by Brant, Jason
Grabbing hold of her ankle, Wayne tugged her closer. He groaned. “You’re gonna pay for that, girlie. Gonna take what’s mine.”
She felt him prying her legs open as he continued to yank her toward him. The tip of the blade dug into her lower back as she slid across the rough floor. Blood soaked through her shirt.
Her hands continued to manipulate the knife.
Wayne wrenched her closer, his fingers digging deep into her flesh.
She felt him press against her.
Then her hands popped free.
Cass swung the knife around from behind her back, slashing blindly where she thought his face was. The knife met resistance, then passed through.
Howling, Wayne released her legs.
Blood gushed onto her shins and thighs from the cut she’d made.
She pushed away from him, grabbing the hood over her head with her other hand. Yanking it free, she blinked rapidly as the overhead light burned her eyes. She could barely see anything.
“Fucking bitch,” Wayne shrieked.
Cass blindly slashed the knife in front of her as she got to her feet. She didn’t connect with anything, but wanted to keep him away from her until her eyes adjusted.
Wayne batted her hand aside, sending the blade flying into the wall and clacking to the floor. He sprang forward, grabbing her throat with both hands and slamming her into the wall between the cab and the back.
Just as her eyesight began to clear, Wayne started to throttle her.
Stars burst in her vision.
Red-hot torment blossomed throughout her throat.
Tried to breathe.
Couldn’t draw air.
Wayne leaned closer, his rank breath blowing in her face. “You don’t even want to know the things I’ll do to your boy when I finish with you.”
Cass batted at his arms, trying to knock them down, but his grip only tightened. A long, deep gash on his chest bled profusely as he squeezed harder and harder. Spittle flew from his mouth, splattering her cheeks.
Fury and madness filled his eyes.
Cass’ vision began to close in.
Her neck was a volcano of agony.
She reached up and jammed her thumb deep into Wayne’s eye, pushing in until it was knuckle deep in the socket. Goo erupted from the orifice as she yanked her digit free.
The sound that escaped Wayne’s mouth sounded more like a dying Vladdie than anything a human being could make. He released her and staggered backward, both hands going to his destroyed eye.
His howl reached a higher pitch as he slipped in his own blood and nearly fell down.
Cass slumped against the wall for a second, sucking in as much breath as her damaged throat would allow. Each sip of air was a blessing and a curse, the pleasure and pain indistinguishable.
Stumbling along the wall beside her, she spotted the knife by her feet. She snatched it up, stalking toward her prey on shaky legs.
Wayne saw her coming with his remaining eye, swinging a looping punch at her face. Cass tried to duck under it, but the bottom of his hand clipped the crown of her head and snapped her neck sideways. She stumbled half a step, struggling against the sluggishness in her limbs.
The blow hurt, but she powered through it and regained her balance. She stayed low and stabbed at Wayne’s naked thigh with the knife. It sank deep into the meat of his leg. She felt it nick the bone and glance off.
Screaming like the wounded, dying animal he was, Wayne collapsed to his knees.
Blood and gore poured through the fingers covering his mangled eye. A geyser of crimson spurted from his thigh. His chest and stomach were a horror show of blood and hair.
Cass straightened, standing tall as he shrank before her. Twisting her hand into his mangy hair, she yanked his head back until he gaped up at her. “That eye was for my husband.”
She jammed the knife hilt deep into his remaining eye, feeling it punch through the rear wall of the socket and drive into his brain. His body spasmed in her grip.
“And that eye was for me.” She threw his body face-first into the floor, driving the knife even deeper into his skull. “Fucker.”
As she bent over to pick up her pants, the back door slid open.
The boss man stood on the other side, astonishment blossoming on his face. “Wayne?”
“He’s taking a nap.” Cass spat a bloody wad of phlegm at the boss, but it fell short. She figured the effort got her point across.
“You killed Wayne?” The man stared at her for a full second before unholstering the pistol attached to his hip. “I warned you. Have fun with him in hell.”
Cass closed her eyes and waited for the pain to stop.
16
Joe and his band of idiots tossed Lance into an outbuilding behind the big barn. It had a heavy metal door on it with a padlock hanging from the front handle. A lone light at the opposite end of the room provided a small amount of visibility, but not much.
They locked the door behind him, snickering as they left.
Lance stood just inside the door, peering into the darkness. The entire building stretched maybe fifteen feet by fifteen feet, and it had small stables inside for pigs or some other livestock.
A bowl of water sat on the floor to the left.
“Lance?” a man called from the other end of the building. “Is that you?”
Recognizing the voice, Lance stepped forward. “Adam?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Me too, bro,” Greg said. Each stepped out of a different stall into the light. “Damn good to see you! We thought we were completely screwed in here, bro!”
“We’re still screwed,” Adam said.
“How do you figure?”
“Because now he’s locked in here, too.”
“Oh. Yeah. That sucks.”
“I can’t believe we found you.” Lance crossed the distance between them, throwing his arms around Adam in a big hug. He squeezed his friend to him. Releasing Adam, he gave Greg a hug too, having never been so happy to see the lug before.
