by Liza James
“Aura, so nice to finally see you again,” Dom says, faking false politeness as he steps back and takes a seat against the velvet bench that spans the opposite side of the small room.
I stay back, keeping myself pressed against the closed door while I force space between us. I pull my black silk robe tightly across my chest and then wrap my arms around myself as well. My leather knee highs are luckily hiding most of my legs as well, but it doesn't stop his gaze from slowly dropping down to observe my body.
I don't reply, refusing to acknowledge him while he slides his hands up and down the dark grey material of his slacks. He coughs, it's almost uncomfortable in the way he he leans back and then drops his arms across the head of the bench.
"Do you know what I do here?" he asks simply.
"I know you do a lot of shitty things to good people," I state plainly, letting the bite in my tone resurface against him.
He laughs though, in something that sounds like genuine humor. "Are you referring to the girls here? Or what I do on the outside of this place?"
"Both, because I'm sure you fuck over people in every aspect of your life."
"Ah, on the contrary, my wildflower. You'd be happy to know that everything I do, everything I have on the outside is strictly for the benefit of our people."
Silence.
Complete and total silence. My mind is spiraling, unraveling and splitting apart at the seams as I attempt processing what he's saying.
Wildflower.
No, no no. This doesn't make sense. Ruby doesn't know about the cult, not before she met me. And she's spent every single day with Dom. If he was a part of the cult, she would have known—she would have told me.
"I'm sorry, my name is Aura. Not wildflower," I admonish, but my voice shakes with the slightest tremble that I'm struggling to control.
"No need to hide here, my girl. Wildflower was your gifted name by the Omega, I'd prefer to call you by what you are. Always a wildflower," he sighs, pulling on the knot in his tie so that it's loosened around his neck. "Take off your clothes."
I'm frozen, terrified by what is breaking loose in my mind. He's a part of The Nation? How? When? Does Ruby know? Have I been fucking played this entire time? Fuck, is Ruby a part of The Nation as well?
No. No fucking way. What we're doing is a sin, it's wrong according to my beliefs. Wait—not my beliefs. The Nation's beliefs. They wouldn't use her like that to get to me, it would be detrimental to the ladder,
"Did you hear me, wildflower? Take off your clothes."
"No," I say, forcing the thick word to climb out of constricted throat. Everything hurts, my head throbs with confusion and fear.
"Yes, you'll need to undergo several rounds of purging and restoration in order to complete your ceremony in the future." He begins unbuttoning his shirt, slowly working his eye down the mundane line until he pulls it off of his shoulders. It's as if this is nothing new, and I'm slipping back into that shattered mindset of this being "normal". It's not, I know it's fucking not. But this feels so fucking familiar.
"I don't need to be purged. I've done nothing wrong, and even if I had, Malin is the only one who restores me."
"Malin is not here, I am. I hold supreme over Malin and Zale as it is, and they will support this decision once you're back with The Nation." He stands and steps towards me, but I panic and as I move away, my back slams hard against the shut door and rattles through my body.
"Stay the fuck away from me," I bite out, holding out a hand as he presses his chest against it. I wasn't ready for this, not like this. I want to protect Ruby, I do, with everything inside of me. But he's thrown me off by mentioning The Nation, by calling me by gifted name.
I try to force mind to clear itself, focus on steadying my breaths and to calm the nausea that's rolling through me. But Dom is quick and impatient, his hand shoots forward as he grips the tie on my robe and yanks, pulling it open while his other hand drags it off my shoulders.
I whimper in both fear and anticipation of what's coming. Fuck, this isn't how I had planned on this happening. I didn't have time to detach myself in the way I wanted to. He's immediately sunk his talons into the emotional wreckage of my past and drawn it forward.
"This is good, wildflower. You know it is the right thing. You'll be forgiven, you're far too important to let go of." He kneels down and reaches forward to pull my heels from my legs. I should stop him, fight back even harder now that he's going for the only weapon I have against him.
