“You have never submitted to me.”
“You are my son. Why would I submit to my own son?”
Vamar shook his head. “That is your problem, Albert. You don’t seem to fully comprehend that I am not your son. This is your son’s body, and yes, he is buried deep inside, but I am the one in charge. I am the one who makes the decisions.” He stabbed another button on the remote and Albert screamed. Vamar tented his fingers and watched impassively as the anguish consumed the older man. “You have lost your position, old man. You are no longer my second-in-command. I will find someone loyal to me to fill that position.” Vamar stood and powered down the statue.
Albert fell backward and looked down at his bloodied dick, then up at Vamar, who towered over him.
“Yes, it’s still there. Useless, but still attached. You will never be able to get another erection, though. You will be useless sexually, except as a bitch.”
“You can’t do that to me,” Albert whimpered.
“I can and I did. You have proven yourself disloyal and have been punished. Now I will fix you so your disloyalty does not spread amongst the others.” Vamar smiled wickedly and placed his hand on Albert’s head. “You will follow me. I gave you the chance to do it willingly. You chose the wrong path. The path of ego and self-importance.” Vamar’s eyes turned dark. “I think it’s time to change your mind.”
He closed his eyes and whispered an ancient phrase. Albert screamed as his mind began to twist and bend to Vamar’s will.
Three Years Ago
Chapter Thirteen
The cold winter sun hung low in the morning sky as the rental car pulled to a stop in front of the tan stucco house. The neighborhood was an older one. Not all the houses were identical, like most of the newer Phoenix neighborhoods, but this one was far different than any of the others.
The house was clearly vacant. The bushes in the front yard were scraggly and weeds covered the gravel. The windows were filthy, and one at the corner of the house was cracked. One end of a strip of yellow police tape wrapped around the large tree fluttered in the breeze.
Chase stepped out of the car and stared at the house, trying to understand what had happened. He’d imagined this moment a million times in his mind, but he’d never expected this.
“This is her house?” Ethan, his fellow soldier and friend, asked in a low voice. “Why is it like this?”
Chase looked down at the scrap of paper in his hand, seeing Sabrina’s address written in her own neat handwriting, and double checked the address with the numbers on the mailbox. It was the right house.
“The murders were so brutal, they couldn’t sell the house,” Chase said over the lump in his throat. He’d called around to get information on the house, finally speaking to someone at the bank. “No one wants to go near it.”
Over the last two years, he’d sent letters to Sabrina and tried to call her countless times. The phone rang and rang, but no one ever answered. He never received a return letter. This was the first chance he had to get to Arizona and physically find out what happened. And now... Now his heart pounded with fear and dread.
His mother had called the ballet school Sabrina attended and had learned nothing more than she had not been back to the school since returning from her trip to Boston. They’d learned her parents had been killed, murdered, and she had vanished into thin air.
Chase had read everything he could find about the murders, but the police were clueless as to what had happened. Literally. There had been no evidence, no witnesses, nothing. Timothy and Elena Mansfield had been dead in the house for a week before anyone realized the family was missing.
He looked to his side where Ethan stood, studying the house. Casey, who had been driving, came to stand next to them.
“Let’s go in,” Chase said, taking a deep breath and walking up to the door. It was locked, but that wasn’t a problem. He picked the lock in a matter of seconds and the three men walked into the house.
The front room was well-lit, despite the filthy windows, and nicely furnished with a light brown suede couch and delicate wooden tables. Formal, Chase thought, concluding that the room wasn’t used very often. The furniture was clean, aside from a layer of undisturbed dust that lay on everything. A vase of withered flowers sat on a side table, the liquid evaporated long ago.
Chase walked through an archway and into an open area that contained a modern kitchen and informal sitting area. On the coffee table sat a stack of dust-covered dance magazines. He could imagine Sabrina lounging on the brown leather couch and reading. His heart broke at the thought.
He swallowed and looked at the fireplace. A dark stain was set into the carpet. In the kitchen, there was another stain near the table. He walked across the room and stared down at the stain, wondering if Sabrina had watched her parents die.
“Chase,” Casey said from across the room. A large gray suitcase stood next to a heavy door, which he assumed led to the garage. The pink luggage tag indicated it belonged to Sabrina.
Chase’s heart plunged into his stomach. It had happened just as they’d gotten home. The police reports stated that her parents had met her at the airport and they had arrived home safely. Someone must have been waiting for them. She hadn’t even gotten to unpack.
He closed his eyes, imagining the horror of walking into an ambush. How many men had been here? Why had they been here? What could they possibly have wanted with Sabrina? Was it a random robbery? Had it been planned?
Why?
Casey and Ethan walked around the room slowly, looking for things that the police might have missed. Their Army specialization was intelligence. If there was anything to find, they would find it.
Chase walked up the stairs and looked into each room until he found what could only be Sabrina’s. The walls were painted pale pink, decorated with photos and paintings of ballet dancers. An old, black-and-white photograph of a ballerina hung above a white wooden desk. His mother had the same picture in her library. Anna Pavlova in Swan Lake. A pair of worn pointe shoes hung on a nail next to the picture. They were small. If Chase had to hazard a guess, he would say they were Sabrina’s first pair. His mother had kept hers, too.
