The Devil's Game (Rhodes to Hell Book 1)

by K. B. Saint

  Preston doesn’t even look at him, but he finds Salem and I immediately. “Come here, girls.”

  Nicholai eyes us as we walk by him and Messiah walks back into the room as we stop in front of Preston together. We both look up at him, but he’s looking past us to Messiah. I turn my head to get a glimpse at him and he’s holding a big black bag he must’ve gotten from the back of the jeep we rode over in.

  “Si, you can lay the tools on the table down there,” Preston tells Messiah and he takes the bag down the steps without a word. I look back to Preston and he puts a hand over Salem’s shoulder. “I want you to go to the kitchen and do what we talked about earlier.”

  “Okay,” Salem says with a smile. “You never told me how many.”

  “Enough,” he tells her and I frown and look between the two of them, but they don’t answer my questioning stare. Instead, Preston lets her head to the kitchen and places his big warm hard on my shoulder. “And you, are coming with me.”

  I don’t have a choice in the matter but honestly the curiosity of whatever the hell he’s about to make me do is enough for me to have gone with him even if he did give me the choice not to. I walk by Nicholai again and he’s still watching me, his hand over his mouth like he’s in deep thought. He doesn’t say anything as I follow Preston out of the room.

  “Do you know why we are here, Ruby?” Preston asks as I follow him down a narrow hallway to a room in the back of the house.

  “To kill the guy spreading the rumor,” I tell him and he turns to look at me from over his shoulder.

  “So, you asked,” he states with a grin.

  “I always ask,” I tell him seriously. As an adult not a day has gone by where I haven’t asked any question if one has popped into my head.

  “Good way of gaining knowledge,” he says. I can’t see his face anymore but he still sounds like he’s smiling.

  “Good way of getting the knowledge I want,” I counter as he pushes the door at the end of the hallway open.

  He stands with his back against the door and holds it open for me to walk in before him. I stand there for a second before he nods me into the room and waves his hand to move me along. I take in the room as I step closer to the door frame and it’s dark but I can see the couches and there’s a big empty wall in front of them. Preston cuts the lights on and I look back behind the couches and find a projector mounted up on the ceiling above us.

  “Have a seat,” he tells me, waving his hand again so I’ll move along faster.

  “Why are you so impatient?” I ask as I pass him and sit on the couch. “I mean, why does everything you do have to be so rushed?”

  “There’s always an agenda, Ruby,” he tells me, I scoff.

  “Only if you lead that kind of life,” I argue.

  “It’s how you’ll live now,” he tells me and I look over at him quickly. “Oh yes, I’m going to teach you how to live this kind of life.”

  “I prefer to just wander through life,” I tell him honestly with a shrug of my shoulders. “You know, float with the wind kind of thing.”

  “And see,” he starts, shaking his head back and forth as he continues, “Which is why you had to come to me for help and not the other way around, Ruby. Being punctual and knowing how to follow a routine is important, but you’ll learn all about punctuality later. Right now, I want to know something else.”

  “What?” I ask, my stare icy as he continues to look down at me.

  He takes a step in my direction and he’s right in front of me now. I have to look all the way up to see his dark eyes staring back at me. My breathing is labored as I force air in and out of my lungs, doing my best to just fucking remember to breathe. The crook of his pointer fingers comes to my jawline and he gently moves my head up, exposing my neck to him even more.

  I keep my eyes on his and his snarl of a grin is so fucking hot my insides actually clinch together as I continue to struggle to breathe.

  “Tell me something, Ruby,” he starts before spreading his hands out as he encircles my neck into his grip. He’s not applying much pressure, but he has me in his grasp and I’m not stopping him. My arms lay limp by my sides and I just wait for his question. “Am I turning you on?”

  I lose my breath and it comes out like a pant. There’s no way to recover, so I don’t even try.

  “Are you such a little whore you’re already begging for your Daddy to fuck you?”