But my head is a fucking mess. It's a chaotic scramble of shifting memories, plaguing my thoughts and paralyzing my limbs. I can't fucking move, I can't think beyond what's about to happen to me.
"I'm impressed, and honestly proud of you," he says, the satisfaction in voice evident as he speaks while he pulls the blade free of my heel. He drags his finger along the sharp edge, appreciating it with lifted brows and a slight grunt of approval before he sets it on the ground beside him. "You wouldn't be who you are without a little rebellion in your blood, a little defiance before you finally submit."
I don't know what he's talking about, but I can hardly focus on his words when his fingers slide up the backs of my legs. He reaches my panties, a pair of red silk ones that I wanted to surprise Ruby with but are now tainted by his perusal and touch. He slips his fingers into the hem of them, tugging them down my legs while his eyes track his own movements.
"So beautiful," he whispers as he pulls them free of my feet and then stands before me. He reaches forward again, this time letting his fingers slide under the strap of my bra, a matching one, littered in tiny gemstones that sparkle under the lights of the stage. "So grown you are."
For a second, my mind locks into action, the smallest part of me that's grown stronger and stronger with Ruby by my side. I panic in the sense that I need to get out of here, need to break free of what he intends on doing. So I launch my own hand forward and slap him, crashing against his cheek in a move that surprises the both of us. He reacts by stepping back, only his entire demeanor changes into a darker substance.
His shoulders square off and his back stiffens into a rod, I'm ashamed to even notice the fact that he's clearly hard. His long, thick cock pressed tightly against the fabric of his slacks. Before I can even decide to attempt running, his heavy hand shoots forward and grips my throat in a tight hold. He comes flush against me as his other hand tears my bra from my chest, ripping it by the seemingly fragile seams at his strength.
"Do not ever hit me again, wildflower. Do you understand me? I will not tolerate your disobedience." His thumb grazes along my jaw in a moment that seems affectionate, but there's a strange tether that's sinking under my skin. Something odd and uncomfortable in a way I can't put my finger on.
I walk off the back of the stage and through the heavy black curtains that cascade across the far wall. My heart is racing with the work I just put into that fucking dance. It was one of my more complicated ones, but always brings in a decent amount of money.
I wanted to make a little extra, surprise Aura tonight by taking her out after we get off and before we head back to my place—together.
I stalk down the busy hallway, several dancers are hurrying about, getting ready to start their sets or move into transition. But Aura is next, and I want to check on her before she gets on the stage.
Stepping into the prep room, I scan the small space, quickly searching the girls for the one who belongs to me. The long, wavy hair that calls to my hands. Her creamy bare skin that speaks of her sweet innocence. That snarky fucking mouth that wants to be smacked.
But I don't catch any of it, nothing that belongs to her because she isn't fucking here. I turn on my heels, about to step out of the room when K's voice breaks out behind me as she calls my name.
"Not now," I say, dragging my hand along the doorframe while I round the corner. "I have to find Aura."
"It's about Aura," K shouts as she hurries behind me and we step into the hallway alone.
My eyebrows are dr
awn together in confusion, wondering why K would know where Aura was when I don't. But slowly, little red flags begin lifting in my mind. Small pricks of apprehension break out across my skin and my heart rate gains speed in an entirely different way.
My hand shoots out uncontrollably, gripping K’s cropped shirt while I pull her against me. "Where the fuck is she?"
"You can't stop it, Ruby. I know this hurts, I fucking know it does. He has her on his radar—" I let go, shoving her back while I turn on my heels and race down the hallway.
"I gave her a knife!" K calls out behind me, and it's the only thing that halts my steps just slightly. "It's hidden in her boot. Be fucking careful, Ruby."
She has a weapon, that's the only piece of information that comforts me in the slightest. But the idea that he has her is ripping me apart from the inside out. The thought of his hands, of his body against hers—it's too fucking much. I want to kill him for even looking at her, for breathing the same fucking air she breathes.
