by K. A Knight
Someone has to do something, and sometimes it takes a monster to stop a monster...is that what I’m becoming? I wonder if Scarlett will be disappointed. I can’t face her, I’ve replied to a few of her worried texts, but I can’t bring myself to go to her. Not yet, if I do, I’ll break down.
As if my words spoke it into existence, the next victim is one that sends both horror and joy through me at the same time.
Knocking on the door of a large, detached house, we wait for fifteen minutes but no one answers. I peek through the front windows to see it empty. Just as we’re giving up to move on to the next one...I hear a cry.
Like a child, followed by a yell.
Keanu and I look at each other before he pulls back his boot and smashes down the front door. It goes flying inwards and we both rush inside. A tall, skinny man comes running down the stairs yelling, his pants partially unbuckled. No, no, no.
“Take him! I’ll get the girl!” I yell, and Keanu dashes towards the man who is trying to escape through the back. I hear him grunt as Keanu undoubtedly tackles him.
Taking the stairs three at a time, I stop on the landing, looking between the open doors before picking the closet to find a bedroom. There’s a large bed done in yellow, a flat screen TV, two chest of drawers, and a wardrobe, but it’s the bedding that gives me pause. The quilt is thrown back to show the sheet underneath...
There’s blood on the bed. Staining it, like a proclamation of lost innocence. Turning my head, I gag but force it away. Heart racing, I search the room, ripping it to pieces as Keanu controls the man downstairs.
“Baby girl, you here? I’m here to help!” I shout, my voice panicked. Oh please don’t let her be dead.
A cry comes then, small and frail. “I’m here.”
I follow the sound to find the girl hiding under the bed, squeezed between the floor and frame. I help pull her out and she falls into my arms crying, her frail, underage body naked. Pulling away, I push back her dirty blonde hair to see her bright blue eyes, and I spot the red hand marks on her arms and shoulders and have to breathe through the anger and sick feeling, forcing a friendly smile so I don’t scare her.
“Hi, baby, I’m Nadia, okay? We are going to get you out of here,” I assure her, before grabbing the duvet, wrapping her in it, and taking her back in my arms.
“I want to go home,” she cries, burying her head in my shoulder.
“It’s okay, we’re taking you home. What’s your name, darling?” I ask, as I head out of the room and down the stairs, careful with the precious load in my arms.
“Angelia, my mum calls me Angel,” she weeps, and I shiver in horror.
“Okay, Angel, let’s get you home,” I murmur, tucking her closer as I head straight for Keanu’s car and sit in the back with her. I sing to her as we wait for him, rocking her back and forth in my arms, her tiny fists clenching my shirt as she wets my shoulder with her sobs. I dash my own tears away, not wanting her to see them.
What kind of monster could do this?
I can’t answer, what has been done to her is too vile to even comprehend. Five minutes later, Keanu slips into the driver’s seat. His face is calm but I see the blood covering his knuckles. He meets my eyes in the mirror and nods, he killed him, good. He deserved it.
“We need to get Angel home,” I tell him, and she cries harder at her name. “Angel, do you know your parents’ numbers, names?”
“Resmil, Angelina Resmil,” she whispers, so I pull her closer.
“Okay, Angel, we’re going, just hold on a bit longer, okay? We’re getting you to your mummy,” I soothe. “You are doing so good, you are so strong, baby, just hold on.”
Keanu drives as fast as he dares, but it still takes us twenty minutes to get to the house, and when we do, I panic. What do we say? But he takes over, leading us from the car and up the flower potted path to the blue, detached, two-story house in a little suburban estate.
He knocks on the door and we wait, Angelia wiggling in my arms. “I know, Angel, hold on.”
Keanu knocks again and the door is wrenched open, a bald, slightly plump man standing there with an angry face as he locks on to Keanu. “What do you want? Can’t you leave us alone? Can’t you see how much pain we’re in? But you just want a story, right?” he yells, and a petite blonde peeks out from behind him. She has the same eyes as Angelia, but there are lines around hers and pain in them—grief. So much grief it almost staggers me, so I push past Keanu and put Angelia on her feet and turn her.