“We thought you were dead.” Adam shook his head. “How the hell did you survive the night down there? We could hear the Vladdies bearing down on us as we drove away.”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you all about it as soon as we get out of here.” Lance searched the rest of the stalls for the others. “Where’s everyone else? In another building?”
Adam and Greg shared a glance.
“What?” Lance asked.
“It’s just us, bro.” Greg shuffled his feet. “Everyone else is gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“They dropped us off here and took the others somewhere else.” Adam leaned against a post beside one of the stalls. “They hung around for an hour or so inside the house and then split.”
“We’re pretty sure they were banging some of those chicks out there,” Greg said. “There was a lot of moaning coming through some open windows on the second floor.”
“Whoa, hold on a second.” Lance held a hand up. “They dropped you off here and left?”
Emily had told them back at The Light that her men had seen something similar happen, but Lance hadn’t completely believed it. He hadn’t understood then, and still didn’t now, why they would only deliver a few people to one place and the rest to another.
That meant Cass and Dragon were somewhere farther north.
Judging by how late in the day it was, he knew they wouldn’t have any chance of reuniting with them before nightfall. At best, it would be another day before he could find them. He wanted to pull his hair out.
“Just us.” Adam sighed. “They asked us what skills we had last night. Then today, they dropped Greg and me off. No one has really talked to us either. We’ve just been stuck in here, trying to watch and listen to the people outside as best we can.”
“Were the kids okay? Did those assholes in the truck hurt anyone?” Lanced tried to keep his voice calm. “What about Cass and Lilith?”
A
dam’s face blanched at the mention of his wife. “They had us all tied up in the back, but they didn’t hurt anyone. Cass was giving them some grief, shockingly, but everyone was all right.”
“No surprise there with Cass.” Lance blew out a breath. He hadn’t realized how tense his entire body was. “Thank God they haven’t hurt the kids.”
“I don’t think they wanted to hurt any of us,” Greg said. “Especially not the women and children. They mentioned how valuable they were or something.”
“They valued the women and children more for some reason? And they asked what skills you had?” Lance ran a hand through his long hair. “What the hell? Are they selling people?”
“You got me, bro.” Greg peered through a hole in the wooden slats comprising the walls. “This is a weird place, you know? They don’t seem worried about the Vladdies at all. And they’re boning like jackrabbits in that house. Bunch of nymphos, if you ask me.”
“Eifort is in there.” Lance stepped beside him, peering through the same spot. “That king dickwad guy took her with him and sent me here.”
“Meg is here, too?” Adam asked. “And you both got caught…”
“Yeah, well, things didn’t quite work out as planned.” Lance saw someone pass by one of the windows of the house. He thought he saw a bare breast, but couldn’t be certain. “They aren’t… taking advantage of women in there, are they?”
Lance’s body shivered at the thought of Magnus King in there with Eifort. If they so much as glanced at her, he’d lose his mind. He should have gone after the big bastard in the woods, rather than letting these weirdos take them hostage.
“I don’t think so,” Adam said. “Everything looks consensual as best we can tell. We figure they’re some kind of sex cult.”
“A sex cult.” Lance lightly banged his head off the wooden wall, wondering what in the hell they’d stumbled into. “You’re kidding me.”
“Nah, bro.” Greg continued watching the house. “These chicks are walking around naked all day. And they just go into the house with the dudes, and each other, all the time. They come out all happy and sweaty. It’s crazy.”
“Meg can handle herself,” Adam said, putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “She’s better off in there than boxed in here.”
“You hope,” Lance grunted.
“I hope.”
Lance turned back to him, putting Eifort’s situation aside for a moment. He couldn’t help her if he was locked up, so getting free was priority number one. “How are they surviving here without any fences or walls? Do they have underground bunkers?”
“They haven’t exactly given us the tour,” Adam said. “We haven’t seen any hatches or anything yet, but we can’t see much from in here. The way they’re acting, though, it’s as if they don’t have a worry in the world. Honestly, I think they all just sleep in the house.”
“That’s impossible. There’s no way they could have survived this long without any protection.”
Shrugging, Adam held his hands up. “I can’t explain it. Like he said, this is a weird place.”
Though Lance couldn’t make sense of their situation, the sex-cult hypothesis did fit with what he’d seen. Sex seemed to be constant and open around the camp. What he couldn’t sort out was how a loser like Magnus King had managed to preside over the damn thing.
No one should listen to a fool so obviously full of shit.
“Do you think they paid the men who kidnapped you with sex?” Lance asked.
“That’s what it sounded like, bro. They left empty-handed, too, so that’s my guess.” Greg glanced over his shoulder at them. “You don’t think they’re going to turn us into their sex slaves, do you?”
Lance thought about Eifort inside again, balling his hands into fists. “We’re not going to wait around long enough to find out.”
17
“Put that gun away or my men will execute you on the spot, Higgins.” A woman appeared at the back of the truck beside the boss man.
Cass stood motionless, waiting for the asshole to ignore the woman and shoot her anyway. She stared into the prick’s eyes, defiant to the end. Wayne lay dead at her feet, his blood pooling on the floor.
