Severed: A Dark Romance (The Taken Series Book 1)

by Dani René

  “Yes.” One word, and Drake’s fingers find my back as he guides me from my hell. Being here was the worst nightmare I’d ever lived through, and as we walk out of the mansion, I inhale fresh air for the first time in almost four years.

  “Wait here. I’ll be back in a moment. The men here will keep you safe,” Drake tells me earnestly. I want to answer him, to give him my voice, but all I can do is nod. I thought I was stronger, but I realize in the moment his cerulean orbs meet mine, I’m not. The girl who first fell for those big blue eyes is back, and I can’t tamper down the feelings.

  I was eighteen when I arrived at the Savage Mansion and met Drake. The private school girl who was lost to her family for so long I’m sure they think I’m dead. My chest tightens painfully, reminding me that my old life is gone. I’m no longer that innocent girl.

  I’m new.

  Reborn.

  I’ve given up trying to find her. Deep down, no matter how long I search, I know she’s a stranger to me. My heart is no longer filled with happiness and affection. And I’ve done something I never thought I could ever do. I’ve stabbed someone. I’m a killer. A murderer who’s lost everything. As I step out into my new life, I make a choice.

  I’m stronger.

  I’m no longer Caia, the toy.

  I’m Caia Amoretto, the survivor.

  10

  Drake

  As soon as I reach the cells, we find three other girls hidden in the corners of each room. They’re cold, malnourished, and one is bleeding profusely.

  “Get them to the hospital,” I order Crow, one of the best men on my team. River joins me, his eyes dark filled with hatred and anger. “This is . . .” I turn to the last cell and find a familiar face that is the spitting image of River. The big green eyes, the dark hair, and pouty lips of Rayne Atwood. She looks exactly like her brother. As if they were twins, but I know she’s younger.

  My body turns cold, rigid with confusion and rage. She’s skinny, sickly, and pale. There are black rims under her big eyes; those that used to shine with life are now lifeless and dead. Everything has been stolen from her.

  “Rayne?” My best friend’s voice is nothing more than a shocked whisper, but the pain it drips when he utters her name grips my chest. His sister’s eyes are wide when she takes us both in. I haven’t seen her since she was two, maybe three-years-old. River never spoke of her since the day their mother disappeared with her. We thought they were both killed. But the girl before us is very much alive.

  “Get her out of here,” I utter at Crow as soon as he returns. But as soon as two men reach for her, she loses her fucking mind. Her screech is ear-piercing. “Do it!” I command, and as they move closer to her, I notice one of the men has a syringe.

  “It’s an injection that will help calm her,” I inform River when his stare zeros in on the needle, but he knows this. It’s his own concoction of drugs that we’ve used before.

  As soon as it pierces her flesh, she goes down like a fucking rag doll. She’s naked, and I can’t help taking in the blue and purple bruises on her body. There are cuts and scabs on her knees. A botch job of stitches on her lower abdomen is visible when they move by us with her limp form.

  “What the fuck did they do to her?” My voice sounds hoarse and raspy. She’s probably so fucked up, so shattered that she doesn’t know what’s real and what’s not. I wonder if she even recognized her brother. Innocence stolen by force, and her mind has been broken.

  That wasn’t Rayne in there. It was a rabid animal.

  “We’ll fix her,” I tell him as we head toward the steps that lead to the main floor of the house. I’m not sure we can, but I don’t tell him about my doubt. I hide it where my best friend can never see it.

  All these years, River thought his sister was dead, but she isn’t. Which leads me to the question . . . What the fuck happened to her?

  Stalking toward the cars parked out front, I find Caia sitting on a concrete bench overlooking the fountain. The gardens of this estate are vast, beautiful, but the horrors that hide within the walls of the mansion are better left untold.

  “We should go,” I tell her.

  She turns her gaze on me. In the dark, she’s exquisite. Even though she’ll probably never trust another man ever again, I can’t help the need to protect her. I may not be able to love, or show affection, but I can offer her friendship.

  “This is it,” she utters. “No more hide and seek,” her voice rasps.

