The Circle

by Stella Berkley

  * * * * *

  Back at the church, I tucked the clothes and bag of sandwiches I’d stolen from the back of a delivery truck into the closet. My thoughts kept drifting back to Devin. Would he worry? Did he give a damn at all about me or just about pleasing his sovereign? Did Mother have the police out looking for my sorry ass? Would anyone even notice me missing?

  I shook off my worry and paced along the worn, cracked tile in the basement.

  With evening approaching, I needed something to divert my mind so I wouldn’t go mad. A pad of paper on the counter separating the kitchen from the main room caught my attention. I snatched it up and searched every drawer in the place until I found a pencil.

  Sprawled on the floor, I emptied my turbulent emotions onto the paper one word at a time, continuing the story I’d begun on my laptop. Every twinge of guilt, every hurt in my body came out in my character as she struggled with her own broken heart.

  The process soothed me and allowed me to enter a calm place where only my imagined world existed. I scribbled out scenes one after the other until my eyes drooped and I could no longer grip the pencil.

  Empty of all but a roaring silence in my head, I clutched the pad full of my heart and soul and crawled back into the dank closet.

  * * * * *

  Friday evening, I sat in the front pew of the church and read over the pages I’d spent the day writing. I hoped it would prevent me from dwelling on the immortals who must certainly have been searching for me by then. The entire pad, both sides, sported my scrawls—some legible, other scratched out because I didn’t have an eraser.

  When I finished reading the final word of the novel, I smiled through a fresh stream of tears. My work had never moved me to cry before. Had I finally gotten it right?

  I stared up at the giant cross behind the altar. I’d never believed in God, but sitting there in the church gave me a sort of peace I didn’t understand. “Are you really up there? Have you had a plan for me all along?” I sniffled and stood, walked to the base of the stairs, and knelt. A humorless laugh sputtered out as I pressed my hands together in a prayer position. “I’ve really screwed things up, and I don’t know what to do now. I thought he loved me, and I wanted everything he promised, everything he made me feel. Was it all a lie? Have I damned my soul forever?”

  A door clicked shut behind me. “You’re not damned, Katharine.”

  I whirled to find Devin standing at the far end of the center aisle. My heart faltered.

  Chapter Twelve

  I scanned left and right of the altar for an escape route. The fine hairs along my arms stood at attention. “How did you get in here?”

  Devin spread his arms wide and took slow, deliberate steps toward me without causing so much as a squeak on the floor. The same energy distortion I’d seen when I woke up after our bond pulsed around him, but it appeared lighter. “Please don’t be afraid, Katharine. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Even across the dimly lit church his beauty struck me. His faded jeans hugged him perfectly, and his black v-neck T-shirt showed off the swell of his chest. The sadness in his eyes threatened my resolve, but I backed toward the stairs to my left, still clutching my papers. “I think you and I have different definitions of ‘hurt’.”

  He stopped and stared into the lofty ceiling as though looking for guidance. After a long silence, he lowered himself into the nearest pew. Fingers linked together, he leaned forward and rested his wrists over the bench in front of him. “I won’t come any closer. Just please, allow me to explain myself.”

  I clutched the pad tighter to my chest and studied him yet found no hints of deception. He could have taken me whenever he wanted to with his speed and power, but he hadn’t. I leaned against the doorframe leading to the stairwell. “I don’t trust you, but I’ll listen.”

  He nodded. “I’m sorry I lost my temper. Please know I wasn’t angry at you.”

  “Could have fooled me.” My tone came out sounding petulant.

  One side of his lips quirked up, but his attempt at a smile only made him appear more distraught. “I was angry with myself.”

  “Why, for letting this human try to save herself from your lord and master?”

  “No!” He pressed a fist to his forehead and took a few raspy breaths. “Because I’ve been complacent, and it took your honesty to make me see that.”

  I narrowed my eyes and moved to stand in front of the first row of wooden seating. “What does that mean?”