  I frown in his grasp, but I don’t correct him or look away from his eyes. He controls my air supply currently and in all honesty I don’t know Preston or what he’s capable of. My body is an inferno of molten lava and I’m only getting hotter as his hand grows tighter on my throat.

  “I am your Daddy now, Ruby, right?”

  He stares at me for a few seconds before I realize he’s waiting for me to respond. I’m not getting enough air to speak so I nod at him, my eyes still hard. He may think he’s my Daddy but he’s just a means to an end at this point for me.

  “Let me see you beg for what you want, little brat,” he says to me and I feel the heat pooling low in my belly. My breathing is erratic as fuck and I know it’s written all over my face I don’t just want him to touch me, I damn near need it. I crave it. He squeezes my throat tighter but as the pressure starts to build in my head he releases me abruptly and I fall limp to the couch.

  He catches me under my arms, and I pant heavily, trying to get as much air into my lungs as I can. He steps back and pulls me up to stand before cradling me to his chest. I start to gain my composure and an uneasy feeling washes over me when I realize I’m not uncomfortable in his arms.

  I gulp air down as the panic from being choked settles, but I don’t push away from him. He smells like cedar and clove mixed with cigarette smoke but it’s warm and smothers me completely. I try to lift my head to look at him, but he holds me still, not saying a thing. I don’t move but I do close my eyes and I try and imagine what the fuck this man could be thinking right now. Why is he holding me to him like this? His grip isn’t tight and has just enough pressure to keep me still but it feels like he almost wants me to fight him.

  I’m probably wrong but I don’t think about it too much before I drop all of my weight quickly and roll to my left but Preston is there and yanks me back to my feet faster than I can blink. He’s frowning down at me and I’m out of breath still.

  “Why do you fight to get away from me so much?” he asks me, holding me in front of him at arm's length.

  “I don’t know,” I tell him, but he doesn’t buy it.

  “Is your first instinct always to fight?”

  I don’t respond immediately but I do think of how to answer his question. I can’t remember a time in my life where I wasn’t fighting for something. I’ve had to fight my whole life just to survive and it wouldn’t make sense for me to have it easy now. Having it easy isn’t something that actually happens to me, it's just what my dreams are made of.

  “Fighting’s got me this far,” I tell him, always ready to defend my shitty decisions.

  “Woo,” he calls out, laughing some and letting me fall back to the couch behind me, “you are going to be the one to try to break me, Ruby Tate. But don’t think for a second I won’t have the time of my life breaking your stubborn little ass.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  RUBY—TEN YEARS AGO

  I’ve never been more disappointed over a summer ever in my life. I got my casts off this morning and while I’m thankful to be free of it, I’m pissed there’s only one week before we all go back to school. I start tenth grade in a week and I’ve been stuck in the house all summer long. Tonight, Cece and I plan on making up for lost time. Messiah is supposed to come out for a little while, but he won’t be able to stay with us the whole time. He’s always leaving.

  I set the fast food bag on the counter and watch as my grandma comes through the back door with the drinks. Her blonde hair is cut short into a stylish bob and after she sets the drinks down she brushes some of her bangs out of
her face.

  “How’s your pain?” she asks, glancing down at my leg.

  A warm feeling spreads over my chest as I think of the pain pill she’ll get me if I say I need it. I decide to wait a little while so I can take it by myself because snorting them always makes them hit harder and faster. When Grandma gives them to me I have to swallow them and I’m just not in the mood for waiting.

  “I’m good, Grandma. Let’s eat so I can go to Cece’s. She’s waiting on me,” I say to her while pulling the food out.

  “You two sure you don’t want to celebrate with this old bird,” she asks, patting her chest like she’s proud to be old.

  “Grandma, we’ve been watching Golden Girls reruns all summer long. I want to go celebrate with people my age.” I laugh, shaking my head at her.

  “Okay,” she smiles, taking her burger and fries from the counter. “I guess I understand.”

  “Grandma don’t try to guilt me,” I say, laughing harder at her and her shit. “You taught me what manipulation was when I was three years old, remember?”

