“Mrs. Mara,” Braedan delayed with his words, “I’m going to have to take Keaton to the hospital, she’s in…a very bad way and needs medical assistance in a sterile environment.”
My mother gasped over the phone. “Keep my baby safe, Braedan.” She was on the verge of breaking down; she kept it together enough to state her parting words.
“As I promised you, I will.” Braedan ended the call.
“Keaton, I’m Dr. Moore,” the gray-haired man who was at the other side of the bed said to me. “I’m going to administer a medication that will make the pain a little less and allow us to transport you to the hospital. Do I have your consent?”
“Braedan?” I whispered, my voice breaking.
“Trust us, Keaton,” he assured me. “We only want to get you out of here and keep you safe.”
“I can’t go to the hospital,” I fretted. “People will find out, and it will ruin my mother’s campaign…and they will find out the truth about me.”
“What truth, Keaton?” Braedan asked.
“That I’m weak.” My words were soft, barely audible.
The pressure of his weight shifted on the bed. “You’re not weak. Not in the least. Give us permission to help you, Keaton.”
“You have my consent,” I told the doctor.
Dr. Moore gripped my arm and fixed something tightly—a tourniquet—above the crook in my elbow. The prick of a needle preceded my sudden comfort.
“I don't want anyone to see me this way,” I whimpered to Braedan.
“Then…you won't see us.” Braedan moved slowly, slipping his hand from mine. His clothing rustled. I felt the silken material slip in front of my face. I lifted my head a little, allowing him to blind me with the soft dark material. He gently tied it in the back.
“I’m going to roll you over and take you downstairs to my car. The law enforcement officials are going to escort us there and ensure Noah and his associates—if they are around—won’t be able to follow. Are you ready?” Braedan’s methodic disclosure of everything he was going to do defrosted my cold tinges of shame and apprehension, tempting me to shut down.
“Yes,” I acknowledged him.
Moving skillfully, he slipped the sheet up to the either side of my body to allow for modesty. He slowly rolled me over, ensuring I was completely covered in the sheet while slipping me into his strong arms. Unable to move, I slipped against his chest. My ear hovered over his heart, beating at a steady and calm rhythm.
THE SMOOTH RIDE AND the pain medication given earlier brought me into a calm, peaceful place. I clung to the butter-soft leather cradling me during the ride and rested my head against the cold glass of the door.
“You can remove the blindfold at any time, Keaton.”
“I can’t.” Balling my hands, I allowed them to rest in my lap. The slow rock of the car whenever he drove over a possible pothole or uneven patch of pavement caused me grief.
I ran my thumb along the base of my third finger on my left hand. My ring was gone. I couldn’t find the emotion to worry about where it had disappeared to during my escape. I was relieved.
“I know who you really are.” I strained to breathe through my throbbing aches. “Nathan told me.”
The silence cut thickly. I reached out for him. The pull and ache of my wounds underneath the bed sheet serving as a dress and what I assumed to be Braedan’s suit jacket made sure I dropped my hand. The Italian wool jacket should’ve felt fine against my skin, but even with the numbing effects of the medication, it felt like steel wool. “I think the medication is wearing off.”
“We’re almost there,” he promised me, a touching and palpable level of concern swarmed his voice.
“What you probably think of me…”
A slow heat hovered across my lap. The touch of his hand gently pressed against the back of my hand. He slipped his hand over mine, repeating the same act that brought about a soothing, pleasurable wave earlier.
“I think you’re an incredibly strong woman who was probably placed under forced duress. We all do things we’re not proud of to survive through the worst in our lives.”
“Better, stronger people don’t have to do those things.”
“We’ll have to disagree.”
I tackled the thoughts running through my mind. “What did he—Noah—have on my friends?”
“I don’t exactly know.”
“He had something on my mother. Doing this…it’s going to ruin everything for her.”
“I can assure you, no matter what it is, it will never be released to the public. I’ll make sure of it after I discuss things with your mother.”