  Devin leaned back in his seat, his head tilted forward in a shameful posture. “I’ve always remained outside the Circle because I don’t want to be like them. They view their human companions as a drink and a fuck and a means to get high.” His eyes crimped shut, and he shook his head. “I’m a Dominant, and I’ll always be a Dominant inside the Circle, but I want more with you, Katharine. I want our union to be more than bondage and sex, more than pain and ascent, more than simple master and slave.” His fingers gripped the back of the bench in front of him, and his stare fixed on me. “Do you understand?”

  My breath hitched as his words caught up with my thoughts. “Malachi will never allow it.”

  He gave a curt nod. “I know.”

  “And after everything that’s happened in the last few days, I’m not sure if I even want that.” I wiped a mutinous tear from my cheek and tossed up a hand. “How can you come in a church? I thought…” I shifted my feet.

  “I’m not one of the damned. I’m not a human turned into a vampire. I wasn’t, and then I was, popped into existence just as I am. No parents. No childhood. Just this. A natural mutation, an experiment gone wrong. Whatever I am, it’s not inherently evil, though my sovereign makes us appear so.”

  I watched him around a shroud of my hair, aching to go to him, to have him hold me again, but I forced myself still. My thoughts trickled along the metaphysical path to him only to find that it still remained closed. “You’re still shutting me out. This could be a lie for all I know.”

  “I love you, Katharine, so much it kills me to see you look at me with fear and distrust.” His body straightened, and his hard stare induced a squirm in me. “I’ll do what I must to make you safe. I know I have no right to ask, but you’re going to have to trust that I’m shutting you out for the right reasons now. There are thoughts in my head I must keep from you until this is over.”

  In a blur of flesh and denim, Devin appeared beside me. A scream burst from my lips, but he swallowed it with a toe-curling kiss. His breath came in shallow pants as he took my face in his hands, his lips playing over my brow, along my cheek. Shivers raced over my skin. Just a touch, and everything seemed right with the world again. With him beside me, my soul begged to forget everything, to remain there forever no matter the consequences. I wanted to believe him with all my might, that he wanted to be with me, but a niggle of doubt kept me from submitting to him.

  The shadows dancing behind his dark eyes caused my stomach to clench tight, as if he was trying to say goodbye without uttering the words.

  “Wait…” Afraid he would disappear from my sight, I fisted my fingers into his T-shirt. I spoke in a whisper, finding my voice had abandoned me. “What are you going to do?”

  “What I should have done decades ago.” A sad smile emerged as he swept my stringy hair behind my ears. “Sleep now.”

  The church dimmed even more.

  “No. No, no, no! Don’t do this.” A tinny quality marred my voice and separated me from it. My consciousness wavered as blackness ate up the corners of my vision until only Devin’s face remained.

  After a moment, he, too, faded, leaving me alone in darkness.

  * * * * *

  I wandered in a surreal dream as someone washed and dressed me in a red corset that left my breasts and everything else uncovered. Whispered voices filtered through the cold, stone room, but the words held no meaning. My body moved of its own accord, like a puppet reacting to the unspoken whims of her master.

  A hooded figure took my hand a
nd led me down a familiar white corridor with marble floors. My bare feet made slapping sounds against the cold stone. How had I arrived back at the mansion? I thought perhaps I should have been afraid about something, but I couldn’t recall what.

  A large group of people milled around a tall arched door. The few men who weren’t nude wore red silk boxers or thongs. The women were clad in red or white, some in lingerie or leather, some in revealing dresses, some nude except for a collar with a leash dangling between their breasts. Their hair had been swept up and secured, leaving their necks bare. I patted my own and found it to be the same.

  My escort spoke to one of the men who kept his gaze lowered. “Keep her by your side until you’re summoned. Fail me and you will be denied pleasure this night.”

  The blond man flinched as if he’d been slapped. “Yes, Dom.”

  As I studied the rest of the people more carefully, my awareness sharpened. A red-headed woman who stood beside me wrung shaking hands. Others paced, muttering to themselves. The ones that struck the final blow and unleashed my consciousness from whatever had bound it were the ones who stood motionless and stared at the door, faces blank, sad eyes glazed like wild animals resigned to their caged fate.