  She smiles big, “I sure did, had to teach you how to protect yourself somehow,” she declares, taking a seat at the old vintage dinner table she’s probably had since she was twenty-one and a newlywed to my late grandfather.

  “You did good, Grandma,” I tell her as I sit at the table with her, meaning every word I say.

  “I suppose not good enough, but it’s just water under the bridge now,” she says to herself more than me but I don’t comment on it.

  I know my Grandma feels guilty for how long I actually had to live with my parents during my lifetime, but the courts would never hear her side or just didn’t care. Either way, I don’t blame her for who my parents were.

  I blame them.

  We thankfully switch to a lighter topic and finish up eating together and as I get ready to leave, she draws herself a bath. I don’t see her again before I leave and before I slip out the back door I grab six of my pain pills from the medicine shelf. Cece said she was getting us some new shit for tonight, but new isn’t always better in my opinion so I figure bringing something I know will be fun is good just in case the new stuff is a shitty time.

  I walk through my neighborhood in the direction of Messiah and Cece’s house and for the first time since the wreck I’m actually excited for something. It might be the wrong thing to be excited about, but the promise of getting fucked up beyond oblivion sounds like exactly what I need. I’ve spent all summer barely skating by with the ignore train leading my way but the feelings surrounding my survival are motivation enough to shove just about any drug in my system at this point, as long as I don’t have to feel. I killed my parents and my unborn child, what kind of person would I be, to want to feel anyway?

  I get to their door and knock but I don’t hear anyone coming on the other side. I knock again, harder this time. I know their granny had an appointment this afternoon she's probably not back from, but Cece is supposed to be here. I twist the knob and find it open and shake my head at my best friend. Messiah is always getting onto her about locking doors, but she never listens.

  I call out to her as I walk through the living room, assuming she’s in the bathroom and heading to the door. She doesn’t answer.

  “Cece?” I say against the closed bathroom door, but she doesn’t respond. I go to her room but it’s empty and after a quick peek into Si’s room I stand in the hall confused. Nothing looks disturbed and when I turn my head back to the bathroom a sinking feeling starts in my chest. I call out for her again anyway and move back to the door. I bang on it as hard as I can but she doesn’t answer.

  I move to the handle and twist it hard, throwing the door open and my worst fear is laying at my feet. I spot the needle, and the mirror, and the spoon. Her face and the empty look in her eyes. She’s gone.

  Everything is a blur as I rush to her side screaming her name and touching her already cool skin. I’m screaming so loudly, my ears are ringing, and I don’t fucking know what to do. I stand to go try and find their house phone and look up to see a frantic Messiah rushing into the bathroom.

  “She’s cold!” I cry out. “Call 911!”

  He stares at me for a few seconds before looking away from me and finding all of the evidence telling him the story, no words necessary. It’s a story he doesn’t even fully understand but he pushes past me and rushes over to her, cupping her face in his hand as he puts his fingers on her neck.

  “What the fuck was she shooting, Ruby?” he roars, and I stumble back, running into their granny. Tears cloud my eyes and my breathing is fast and choppy. Messiah stands to his feet as his granny begins to scream and it’s like I’m watching it all in slow motion. This can’t be real. My best friend can’t be dead. “What they fuck did she shoot?”

  I’m pinned against the wall on the other side of the hallway now and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Messiah so angry at anyone, let alone me. “I think … pills …”

  “She was shooting up your fucking pills,” he grinds out and a shiver racks through me as my tears continue to fall. I shake my head.

  “No, not my pi—“

  “Get the fuck out of my apartment,” he says so coldly I freeze. My body locks up and I feel like my world is crumbling around me. They are all I have. “Now!”

  I flinch as he jerks in my direction and when he steps out of my way I bolt out from under him. The door to their apartment is still wide open and I run through it and get to the street quickly and never stop running.

  They’re all I had.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  MESSIAH — PRESENT

  Hollis walks into the house and Elijah is close behind him. They both look over at me before hearing Nicholai as he fucks with the guy Ruby is going to kill.