He reached out and caressed the dusty satin, blinking back hot tears. “What happened, Sabrina? Where did you go?”
For the longest time, Chase had feared she’d simply lost interest in him. She’d come home and decided she wanted nothing to do with him. Perhaps she’d found a boy her own age who had captured her attention. It had killed him to think about losing her, the only girl who had ever captured his heart. But once he learned what had happened here, part of him was relieved and part of him was horrified.
Was she alive somewhere? Had she been killed? Would he ever find out?
He clenched his hands and lifted his chin. He would find out what happened to her, even if it was the last thing he ever did.
Chapter Fourteen
The whip sang through the air and cracked as it made contact with Sabrina’s skin. She screamed, or tried to. Her voice was more of a hoarse yelp than a scream. Welts and cuts covered her body from her neck all the way down to her feet, which were suspended several inches above the stone floor. Her arms strained and her wrists bled from the metal cuffs holding her above the ground. Red trails of drying blood decorated her arms, legs, and torso.
“What have we learned from this session, Sabrina?” came the voice of her Master from the entrance to the arena.
Sabrina flinched at the sound. He hadn’t been here when Ramon had started his discipline.
Master appeared from the darkened doorway, his light hair gleaming like an angel’s wings. His eyes glittered with anger and she despaired. She loved and hated this man who owned her. He made her body sing and confused her mind. She could never remember his face unless he stood right in front of her. But she always knew his presence. It made her distraught that she hadn’t sen
sed him before this moment.
“Master...,” she whispered, her throat burning from the effort.
“You killed Derek, Sabrina. How many times have we talked about controlling your temper?”
Sabrina’s heart tightened at the disappointment in her Master’s voice. She had failed him again. Tears ran down her cheeks as he glared at her. “I’m sorry, Master,” she choked out over the burning lump in her throat.
Master frowned and reached out to caress her breast. His fingers dug into a gouge in her skin and she whimpered. Then he took her nipple into his mouth and she sighed. He flicked his tongue over the nipple, hardening it, making her moan.
“I came here wanting to make love to my best girl,” he whispered against her skin. He moved his mouth to the other breast. The nipple was bleeding, but he seemed to enjoy it. Her head dropped back and she squeezed her thighs together.
She wanted to speak, wanted to beg forgiveness, but no words formed in her mouth as he caressed her body.
“Now, you must choose who will be punished.”
She stiffened and raised her head. “No, Master! Please! Don’t make me.”
“I don’t make you, Sabrina. You do it to yourself.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks and she shook her head.
“Are you saying no to me?”
Sabrina froze and her eyes widened. Her jaw trembled, not knowing what to say.
Master stepped away, leaving her skin to cool away from his body heat. “Release her,” he commanded. Ramon hurried over and unlocked the cuffs around her wrists.
She dropped to the ground and immediately crawled through the sand to her Master’s legs, hugging them. “Please don’t punish them for my mistakes, Master.”
He knelt down and lifted her chin. His eyes were sad. “I hate to do it, but it’s what you agreed to, isn’t it? You said it would help you be better. To obey easier.”
Sabrina blinked, searching her fuzzy mind for the conversation he referred to, but she couldn’t remember. She looked up at him to say so, but when she met his eyes, she just nodded. She couldn’t honestly remember not having the conversation, either. And he wouldn’t lie to her. He promised he’d never lie to her.
“Yes, Master,” she said, head bowing in submission.
“Good girl,” he whispered and caressed her breast once more, leaning down to kiss her gently at first. As the passion built, his kiss became harder, more insistent, until she opened up to him.
“Go clean up and we will make love,” Master said in a soft voice, helping Sabrina to her feet.
She nodded and hurried out of the room, forgetting the dark task that awaited her later.
*****
Vamar smiled as Sabrina hurried away. She was more and more susceptible to his presence each time he came. He let the others do the cruel things, and he kept his hands clean. At least when it came to Sabrina. There was little he enjoyed more than causing pain to others, especially when he could point the blame at her. Her mind had been twisted so much, he could tell her the sky was red and she would agree, even though she knew it wasn’t.
For the first three months of her captivity, she was kept isolated in a bare cell, except for when Khyan came weekly to rape her. Then Vamar would return and treat her like a queen for a month. Then more isolation, except she was in a luxury suite this time, able to hear the screams of the women and girls who were kept in the house. He loved watching the live feed of her trying to drown out the sound of the suffering beyond her walls. Vamar then returned, treating her like a queen once more, but the screams could still be heard as he made love to her.
On and on it went, alternating between isolation and love. When Sabrina started masturbating during isolation, Khyan brutally killed a girl in front of her, explaining that the girl had to die because Sabrina was being selfish. Her face became so pale, Vamar was afraid she’d pass out. She didn’t sleep for a week, and when he returned, she promised she’d do anything to keep that from happening again.
“Did Derek suffer?” Vamar asked Ramon.