  “What?” I’m the one confused now.

  “He used to love to play hide and seek with us. He’d have these parties.” Even as she speaks, her voice is faraway. As if she’s not really here, beside me. Her mind is long gone, still within the confines of the house.

  “You can tell me about it another time,” I offer, reaching for her. I notice her flinch when I press a hand gently on her shoulder. “My car is over there.” I point as she rises. Quietly, she follows me, settling in the seat when I open the door for her.

  Once I’m in the driver’s seat, I start the engine, pulling down the drive and toward her freedom. There’s nothing but silence surrounding us. The roads are pitch black, bar from my headlights. It’s eerie, but it would be safest to keep her from the city.

  “Thank you,” she whispers into the darkness.

  “It’s my pleasure,” I respond, not daring to look at her. I wonder if she remembers me. If she does, she doesn’t say it. She doesn’t ask about Malcolm, about the mansion. Surely she must have questions?

  Her heated gaze burns into my skin. I feel it as she watches me intently. A soft sigh from her lips causes my dick to twitch in response, but I breathe it out, hoping to calm my desire for her. She doesn’t need some fucking asshole trying shit with her after all she’s been through.

  The house we rented as a hideaway for this job is ten miles from here, and I know she’ll be asleep by the time we reach halfway. I wanted to take her back to the mansion, but it’s too dangerous. If one of the clients sees her, or if she loses her shit and tries to run away, it could be detrimental. If the parties she attended with Thanos were filled with buyers, they’ll recognize her the moment she steps foot in the city.

  The stench of blood is rife, but when she opens the window, I smile. She sticks her head out of the space, allowing the wind to flick her hair around her head. There’s something so innocent about it. Childlike. When she finally sits back, she turns her attention toward me. I can feel her gaze on my right side, but I don’t look at her. I’ve learned how to deal with people who’ve been through trauma, but for the first time, I want to learn everything about her.

  The promise I made her has turned into something else. It’s no longer one to just find her; it’s one that I’m making wordlessly to keep her safe. Whether that be in my arms or not.

  Four years is a long time to feel something for someone. But when I saw her tonight, it was if I was transported back to the first day I laid eyes on her.

  “Sir,” I call to my father. In here, we’re not related, merely boss and slave. That’s how I see it anyway. “We have contact,” I tell him, knowing he’ll be happy about that.

  “And they know what we have?”

  I nod.

  “Good. Get her ready.”

  As soon as I step into the room, I’m stunned by the pretty little thing curled up on the bed. She looks so delicate. Tiny. Almost fragile. And I wonder how much it would take for me to break her.

  My cock agrees. It wants to see how much she can take. Smirking, I stroll farther into the room. Her big eyes peek up at me from under long, dark lashes, and I envision them tearing up from her position on the floor while I order her to do what I want. Anything I want.

  Ignoring her, I grab the bucket and fill it at the sink, which is situated in the corner of her room. For some reason, I can’t bring myself to talk to her. It’s stupid, but there’s something far too innocent about this beauty.

  “I need . . .,” she whispers, her voice raspy and melodic. Once again,
my cock agrees, because it jolts at the sound of her. I spin on my heel, glaring at her, causing her to cower under my ferocious stare. “I, uhm, need to pee.”

  Her cheeks darken, a dusty rose which makes me lick my lips. Her skin is smooth, unblemished, and she’s free of any makeup. Too fucking innocent.

  I want to be nice to her, to offer her a kind word, but the mental image of what my father is about to do to her reminds me that no one in this shithole can be saved.

  “Piss yourself on the mattress. The next girl won’t be here till it’s dry.”

  Her mouth falls open, and I’m tempted to use the opportunity to fill it. To see those plump lips slide over my shaft.

  “Don’t mind me, doll, I’ve seen much worse.” I chuckle. “Working with him, I’ve cleaned piss, blood, and shit when he’s finished with one of you, so you’re definitely not special.” I don’t look at her, but her gaze ignites every inch of my skin. It’s as if she can see into my soul, and I’m afraid she’ll see the black that taints me.

