My Sweet Songbird: Requested Trilogy - Part Three

by Sabre Rose

  “Well then, how did you escape?” I ask.

  Lily laughs. “I had help.” She shifts in the seat, moving so she’s facing me and kicks off her shoes, tucking her feet under her. “Well, because we’re going to possibly be hell-mates forever, and because I’m drunk, I will let you ask any question you want, and I swear I will tell you the truth. But you can’t tell any of this to anyone.” She mimics a zipper going across her mouth.

  I hold up my hand with mock gravity, eager to play the game, eager for anything to take my mind off Ryker’s promise and the fact that my best friend in the entire world might right now have her fingers threaded through the man’s who has kidnapped me.

  “I promise.” I wink, and she laughs.

  “Fine.” She nods. “You may proceed.”

  “Where’s your daughter now?”

  “Out in the world, living her life. Safe.”

  “Senior is keeping her safe?”

  Lily nods.

  “Do you get to see her?”

  Lily shakes her head.

  “Then how do you know she’s safe? Do you just take Senior’s word for it?”

  She lifts her glass. “I’m going to need another drink.” I watch as she gulps the wine, draining the contents of the glass. “I could get to this state a lot quicker if he’d just give me some spirits.” She placed the now empty glass down on the floor. “Yes, in a way I do.”

  “But why?” I don’t understand how she could so implicitly trust the man who had stolen her from her life, from her child.

  “Because he is her father. There is no way he would harm her.”

  “What?” I spit the word out, shocked at her confession. Sebastian has a sister. “Does Katriane know? Does Sebastian?”

  “If it were just up to Seb, he would claim our daughter. It’s Katriane who won’t let him. She said she allows him enough indulgences without adding a bastard child to the list. And no, Junior doesn’t know a thing.”

  “And that’s why you and Katriane hate each other?”

  “One of the reasons, yes.”

  I shake my head, still not able to put the pieces of the puzzle together. “But if you say that Senior would never hurt his own daughter, then why did you have to promise to be his forever?”

  “No,” she shakes her head. “My promise to Seb is to keep my son safe.”

  “You have a son too?”

  She nods, as though it all makes perfect sense. “He’s not Seb’s though. His father was a useless bastard who ignored him.”

  “This is all very confusing,” I say, laughing.

  “Not really.” She leans back into the couch. “When Seb took me the first time, I already had a child, my son. For the years that I was away, my son was with his useless bastard of a father. He was just a child. He’s the reason I tried to escape. It didn’t happen the first time.” She shakes her head again. “I tried time and time and time again and got punished for each failed attempt. I almost gave up. But then I found out I was pregnant. Seb would have made me have an abortion if he knew about it. By this stage, he’d collected more girls and there were rules. But I was his first and I was his favorite, so when I actually managed to escape, he chased me. He never gave up hope that he’d find me again. He keeps reminding me of that like it’s some romantic gesture, like they are not the actions of a deranged man. I found my son, gave birth and created a quiet life hidden in the city. But he found me. I truly believe he would have beaten me to death had I not told him the truth about his daughter. It’s something I will regret until the day I die. Ironic, huh?”

  “So he took you and your children and brought you back here?” As the words come out of my mouth, realization dawns. I chew my bottom lip, pondering my next question. “What are their names?”

  She shakes her head and gathers her empty glass, lifting herself from the couch to walk over to her bedroom. “I’ve said too much already.” Her words are partially slurred. “Seb would not be happy.” She shakes her finger behind her back as she walks through the doorway.

  I sit with my thoughts, not knowing whether to believe them. My mind reels, going back through everything she said until Lily stumbles back into the room and lowers herself back on the couch.

  “Don’t say a word of this to Daisy. I couldn’t stand her knowing. She’d go on and on, asking questions, rubbing salt into my wounds.”

  I clear my throat and voice my question quietly. “Does he know?”

  “Who?” Lily swings her head my way.

  “Ryker.”