  My heart broke into a trot as I edged away from the blond man. He rubbed his arms and shivered, his eyes closed. How many had been given a choice? How horrible had their lives been under the whips of their Doms? I focused on them to avoid the reality of what waited for me beyond the doors, whatever it would be. Would I soon look like they did, broken, begging for scraps of approval and affection from Devin?

  Or Malachi.

  I swallowed down the acid that crept up my throat.

  I’d only made it a few steps when the blond spied my attempted escape. He leapt at me like a drowning man and wrapped his fingers around my wrist. “Please don’t get me in trouble.” His denim-blue eyes opened wide. “Please.”

  Guilt crawled through my stomach, yet my feet still tried to carry me backwards. I pried at his fingers, but they dug deeper into my flesh until they hurt. “Let me go!”

  The door opened, and cold air rushed out.

  Two hooded immortals appeared on either side of me, their faces completely obscured by shadow. One stood a whole head taller than the other and filled out his cloak to capacity.

  The big one gripped my arm and shoved me in front of him. The other fell in behind and said nothing as they pushed me along with the rest of the herd into the room. Some walked as if on auto pilot, eyes blank, slumped like slaves too long in captivity. Others bounded inside with an eagerness that bordered on pathetic.

  Although my legs put the brakes on, the giant’s solid arm wrapped around my shoulders forced me forward.

  Where was Devin? The darkness that had clouded his eyes in the church burned into my memory. What would he do? Would he be in danger? Snakes squirmed in my stomach. Malachi wouldn’t kill him, or I’d die, too. What punishment did that leave if Devin’s plan failed?

  “Move!” The shorter of my escorts threw his shoulder into my back. I hadn’t realized I’d stopped.

  As the human group approached the middle of the ballroom, the immortals enclosed a circle around us as they’d done the first time I watched from the balcony with Devin. Would I take Caroline’s place? The memory of Devin’s words in the car dashed my tiny hope: without me, he’d said. I could have endured a little lashing if Devin had been the one to do it, but somehow I knew Malachi had something much worse in store for me.

  The giant positioned me at the edge of the group and rejoined the noose of predators tightening around us. I searched the hoods for Devin but found only dark circles where the faces should have been.

  Imagining all their stares on me, I used one arm to cover my breasts and my other hand to cover my bare crotch. Just as the last time, two stepped forward and stalked around the huddle of humans. The longer they prowled, the tighter my muscles became. My pulse throbbed in my temples and throat. I shifted my feet, wanting to bolt, but it would only have made matters worse. Knowing Malachi, he’d have enjoyed the chase.

  “How could you have brought me back here?” I sent jagged thoughts to Devin, though he remained absent from my mind. Droplets crested my lashes and descended my cheek, leaving wet trails behind.

  One of the predators stopped in front of me, and the rush of air along my backside let me know the other had taken position behind.

  “You’re mine tonight, Katharine.”

  Malachi’s seductive voice came from the one before me, and his power licked along my skin like it never had before, his dark glow reminding me of Devin. What had I done to Malachi and Devin that night?

  Ice shot up my spine. “Where’s Devin?”

  “Most likely off sulking somewhere, or perhaps looking for a tender morsel to take his mind off of you.” Malachi pushed his hood back and grinned. “I thought it better he not attend tonight. He doesn’t have the stomach for my…methods.”

  I clenched my teeth to contain the wail that wanted to escape. How could he have left me?

  “Forget about him.” Malachi moved closer, inducing a full body tremor in me. “The sooner you submit to me, the easier I’ll be on you.”

  “Liar.” The waver in my voice betrayed my terror, though he could probably have smelled it like candy anyway.

  A dark laugh tumbled out of his mouth. “Come, let the eve of our evolution begin.”

  Evolution?

  When his pale hand reached toward me, I moved to avoid it, but whoever stood behind shoved me forward and sandwiched me against Malachi’s hard body.

