My body clenched and I kicked to get off of the bed. A hand grabbed me from behind.
The cloaked hand dropped away and Kirk crouched in front of me, putting his hand to my face. “Breathe, Sugar. What do you see?”
I shook my head, digging my fingers into his wrist. I blinked, feeling once again like I had just come out of a dream, but just as quickly reality slipped into darkness.
Clarence roused me, but I didn’t want to leave my stupor. “I need you to answer some questions, can you do that?”
I shook my head.
“It’s important, Silver.”
I opened my eyes enough to see Kirk and Ross across the room. Kirk leaned against a wall, his arms folded over his chest, his gaze never leaving me as Ross spoke.
“Silver,” Clarence repeated my name.
I didn’t want to speak, but I nodded.
“What’d they hit you with?”
I definitely did not want to go there. Why the hell did it matter enough to make me conjure up the memory? “Belt, “I replied quickly.
“Anything else?”
Fucking hell. I fought, trying not to slip back into the memory. “A stick or something. Didn’t see.”
“Did they rub anything on your back?”
Rub? What? My back, prickly, hot, pain. I remembered their hands on me. “Maybe.”
Kirk broke away from Ross and came back to my side.
“Does your back itch?” Clarence asked.
I moaned, trying to decipher the rush of messages I was getting from almost every inch of skin and muscle. “I guess.”
“What’s going on?” Kirk asked. Ross stood behind him, grimacing. I had a feeling he wasn’t through saying everything he wanted to say, but Clarence continued his own inquisition.
“How does your throat feel?”
I wasn’t sure where the line of questioning was going or how he was jumping from my back to my throat. “Sore. Itchy. Dry.”
“Clarence?” Kirk growled.
“She looks like she’s having an allergic reaction. I’ll have to wash the site and make sure all of the allergens are gone then I’ll put on an antihistamine cream.”
I blinked and it was like watching a movie that kept skipping. Kirk and Ross were once again huddled in a corner. Something warm and wet rubbed across my back and I jumped.
“Easy, Silver,” Clarence whispered. “I know it’s sore, but I’m almost done.”
“Will I forget?” This time I wanted to forget. I’d been searching so long to get back the memories of how I got here, but now I wondered if I wanted those either. “They gave me something, tasted soapy.”
“GHB. It’ll clear from your system pretty quickly.”
“And I’ll forget?”
“I don’t think they gave you enough.”
“I forgot last time. Forgot how I got here—” My voice caught in the back of my throat and I coughed.
“I’m sorry, Silver. I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”
“Can I have water?”
“Sure,” he nodded. For a moment, I felt completely alone even though Clarence was only a few feet away, and Kirk was still in the room. I was exposed. My soul carved open and left on the table. The morphine felt like a blanket under my skin, but it also made me feel even weaker. I hugged my arms around myself, wishing Kirk and Ross would get their conversation over with.
Clarence returned with a small cup and helped me roll to my back. Then, he raised the head of the bed up so I could drink.
The voices across the room grew louder, and for the first time I could make out their words.
“It wasn’t your call,” Ross said. “You need to get it in your head that she’s a damn slave.”
“It was me,” I said, my voice quivering.
They both looked my way, and I saw Kirk’s head shake slightly.
“Let your Master handle this,” Clarence whispered, patting my shoulder. He looked up and shook his head. “She’s on pain killers, she’s been rambling.”
I have not, my brain shouted, but I managed to silence it. I had been hallucinating, and to be honest I couldn’t be sure whether I had been rambling or not. Ross crossed the room and looked to Clarence. “How bad are her injuries?”
“You know, I don’t mind taking care of the girls, but stuff like this. It shouldn’t happen.”
Ross nodded. “Can you tell me what happened, Silver?”
I wanted to shake my head, but I knew he wouldn’t be as patient and forgiving as Kirk or Clarence. “He said you wanted to see me. Had the master keys. They… they beat me… and… and…”
“It’s okay,” Kirk said.
“They saved me. Miles and Kirk.”
Ross raised an eyebrow and looked at Kirk, it took my mind a few seconds, but I finally realized my error. Master. Master, damn it. No wonder Kirk always yelled at me for using his name.
“Then what?” Ross asked.
Concentrate, Silver. I glanced over slightly to see Kirk, but my eyelids were getting so heavy that every time I blinked I could barely get them open again.
“Gabe started shouting, tried to get away from Miles. Master shot him. Master kept me safe.”
A half grin spread on Kirk’s face and I closed my eyes. I wanted sleep to reclaim me with that image in my mind, one tiny moment of satisfaction within the storm of chaos and pain. Through the haze of drugs, I told the story I was given.
But my body shook, a hand patted my cheek.
“She’s hurt and high on pain killers, Ross,” Kirk yelled.
“Best time to get an honest story.” Ross leaned over me until I could smell the coffee on his breath. “Anything else I should know.”
“Alan took me.”
“From your room?” He scoffed, “He’s not even here today.”
I shook my head. “Brought me here. Drove the truck.”
Ross looked to Kirk, and Kirk nodded at me. “You wanted her information.”
Ross made a growling sound in his throat. “She’s still hallucinating.”
