He leaves me on edge, making me afraid. He is good at that. He loves to build tension. “I bet your pussy is such a delight,” he says. “I can’t wait to finally take you after all these years. You’re going to feel so good. Maybe I can convince them to only take a pint of your blood when we are all done with you. I can keep you around here and make sure we can always be together. You’d have to service all the other members, but that’s okay; I’ll still love you. You’re going to bind all of us together, anyway. What’s the difference? Doesn’t that sound like a good plan?” He flicks his finger over my nipple and rubs the bubbles into my skin. “We can have the life we want. I wouldn’t have to plan for anything. We could get another virgin and have the ritual again in a few years. Maybe not wait as long. Seven years seems ridiculous. That’s the beauty of magic. You can bend and break the rules all you want.”
Magic.
Oh my God.
He is a fucking nut case. He is fluffing me up for some ritual! I am about to be a pig with an apple in its mouth for all of these insane men.
“Kendrick, I … I don’t believe in magic. What you’re saying doesn’t make sense.” My body trembles as he shuts off the water.
“I know, but it will.” He stands, and his erection tents his pants. He grabs it and groans. He unzips his jeans and fishes out his cock, stroking the length. “Are you finally ready to have me, my sweet? It’s been so hard to deny you all these years after you’ve thrown yourself at me.”
Thrown myself? Right.
He jerks himself faster as he stares at me, and I look away, not wanting to watch. “Fucking look at me, pet,” he seethes.
I keep my head turned.
He grips my chin and forces my head to the right. I see him reach for his cock again and this time, and for some reason, my mouth gets the best of me. “Your brother is bigger and more of a man than you’ll ever be.” I’m not wrong. Sebastian’s cock is bigger, thicker too, and he knows how to use it, but Kendrick doesn’t need to know that.
The back of his hand strikes my cheek, and he keeps jacking himself off, then he slaps me again and again, until he grunts, filling his palm with come. “I should make you lick me clean, pet.”
The thought has me nauseous.
He wipes his hands off with toilet paper then washes them under the sink. His flimsy cock hangs from his pants, and I curl my lip in disgust.
“I thought you said you were a virgin? Did you lie?” he asks.
“No. We did other things. That’s why I made the comparison.”
He takes two steps toward me and slaps me again. Again, I don’t cry, or make a noise, or beg him to stop. I keep it to myself. I swallow down the pain, and when he grips my chin again, I hope it is water sliding along my jaw and not his come.
“My brother is weak. My brother is nothing. He won’t be able to make you ascend, to have a life outside of this world. He is weak! I am strong. I am the better brother. You’ll see, pet. You’ll see just how wrong you are. I’m going to fuck you so good later, you’re going to beg for more, my sweet. You’re going to be yearning the for me. The book reads that the woman will be a writhing mess, begging for more, for release that she isn’t allowed to have.”
He lets go of me, but not without shoving me away.
“Why?” I ask, small and confused. “Was there ever a time, Kendrick, when you actually loved me? Was there ever a time I wasn’t part of some bigger plan for you? Did you ever care?” I ask just as he steps out the door, but my questions give him pause. “Before you decided to abuse me, was there ever a time?”
“No,” he says. “You were always part of a bigger plan. I grew to love you, but the end result is more important than me, you, and whatever selfish wants we have.”
“Selfish? This is selfish! What do you plan on doing to me tonight? Raping me? You and those crazy men down there!”
“What? No. You’re going to love what we do. It won’t be rape.” He looks stricken, like he can’t believe I’d accuse of him such a thing. He believes that what he has planned for me tonight is essential and real. He doesn’t think it is rape or abuse, not if his ritual calls for it.
“But it is, Kendrick. I don’t want it. I don’t believe in what you believe in.”
“That—” He pinches the bridge of his nose and his fist clench next to his side as he debates on hitting me again. “That isn’t true. You’ll see. Once we feed you all the right things and drink the wine, and get everything in order, your body will feel the need to ascend—”
“Do you hear yourself? You sound fucking insane.”