  The drunken glaze slips from her eyes as she stares into mine. Slowly she lowers her glass to the floor. “What makes you think it’s him?”

  “Something he told me. We became…” I swallow, not sure how much to admit if my theory is wrong. “We became close.”

  Lily reaches over and clutches my hand. “You can’t tell him. Promise me you won’t say anything. I can’t have him knowing who I am, what I am. It’s better this way.”

  “So you know then? You know he has no memory of you, no memory of his life before the Attertons.”

  “It’s better this way,” she repeats like a broken record.

  “What happened? Did you just hand them over?”

  Lily shakes her head vehemently, her fingernails digging into the flesh of my hand. “No! Never. I would have done anything to protect them. I thought I had protected them. They weren’t there when Seb found me. They were over at the neighbor’s house. He couldn’t find them when I told him about Everly. He took me away, but he was determined to find them. And then he did. He put the word out that he was looking for some runaway kids, like he was a good Samaritan or something, and someone told him about some kids hiding in the stables. It was them. Ryker wasn’t his son. He would have just left him, or worse if I hadn’t made a deal with him. I promised always to be his in return for him looking out for Ryker as well as Everly.”

  “But Ryker doesn’t know. He thinks that Senior saved him. He thinks that if he doesn’t do want Senior wants, that he’ll hurt Everly. He doesn’t know that Senior is her father.”

  “But at least he’s safe.”

  “He’s safe, yes. But he’s not free. He’s trapped by the Attertons just as much as you and I are.”

  Lily pulls my hand toward her and places it over her chest. “Promise me you won’t tell him. Promise me.”

  I look into her eyes, the ones that are the same color as Ryker’s and wonder how I didn’t see it before. “I promise,” I say.

  What’s one more lie in the enormity of my sins?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  MIA

  After our conversation and more assurances that I won’t tell Ryker, Lily heads off to bed. I stretch out along the couch, my mind stuck on Lily’s revelation, too wired to sleep.

  Lily is Ryker’s mother. Senior is Everly’s father. It seems impossible, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. It explains Ryker’s dream. He must have walked in and found his mother, beaten and battered, lying on her bed while Senior frantically searched for him and his sister. That’s how they ended up on the streets. The trauma of it all must have made him forget, or maybe it was the fever he said he had when Senior found him. He’s always felt like he owes the Attertons his life. Little does he know that they were the ones to take it from him.

  I scan the room, looking for a clock, but I can’t find any. There’s no way to tell the time. No way to know if the party is over or if it’s still going. All I can do is wait for the door to open, and hope that it’s Ryker and not Sebastian.

  And if it is Ryker, I must choose whether I tell him. Will this information change his mind about escape? Will he still be willing to risk his life for me, knowing that his mother is trapped in Senior’s grasp and that his sister is also an Atterton by blood?

  For hours I simply lie there, listening to the noises of the mansion, the deep thud of bass coming from somewhere inside the house, the occasional groan and creak of a floorboard, a muted trill of laughter.
Eventually, I must fall asleep as I wake to someone dragging me from the couch, tight fingers clasped around my wrist.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” Sebastian says in a sing-song voice.

  I stumble, clutching the ground for balance. He tugs my hand again and pulls me flush to his body. I blink a few times, trying to clear the fog of sleep from my head.

  “I’ve missed you,” he moans, pushing his lips to mine. I turn my head, the smell of alcohol on his breath turning my stomach. Gripping my chin viciously, he turns my head back to face him. “Don’t,” he growls, glaring at me. His pupils are dilated, turning his normally piercing blue eyes dark. Lifting my chin with his fingers, his lips crash against mine. They are cold and dry, and he tastes bitter and sour. When he lets me go, I resist the urge to wipe my mouth.

  As he pulls me toward the door, I scan the room pointlessly, looking for Ryker as though he could be here and just hiding. There’s the smallest amount of despair that washes over me. I guess hope had worked its way in after all.