They stare, both faces covered in shock before they break into movement, their shouts going up as they scoop their daughter into their arms and cry with her. Keanu grabs my hands and holds it as we watch their reunion, turning slightly so we can give them privacy to speak and love their daughter.
“Who are you, how did you find our Angel?” comes a gruff voice, and we turn to see them all watching us again. Shit, this could go horribly wrong.
“Mummy, they saved me,” Angelia whispers and looks at me, those blue eyes filled with far too much knowledge for such a young age. “Thank you for stopping him.”
“I’m sorry to have to tell you that your daughter was being held captive by an older man. He’s no longer a problem and has been dealt with, but I would advise you to take your daughter to the hospital and let her talk to someone about what happened,” Keanu says, pulling me closer.
“You’re not the police,” her dad comments, his eyes narrowed protectively.
I step forward. “No, we aren’t, we did what they couldn’t. What matters more, who we are or that you have your daughter back? I’m sorry it took so long, please just get your daughter some help, and I hope you know how strong she is.” I look at her then. “You’re so strong, Angelia, you’re a fighter, don’t ever forget that, okay?” I move back. “We have to go, more people to help. Cherish her, love her, protect her.”
We rush away, getting in the car and driving as they watch in astonishment.
“Last name for the day, Brat, then we need to go home and you need to sleep and eat,” he orders, eyes narrowed as we park just down the road from the apartment building we’re going to next. “That’s non-negotiable, you can’t help anyone if you’re dead on your feet.”
“Sure thing, Spidey. Come on, let’s get this done. I can’t wait to wash today from my body, I feel dirty.” I shiver and he nods knowingly as we climb from the car and head to the address. The steps lead up to the large apartment building with bushes and flowers next to it. It looks cheerful, but then again we know better, we know what that can hide. We are wanting the top floor flat, so we use the stairs and knock on 6B.
He’s right, I need rest. Today has been draining, not just physically but emotionally. Seeing Angelia reunited with her parents made it worth it, but if we are going to save the others, we have to look after ourselves as well and ensure we can. All I want tonight is to crawl into bed with him and let him hold me, to fight off nightmares for me. The ones I know I’ll have, but it’s worth it. Those blue eyes in my mind making everything worthwhile.
A young man answers the door, he must only be thirty or so. He has bright black hair with deep brown eyes, and he’s smiling, but something about him puts me on edge, not to mention the wicked scar across his neck, which looks fresh.
“Rufus Todd?” I ask and he nods, looking me over with a grin.
“Yeah, who’s asking?” he replies, his eyes locked on my breasts.
Keanu moves forward. “I am.” He punches him in the face, and Rufus falls back screaming as we step over him into the apartment. I leave Keanu to deal with him as I head down the hallway to the right and check the bathroom and two bedrooms. Confused, I come back to see Keanu has tied him to a wooden chair in the middle of the living room.
“No girl,” I tell him and look at Rufus. “Where’s the girl you bought?”
He grins at us, not bothered by what he’s done. “Dead, she’s dead. That stupid bitch kept fighting back, even gave me this fucking scar, so I gave her back to
the men I bought her from and they told me they would dispose of her. Stupid fucking buy, she was so hot though.”
“What was her name?” I question, needing to know so we can tell her parents.
“Alena, some shit.” He snorts, tugging on his bindings as I stare at him.
Alena...Alena? My Alena?
Dead?
No.
“You’re wrong, they couldn’t have killed her, they wouldn’t, she was merchandise,” I whisper, and he rolls his eyes again.
“Lady, she was fucking crazy, damaged fucking merchandise, said they couldn’t sell her again, so she was worthless, told me themselves they were going to kill her.”
