17. The Sinner
Chapter seventeen
The Sinner
Dinah
H is screams pierce through my heart, and crush my soul, as he slams himself repeatedly against the heavy steel door preventing him from escaping his captivity. I sit on the cold, hard tiled floor outside of the room Sarah and her rebels forced Sammy into, with my back pressed against the wall. They commandeered a storeroom, in the basement of the Holy Father’s mansion, with a firm lock after the attack on the chapel. Sarah and her rebels defeated the remaining Brotherhood forces here in the mansion, and we have been here ever since. I clutch my knees to my chest tightly, forcing myself to endure all of what he’s experiencing, without daring to release him. It’s a wonder he has any energy left, since he’s been at it on and off for over twenty-four hours, and that alone tells me the poison inside of his system is very strong. Slam. “Let me out of here!” Slam. “Lying whore.” Slam. “I’ll kill you, Nightstar!” Slam. “Dead, she’s dead.” Slam. “Fucking monster!” Slam.
I don’t bother to look up when I glimpse, out of the corner of my eye, a pair of long legs encased in dark material approaching, and squatting down in front of me. His scent of pine needles and cloves wraps around my senses like a warm hug. Zeke’s fingers reach out and softly cradle the top of my head, shifting my hair out of my face, so he can get a glimpse of my eyes. “You need rest, Snow. It’s going to take a bit for whatever he’s on to flush out of his system, and until then, there is no reasoning with him, and you lost a lot of blood.”
I know he’s right; my body aches with fatigue, and the pain in my shoulder is escalating, but I still can’t find the strength to leave him. I did that once, and look at what happened. Have I truly lost him for good? Does he mean the things he’s saying, or is it really only whatever toxin is racing through his system? I never imagined that Sammy could ever grow to hate me. He has always been my fiercest protector, my champion, and my knight. Slam. “Let me out of here, Brotherhood whore!” Now, he’s someone I don’t recognize at all, someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. The reality has a shudder racing down my spine, at the memory of the unhinged look in his eyes, when he grabbed me to choke me.
“Sarah is insisting that we all speak, Dinah. She says contingency plans have to be put into place. The masses are angry at what they saw, and there have been riots in various cities, and different countries throughout the world. They are fighting against the Brotherhood’s tyranny, but not necessarily joining the rebels. Shit is getting worse out there. We are not safe here.” He releases a heavy sigh when I don’t acknowledge his words.
“He’s not safe here either, Dinah. If a mob attacks the compound and he gets free, they will murder him, just like they will us.” His words finally cause me to raise my glance and meet his. I observe the exhaustion along his handsome features, and his emerald eyes tinged in red. When was the last time he slept? He’s still recovering from all the torture he endured, at David’s hands, on my father’s orders. My eyes trace over all of his features, from the dark hair that has become a little longer and shaggier, and now hides his stunning skull tattoo, to his thick brows, and down the ridge of his strong Roman nose, that is still healing from the beating he took. I catalog all the new injuries, layered over the healing bruising on his square jaw, covered in days’ worth of dark stubble, the state of his cracked, downturned, pouty lips, and the stunning artwork along his neck that meets his jawline. He’s a beautiful mess, the man I fell in love with as a girl with a child’s heart, romanticizing him as my Prince Charming on a white stallion, coming to save the princess that I thought I was. I know better now, he’s no more perfect than I am, and this is no fairytale, and happily ever after now feels like a fucking impossible dream.
“Any word on David or my father?” My voice sounds hoarse to my ears, after hours of sobbing and not uttering a word. He shakes his head, and I release a deep breath filled with agitation. I didn’t really think there would be any news. My father has proven that he’s a snake, that knows how to go to ground, and disappear when it’s convenient. I know that wasn’t the last I’ll be seeing of him. He put all of this into motion meticulously, and he won’t just give up so easily. Silence finally comes from the room, and I force my body up from the floor, Zeke immediately grasping me under my arms, and wrapping me in his warmth, to help steady me. “Promise me you won’t lose yourself in all of this, Dinah. You have so much to live for. We have so much to live for... together .”
I wish I could affirm his request, but I refuse to lie to him. I don’t know what will happen to me if I lose Sammy for good. I can’t even guarantee that we will all be alive tomorrow, or even an hour from now, for that matter. Enemies surround us, and there is no safe place for us to be. Do I believe that Sarah, and her rebels, don’t have a vested interest in us, and are currently protecting us out of the goodness of her heart, and our shared past? No, I am not foolish enough not to see the opportunity that having me at her side provides. She too is hungry for power, and it might not be the same as my father’s, or the Brotherhood’s, but it’s there nonetheless. What will happen to us next is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for sure: I will protect Zeke, Abe, and Sammy, with my dying breath, and before I do die, I will take a horde of people with me. They wanted the Unholy Ghost resurrected, and at her most vicious, they should have all been more careful about what they wished for.
“Take me to Sarah. It’s time I heard her lies straight from her mouth.” I pull away from Zeke, straightening my aching back, and with one last look at the door that conceals the man I love, I turn and walk away, ready to cut the head off of another snake.
