OWNED: Satan’s Kin MC

by Lust, April

  I can see Abram’s lips moving, but there’s no sound coming out. The room is a whirling frenzy of blurring colors and shapes. I’m spinning faster and faster and no matter how much I want to stop, I can’t even slow down. “Help!” I yell. The drugs are pulsing in my brain, my body is throbbing to the drum-like rhythm of my heart. I feel trapped, unsafe, like I’m going to explode.

  Abram says something – louder this time, I can hear his words travel over me like gnats. He stands up, red in the face, and screams towards the door.

  The next thing I see is Aleksei, rushing inside. He approaches me, and I lash out, kicking and throwing my arms in the air. For a moment, we’re dancing together in a frantic ballet. He’s my partner, and I’m doing everything I can to keep him away from me. Aleksei’s hands on my arms feel like weights. Screaming, I kick him away. My body flies into the corner, and I groan when my head smacks against the wall.

  “Take her to her chamber,” Abram says loudly. “We need to keep her controlled.”

  “Leave me alone!” I scream as Aleksei advances on me once again. “Leave me alone! Don’t fucking touch me!”

  My cries go unanswered as Aleksei and Abram step closer. Their eyes are gleaming with insanity. I know that despite the drug haze in my brain, I won’t ever be able to forget this.

  Chapter 26 Beast

  After Doc takes care of Reis, he meets me back in the alley. There’s a spray of blood across his jacket and his face is set in a grim line, but I know he’s relieved Reis is gone.

  “That guy,” I say, shaking my head. “I can’t believe that scum. I can’t believe he drugged her.”

  “He’s dead, Beast,” Doc says heavily. He stares at me and shakes his head. “And now we need to get going if we’re going to catch up to Natalia and Abram by the end of the night.”

  I sigh. I know that he’s right – we have to get a move on. Natalia is waiting for me to save her, and I know Abram will act fast. It terrifies me that I still have no idea of what Abram wants Natalia for. Is he going to kill her? Hurt her? Give her more of the same drugs and expect her to hang around forever?

  It’s enough to make me sick.

  “We gotta find Abram,” I growl. “Did you get any tips from Reis?”

  Doc nods grimly. He holds up a piece of paper, and I snatch it quickly out of his hand. It’s printed with the address of a warehouse in the Bronx, surprisingly close to my own home base.

  “If I had to guess, I’m thinking there’s a stash there,” Doc says. He taps the piece of paper with his finger. “We gotta call some other guys and get out there now. We can figure out a way to trap the whole place and get Abram’s attention. That sound good to you?”

  “We should take out the guard, steal the drugs, then sell them. After we get Natalia, though” I say. I swallow. There’s a lump in my throat that’s been there ever since learning that Reis drugged Natalia, but I can’t allow horrifying thoughts to take over my mind. Not now. Not when I have to focus on rescuing the woman I love.

  “We can’t do that,” Doc says grimly. He rubs his hands together for warmth before sticking them in his jacket. “If it’s pills, they’re gonna be labeled. We don’t have time to take out Abram’s etching and put our own symbol on there. Plus, Abram sells to kids. You really wanna deal drugs to little minors?”

  I shake my head. “It’s better than letting all that shit go up in smoke,” I say casually. “But whatever you think is best.”

  Doc licks his lips, then pushes his bike away from the wall and climbs on. “We’ll decide when we get there,” he says, reaching for his helmet.

  The ride back to the Bronx is messy and cold. Over the course of the day, the icy slush on the streets melted a little in the sun. But now that it’s dark outside, everything is starting to freeze once again. My bike almost skids off the road twice, and I feel my stomach swooping low each time. My heart is slamming against my ribs, and I have to concentrate hard on keeping my bike upright. This is the scariest ride I’ve ever taken, and I have a feeling it’s just one of many to come in the next few hours.

  Doc and I park our bikes a few blocks away from the warehouse. I don’t want the sound of my motorcycle traveling through the frozen air, alerting whatever guards Abram put in place to watch over his stash. If he’s anything like I think he is, he’s cautious. And that means we’re going to have to work extra hard to keep a low profile.

  “There’s a guard over there,” Doc whispers. The two of us are now waiting in an alley, taking turns as we peek at the warehouse. Sure enough, a man is standing outside a door. He’s holding an AK-47 in his arms, and he looks tough. I don’t recognize him from Mystic, or any of the other casinos where Abram likes to hang out. That probably means he was hired for one thing and one thing only – to watch over Abram’s giant stash of drugs.

  Doc pulls out his silver gun. I hand him a silencer from my pocket, and he attaches it to his gun, holding it up in the air and aiming closely. Even with the silencer, I jam my fingers in my ears and hold my breath.

  The shot sounds dully, echoing quietly in the alley. When I look up, I see the guard has crumpled to his knees on the ground. The dirty grey snow around his feet is stained bright red with his blood.

  Doc’s gun is smoking. He blows gently on the barrel. “Come on.” He jerks his head towards the warehouse after reloading the gun. “We gotta make sure no one else is around.”