  “Nic,” Elijah scolds, “leave the mother fucker alone. He’s Ruby’s.”

  “Messiah got to have his fun,” he complains, but stops anyway. “I’m sure you know he didn’t come to us like that.”

  “Seems like Si has some pent up anger,” Hollis says, looking back at me with a smirk. “We’ll hit the gym later.”

  I shrug. He’s fucking with me but I wouldn’t mind some time in the gym hitting someone. Especially him. “Tell me when.”

  “Say less,” Hollis says, “Where are the girls?”

  “Salem is in the kitchen and Ruby is in the back with Preston,” Nicholai says walking up the big carpeted steps out of the pit.

  Hollis turns to look at Nicholai and they lock eyes for a few seconds before they both look to Elijah, who sighs.

  “I’m not going back there,” he tells us, shaking his head. “He’ll bring her out when he knows she’s ready. I doubt it will take long.”

  I smirk, knowing how much hell Ruby is probably back there giving him. “I doubt they’ll be in there much longer,” I agree and Hollis turns to look back at me.

  “I need to talk to you,” he tells me before looking back to Elijah. “Text me when they come out.”

  Elijah nods to him and he turns to head for the back of the house through the kitchen. Elijah follows us into the kitchen but I see him walking over to Salem as I close the back door and walk onto the back porch.

  “I want to know what the fuck is going on with you and Ruby,” he states, cutting to the point quick. Typical Hollis.

  “We dated …” I start, meeting his eyes before I go on. “… back in high school and before all of this.”

  “So, what’s the bad blood,” he asks, his eyes hard on me. “She break your heart or something, bruh?”

  “More than breaking my heart, Hollis. She ripped it out, stomped it into the ground before lighting it on fire,” I admit, keeping my eyes on his so he knows I’m being for real.

  “How’d she do so much damage, Messiah?”

  “She killed my sister, man.”

  “Your sister overdosed,” he says, trying to make sense of what I’m saying. “What do you mean she killed her?”

  “The pills she overdose
d on came from Ruby,” I tell him, shaking my head as I feel myself getting pissed all over again.

  “Are you sure?” he asks.

  “She broke her arm and leg the summer my sister died and she was prescribed percs for all the pain she was in. I found my sister on the bathroom floor with needles, pills, and shit all around her. Who else would she have been getting drugs from?”

  Hollis doesn’t respond as he looks down at his phone. “We are going to finish this conversation later, but it’s time. Put your game face on Si and let’s get through tonight. You and her are going to have to figure this out because like it or not after tonight she’s family.”

  “I know,” I grit out before moving past him and back inside. Salem is still in the kitchen and she looks up from what she’s doing at the counter and smiles at me briefly before going back to what she was doing before we walked in.

  We walk back to the pit and Preston already has Ruby in front of the guy we brought here. Nic is behind him, holding his head up to look at Ruby as Preston asks him why he felt it was his job to be the snitch in our streets. The guy is crying like a little kid and begging for his life. I chuckle because no matter how much he begs, Preston won’t let him leave here alive. He was a dead man the second we found out his name. It’s time to prove a point

  “Nic, get him out of here. I want him in the basement and ready to die, got it?” Preston asks but he knows Nicholai will have him begging for death once we all get down there. “But leave him down there and come back.”

  Nicholai grunts and yanks the guy to his feet by his hair. We tied his hands and feet when we left him before, but cut his feet when we got back like Preston wanted. When Nicholai has the guy out of the pit they pass Hollis and I and the guy looks to the ground fast as hell.

  “Messiah, Hollis,” Preston starts, “Come on down.”

  I follow Hollis and I watch Preston as his stare burns a hole in the side of Ruby’s head. She won’t meet his eyes but she does look up at Hollis and I as we get to the bottom of the pit. I see the marks on her neck easily, but her features are still hard. She’s like a wild horse, never wanting to be caught or tamed. She’s going to be the thrill of Preston’s life and I’m not sure there will be much any of us can do once he gets his claws into her.