  Sebastian tugs me down hallways and corridors. Occasionally he brushes against the wall and laughs manically only to turn and jerk me forward as though it was my fault he had stumbled. His shirt is untucked and loose and the tie he wore before is no longer there. The hallways are foreign, not ones that I’ve seen before, at least I don’t think I have.

  “Where are we going?” I ask, knots of fear beginning to twist in my stomach. I haven’t had to deal with a drunk Sebastian before.

  He whips around, bringing his face close to mine and raising a finger over my mouth before turning back and continuing without saying a word.

  “Are you alright, sir?” A voice drifts down the hallway. It’s Cameron, and on his arm leans a young girl. Her lopsided grin and obvious reliance on him to keep her upright make it obvious that she too has consumed a large amount of alcohol.

  “Of course I’m alright,” Sebastian scoffs. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Because you’re dragging that girl around when we have lots of guests in the house. Perhaps you should take her back to her room.”

  Cameron nods to me and I scowl. Even though his participation in my re-capture would have been ordered by Sebastian, I still can’t help but despise the man. It was his eyes that gleamed in the dark. His footsteps that caused my heart to pound rapidly as I tried to out-run him. He winks, and I harden my glare more.

  “Perhaps you should mind your own business.” Sebastian’s words come with flying spittle.

  The girl at Cameron’s side giggles and tugs on his arm. “Come on,” she says. “Leave Sebastian be.”

  Cameron moves out of the way and Sebastian pulls me past them. The girl waves playfully, only with her fingers.

  “Is she okay with him?” I ask, then realize the stupidity of my question. As though Sebastian would care.

  “Everly’s fine.”

  “Everly?” I whip my head back, trying to catch a glimpse of the girl who is both Sebastian and Ryker’s sister, but she has already disappeared around the corner. “What’s she doing here?”

  Maybe her presence is the reason Ryker never came. It still didn’t explain why she was with Cameron though.

  Sebastian stops walking and turns to look at me, letting our entwined hands dangle between us. “Do you know who she is?”

  “No,” I say quickly, too quickly. “Yes, sort of. I’ve never met her or anything, but Ryker did mention something about his sister once.”

  Sebastian steps forward, his tall frame looming over me, and I involuntarily back into the wall.

  “He did, did he?”

  His words vibrate through me as a rumble. I don’t answer. The thud of my heart is loud. I keep looking at the ground, hoping he will ignore my foolish comment.

  “And when did you and Ryker have this little conversation, hmm? Did he also tell you that it was my father who saved him and that pathetic girl? That if not for his generosity, Ryker and Everly would most likely be dead right now?”

  I stare at his shoes. I can almost make out my reflection in the polish.

  “Fucking answer me!” he roars.

  I look up, trying to stop my lip from trembling. There’s so much rage in Sebastian’s expression. So much darkness in his eyes.

  “No. No, he didn’t tell me anything. I think I just overheard him talking to Marcel.”

  He glares at me for a while longer before leaning down to suck my bottom lip between his teeth. I breathe in sharply when pain slices through my flesh, but I don’t cry out. A smile appears when he releases me and sees the blood, wiping the trickle with his fingers and bringing it to his mouth to lick clean.

  “Come,” he orders gruffly. “You’re ruining your surprise.”

  He walks at a pace I find difficult to keep up with, struggling to hold the skirt of my dress in one hand while the other is wrapped in his. He doesn’t stumble or sway this time, and soon he pushes open a door and pulls me inside. My shoes clip on the tiled floor. A large screen covers patterned black and grey walls and a massive bed dominates the room. It’s Sebastian’s bedroom. Dark and cold like he is. Pulling open the door to his closet, he pulls out a thick thread of satin.

  Standing close, he whispers in my ear. “Don’t say a word.”

  The undercurrent of cruelty to his tone is stronger than usual. My blood turns cold as I sink to my knees reluctantly, tears unwillingly seeping out the corners of my eyes.

  “Hands behind your back.” He ties them together at the wrists and then takes another strip of material and pushes it into my mouth, tying it securely in place. I expect him to cover my eyes next, it seems to be a favorite of his to deny me sight, but instead, he pulls me to my feet and leads me over to the closet.