  “I haven’t been outdoors in years.” Her words are wistful, as if she’d just said she was craving ice cream or something trivial, but the reality is this girl has been locked up in a dark, cold cell, only allowed out when Thanos wanted to use her as bait, I’m guessing.

  I’ve always been one to admit my wrongs. To give brutal honesty. And now, I know that from the moment she walked into the room, I wanted her. Being alone in the car with her doesn’t help the need I feel for her. It also doesn’t dissipate the image I have of her naked, showing her body to me because that asshole ordered her to.

  The road ahead is dark. In both the literal and the figurative sense. Her gaze is intense, as if there’s a fucking strobe light on me. It’s electric, burning my flesh.

  “I’m sorry,” I utter. My words drip with guilt knowing my father is responsible for the life she’s lived. For what she’s been through. And I realize nothing can ever replace what was taken from her.

  For years, I felt the world owed me something. I was an asshole to everyone I came into contact with. Only one person knew what I’d been through — River. There wasn’t a girl whom I’d fucked who knew what I’d survived. None of them got close enough.

  Sadly, not even my brother knows. I spent my life ashamed of what I became. Needing the darkness to enjoy a simple pleasure most people take for granted.

  “It’s not your fault,” Caia says, causing me to finally glance her way. There’s so much innocence in her eyes, but also warring with the beauty of her sweetness is a glint of a warrior. Her eyes hold a fire within them, one that can be trained into a killer.

  “Oh, little raven, most of the bad things that happen are my fault,” I tell her.

  “Little raven?” She smiles, gifting me a flash of happiness in the sordid world she’s just been freed from.

  “You remind me of the bird. Beautiful, yet darkness seems to consume you. Exquisite, but can be as violent as a bird of prey. It can devour the dead, but also shimmer in the sunlight.”

  “You’re quite the poet, Drake.” She utters my name with an affection I don’t deserve. The sound so familiar, so intricately woven into the fabric of my veins. She finally reveals the truth. She does recognize me. I knew she couldn’t forget me, even though I’ve changed, hardened to a man rather than the boy I was when we first met.

  “Caia, words are merely that. It’s actions that speak a thousand times louder than any utterance can,” I inform her.

  “Perhaps,” she sighs. “But there are also words that can heal, that can offer solace in times where actions are futile.”

  “Maybe one day you can show me,” I respond, knowing I want her to be here tomorrow, the next day, next month, and year. I don’t want to lose her again, but that’s up to her.

  “You know me,” her voice confident. “These have been long, lonely years, Drake Savage.” There’s sadness lacing each word she utters. It matches the emotion that's waging war in my chest. I want her. I crave her. But I don’t want her to live in this life of darkness that’s got hold of me.

  “Memories can be tragic things,” I tell her.

  “I suppose you remember those moments as well,” she says quietly. It’s not a question, merely an observation.

  “Always, Caia.”

  “Drake.” She tastes the word. The tone of her voice and the way she utters my name once again has need racing through me like I’ve never felt before. “Where is your father?”

  “Dead.”

  A gasp falls from her lips at my answer. I wait for her to question me, to ask if I was the one who dealt the fatal blow, but she doesn’t. What she does say shocks me.

  “I wish I was the one to do it.”

  The road opens up onto a dirt track, the conversation halting as I slow to a crawl as we head up the bumpy path to a house hidden by forest. River left the lights on, so when we pass the smattering of trees, we come to a double-story, wooden cabin, which looks like it should be featured on America’s Most Beautiful Homes or some shit. It’s illuminated by the golden bulbs, giving it a feel of home and safety.

  Her words play on a loop in my mind. She wants to kill. I don’t blame her for that because it’s something I’ve wanted as well. “If that’s something you feel you need for closure, I can offer you a way to do it. Obviously not my father, but . . .” I turn to her as soon as I kill the engine. “Others like him.”

  “Really?”

  I nod but offer nothing more. Not tonight. She needs rest.