“I’m not.” Well, maybe I was, but not about what I remembered. “Extended cab pickup. Blue lights inside. I remember.”
“What color was the truck?”
“Isn’t the blue light enough. Alan had the lighting installed two months ago.”
Ross ignored him, staring down at me. His hand moved and I twitched away.
“I don’t remember anything else about the truck. There were two other men. One with black hair held me, another in the front seat. I never saw his face.” I pushed out the information as fast as possible, unsure I could fight unconsciousness any longer and fearful of what Ross would do if I fell asleep without permission. I bit my lip then looked to Kirk wondering if I should bring up the dark haired man.
“I need to finish her back,” Clarence said. I could have hugged him for the interruption. “We’re not going to get anywhere right now. She needs rest.”
Ross scowled at the doctor, then shoved his pants in his pockets and backed away. “We’ll talk later then.”
“Thank you, Sir.” My eyes closed and I felt the bed flatten under me again, so they could roll me back to my side.
I woke up stretched out on the couch back in Kirk’s apartment; I was half propped up against his chest, nestled between his legs.
“Hey, Sugar,” Kirk whispered when I readjusted myself.
I looked up, managing a small smile despite my swollen face. A pain poured deeper into my chest that the pain meds couldn’t touch, but I wasn’t ready to voice it. I didn’t even want to think it.
There was a thud on the door and I froze.
“It’s Miles,” the voice outside announced.
“Come in,” Kirk yelled.
I glanced back at Kirk as the lock snapped.
“He’s holding on to all of the master keys until we get things sorted.” He kissed my forehead, putting my current concerns at ease.
Miles entered with a case of beer and a small black box.
�
�For you,” he handed the box to me. I squinted at first then opened it, discovering some kind of chocolate mousse cake. “According to what Alley tells me numerous times a month, chocolate fixes everything.”
I felt Kirk’s chest shake as he chuckled. His fingers drifted through my hair.
Then, Miles slid the case of beer across the table. “That’s for you. I figure she has pain pills so you’ll need something.”
“Thanks, Miles,” Kirk said.
I dipped my finger in the mousse and licked it off. “Yes, thank you, Sir.”
Miles shook his head and disappeared into the kitchen while Kirk lifted forward so that I sat leaning half-sideways against the back of the couch. When Miles came back, he slid a spoon into the black container and dropped a bottle of water on the coffee table before taking a seat next to it. “Everything is taken care of—for now. Alan is with the others in lock up, but no one is really talking. He hacked into our system today and forced through an old feed, so they wouldn’t be caught on camera dragging her into the room downstairs. It’s also curious that he was the one on duty when Morton was passing drugs to the girls.”
“A diversion,” Kirk said. “Just how deep does it go?”
Miles cocked his head. “I wouldn’t count on being able to trust anyone outside of this room right now.”
He leaned toward me and I closed my eyes, savoring a bite of the rich chocolate cake. “I don’t know anything but chocolate, Sir.”
Miles chuckled and ripped open the beer case, handing one to Kirk, and taking one for himself.
But I did know something else. I stabbed the cake with my spoon and twisted to face Kirk. I opened my mouth, then chickened out, biting my lip, but both men were already watching and waiting.
“The black-haired guy who came down to tell you that Ross was coming back….”
Kirk raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly.
“He’s in on it, too.” I shuddered, pulling my knees closer to my chest. Every single movement hurt, especially my attempt at curling up into an unbreakable ball. Behind me, Kirk sat, pressing his body against me, holding me together before I had the opportunity to fall apart. “I don’t think I was supposed to be alive to tell you that.”
Miles jumped up. “And what the hell were they planning on doing with a missing slave and her dead body?”
“They’d already set her up,” Kirk growled. “Alan called us down and alerted us about the suspicious patron, who then gets caught with Kat. She tries to link Silver with it—”
“And Silver had already tried to run.” Miles ran his hand over his short hair and paced around the couch. “If she disappeared it would have confirmed the suspicions that she was involved with the breech. And if you weren’t paranoid enough to have installed a damn alarm on your door… we wouldn’t have known until it was too late.”
I looked back to Kirk and nearly dropped the cake onto the floor. Paranoid. I was thankful for his paranoia but if he was a mole like Gabe said, he was paranoid for good reason.
Kirk raised his eyebrows briefly and rubbed my side. “We’ll have to round up Mitch, but with Gabe gone, and so many of the group getting busted, I think our best hope is that anyone else involved either gets wise enough to fall back in line or stupid enough to get caught.”
Taking another bite of cake, I hoped to lose myself again.
Miles shook his head and stood. “Ever wonder why we do all of this?”
Kirk made a sound in his throat but didn’t really answer. “Are you thinking about getting out?”
“Thinking like that would get me killed. Don’t get me wrong. I love playing with the girls, but I don’t like seeing them hurt.”
I lifted my head, giving him a half-hearted smile.
“I better get back downstairs and find out where our last little rat has run off to.” Miles took a swig of beer and squeezed my shoulder lightly before he left.
After the door closed and locked, I twisted to see Kirk.
“Enjoying your cake?” he asked.