“Please, don’t tell her I know something.”
“How else can I help you and her, Keaton? If you’re worried that something she’s done in her past would make me halt any future assistance, don’t be.”
Chewing on his words, I rang through a gambit of things to ask. I could only settle on one. “Why are you being so kind to me?”
“You won’t believe my answer at this moment, but ask me again at a later date and I’ll tell you a truth you can believe.”
He slipped his hand from mine and the car came to a stop. “We’re here, are you able to walk?”
I nodded.
The car door opened and rush of wind filled the car, cooling the heat Braedan once left me with. A hand gently grabbed mine and began to carefully pull me out of the car.
Unsure if I could fully straighten my spine, I took my time to steady myself on my feet. As it happened, I didn’t need to. I was quickly placed into something to sit in. When I felt around the cold metal, I surmised that I was in a wheelchair.
“Dr. Moore is here and he’s going to take you inside and get you admitted. When you’re well enough, a few detectives have questions for you. It’s important you tell them truth in order to get the protection you’ll need. They won’t be your only protection. Keaton…” He placed his hands on my shoulders. His breath danced in heated circles against my lobe, bringing about dizzying sensations. “I am going to reverse the damage Noah’s done to you and your family. I swear it.”
By the time I slipped what turned out to be Braedan’s dark silk tie from my eyes and turned around, all that was there to greet me were the taillights of his black LS.
“Some of us don’t think we can leave (Rebirth) because we’re so used to the life here; we don’t know how to behave in the real world.”
-THE SECT
It was a bad time for my mentee to go off the rails. My newest recruit, Syl, threatened to commit suicide. I’d only showed him what giving into temptation had to offer for a few weeks—having several men fuck him at once—and he could barely handle it.
I received a text from Mrs. Sherman stating that he was seconds from jumping off the roof of her building. She met me in the lobby and we took the elevator together.
“What happened?” I asked her, keeping my tone calm. “I thought you were taking care of him.”
“I was. He… I’m not sure what’s wrong.” She twisted her hands, making them look ashen. She appeared to be nervous when I’d never known her to be nervous over anything. Fretting over someone as insignificant as Syl made very little sense to me. If need be, he could be replaced. If he died, it would be a minor inconvenience for me to start over again and find someone else who would fit my needs for the near future. He was worth saving, but he wasn’t worth a struggle.
On the roof, Syl sat on the ledge, staring at the traffic below. Without a word or a warning, I wrapped my hand around the scruff of his neck and pulled him off the edge.
He fell to the ground. “I can’t do this anymore. I don’t know what you want from me, but I can’t. I feel like I’m losing my mind. I want it all the time. Sex…with men. My family is going to know about me, and they are going to shun me.”
“We are your new family,” I told him, gesturing for him to stand. “As you were assured previously.”
“It’s not enough.” He brushed off his pants an
d stared at me like I was his savior.
I looked at my watch and felt anxious for a reason I couldn’t explain. I looked back at Mrs. Sherman…because something was off about this. I’ve dealt with people seconds before they decided to end their lives at Rebirth. I was often closely acquainted with a few of them and the source of their desolation—the reason they wanted to die. It was enough of an education to know Syl was a false alarm. Mrs. Sherman knew better. A woman in her position and with her experiences knew how to talk Syl down from his attention-seeking behavior. He wanted my attention, and for some reason, Mrs. Sherman helped him to get it.
I studied her. “What is this really about?”
“I was concerned he was going to jump,” she explained.
“You’re aware of how busy I am. You know how I’ve needed as much time as I can manage to deal with Keaton and retrain her. You could’ve handled this yourself.”
“I live in a fairly busy neighborhood.” Her eyes darted from left to right, never settling on me directly. “He could’ve hurt someone—”
Her voice was at my back as I headed back inside. She and Syl followed me. I was too involved with the things on my mind, irking me, to tell them to stay put.