“It was a bloody mess,” Ramon answered, shaking his head. “She ripped him to pieces. Who knew that little girl could be so strong?”
“He deserved it. Thank you for arranging the kill.”
Vamar knew how to provoke Sabrina’s darker side and had instructed Khyan to do so. Derek had been sharing information with authorities and needed to be dealt with. What better way to fuck with Sabrina’s mind than to provoke her to murder? Well, it was not so much murder as pure animal instinct, but effective nonetheless.
Ramon bowed his head slightly. “Yes, my lord.”
“Either Heather or Julie will die today. Make sure I have everything I need. It’s so damn difficult to kill the demi-Immortals.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sabrina knelt in the sparse quarters her mother and grandmother shared. The three women were identical, none showing any sign of aging past twenty. Only their eyes showed any difference. The shades of green grew lighter with each generation. Heather, the oldest, had eyes of dark forest green. Julie, Sabrina’s birth mother, had emerald green eyes, and Sabrina had eyes of pale jade green. All shared each other’s pain and it showed in their faces, though deeper in Heather’s than in Sabrina’s.
Sabrina knew why she was here. To choose who would die for her sins. If only I’d been able to better control my temper, they wouldn’t be in this situation. The others knew why, too, though no one had spoken since she’d arrived almost thirty minutes earlier. They seemed to be able to communicate without words. Sharing feelings, if not direct thoughts, with one another without speaking. Sabrina found it both disturbing and comforting. Comforting in the fact she didn’t need to speak to convey the horrible decision that must be made. Disturbing in the fact they knew what was coming without her telling them. She also felt their pain from the years of abuse, which was a terrible thing to behold.
She knew both women would willingly depart from this world. They begged her to choose them. That didn’t make it any easier or lessen Sabrina’s guilt.
“I can’t,” Sabrina finally whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. The agony of her failure weighed heavily on her heart. Heather scooted across the floor and hugged her.
“We are the lucky ones, Sabrina,” Heather said in a soft voice. “We are the ones who will finally leave the horror of this journey. I’m afraid you are sentenced to life with Master.”
Sabrina’s shoulders slumped, knowing the truth in her words. “But it’s such a terrible fate,” she protested, knowing the death would be a painful process.
Heather let out a choked laugh. “What can he do that he hasn’t done already?”
Julie reached out for Sabrina’s hand and the three women mourned together.
If what she said was true, Heather should be the one released from the pain, Sabrina thought. She’s been here the longest.
“I agree,” Julie said, nodding, but Heather shook her head.
“I am also the one most capable of handling it,” Heather protested.
“You deserve to be free,” Julie said, tears choking her voice. “You’ve suffered long enough.”
Sabrina could see the hope in her grandmother’s eyes, even as she shook her head, still protesting. But Sabrina knew her mind was made up. Heather would die for Sabrina’s misdeeds.
And it tore her to shreds.
They held each other until Master’s voice intruded upon them.
“Come, Sabrina.” Master held out his hand. She stood obediently, as she had no other choice. It wasn’t a matter of wanting to. She couldn’t not obey him. She had spent many hours wondering why this was so, but had never come up with an answer.
Heather stood and walked over to the doorway. “I will die, Master,” she said, gaze lowered to the floor.
Master frowned and looked at Sabrina. “You made your choice?�
��
Sabrina nodded. “Yes, Master,” she whispered.
“Tell me then. Don’t be weak and make your victim tell me.”
Sabrina closed her eyes against the hot tears welling up. “I choose Heather to die for my sins, Master,” she said in a choked voice.
Master cupped her chin and made her look up at him. “If only you were a better person, Sabrina, this wouldn’t have to happen.”
Heather reached out for Sabrina’s hand, but Master shoved her away. “Don’t comfort your murderer, Heather,” Master said, disdain in his voice. Sabrina’s heart burned at the truth in his words.
He took her hand and led her from the room, preventing her from looking back. She didn’t want to look back, though. She didn’t want to see the truth in Heather’s eyes.
Master led her around the corner to a comfortable room with a large bed. Sabrina knew this room well. It was a favorite of his. The walls were thin, so he could hear the screams of whoever was being tortured in the arena.
“Please, Master, don’t make me listen,” Sabrina whimpered.
He tilted his head. “Why should I be denied the pleasure of her screams just because you feel guilty?”
Sabrina knew he liked the pain of others. And, much to her own shame, she’d been starting to react to it, too, which pleased Master. He praised her endlessly when she orgasmed because of someone else’s pain...or her own. Something about staring into his eyes as the screams echoed in the room and her mind... It did something strange to her. Afterward, she was always ill, but during, it gave her such a high, she could hardly stand it.
Master bent down and started kissing her neck. She didn’t want to enjoy the touch of his lips, soft and warm and awakening the desire she tried so hard to keep at bay. She didn’t want to close her eyes and sigh as he combed his fingers through her hair.
But she did.
Her body betrayed her mind, betrayed all she knew was good. She succumbed to Master’s skilled hands and mouth while Heather screamed in the background. Sabrina didn’t know if she could ever forgive herself.
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