I break through the center of the club, not giving a shit about who sees me running towards the back. But as I round the corner into the hallway of private rooms, I immediately bolt forward until I'm finally in front of room five, the only room he ever uses.
I slam my fists against the door, refusing to quiet myself for anyone nearby. I need to get in, and if causing a scene allows me entry then I'll fucking do it with a sick and twisted grin on my face.
I hit it again, banging my fists as I feel the pain shoot through my hands at the repetitive impact. I pull my leg back in order to kick, but just as I'm about to throw it forward, the door is yanked open and my wrist is gripped in a tight hold as I'm pulled roughly into the room.
As the door slams shut behind me, I stumble forward, my knees hitting the hard floor and my eyes adjusting to the dim lighting of the room. I've landed on Aura’s heels, knocking them to the side as my fingers span the red carpet below me. I lift my gaze, but before I can even comprehend Aura's state, I realize Dom is already behind her, one hand wrapped tightly around her throat while the other is snaked across her bare stomach. She's completely naked, and the vacant frantic look in her eyes has my blood freezing in my veins.
"Not her," I plead with him. Already. Immediately willing to give him whatever he wants if it means keeping her out of his grasp. "Please not her."
"Did you know?" This time, it's Aura's voice that catches me off guard. It's so quiet, so weak and fragile and not at all the person I know her to be.
"What? Know what?" I ask as I force myself to stand back up in front of her. I want to step closer, to pry his hands off of her body but the sick way his fingers twist around her throat has me staying back. He flexes them and grips even tighter, but she hardly responds, so lost in something I don't understand. Has he already touched her? Already raped her and I'm too late? I’ll fucking gut him.
"That he's with The Nation," she whispers, as if she doesn't want him to hear even though he's listening to every word we say.
"The cult?" I ask, my eyes flying up to meet his while a dark smile pulls along his face. His body is tense, but vibrating with a certain power that I feel he's holding back. "He's not in a cult, he's a fucking drug lord."
"What drug?" she asks and he laughs behind her ear as his lips brush against her skin. I launch forward, ripping my fist back and slamming it against his face as Aura tries to pull away from his hold. Dom whips his head toward me, raising his hand and rubbing it against his jaw as he stalks towards me.
"Guess," he bites out, addressing Aura while his hands wrap tightly around my hair until he's holding me still. He twists me around so that I'm the one facing Aura now while he shoves me to my knees.
"What the fuck are you talking about? All fucking drugs, his people sell them all," I quickly say between clenched teeth. Aura sinks to the ground in front of me, her back pressed tightly against the wall as she pulls her knees up to her chest. Tears spill from her lashes and coat her cheeks in salty trails and my heart breaks at the sight of her.
I'm so confused, so fucking livid at what's happening that I can't think straight enough to process what he's saying.
"There's one specific drug you're curious about though, aren't you Aura?" he replies slyly, his tone slick with temptation and knowledge. "Have you wondered how The Nation has access to it?"
"I didn't know how they got it, but I knew they had a supplier. They had too. We used it too much, at every single fucking ceremony." Aura's arms fall to the sides, her voice becoming something broken and empty as she speaks. “I didn’t know until I got away. I swear, I didn’t know what it was.”
"LSD," he replies knowingly. "They had to have a source on the outside that could provide it for them. It was easiest if I made that possible."
My heart plummets, cracking into slivers of disbelief and pain at the realization that Dom was a part of whatever Hell Aura came from. The reality of how intricately The Nation is involved in her life, even in my life, is a sobering thought that wrecks my already frantic mind.
I try to crawl forward, but Dom's fist holds me tightly in place and the slight whimper that leaves my lips is his addiction. He fucking loves that I'm showing him pain, revealing my intimate nightmare as it plays out in front of my face.
I already broke the last time we were together. He forced me into giving up my tears, my cries, my begs for Aura's safety when he brought her name up in our meeting. He threatened her, promising to bring her into this room if I didn't give him what he wanted.