  “There’s probably at least two more guards,” I whisper. “We’ll do a perimeter check before getting inside.”

  Doc nods. “Good idea,” he says quietly.

  Together, we scuttle through the alleys and streets surrounding the warehouse. There’s no sign of life. I can tell this part of the Bronx hasn’t been anyone’s home in years. Still, Abram is meticulous. Doc and I spot and kill three more guards before we know we’re in the clear.

  After the last man falls to the ground, Doc and I sneak towards the warehouse. It’s a giant building, and it could hold at least three tons of cocaine. I breathe slowly, watching the clouds of condensation hanging in the air before my mouth. I’ve always loved winter, but it’s hard to feel stealthy when my boots are crunching on frozen snow and my breath looks like smoke.

  “Take a look inside,” Doc whispers. He gestures towards a window.

  The panes of glass are covered in frost, and I reach up, wiping them off with my sleeve before peering inside. Sure enough, the warehouse is filled with crates. I can imagine what’s inside – enough cocaine and ecstasy to drug all of New York City for a good week.

  “Shit,” I mutter softly. “What the hell, man? This place is huge!”

  “We gotta get rid of it,” Doc says quietly. “We can’t just take it and not expect Abram to retaliate.”

  I stare at him, not sure I’m understanding. “You’d rather us torch the place? Seriously? Like they wouldn’t come after us if we did that, too?”

  Doc shakes his head. “A fire can look like an accident.”

  “Not with four dead guards!” I point towards the closest one. He’s only about four feet away, slumped on the snow. His skin is already beginning to turn grey and his eyes are still open, frozen in fear. I bet he never even knew what was coming when the bullet entered his head.

  “Shit,” Doc mutters. “You’re right.”

  For a moment, we sit in silence. I’m trying to think of what to do, and my mind is racing with the intensity of it all. But none of the ideas that pop into my head are good ones. Each thought seems more harebrained than the last. After a few minutes of thinking, I roll my eyes.

  “I give up,” I say slowly. “I don’t know what we need to do, and I’m pretty damn sure I can’t come up with the solution.”

  Doc shrugs. “We got two solutions,” he says. “We either torch the place, or break in, steal some of the shit, then torch the place.”

  My hands are numb from the cold. I rub them together in a vain effort to warm up.

  “We gotta make a fire or somethin’,” I say, glancing aroun
d. “I’m freezing my ass off out here.”

  Doc nods. “You’re right,” he says. “Come here.”

  We walk away from the warehouse, and I look around for more of Abram’s men. I’m half expecting one of them to jump out of the shadows and point a gun in my face but the only sound is our feet crunching through the layers of ice and snow.

  “What’re you thinking?”

  Doc doesn’t say anything. He leads me around the back of the building and hops up on a crate to peer in the window.

  After a few seconds, he turns to me. “We have to get inside, and start a fire. But we gotta make it look like it was an accident. We’ll move the bodies inside and hope they burn so badly that the police can’t tell how they died.”

  “Fuck,” I mumble. “That’s good.”

  Doc nods. “And the fire will lure Abram over here, especially if he thinks his own men started it for attention.” He rolls his eyes. “What a bunch of idiots those Russians are.”

  I sigh. I want to agree with him, but my ego is still too bruised from the two failed attempts at the history museums. I know my best choice is to go along with whatever Doc comes up with, no matter how crazy it sounds.

  “You’re a good friend,” I tell Doc. “Now let’s get to moving those bodies.”

  Doc nods. “Aye aye, Boss,” he says. He grins at me. “Don’t worry. We’ll bury those bastards.”

  Chapter 27 Natalia

  Hours later, I awake in a daze. My head is aching like the worst hangover I’ve ever had in my life. Everything feels like it’s covered in fuzz: my mouth, the insides of my nose, even my eyeballs.

  At least I’m alone. My clothes are still on but they’ve been tugged around, and I figure it must be from the way William had to drag me back to my room.

  Beast pops into my head. I feel miserable. I know it wasn’t technically my fault, but I still betrayed him I should have listened to my brain when I felt that way about Reis. I should have realized he was suspicious and that listening to him would only put me closer to trouble.

  I feel sick thinking about it all. It disgusts me to remember how I patched Reis up and then snuggled with him all night. Like I’d never met Beast, like I’d never learned anything about how dangerous my father truly is.

  It frightened me just knowing that such a powerful drug existed in the world. What would happen next time Abram drugged me? Would it be enough to make me pass out? Would Aleksei take advantage of me?

  I shudder as a horrifying thought popped into my head: me, heavily pregnant, with Aleksei standing by my side in the frozen tundra of Russia. My life would be over. I’d never dance again. Hell, I probably wouldn’t even leave the house. And somehow, I have a feeling Abram was right when he’d said I’d go back to Russia. After all, why the hell would Abram and Aleksei want me to stay in the city with Beast? Wouldn’t it be easier for all of them to just cart me off to the Old Country and keep me trapped in a hut?

  I’m cold now, but I imagine the winters of Siberia are a lot worse than the winters of New York City.