“As you can see from the map on the screen, various whole towns are burning, surrounding many major cities. The Brotherhood is currently outnumbered, and stretched thin. No one seems to know who is still in charge after your very public assassination of the Holy Father. Although different high-ranking officials are claiming that it’s them.“ Sarah’s man, Rob, stares at me from across the table with indignation, and a sneer. I can feel the disdain coming off of him in waves. He doesn’t like me very much, or my men for that matter, and he disapproves of Sarah’s plan to actively involve me in whatever they’re planning next. My lip curls as I bare my teeth at him and wink, causing his face to flush crimson. It doesn’t matter either way. Rob’s hours are numbered, and he won’t be breathing for long, based on the way Abe is staring at him with undisguised malice. My berserker has set his eyes on a new target, and he won’t settle for anything less than Rob’s painful death. “Hey, fucker , remove that judgemental tone, or I’ll fucking cut off your tongue, and shove it up your hairy ass. I’ll bet you would enjoy it too,“ Abe sneers at him, while gripping the edge of the table as if it were Rob’s neck. Rob immediately backs his chair up, giving himself space to move out of Abe’s reach, with wide, frightened eyes. All these men are playing at being alphas, until they meet a real one that will tear them apart, and it’s almost comical to watch how quickly they piss themselves, when they get in Abe’s crosshairs.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Stuart, another rebel, reaching for his blade on his thigh sheath. Before I can even open my mouth in warning, Zeke pulls a hidden gun and fires, hitting Stuart square in the chest without hesitation. His body falls to the floor with a loud bang, as everyone else startles and backs away, eyes large and wary of us. “Anyone else want to get any ideas?” Zeke stands up from the table, still brandishing the gun in his large tattooed hand, and I can feel the heat rising in my core and my panties dampening, with how fucking hot that was. Abe, the psychopath, chuckles at my side and licks his lips, as if he’d like to take a bite out of Zeke right now. Fuck, I would join him. “Let me be fucking clear, you even look wrong at my wife , and I’ll ensure you take your last fucking breath. We are not afraid of you cunts.“ Jesus, the way he says ‘my wife’ ensures I’m going to get on my knees for him, the minute we aren’t around all these traitorous assholes. The thought makes me choke and cough, and Abe must discern the direction of my thoughts, because he winks one of his captivating amber eyes at me, and provides me with a salacious grin. Fucker.
“ CHILDREN! Enough of this immature caveman display of violence. We have so many issues to contend with, and killing each other for perceived insults is not only unworthy of our time, but is a waste of needed manpower,“ Sarah shouts and gives me a look, as if I was a naughty child who instigated all of this. With a nod from her head, one of her men drags Stuart’s dead body from the room. I shrug and refuse to break eye contact. I’m no longer the little girl she could chastise when I misbehaved. She needs a ruthless killer, and that is what fate and circumstance have seen that I become. “Was there a point to this meeting, other than to tell us the world is on fire, Mom?” Abe drolls, and his mother turns her attention to him.
“Yes, Abraham , there was a point, and I would appreciate it if you and Ezekiel didn’t keep interrupting.“ The scowl she gives him makes me grin. He looks embarrassed, an adorable blush rising up his neck, as if he were three years old and was found with his fingers in the cookie jar. “Go on, Sarah, this is getting tedious,” I demand. As cute as this has all been, and a welcome reprieve, from listening to Sammy bash himself against the door to obtain his freedom and murder me, I can’t stay away from him for long. Guilt rises inside of me that, once again, he’s alone and confined, thanks to me, regardless of if he’s a danger right now to himself, and everyone else around us. Zeke leans his head close to my ear, his warm breath heating my skin. “He’s fine, and more importantly, he’s safe. Relax, Snow, or I’ll take you over my knee and spank your ass, regardless of who’s watching.”
Holy fuck. I clench my thighs together tightly, to ward off the feeling of arousal rising within me, just as Abe’s large hand lands on my knee and squeezes tightly. These two fuckers are playing with fire, in a room filled with rebels that undoubtedly mean us harm. How am I supposed to focus, when they are both trying to distract me from all the problems, and grief, surrounding us?
“Stop, fuckers,” I hiss under my breath at both of them, but it has the opposite effect of dissuading them. Instead, Abe’s fingers travel to my upper thigh, massaging and squeezing my flesh through my pants, while Zeke’s fingers slide discretely to my hip, and begin strumming against the sliver of heated flesh above the waistband of my pants. Goosebumps break out across my flesh, and my heart pounds in my chest. I fight the urge to moan, and bite down on the inside of my cheek to prevent the sound.
“We need to assert power, and the rule of law over these hooligans setting fire to the world, as you so eloquently put it, Abraham. There needs to be some controls set up to prevent all- out war among the masses, or someone equally as horrific as the Brotherhood from taking power.“ Sarah turns her gaze to me once more, and my eyebrow rises. “ Rebels. You called them hooligans, but the accurate name for them is rebels. Just like you’re a rebel, Sarah, and everyone else in this room is.“ Her lips purse into a straight line with displeasure, and I see I’ve hit a nerve. I wonder if I keep pushing, will I get a genuine reaction out of her, and will she finally confess what she’s actually after? I realize that I don’t trust her, and with that comes sadness. She used to be a second mother to me, but now she’s as much a stranger as the others in this room.