“I am not insane! I am a believer, and you will believe to. You might not believe me now, but when you are on the bed, bathing in the flame of heat and passion, you’ll see. You’ll feel it.”
“I won’t,” I deject, wincing when one of the lashes on my back slide against the tub the wrong way. “I’ll make sure if it’s the last thing I think of, it’s to make sure I don’t remotely believe in anything you want to happen.”
His jaw flexes. “When you’re done bathing, your ceremonial dress will be on the bed. I want your hair up, do you understand? Don’t make me kill you before the most important part of the night. This has been seven years in the making; do not ruin it for me, or I will send you straight to hell to burn for all eternity.”
I believe he believes that he could.
He is a psychopath.
For a brief moment, I think I might have got to him, but he turns around and shuts the door, leaving me with fresh cheese, grapes, champagne, and rose petals.
It’s like the last meal for prisoners, but for a virginal sacrifice, I seem to be getting the royal treatment. “Yay, lucky me,” I say with zero excitement. I need to figure a way out of here. Last time, I got lucky. This time, there are more men to defeat.
I lean back and think of all the different ways to beat Kendrick at his game. I need this microchip out of me, first of all, but I can’t find where the damn thing is. “Please find me Sebastian,” I plead. “Time is ticking.” I am going to stay in this tub until Kendrick fetches me.
After seven years, I am going to die because Kendrick is a nut job, but there is one positive to this: at least, I’m not going to die a virgin. Something Kendrick doesn't know and whatever blood is spilt, I hoped the poison kills them instead.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
SEBASTIAN
The sun is setting, and time is running out. We need to get her out of there before the ritual starts. I am still having a hard time believing in all of that. I have to see it to believe it. Right now, we are going on the information Zeke provided, but there is a chance he could be wrong.
The guys are here, except for Zeke; he stayed home with Quinn and Julia to make sure they are safe. They aren’t, not with him blabbering his mouth.
“He has been this close this entire time?” I ask, staring at the small stone mansion from the boat we are on. I lift the binoculars again and try to find Gabriella, but she is somewhere else. She has to be inside. “I would have found him if he lived here.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. This property isn’t owned by him. It’s owned by some witchy organization. How would you have known to look into something like that?” Grayson says, throwing the anchor over the boat when we are close enough to get to shore, but far enough that we aren’t easily seen.
“Still…” I’ve failed her. She has been here, right under my nose. “That’s what he wanted. He wanted us close. He found it amusing, I bet.”
“How did you not see these psycho tendencies in your brother? Did he not do anything weird growing up?” Jaxon asks, zipping up his wet suit and making sure the waterproof bag of weapons is sealed correctly.
“I mean, he accidently killed the neighbor’s dog…”
The guys all raise their brows at me at the same time.
“Right,” I say. “Maybe it wasn’t an accident.”
“It wasn’t,” they say in unison.
Poor Syrup. That puppy was so cute.
I shake the old memory out of my head and raise the binoculars again to see guys in black robes setting up a stage. A large pentagram stands like a cross would, and it has different flowers draped over it along with meat.
God … what kind of meat?
“They are getting ready. We need to hurry,” I say.
“Everyone suited up? And Owen?”
“I know. I know. Listen to Sebastian,” he mumbles.
“I’ll just stay here, I guess,” Heaven plays with a frayed end on his cast. Since he has a broken leg, he can’t be much help, but he can stay in the boat and keep a lookout. If he has to, he can come to shore and pick us up after we destroy this place.
“You’re an important member of the team, Heaven. Don’t look so sad,” Grayson says.
“Says the guy who got his stitches out yesterday,” Heaven pouts. “Just go. Bring Gabby back.” He cocks his gun. “I’m ready for anything even if I’m stuck here.”
