" he asked Jake. "You'd put the bullet in her yourself?"

  My gaze moved to Jake. I expected to see hesitation or guilt. Anything to indicate that he at least felt something about killing me. He didn't hesitate. He took a step toward Dravin and put out his hand for the gun without taking his dead eyes off me.

  Dravin smirked before handing it to him and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. I understood Maddix's response all of a sudden and closed my eyes on instinct. I couldn't watch as he pulled the trigger.

  The gun went off again, and I jerked in the chains but didn't feel the surge of pain I’d expected. My eyes opened just in time to see Dravin falling to the floor. Blood seeped from his chest, and Jake peered up at the guards before walking to stand above Dravin's dying body.

  All four guards stood giving each other nervous glances as if they had no idea what to do. Jake's stare remained on them as he fired numerous rounds into Dravin's body. By the time the gun stopped going off, my ears hurt so bad I thought they might bleed, but Jake didn't appear fazed.

  Isabella no longer sobbed. She stared at the floor with lifeless eyes and if her chest hadn't been moving I would've suspected she'd received a bullet. She looked like she'd snap at any moment.

  Once the room became silent, Jake addressed the guards. "As you can see, we have new management. Will that be a problem for anyone?"

  They all simultaneously shook their heads. "No, sir," a couple of them replied.

  "Great. Take Isabella to her room."

  They each seemed hesitant to move, but a couple finally made eye-contact and got the balls to cross the room. Isabella didn't budge as they removed the restraints and one threw her over his shoulder. She must've been in shock. I'm not sure I wasn't in shock myself. My nerves seemed on high alert, but it was too much for my body to be like that without the ability to move. Couple that with not sleeping all night, and the little energy I'd had was draining.

  I was still alert enough to remain on my toes and stare at Jake. Reality finally began to settle in. This is what he'd meant when he said I could trust him. He'd planned this. He'd intended to kill Dravin. But he hadn't saved Maddix. He hadn't even tried.

  I closed my eyes and trembled in the chains.

  "You're dismissed," he told the other guards as Isabella was carried from the room. His steps whispered on the concrete as he approached me, and he tugged the gag from my mouth. Moments later, I was released from the chains and in Jake's arms.

  I was far too afraid to fight or even acknowledge him carrying me up the stairs. He hugged me to his chest the whole way and laid me down gently in the bed.

  "I'll be back," he said before turning and walking out.

  My eyes glued to the ceiling and I pulled the comforter to my chin. I'd seen people die before. It's something unavoidable as a law enforcement official in a big city, but not like that. Not with that kind of evil emanating throughout the air, and not with so much terror for my own life. I lay in the bed trembling for some time before exhaustion finally won and I'd fallen asleep.

  19

  Jake

  I'd spent most of the day trying to keep myself busy with work. I'd met with a state senator to discuss his vote on a bill. It had to do with a law that would hurt an oil company we'd invested in. He was getting a lot of pressure from the party to vote yes, but after our meeting today I was confident he'd be voting no. Unless, of course, his wife didn't mind his "meeting" with one of our whores. One look at the pictures I'd carried around in my pocket and his vote was swayed.

  Even engrossed in work I couldn't keep my mind from the situation at home. Killing Dravin wasn't too big of a deal. My father might mind, but he'd get over it. Men like Dravin were disposable, and I only had to keep him around long enough to settle the investigation. With the little information they had and their biggest asset dead, it was a matter of waiting for the case to get buried. Plus, the woman working it was locked in my bedroom.

  I'd deal with her next. First I needed to figure out how the hell to handle Isabella. I stood outside her bedroom door when I'd finally felt ready to face her. She'd betrayed me. In a way it was a worse betrayal than Maddix. He was a guard of mine for many years, but Isabella… she'd been at my side and ready for me to fall. I wanted her out of my life, but damn it I didn't want to pull the trigger on her either.

  I rolled my shoulders before opening the door and stepping into Isabella's room. The light was off, and she lay in bed with the comforter pulled up to her chin. She didn't move as I approached her, and she wouldn't meet my eyes. The understanding we'd had the past six years was over, our ties severed. We both knew it.

  I sat on the bed and followed her gaze on the wall. "You know, if you were anyone else in the world you'd be dead right now."

  Isabella didn't respond. She didn't as much as flinch at the comment. We sat there for several minutes, neither of us saying anything.

  "I died six years ago." Her voice was so soft I barely heard it. There wasn't any malice or sarcasm in her tone. She meant what she said. The words stung, but I understood them. It didn't matter that she had a closet full of designer clothes or a pool to lie beside in the summer. She
wasn't free.

  "Be ready to leave in the morning."

  I stood from the bed and peered down at Isabella. She still didn't look fazed. I supposed she wasn't surprised. She knew I couldn't keep her, and the only other option was to sell her to another Master. One I hoped was kind enough, but unlikely. I wouldn't know who bought her, and I wouldn't try to find out.

  I waited another moment to see if she'd react in any way, but she continued staring at the wall as I left.

  It was much easier walking into my bedroom to deal with Laila. By the time I reached the door, I was even eager to get to her. It'd been a shit day. Not even close to the worst day of my life, but still bad. Laila needed my comfort, but as I removed my shoes and jacket by the bed, I realized more than anything that I wanted hers. I crawled in bed beside her sleeping form and dragged her to my chest. She stirred as she woke but didn't pull away.

  "Jake," she murmured, pressing herself into me. I squeezed her tight and closed my eyes as her tears soaked my shirt.

  "What's going to happen now?" she whispered, leaning back to look at me. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shook my head. "I don't know, Laila. I don't want to think about that right now."

  She nodded and laid her head on my shoulder.

  "Just rest."

  A knock sounded at the door, pulling me from sleep. Our bodies had entwined as we’d slept, and I had to carefully unravel myself to get out of bed without waking Laila. The clock on the nightstand showed it was one in the morning. What the fuck.

  I still wore my clothes, so I snatched my phone from the nightstand before heading straight to the door. Two guards stood on the other side looking nervous as hell, and I gently clicked the door shut behind me.