I nodded, taking another decadent bite. I wanted to ask him about what Gabe had said, but I was afraid I didn’t want to know the answer. I didn’t want to know the whole story. If he was a mole, who was he working for?
There was already too much going on.
Instead, I finished the last bit of cake and snuggled against his chest again. Fuck the rest of the world and everyone else in the building. I didn’t care who he was working for or why as long as I didn’t have to leave the couch.
The Wall Behind the Truth
I felt the heavy metal of the gun in my hand, so heavy I couldn’t lift it.
I couldn’t remember why I even needed the gun then I heard footsteps behind me and spun around.
“Gabe.” I shook my head. “You can’t be here.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, I…” I looked down at the gun in my hand and raised it to his head.
“You’ve already shot me,” he said, closing the gap between us.
I took a step backward, the gun shaking in my hand. I felt a wall at my back, leaving me nowhere else to go.
Silver, a voice in my head shouted, and I shook it off.
“You’re just a piece of meat. Only difference between me and your snake of a Master is that I don’t muddle your role in the world.”
The gun clattered to the floor and I pushed off the wall attempting to get past him. He grabbed my arm and I spun to the floor.
Silver. I heard the voice again but couldn’t find anyone else in the room.
I dragged myself across the floor on my back, as Gabe dived at me. Pulling my body under him and pinning me down with his knee. His hands ripped off my shirt, and warm drops of blood landed on my skin.
Gabe’s forehead opened up, until blood poured onto my body. I screamed, trying to push him away. I covered my face with my hands trying to block the flow of blood, but I tasted it in my mouth and felt it in my eyes and nose. Rolling down into my ears.
I was going to drown in his blood.
“Rose”
I sat up, gasping for breath on the couch in Kirk’s apartment. He sat behind me, his arm braced around me. He touched my face as I calmed.
“Don’t call me that.” My voice cracked with emotion and abuse.
“I’m sorry,” Kirk whispered. “You wouldn’t wake up.”
“I know,” I tried to lean back or find a more comfortable position, but the slightest movement set everything ablaze again. “I’m pretty sure I could hear you.” I took a deep breath and let it all fall out—tears broke free, and I buried myself in Kirk’s chest and cried.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. I heard it over and over through my sobs.
“I shot him.”
“No—”
I jerked away and looked into his eyes. “I can tell your story, but I shot him. He was just standing there and I shot him.”
“He deserved it.” Kirk brushed my hair back and leaned his forehead against mine, but whether or not he believed that, the ramifications of what I had done would be up to Ross.
“Is that what everyone else thinks?”
“Close enough.”
“Why is Miles covering for me?”
“Because he saw what happened. He saw what I saw when we busted in, and he understands. He said if it had been Alley, he’d have done the same thing.”
Adrenaline and a wash of emotions shook my body, and I twisted to lean sideways against the back of the couch and face Kirk. “What are they going to do to you?”
“Nothing,” he shook his head, “I’ll probably get the ass end of the stick for a while, but that’s it.”
Even then, I didn’t like the thought of him taking the blame for something I had done. I had caused him enough trouble. “What if they knew it was me?”
“If they did, you’d already be dead.”
He handed me a glass of water and an oval white pill.
“I get glass now?” I said, forcing a smile and hoping it’d ligh
ten his mood a bit.
The corner of his mouth lifted. “You’ve had the whole apartment twice. That included the glasses and knives, and everything else in the room.”
At the moment we both started trusting one another, everything fell apart again. “I want a bath.”
“It’s probably going to sting.”
“I don’t care. I need it.”
He nodded and slid his leg around me so he could stand. “Sit here while I run it.”
Kirk returned a few minutes later and gently lifted me from the couch.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and inhaled his scent. Safe again.
“I’m sorry, Silver,” he said again.
“Stop apologizing. You saved me…” I paused. “You and your damn alarm. Still afraid I’d run?”
“I didn’t put it on today.” He slowly lowered me into the tub. “But I’m glad I had it on today. Miles texted me right after he talked to you, so I could account for the first time the door opened. I called him the second time, but there was nothing on the monitors and you had already disappeared.”
He guided me as I sank down into the warm water. The welts burned as they hit the water, but it soon receded to a tolerable level. “We got lucky,” he whispered, “By the time I got back, Miles had managed to narrow it down to the seventh floor since there’s a record of elevator stops.”
“I promised to protect you,” he whispered. “I showed you the cameras; I said he couldn’t get to you.”
My eyes became heavy again. “It’s not your fault. You still managed to find me.”
“You did pretty well with your story to Ross,” he said, changing the subject.
“Especially while drugged out on pain killers, eh?” My eyes fluttered closed and I struggled to open them again.
“No sleeping in the tub,” Kirk said, but I felt him adjust me to make sure I couldn’t slip under the water.
I took a breath and held it for a second as the drugs encouraged my curiosity and wore away at my worries. “What’s your real name?”
Kirk stared back for a moment, “Why would you ask that?”
“Just a feeling. You know, ‘which of these things doesn’t fit in?’ And since you didn’t just deny it, there must be something to it.”
Irrevocable: A Sins of Ashville Abduction Dark Romance (Irrevocable Duet Book 1) Page 20