  “Get in.”

  I look at him pleadingly, confused by his command.

  “Get in,” he repeats and shoves me forward.

  I wedge my way between hanging clothes and turn to face him, leaning against the back wall. He bends down and twists another strip of material around my ankles, binding them together.

  “Don’t move.” He laughs and brings his finger to his mouth. “Shh, I’ll be right back.”

  And then he closes the doors, leaving me able to see him through the slats. My nerves start to take over at the thought of the unknown. Why has he bound me and locked me in his closet? The thought of Star being used as a punishment races through my mind, and I pray desperately that Sebastian isn’t about to do the same. Ryker had mentioned something about an auction happening tonight. Could she be here?

  The combination of the gag, my bound hands and feet, the closeness of the clothing, and the locked door start to overwhelm me and I squeeze my eyes shut, attempting to calm my breathing. I start counting, inhaling and exhaling through my nose. When I open my eyes again, I attempt a scream, but the sound gets stuck in my throat and fades into nothingness.

  The seconds tick by until finally, I hear voices. Sebastian’s deep growl floats into the room, followed by laughter.

  Roxy’s laughter.

  My heart starts pounding so wildly I have to mentally tell myself to calm down in order to hear what they are saying. Roxy’s laughter is loud and carefree. The sound alone breaks my heart. I shuffle forward, closer to the slats so I can see and hear more.

  Sebastian sits on the edge of his bed, hands resting behind him as Roxy attempts to seductively walk towards him. It seems almost everyone in the mansion is drunk tonight. She kicks her high-heeled shoes from her feet and wiggles her skirt up her thighs so she can climb onto his lap. She pushes herself against him eagerly and threads her hands through his hair. Annoyance flicks through his eyes.

  “You know I don’t like to be touched.”

  Roxy laughs, grinding her hips into his lap. “And you know I do, and yet you’ve barely touched me all night.”

  He removes her hands from his hair and holds them securely behind her back. She lets out a moan and shoves her chest toward him, leaning forward to suck the lobe of his ear into her m
outh.

  Sebastian jerks her hands backward, causing her to fall off his lap and onto the floor. “I told you I didn’t want to be touched!”

  Scrambling back to her feet, Roxy starts to remove her dress, peeling it from her body and leaving her only in lacy black underwear that barely contains her breasts.

  I try to yell, scream, but I’m unable to make a sound, the material pressing too far into the back of my throat.

  Roxy shimmies her hands down her sides and walks back over to him, resting her hands on his knees and jutting her backside into the air. Sebastian’s eyes darken even further as his gaze lowers to her chest.

  “What’s the matter?” she asks. “You’re not yourself. Usually we’d be fucking by now.”

  Sliding himself backward onto the bed, Sebastian pats the empty space beside him. “I haven’t seen you in a while. I know a lot has happened. I just want to check you’re okay.”

  Roxy sighs and clambers next to him. “Aren’t you sweet,” she coos. She moves to straddle him, once again grinding her hips. “But I’d rather fuck.”

  Sebastian shoves her off him and swings his legs over the side of the bed, turning his back to her.

  “Sheesh,” Roxy says. “What climbed up your ass and died? You’ve never wanted to talk before. In fact, you barely talk at all.” She climbs off the bed and grabs her dress.

  “Is it so bad that I just want to check you’re okay?” He gets to his feet and walks over to her, ripping the dress from her hands and flinging it across the room. Wrapping his fingers around her throat, he backs her into a wall and runs his tongue over her cheek. “We’ll have plenty of time to play later.”

  Roxy’s eyes roll back into her head and her entire body trembles under his attention.

  She’s enjoying it.

  She wants it.

  A lump of nausea rises to my throat, making it almost impossible to breathe. I want to call out to her. Warn her. She doesn’t see Sebastian for who he really is. But that’s because he’s never treated her like he has me. His actions may be similar, but the difference is in her consent.