I’m moving before I know it. Grabbing the gun from Keanu’s hip, I flick off the safety and fire point-blank into the man’s face, watching as his head almost explodes before slumping to his chest, blood spraying the carpet.
Dropping the gun to the floor, I turn on my heel and leave. I hear Keanu shouting after me, but I can’t stop. I race down the stairs and out the front door, stumbling over to the bushes before I throw up everywhere. A hand lands on my back and starts to rub as he pulls my hair away.
“Get it all out, baby, go on,” he murmurs softly.
Once I’ve poured out my stomach, I lift my head and wipe my mouth on my arm, tears in my eyes as I turn to him. “She’s dead, after all this…she’s dead.”
“Nadia, look at me, we did everything we could!” He grips my face as tears track down my cheeks, the sight of them making him flinch. “Baby, baby, what can I do?”
“Scar, I want Scarlett,” I whisper, and he nods, pulling me into his arms.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you to her.” He picks me up and leads me to the car, depositing me in the passenger seat with a kiss before racing to the driver’s side and shooting away.
I manage to staunch the tears, just staring out at the sunlit world flying by until we pull up at Scarlett’s. Almost robotically, I climb from the car and head into her building, taking the stairs two at a time. I can sense Keanu behind me, but I can’t look at him yet. Can’t he feel my shame?
I made a promise to a girl I didn’t know, but a promise nonetheless, and I broke it.
Standing at the door, I’m remain strong...until she opens it. Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open. “Babe! I’ve missed you!” she squeals, and it opens the floodgates.
I rush into her arms, a sob breaking free as we spill to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs. Sometimes a girl needs her best friend.
“She’s dead, she’s dead. I couldn’t save her,” I whisper, sniffing hard, it’s all I keep saying, repeating. My heart hurts, bile crawling up my throat.
Alena, I’m sorry I broke my promise, I pray you’re in a better place.
Chapter Forty
Keanu
I watch my girl break down, helpless to stop it. Her tears render me useless and in pain, I would do anything to stop them. She’s always so strong, so put together, but in the last month she’s been through so much, experienced so much loss and hate and seen vile acts...now she’s letting it out all. I sit behind her as she cuddles into Scarlett’s chest, who strokes her back and whispers comforting words, but her eyes are trained on me and narrowed in anger.
I wish it was my fault, because then I could fix it, but I can’t. Not even I can stop death.
My stomach is still crawling from everything we witnessed today, the very base of evil itself, and that little girl’s face will haunt me forever, but so will her mother’s relief and happiness when I brought her home.
Elijah is still on the run, hiding, but Donald is hunting now, and when Donald hunts? You better believe there is nowhere in this world you could hide. It’s personal for him. So even though Max and I started this mission, he will be the one to end it. I can live with that, especially since I get to free the women he enslaved.
I’m still angry at him for his game with Nadia, though she finds it amusing now. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I know she’s involved. Wherever she goes, so will I.
I wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to walk away from this life altogether, but in my heart I know she won’t. She’s had a taste and my girl wants more, even if it comes with a price for her very soul. She’s a hero through and through, she wants to help people, save them.
I guess I have her gammie to thank for that.
Last week we went to her grave, the first time Nadia went since the funeral. I was honoured she asked me to go with her. She introduced us like her gammie could hear and you better believe I spoke to the woman that raised my love. When Nadia walked away to find some water for the flowers, I crouched in front of the marble headstone and promised to protect her for the rest of my life, and love her with everything in me...well, as much as the brat will allow me to.
Then I thanked her for raising such a wonderful, caring, and yes, crazy woman. One I never knew I needed, but looking back I can see we were meant to be. The Spider and the brat. It sounds like a bad dirty book, but it’s our love story.
I never thought of love or a family before, but I have to admit it’s in the back of my mind—not children. I don’t think I could bear to have two Nadias running around, and could you imagine how protective I would get? No, not yet…but marriage? I wonder, watching her now, if that’s what she wants.