  Closing my eyes, I lean against the wall and think of Beast. His face, his muscular body. The spicy, smoky way that he smells. The taste of the pancakes he made me – how he always made sure I was getting a balanced diet, even when I couldn’t go out to dance.

  I never deserved a man like Beast. And now that I fucked up with Reis, I won’t ever deserve him.

  Just as I’m starting to resign myself to the horrible fate of marriage, the door to my room slides open. I expect William and Chubby to storm in and grab me by the shoulders. Instead, Abram is standing there. He looks tall and imposing and his eyes are gleaming.

  “Feeling better, Devochka?”

  I bite my lip. “I’m not telling you anything about how I feel,” I say softly. “You don’t deserve to know that.”

  Abram snorts. “Do not be absurd, child,” he says. “I’m your father. You can tell me anything.”

  “It won’t do any good,” I say with a shrug.

  “So, you have accepted your marriage?”

  Not a fucking chance , I think. But I’m afraid of being drugged again. The dosage last time was enough to terrify me. Whenever I think of how it felt to be so lost in my own mind, I want to cry. If Abram could do that to me just from one cup of tea, what else can he do?

  “Come, daughter,” Abram says. He slaps his palm against his thigh, and the muted sound rings against the concrete walls of my prison.

  “Aren’t you going to have those assholes come and drag me off again?”

  Abram makes a face. “You turn cynical too quickly,” he says. “You must not do that, daughter. After all, everything is soon to be resolved. You understand, do you not?”

  I shrug. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen after the marriage takes place. I cringe – there’s no way I’m going to let that asshole sleep with me, either.

  “Devochka, I do not want to use force,” Abram says slowly. “Please cooperate.”

  With a sigh, I pull myself up to my feet. Moving too quickly sends my brain spinning around once again, and I stumble, bracing myself against the wall with one hand.

  “Feeling ill?”

  Turning, I glare at Abram. “Fucking yes I feel ill,” I say under my breath. “You poisoned me!”

  “Not poison.” Abram smiles widely. “Drugs.”

  I feel like I’m gonna be sick. I don’t want Abram to know just how deeply he’s affecting me, though. So instead of curling up on the floor, I force myself to stand tall and proud, sticking my chest out. Patty always told me to act like there was a string attaching my head to the ceiling – it was one of the things that made for good posture while dancing. I pretend there’s a small thread keeping me upright as I walk towards Abram.

  “Come, Devochka.” He grips my arm just above the elbow. His fingernails dig into my skin, but instead of crying out in pain, I smile. I’m determined to be as strong as I can be and save my energy for when I really need it.

  Abram takes me back into the large room. His men are assembled there and they let out a cheer when they see me. It’s not a happy cheer, though. It’s more like the way I imagine people cheered at the crucifixion of Jesus. It’s a cheer that says: “I want to see some blood!”

  Aleksei is standing at one end of the room. I’m pleased to note that he has a big purple bruise on his cheek, fading to yellow at his chin. His left eye is so swollen that he can barely keep the lid open. I can’t help but smirk as Abram brings me close to meet Aleksei.

  “Devochka will apologize for what she did,” Abram says. He sneers at me. “Isn’t that right, daughter?”

  I roll my eyes. “Sorry I hit you so hard,” I mumble towards Aleksei.

  He doesn’t smile.

  “What?” I turn towards Abram. “That wasn’t good enough?”

  “She’s a real piece of work,” Aleksei says. His voice sounds thick, choked. That’s when I notice his lips are swollen, no doubt from another kick of mine. I can’t help but smile.

  If he thinks he’s fucking me tonight, he’s sadly mistaken , I think as I glare into the eyes of my future husband. Hopefully I’ve shown him what a tough girl I am by now .

  Abram clears his throat. “Today, my daughter will be married,” He says. “I have waited for this moment my whole life.” He grins, grabbing my hand and yanking it high into the air. “Today is the day my empire grows.”

  I yank my hand back, glaring at him. I hate you , I think as I stare at my father’s face. Beast was right. You may not want to kill me, but you certainly don’t give a shit about my life.

  Abram turns to the men and starts speaking in Russian. At first, I try to catch the meaning of his words. But it’s all babble to me. He could be making the same gibberish sounds over and over and it wouldn’t sound any different. After a few seconds, my mind turns to Beast. I close my eyes, thinking about him.

  I wonder what he’s doing. I wonder if he’s thinking of me. I wonder if he’s out looking for me, planning a daring
rescue.

  It’s hard not to close my eyes and imagine Beast bursting into the room, guns blazing. First, he’d shoot Abram, then he’d run and grab me. We’d swing into the darkness like a pair of comic book superheroes. I know he’d pull me close and kiss me passionately before putting that absurd helmet with the cat ears on my head and speeding away with me on the back of his motorcycle.

  Abram finishes his little speech and the men break out into applause. Their cries are frighteningly loud to my ears – it’s almost like they want to scare me by showing me how vicious and loud they can be. It’s hard to keep a placid expression on my face when I see the obvious hunger in their eyes.