ON THE WAY BACK to the warehouse my luck was at its worst. I was stuck in traffic on The Beltway. What should’ve taken me forty minutes took me two hours. The entire ride, Mrs. Sherman would sporadically state things about Keaton: “Are you sure she should be the vanguard for your mission?”…“Do you think that maybe the message you received from God was misconstrued?”…“I’ve been praying on it, and I have a horrible feeling about her continued presence in your life.” It went on for the duration of the ride, and I never responded to her concerns.
I WENT TO THE second floor first, bypassing the guard who tried to speak with me. It was empty. Second Level. Empty. Third level. Empty. I returned to the ground level to deal with the guard.
“Where is she?” I barked at Lem, making him quake and hold up his hands as though he expected me to use my fists.
He looked down at the Styrofoam carton containing his dinner—a half eaten salad. His metal fork was placed across the salad greens. I recognized it as the silverware I kept in the kitchen. With his head down, he lifted up his hand and gave me a familiar box.
I snatched it from his clutches and opened it only to immediately close it. She had returned my ring to me. “You left to go get lunch, and somehow had time to travel upstairs and grab a utensil for your dinner, but failed at the one job you were hired to do?” My hand clenched over the box until I felt the rush of nerve pain.
As she stood beside me, Mrs. Sherman rested her hand on my shoulder. “Don’t hurt this man. It’s all within His plan. Keaton’s upset. Let her stew over things for a while. Give her the space to come to her senses. She will come back to you if it’s meant to be.”
I shrugged her hand off my shoulder and shot a look at her to cut through her need to be fake with me. I knew this was her doing. I couldn’t figure out what would’ve been her purpose in betraying me. “Why?”
Her shoulders slumped, her face dropped. “I’ve been told of some of the things you’ve done to her.”
“Told by whom?” I contracted my brows and glared at her.
“It doesn’t matter now. That is not our way. That is not the way you’ve been taught. Keaton, no matter what she might be to us and our greater purpose, she’s an innocent. We do not harm the innocent or the fragile like you’ve done to her. What have you become, Noah? You’ve lost yourself in her. You’ve taken on your father…Magnus Oliver.”
“I can’t deal with this family drama right now.” Syl hit his head a few times and sighed. “Can we go?” He tapped his foot while he stared nervously at Mrs. Sherman. “I have to get home. I have the night shift at work and I…have to go.”
I gathered Syl’s hair with one hand, in the other, I held the fork from the guard’s dinner. When the fork was jammed into Syl’s right eye, he began to howl to God to save his life.
“Since you can’t seem to accurately observe the scene in front of you to determine when it’s best to keep quiet, you obviously don’t need the use of both eyes.” I dropped him to the floor and headed toward the elevator.
“Noah—”
Turning to Mrs. Sherman from the elevator car, I stared at her as I closed the gate. It was a look I’d never disrespected her with. It was a threat I’d never thrown at her before.
She reached out to me as though I was standing directly in front of her. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she dropped her hands. She knew. She’d lost me for good.
I looked down at the ring box in my hand as the elevator ascended. A symbol of the impossible. A strange emotion took over. I cleared it away and busied myself with formulating an alternative plan that no longer included Mrs. Sherman.
I picked up my phone from my back pocket and called Nadine.
“What can I do for you this time, Noah?” she asked, her voice cheerful and bright to the point of sounding as unnatural as the emotions were to her.
“The only reason I’m bothering to contact you is because I can no longer trust Mrs. Sherman. She betrayed me. I don’t know why and I don’t care.”
“Noah? You don’t sound like you…not at all. What happened?”
“Everyone else means very little, but Keaton matters the most. Nadine? I don’t love you. I can’t love you. I used you and I will continue to use you. And you will allow me to do it. You will no longer make what’s between us out to be more than what it is. You will do what you are told to do when you are told. Don’t get creative or cute because you’re jealous of her. I no longer need your advice or your help. You’ve burned that bridge with your awful advice. But what you will do is fix what you fucked.”