  “Is this the safe house?” The wonder and awe in her voice makes me smile. It’s like watching a bird take flight. The fear and anxiety that once tightened her expression is now curved into a beautiful smile.

  “It is. You’ll stay here for a few days until we can ensure your documents are in order. You’ll receive a new passport and driver’s license.”

  “I . . . I can’t drive.” Her voice fills with sadness.

  “I’ll teach you,” I promise. My hand reaches for her, and I wait for the flinch, only this time, it doesn’t come. We sit there for a moment. Waiting. Silent.

  She sighs, turns, and pushes the car door open. I follow suit. Rounding the front, I reach her, and for some inexplicable reason, pull her into my arms. It’s been a long while since I’ve held a woman. Much less cared enough to offer her driving lessons.

  Her body shudders in my hold, and I tighten it. As if I can keep her from drowning in the sea of emotion I know is trying to swallow her whole.

  I remember the time I broke down. How vulnerable I felt. I recall the moment my mind finally completely shattered, and I didn’t know which way was up. I was sinking in a turbulent ocean, flailing around until I found my solace in blood. In death. Taking the lives of those who wronged me.

  “It’s going to be okay,” I tell her, the promise clear in my voice. No matter what she’s been through, I’ll ensure she walks out the other side.

  “Why did you save me?” Her question turns me cold. I don’t want to talk about it. To tell her what I’ve seen and why I allowed her to kill Thanos. “I’m not an innocent. I’ve seen things many girls wouldn’t have survived. Unless you’re too afraid to confess,” she taunts. Her words lighten the mood, but not by much. She doesn’t know it yet, but nothing can ever be light between us. However, her teasing only serves to make me want to show her exactly what I can do to her.

  “Little raven, be careful of what you say to me,” I bite out, my fingers fisting, tensing, and releasing. There’s a fire that suddenly blazes in her eyes at my threat.

  “Oh?” she quips. The playful tone of her voice makes me smile. Shaking my head in awe at this woman, I take her in. After everything she’s been through, she’s still smiling.

  “I’m not any different than the last time you saw me,” I tell her.

  “And you forget, I’m the one who has been through similar horrors you have,” she tells me. “I’m still here, Drake.”

  “I’m not doing this now. You need to get some rest. I need
to make sure Thanos’s men aren’t on the hunt for his killers. You’ll stay here because it’s safe and I can keep an eye on you. There’s food downstairs, clothes in the closet, and anything else you need in the bathroom.” When I finish my instructions, I glance at her again, unable to take my eyes off the woman who’s become so much more to me than I’d anticipated.

  “Thank you . . . for saving me.” She smiles then. It’s small, but I notice it because I can’t help staring at her, meeting those intense hazel eyes. Even in the darkness, she seems to shine like a strike of lightning through a darkened sky. And that burns me more than anything I’ve ever encountered.

  “I’m not a knight in shining armor. I’m not here to give you a castle and a white horse, little bird.”

  “No, you’re not the good guy; you’ve made that abundantly clear. But you’re not the bad guy either. You’re somewhere in between, and perhaps that’s why you can’t come to terms with this.” She gestures between us with her finger, and I’m tempted to grab it between my teeth and bite on it just to hear her yelp.

  “I’ve spent my life not knowing who or what I am. Another few years won’t make a difference.”

  She stills, and I take a step back. Her eyes shimmer with emotion. “I’m sorry,” she says timidly, and my chest tightens. This is exactly why I’ve stayed away from connections. Even the one I have with River shouldn’t happen, but the asshole is stubborn, and he doesn’t want to admit I’m bad news.

  “Never apologize again. You’re . . .” Mine. “Safe.” I don’t tell her what I think. The word that sprang up in my thoughts in those few seconds, I shove into the recesses of my mind, because as much as I’d love to claim her, I can’t.

  She’s perfect.

  Wrong in every way. Because when I’m near her, all I want to do is fuck her. Seeing her kill Thanos was enough to have my cock throbbing behind my zipper. I’ve seen assassins trained to do this shit, but when this beauty’s hand shoved the knife into the throat of the man who hurt her, it was utter perfection.