My vulnerability. My dignity. My emotions.
I completely lost it when he forced me and now I'm falling apart at the thought of him having anything to do with Aura. Now that she's here? In front of my face while Dom forces his way with her? I can't accept that reality.
"Let her go, Dom. You've broken her enough. You can have me, and Aura can leave and rest. She can't take all of this on the first night," I try to reason with him logically, in hopes that he'll take the rest of this out on me.
"Unfortunately, Ruby, you've already given me everything I need. And you're prepared for Malin as well. Aura, however, needs to be restored in order to solidify her ladder of ascension." Dom releases my hair and steps back, shifting to move towards Aura but the rage boiling under my skin takes root and I throw my elbow back as quickly as I can. I catch Dom in the groin, sending him to the floor on his knees in pain while Aura scrambles deeper into the corner of the room. He groans and mutters a string of curse words under his breath while he tries to gain his footing again.
I launch forward, rushing to get near her when I feel Dom's fingers wrap tightly around my ankle and he yanks me back. My head hits the floor in the quick moment, the ringing throbbing behind my eyes as he flips me to my back and comes over me.
"You can't stop this, Ruby. You're sick, you've always been twisted with perverted thoughts and ways. Don't you realize that's why your parents haven't searched for you? They'd rather you be on your own, wasting your life in damnation than be fucking near them." He grips my wrists and yanks them over my head, holding them tightly in place when I feel his other hand crash against the side of my face.
Pain radiates through my jaw as my head whips to the right. I can hear Aura vaguely crying behind me and fuck, all I want to do is to get to her, to feel her hands on my face or hear her voice in my ear while I hold her. I just need to get to her.
"But you can help her ascend, Ruby, if you really love her, even in your perverted and evil ways. You can help her. Take care of our fragile wildflower. She's the key to our ascension." He whispers the words against my ear and pulls away just as another hit lands on my jaw this time.
My eyes roll back, slipping into the darkness of my mind while Aura's voice continues drifting away in the background. My arms feel weak, but I don't think he's holding on to me anymore. Nausea washes through my stomach and I drag my legs up as I roll over on my side.
I want to throw up, but the fear and anger coursing through my body is continuously eating me apart whi
le I fight to focus on Aura. The pain is nothing like what he's given me before. These hits were intentional, trying to knock me unconscious or make it so that it'll be impossible for me to fight back.
"No, please don't—" I can hear Aura crying, hear her body struggling to get away from him as their shuffling sounds out behind me. I groan out in pain while rubbing my fingers across the side of my head. I feel the warm sensation of blood as it coats the palm of my hand. I have to get up, I have to get to her.
My chest is on fire with anger, the manipulation that's been a part of my life and Aura's without us even realizing it is unfathomable. My pulse is thrumming, a systematic reminder that I'm still fucking alive, still conscious enough to possibly move towards her.
I flip over to my stomach, my body heavy with the fog and dimness caused by the pain radiating in thick waves through my limbs.
Thump, thump, thump.
Is that my head? Or my heartbeat? I can't tell but as I crawl forward, my hand brushes against the heel of Aura's leather boot. That's when another thought flashes in my mind, a quiet reminder that even while I'm close to passing out, I can possibly save Aura.
The knife.
I work to focus my vision, hoping to clear the layered images that dance in front of my eyes as I look for it. I scan the ground, listening to Aura's cries before looking up to see what's happening.
I try to yell at him, convince him to stop while my own tears stream down my face at the sight of Dom on top of Aura's back. But I can't speak, the panic and ache being a vice around my fucking throat that I can't push through. She's being pressed down by his hand on top of her neck, forcing her to stay still while he pulls his cock free of his slacks.
Mother fucker. I'm going to destroy him.
I look to the ground again, frantically searching when I finally catch the glint of the knife underneath the bench. It must have gotten kicked to the side and I'm thankful that it went undetected until I could get my hands on it.