She stifled sob. “You can’t treat me this way, Noah, and expect me to be all hunky-dory while you’re an asshole to me. You need me no matter what you say. Isn’t that why you brought me here? Don’t you dare fucking point the finger at me like I pushed her away. You did.”
The elevator opened to the third level. I retracted the gate and stepped off, heading straight toward my private sanctuary. “Nadine.” My voice was placid. I could hear the catch in her throat. It broke her further to know that she couldn’t affect me in the way that Keaton just had.
“I understood you.”
“I’ll go through the tapes and send you what I can find about who helped her leave. Look at them. Use them. Don’t call me unless your actions were a success.” I hung up on her.
I SPENT HOURS LOOKING through the video feeds to find something I could use. Whatever happened during her escape would never be found out. Whoever was protecting her was smart. Most of the feed and my recordings were gone.
I fell to my knees with my head down. The box with her engagement ring was still in my hands. “If it is your will, please bring her back to me, and I will do what you asked me to do—what you showed me was my purpose. Please…show Keaton the path.”
As I stared at the true piece of beauty, the hope began to return. I would escape no matter what portion of myself I had to sacrifice to reach that escape. They could do whatever they wanted to do with my body. My mind had detached itself from it a long time ago. They would never dissolve my spirit or devour my mind.
-THE SECT
The sterile hospital room hummed with quiet activity. Positioned to lay on my stomach with pillows cradled around me to make sure I remained that way left me feeling stir-crazy.
Hushed voices were heard at the open doorway behind the pastel curtain, obscuring my view of the open door. I thought I discerned Braedan and my mother discussing an intense matter.
The conversation quieted down and the door closed with a soft shushing sound, taking away the harsh light pouring into the room.
Earlier, Dr. Moore explained the extent of my injuries. Beyond the visible scars on my skin, the more painful damage Noah left me with wasn’t immediately seen but had far reaching consequences. His
brutal sex caused the IUD—implanted while I was at Rebirth—to migrate and had to be surgically removed.
The soft ticking sound of my mother’s stilettos neared me.
“I’m awake,” I rasped.
Standing at my facing side, she looked down at me. Pity and sadness draped her face, making me wish I had Braedan’s tie at hand to blind me.
“You’ll be able to return home in a few days,” she informed me.
“Are you…disappointed in me?”
Without a word to answer my question, she maneuvered around my bed and retrieved a chair. Sliding it across the floor, she positioned it in front of my bedside. Sitting down, she clasped her hands in her lap, crossing her legs at her ankles and tucking them underneath the chair. “Do you know the difference between love and lust, Keaton?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I know what this is about. I lied to you about Noah. I didn’t love him. I never have.”
She leaned forward and brushed her hands down the length of my dark hair. “Why did you lie to me, baby girl?”
“I…” To avoid disappointing her further, I left the statement incomplete.
“Have you ever experienced that soul-shattering love outside of what you feel for your family and your friends?”
Lost over what her objective was, I simply told her no.
“Lust comes easy. Love at first is harsh, ugly, selfish, and debilitating. When you get through the roughest parts, it can be beautiful. Love knocks you clean out, and it never lets go under any circumstances.
“Your father is in a business where divorce is commonplace; we’ve always been able to stay firm in our beliefs and never adopted the flakey ideas of what the celebrity world thinks a relationship is supposed to be. Love—our love—is real. Real love doesn’t dissolve or transfer to the next person. It never goes away and it never dies.
“What I never want you to do, is to worry about your father and me. We will fail. We will make mistakes, but you should never feel like you have to bear the burden of our errors. It’s not your duty, baby girl. If anyone ever tries to bribe you with something your father and I did, you tell them to go straight to Hell. Don’t ever put yourself in a situation less than what you deserve for us.”
The Rebirth of Sin (Wicked Trinity Book 2) Page 14