  “Normally I’d be quite put out at your resistance, Katharine—defying the sovereign before his subjects can have dire consequences—but the more frightened you are, the louder you scream, and the farther you will take me.”

  The others spread out around the three of us as if repelled like dust caught in ripples on the water. A click and a whine from the floor made my breath catch. Two panels dropped and slid away beneath the tile, leaving a hole at least thirty feet across. Stairs spiraled down the far edge into darkness.

  “What’s down there?” My voice squeaked out. Every muscle in my body knotted as I tore my gaze away from the unknown depths.

  “Are you so eager to see?” Malachi brushed a strand of hair from my forehead, continued down my throat and over my collar bone. A moan fell from my lips at the tingles and heat caused by his touch.

  I clenched my fists and stared at the other humans to divert my body from the arousal he’d begun in me. The cloaked ones picked the humans off in singles and pairs. Some were already naked and engaged in play, whipping, sucking, spanking. One couple fucked right beside me, the wet sounds echoing around the room. The sights and sounds did nothing to extinguish my fire.

  Low humming from the immortals rose into a symphony that resonated in my soul. Part of me wanted to give in to it. If Devin had been by my side, I would have.

  “Where are you? Please, please, please help me.”

  “Let’s go, shall we?” Malachi nodded to the one behind me.

  Cold fear crawled into my soul. I ducked to the right, my focus on the far doors, but Malachi’s lackey grabbed me by the back of the neck. My body went limp like a cat held by the scruff. “Not smart, Katharine,” he said. “More fun for me, though.” Snickering, he looped his free hand around my waist and carried me under his arm toward the black hole.

  Pathetic mewling sounds rose and fell in my throat. Oh, God, this couldn’t be happening to me.

  Malachi waited on the first step, a devilish smile perking up his lips. “Welcome to my private dungeon. Few are privileged enough to enjoy its…pleasures.”

  Morbid curiosity drove my eyes to look down. Light from the overhead chandeliers glinted off chains, racks of whips and paddles, strange metal tables bearing straps and odd looking benches with padded platforms.

  I lurched, my legs flailing to free myself, but the pressure on my neck increased to the point my vision darkened. I cl
ung to consciousness by a precarious thread, by sheer will.

  I had to stay awake. I had to focus!

  We moved ever closer to the stairs. Each step constricted my ability to breathe. Tears dropped from my lashes to the floor.

  A roar came from above. My eyes flew wide as something crashed into the blood sucker holding me. He expelled a grunt, and I dropped to the tile on my stomach. All of the air left my lungs in a whoosh.

  A black streak flashed in front of Malachi. When it passed, the sovereign reached fingers to his cheek and came away with blood.

  Keeping my body prone, I glanced around the room for who—or what—had done it.

  “Stay down, Katharine.” Devin’s melodious tenor whispered through my mind. “Forgive me for being late. I’ll explain later.”

  My heart swelled as I continued to search for him. “You came. I thought…I thought you’d left me.”

  Devin, wearing nothing but form-fitting black leather pants, appeared on the far side of the opening in the floor. A golden sword extended from his right hand. Crimson ran in ribbons from the tip to the hilt. His eyes, flaming ruby pools, fixed on his master.

  Fangs extended, Devin’s upper lip rippled in a snarl as he spoke slow, pointed words. “Malachi, Sovereign of the Cornet Circle, I challenge your authority in this realm.”

  All sound and movement stopped. The other immortals gathered around us with furrowed brows and gaping mouths.

  Murmurs rose from the silence.

  “Has he lost his mind?”

  “How did he get the ritual sword?”

  “Our brother will fall.”

  He’d fall? What would that mean? A jolt sped along my spine and exploded at the top of my head. “No! Devin, don’t!”

  Malachi licked blood from his hand and snickered. He snapped his fingers at two immortals who stood nearby. I assumed they were the ones who had escorted me into the room, their covers shed to reveal a bald-headed mountain of a man and a lean redhead. Even their auras had brightened, though not as profoundly as Devin and Malachi’s had. “Bind the woman and begin without me, but draw no blood—that privilege is mine alone.”