“She killed Wayne.” Higgins returned Cass’ icy glare. “She has to pay.”
“I’ve already purchased her, Higgins. She’s mine now, and I get to say what happens to her from now on. Got it?” The woman’s mouth twisted in disgust as she viewed the corpse at Cass’ feet. “Besides, it sure looks like your flunky was about to rape one of my women. And we can’t have that, can we?”
Cass tore her gaze from the barrel of the gun aiming at her face to inspect the woman. She appeared nearly as tall as Higgins, with broad shoulders and almost masculine features. Judging from the lines around her eyes and mouth, Cass figured her to be somewhere between forty and fifty but couldn’t be certain.
Everyone aged differently now from stress, lack of food, and working outside.
Fiery red hair without a hint of silver was tucked behind her ears. Her eyes blazed with strength and anger as she glared at Higgins.
“Can’t have the cattle killing the ranchers.” Higgins continued scowling at Cass. “This one was trouble from the moment we picked her up. I’ll refund you right now. Take her off your hands.”
“Men.” The woman sighed. “Your egos cause you to make the dumbest decisions. You’d rather walk out of here empty-handed with nothing but a quick boost of pride? How long will that last, you fool?”
She bobbed her head at a hulking man behind her.
The beast strode forward and raised a rifle, pointing it at the back of Higgins’ head. With a rumbling voice that had a touch of southern twang, he said, “Say when.”
The woman stepped closer to Higgins. “I’m through trying to talk sense to you. God knows why I even bother with you morons. It’s time to decide between your life and your pride. You’re only leaving here with one of them.”
Higgins scowled at Cass down the sight of his pistol.
The quiet tension between them stretched.
His eyes narrowed to little more than slits.
Shoulders tensed.
Cass waited for the inevitable.
“Take the dumb bitch,” Higgins growled as he lowered the weapon. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you about her.”
“Duly noted.” The woman turned to the brute. “Have her cleaned up and waiting in my office in ten minutes.”
“Ma’am.” The massive man shouldered Higgins aside. “Go on and get dressed, little lady. No one will touch you again. You have my word.”
Cass stood motionless, watching Higgins in case he tried anything else. Remaining mostly nude in front of strangers wasn’t optimal, but she didn’t trust the human piece of shit standing a few feet away.
When he finally holstered his pistol and signaled for his men to come over, she relented and pulled her pants on. The back of the truck reeked of blood and shit. A dark pool surrounded Wayne.
She spit on his corpse.
The brute at the back of the van held out a hand to help her down.
Cass swatted it aside, hopping unassisted to the concrete below.
She considered lunging at Higgins, but thought of Lincoln and decided against it. Thinking of him often kept her rage in check. It worked again this time. Barely.
“Dunno when, dunno how, but I’m gonna find you, bitch.” Higgins pointed at her. “And when I do—”
“Get this moron out of my sight,” the woman said.
Cass watched as more burly men stepped away from the entrance of a two-story building with a sign out front that read Rental Office. They lumbered toward Higgins and his men, barking orders for them to get the hell out.
“You messed with the wrong family,” Cass called to Higgins as he climbed into the van. “You’ll be seeing me again soon.”
The back door of the van slid down, slamming into place.
“Come with me, miss.” The brute held out a hand, guiding Cass toward
the building.
She ignored it, searching for the woman who had saved her life. A glimpse of billowing red hair disappeared around a corner of the school building. “Where is my son?”
“Inside. You’ll see him as soon as you get cleaned up and meet with Miss Valerie.” His hand remained held out, gesturing to the open front door.
Cass scrutinized his wide face, taking in his overly masculine bone structure. Everything about the man was enormous, from his thick hands to his extended brow ridge. While he wasn’t what she would call handsome, he did have an attractive countenance. “If you’re lying to me, you’ll end up like that asshole in the van.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a broad, toothy smile. “I don’t doubt that for a second.”
They headed to the doors, Cass taking in her surroundings.
A small parking lot stretched from the front of the building to a small, paved road that snaked through a forest. Tons of trees lined either side of the street. An RV was visible fifty or sixty yards away, a gaggle of women standing in front of it, staring in Cass’ direction. Smoke rose from a small fire they had in a brick-lined pit in front of them.
The guards who had escorted Higgins and his crew of dickwads back to their van watched as the vehicle pulled away. One said something into a walkie-talkie that Cass couldn’t make out.
All the guards were stout, handsome men. Most were clean shaven with styled hair. Cass hadn’t seen so many put-together people in years. As she took in more details of the place, her bewilderment grew.
A handful of women climbed out of a van at the end of the parking lot. They helped more than ten children out of the back, herding them toward the building. A black woman in a form-fitting dress greeted them with a cheerful smile. She high-fived each child as they went through another set of doors.
The view made Cass’ mouth drop open. Never again did she expect to see people living so casually in the countryside again. There were fewer Vladdies away from the city, of course, but the idea of living in a freaking RV was insane. A horde of Vladdies would tear that thing apart in seconds.
Cass stopped. “What is this place?”