Owen, Grayson, Jaxon and me sit on the edge of the boat and gently lower ourselves in the water so we don’t make any noise. Heaven heaves the weapons bag over the boat and hands it to Jaxon, and then we are on our way to the rocky cliff. How the hell Gabriella survived that fall, I’ll forever be baffled.
I thank my lucky stars every day for her return to me, though.
I hold my breath and dive under the water. The sea is dark and cold, but we manage to swim to the cliff without having to come up for air. We are professionals like that.
“Okay,” Jaxon says. “Owen and Sebastian, you take right. Grayson and I will go left. Wherever she is, we will bring her home, Sebastian.”
“Don’t kill my brother. He’s mine and Gabriella’s.”
“Noted,” Grayson says, changing out of his wetsuit into tactical gear. We all follow suit, dressing in black, and we strap our weapons to our thighs, arms, and waist. I have a gun, but I want to use a knife. They are quicker to use.
“There are a lot of robes showing up, guys,” Heaven says into the earpiece. “Dozens. Can you believe these freaks exist? Who the hell does sacrifices?”
“Think we can take on dozens?” Owen asks, a mad gleam in his eye as he twists the silencer on his gun.
“We have before,” Grayson says.
“Moon’s in the sky, guys. Time to get going,” Heaven informs.
I turned my head to the sky as I lace my boots. The night is still young, and the moon isn’t full yet. I see the orange hue surrounding it, normal for a harvest moon, and I know I don’t have long to get her out of there.
We give each other one last nod before we go our separate ways. Owen and I climb up the cliff. There is a pretty worn path in the rock. People have come down to this beach before. The cliff gets steeper and we grab onto jagged rocks to keep ourselves from tumbling down. The closer we get to the top, the more I hear the conversations of the wannabe wizards.
“Can’t believe these people actually believe in this. My cousin told me about this get together and when he said there was free ass? I knew I had to come.”
“Right? Me too. I hear the girl is hot too. I wonder if it’s really a sacrifice.”
“No, it’s just a prostitute putting on a show.”
Owen and I dart into the woods and he presses his finger against his lips, telling me to remain silent as the two young guys that are talking come down the cliff. As they pass us, Owen and I creep out from the trees, and I run my knife through the neck of one. Owen aligns his gun to the back of the guy’s neck and shoots.
No one will be able to hear since the silencer is on the gun.
The bodies drop, and I feel the adrenaline pumping my heart. Usually, I’m not into killing, but I’ll kill for Gabriella.
“Two down, few dozen to go,” Owen says, kissing the barrel of his gun. He picks up his kill, and I grab mine before hiding them in the woods.
We keep ourselves low to the ground and stay in the trees instead of on the path. It seems too well used, and we don’t want to get caught. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, we get to where the main event is.
“Holy shit,” Owen says in disbelief.
Yeah, I can’t believe what I am seeing either.
The pentagram is painted black and a dead goat, sheep, and a bull’s head sits along the bottom of it. Torches are lit along the sides of the stage. People are kneeling by the pentagram and chanting to it.
“I say we take a few out right now.” Owen aims his gun through the trees and kills all four kneeling at the pentagram. The bullet goes right through their skulls and they still seem to be in a bowed position, so our cover isn’t blown.
“Put me down! No! I don’t want this. It’s rape! It’s insanity! Put me fucking down! I hate you!”
Gabriella’s voice has me whipping my head to the side and seeing her being carried out on a throne of some sort. Her feet are bound along with her wrists and the gown she wears is completely see-through. I can see her tits, and I grip the knife in my hand until I shake with anger. I am going to kill every single one of those fuckers.
And she has another bruise on her cheek.
They lower her onto the stage, and no one notices the dead bodies bowing at the pentagram. Two men lift her from the throne and my girl kicks, screams, and bites, but it doesn’t matter; they cuff her to the stage, spread eagle.
I stab the tree with my knife, finding it difficult to breathe. I can’t go into a fight with emotion. I need to calm down.