“We are not the same, Dinah. We do not seek to destroy the world, just to ensure that it is fair for everyone.” I lean forward, placing my elbows on the table, and ensuring that everyone can see my tattoos, my scowl, and my ready defiance. “From where I’m sitting, as the Unholy Ghost, they look to be one and the same, Sarah. Don’t delude yourself into thinking you’re a martyr compared to them. You seek power and destruction. You wanted the Brotherhood’s demise, and more importantly, you wanted a way out of the life you were forced into.” I turn my gaze slowly across the various faces of women, and men, who chose to become outlaws and rebels, and take down the Brotherhood. “You are fighting for a world that will need to burn first, before it can be cleansed. If you are not careful, you will trade one dictatorship for another. I do not wish to be your leader, or the face of your revolution. All I seek is my men and peace.”
“That’s precisely why it has to be you, Dinah. You don’t crave power, and you never have, as the Unholy Ghost. You sought retribution, and the annihilation of a system that was corrupt, and destroyed the lives of millions. A tyranny that imprisoned women, and abused them as a privilege. We were never meant to be chattel, or used as breeding mares, to fill the ranks of the Brotherhood. What you gave the world when you began dismantling the Brotherhood was priceless. You emboldened us to rise and resist.”
“ Rise and resist? Is that what you call murdering high-ranking Brotherhood men, cutting off their cocks, and forcing them to swallow them, as punishment for the way they treated women with them?“ A smirk pulls at my lips. I’m finding this whole situation quite amusing, especially as I watch a few of the men cup themselves.
“Yes.” Sarah nods with confidence. “You will continue to play the role of the Unholy Ghost, and unite the masses, the ones who have suffered under the rule of the Brotherhood of the Sacrament. You will be my salvation, mine and every woman, man, and child, who has suffered over the years, since the Order took power. In turn, we will help you capture your father, David, and Noah, and eradicate all of them from the face of the earth.”
She dangles a carrot in front of me, as if I could be so easily led. Does she truly believe that I’m naive enough to believe her words? She may assist me with capturing, and ridding the world of those three fuckers, but the minute she has what she wants, I will become the next power she has to topple, and she’ll have me murdered. There is no way she will allow Zeke, Abe, or even Sammy to live; they would be a means to avenge me. She’ll stain the earth with our blood, and call it cleansing the current world, in preparation for the next one to come. History will continue to repeat itself because, as humans, we seek power and ambition over the compassion, and care, of our fellow man. Someone always needs and feels they deserve more than the rest. Do I believe that Sarah, and whoever is pulling the strings behind her, seeks to enslave the population again? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure. I don’t plan to be her puppet, any more than I intended to be my father’s.
Abe’s fingers tighten painfully on my leg, and Zeke’s dig into the flesh of my side in a warning. Do they sense the danger we are walking into? If I refuse her here and now, we won’t even leave this room; she’ll have us murdered where we sit. We can’t possibly take all of them, and she knows it. I can’t allow that to happen. The three of us can’t die here, and leave Sammy defenseless in that basement, his mind shattered and believing that I, once again, abandoned him. I need a way to buy us some time, and figure out a way to turn the tables on all these fuckers that think I am easy prey to manipulate. Kill them all, make them suffer. If you don’t, you will never be free. The monster inside of me bangs at the bars of his cage, and for a mere moment, his voice sounds like Sammy’s.
“I will be your Unholy Ghost, and do what is necessary to rid the world of the Brotherhood of the Sacrament. In turn, you will give me what I seek. I want Noah Rothesay alive, so that I can rip him apart, limb from limb, with my bare hands. I want my father, David, and whoever is still with them brought to me for death, and I want my nephew established as the head of the Camrose family, and a future representative of whatever government you form.”
Sarah’s face is radiant with joy, and I can see that she believes she’s won. She smiles, and for a moment, it’s as if she’s back as that woman who used to bring me ribbons to place in my hair, and sneak me homemade cookies when I was in trouble. “It’s settled then. You have my word that all of your requests will be fulfilled. We will find them, and you will make the final decision on how they die. Let’s get started, shall we?” She rises from the large meeting table and quickly provides orders for her minions, who rush off to complete their assigned tasks. I can taste the weight of her lies on my tongue, like heavy smoky poison coating the surface. Each word fills me further with mistrust. All of them devised to reassure, and convert me to her side, but having the opposite effect. After all, I am my father’s daughter. How quickly Sarah forgets the fact that I grew up watching him work his charms on the Brotherhood, until his usefulness ran out and they murdered him, or so they thought. It seems Francis Camrose is a cat with nine lives, and I now mean to extinguish all of them. Sarah Mercier can join him in the fiery pits of hell, if she thinks she’ll be able to control me.
“I would rather you be my sinner rather than my sacrifice, Atasi, but if you have to be anything, at least being my salvation is a place I agree you will always hold. I will never let any of them hurt you, and I know you don’t believe a single fucking word my mother just uttered. Be careful, my sweet killer, or we will have a bloodbath on our hands.”