The white wedding and happily ever after like Scarlett and Max? She doesn’t seem to be the traditional type, but even I can appreciate the binding of a wedding, she would never get away from me then.
It’s something to think about for sure, but for now, I’ll wait. I’ll hold her when she breaks, dry her tears, and put her back together again with pieces of my own tattered heart and black soul and pray it’s enough.
After all, we still have names to hunt and a mission to finish. We started it together, we will end it together, and once it’s over...then I’ll see where we belong.
Chapter Forty-One
Nadia
A year later…
The wedding was beautiful, like a fairy tale come true...just filled with assassins and scary looking men in too tight suits.
Dust yourself off, pretty bird, there’s fight left in you yet, you just need to find it.
Well, I did, Gammie. I found my fight and it’s tied up in the man sitting next to me, watching our best friends get married and enjoying their lavish wedding.
Feeling him up under the table, unable to help myself with how good he looks in a tux, I watch him squirm away and narrow his eyes in warning. I love the effect I have on this man. I love him completely, and watching my best friend marry her love today only showed me exactly how much.
I want that, I want him forever.
Ours won’t be as dreamy as Scarlett’s, that’s not our style. All I need is him and a ring...and maybe a honeymoon someplace where I get to check him out in swimming trunks. A first for him, no doubt, but I plan on having all the rest of his firsts. I bet he has never been on holiday, a thought for a later date though.
I can’t believe this is the man I met so long ago at a party. He was such a cold bastard then, hell, he can still be now...just not to me. Our arguments are still legendary, and I still fight him on everything, but we both love it.
I officially moved in the day after we finished our mission. I couldn’t live in Gammie’s house anymore, it was filled with too many memories. It was the house of my past, Keanu’s is my future. I still have it, of course, I couldn’t bring myself to sell it...but I think she would like what we did with it.
It’s a sanctuary for women.
We added an extension and more bedrooms, and offered it to the women who were lost after we freed them. Ones with no family, no friends, nowhere to go. Those who were hurt and adrift. We offered them a home, one so filled with love and happiness that it’s slowly healing them.
Lea took over the operation, becoming a house mother of sorts. Who would have known she had it in her? Now she looks after the women, and we drop by and teach them self
-defence every week and have a family meal. They all look at Keanu like he’s their knight in shining armour, even if some still fear him.
We are a real family now, one spread wide across the globe, filled with warriors of all shapes and sizes, and I couldn’t be happier to be part of it.
Keanu thought he was all alone once, locked away in his ice tower...now he’ll never be alone again.
Leaning closer, I lick the shell of his ear. “Want to fuck in the disabled toilet?” I purr, and I’ve never seen him move so fast. Laughing, I let him drag me from the ballroom as everyone else is dancing, drinking, and eating, and towards the toilets at the back of the venue.
Once the door is closed, he throws me up against it. Our mouths meet in a flurry of tangled tongues and clashing teeth as he yanks up my sparkling bridesmaid dress and sinks into my wet heat in one thrust. Groaning into his mouth, I grip his shoulders to hold on as I wrap my ankles behind his arse while he starts to move. He swallows my moans as the door rattles behind me, my head smacking into it with each punishing hard thrust, his thick cock stretching my pussy deliciously.
His other hand sneaks up my thigh and rubs my clit in maddening circles. Pulling my mouth away, I drop my head back to the door as my eyes close in bliss. “Look at me, Brat,” he demands, and my eyes shoot open as he drives into me again and again until I explode with a scream, one certainly heard by anyone nearby, but I don’t care.
He groans, thrusting twice more before stilling as he fills me with his cum. Panting hard, we both start to laugh as we slump against the door, only to freeze when a knock comes.
“Sorry, kids, my hips aren’t what they used to be, so I need the disabled toilet, but I thought I’d wait until you were done,” comes a withered old voice filled with amusement.
I can’t help it, I start laughing like crazy. “Sorry! Just a minute!” I call breathlessly, as Keanu shakes against me with silent laughter.