“Family. Coven. My dearest friends,” Kendrick’s voice comes from the balcony of his room. He slowly walks down the steps as he speaks. “Thank you for joining me on this momentous occasion. We have a special treat in store for our god. A sacrifice I’ve been grooming for seven years. A virgin of Mediterranean descent. She will give us the power we have been craving.”
Everyone cheered as Kendrick came to the bottom of the steps. He wasn’t wearing a black robe. He wore a white one. The cloth matched her gown. I remembered what Zeke said about Kendrick taking her first, hoping to ‘spill’ the first of her virgin blood before the others took her.
“She will ascend, and once our god accepts her soul and we bathe in her purity, we will be immortal,” he shouts to the sky.
“Oh, wow. Your brother is off his fucking rocker,” Owen says. “He thinks he will be immortal… That’s a new level of crazy.”
There are too many people surrounding the stage now for Owen to take anyone out without being noticed.
“You have about three minutes before the moon is at its fullest. I’m assuming that’s when the ceremony will begin. You need to get your ass in gear,” Heaven states in the earpiece.
“Ready?” Owen aims.
“Fire.”
Owen pulls the trigger as fast as he can, bodies hitting the ground one by one. Five hit the ground before people understand what is going on and start to scatter.
“No! Don’t run! This is a test. Remain vigilant,” Kendrick runs toward the stage and starts to undo his pants.
Owen and I run out from the trees, and I have my knife at the ready, shoving it into the soft skin of the sick individual’s stomach. A few people try to fight me off, stopping me from getting to Kendrick as he lifts Gabriella’s gown to take her.
During all of this, somehow the fucker is able to get an erection.
“You cannot stop him! It is meant to be. The book says so!” one of his followers tackle me to the ground, but the knife slides into his chest like butter.
Jaxon and Grayson are handling the other cult members on their own, and Owen shoots anyone who dares come close to him.
Which leaves me to deal with my brother.
I hop on stage and sheath my knife, pulling out my gun instead. “Let her go, Kendrick.”
He twists his head back, and the way his hair falls across his forehead and the desperate gleam he has in his eyes along with madness, I know my brother isn’t in there anymore.
“No, this needs to happen! I’ve waited too long for this. She’s mine.”
“She’s no virgin. I took it. She’s mine. What do your rules say about that?”
Kendrick stares at Gabriella, and she spits in his face.
“Your ritual wouldn’t have worked. Step away.”
“No, you’re lying,” Kendrick says, hovering over her.
I do the only thing I can do since nothing will get through to him.
I pull the trigger.
I shoot him right in the back, through the shoulder, a wound that isn’t deadly, but will definitely hurt like a bitch.
Blood sprays across her white gown, but she doesn’t panic. Her breathing is harsh, but she stays calm for someone who was just about to be sacrificed to shit that didn’t exist. He rolls to his side, his flaccid cock hanging out of his pants. He presses his against his shoulder.
“No! You’ve ruined everything. You have no idea what we have planned!” Kendrick screams.
Jaxon gets on stage and points the gun at Kendrick. “Uncuff her, Sebastian. We have him.”
I sink to my knees and don’t say a word. I kiss her senseless.
“I’m so glad you took my virginity,” she says.
“You’re making jokes right now?” I chuckle as I uncuff her.
“It’s the only thing I could think of to say.” She throw her arms around me and hisses when I do the same. “Lashes.”
“He whipped you again?” I pull back and she glances down, lowering her eyes as she nods.
“Chain him to that fucking pentagram. This night is far from over.”
“The whip is in the throne they carried me out on. He wasn’t done with it,” Gabriella says.
“Nothing like this will ever happen to you again,” I promise. After tonight, Kendrick won’t be alive. His soul will descend. I’ll make sure of that. I lay one more kiss on her lips and sigh. “I’m glad you’re alive. I’m so sorry I wasn’t better at protecting you.”
Cruel Seduction: A Dark Romance (Underground Kings Book 2) Page 21
