Bought, Part 2 (The Lords)

11. Olivia

Olivia

M ose’s body starts to change, big black wings emerging from his back, his nails and canines elongating, and eyes turning red right before his facial features morph.

Is his demon taking over?

Is it safe without a bond?

The few things I know about Dukes and Lords come from the time I spent at the Celestial Heaven. The other pornais and I would sometimes talk about the things we heard during the Dukes’ meetings. Some of the women were from Lords’ families and I remember one of them saying that it wasn’t safe for demons to take control if they had no bonded.

Mose keeps changing, now more demon than human, with sharp features and blood red eyes.

Shit.

Mose’s soul is now in danger because I failed to bond with him. My stubbornness not to bond with him could cause him to descend into madness. I bonded with Ansel, and while I don’t regret it, not anymore, it has made me not feel so lonely while in here. I still wonder how it happened even though I never wanted to be with him. Not like that, at least. There is much I don’t know, and the specifics of how bonds work is one of those topics, but what I do know is that some bonds are forever while others can be easily broken.

My bond with him is one of those things that lasts forever. What ties us together? No matter how many times I was forced to fuck men and women alike or how much he slept around, it remained unbroken

Maybe I’ll find out one day, but before that, I need to get out of this facility.

Azael watches everything that is happening in silence.

Mose drives his hand into 257’s chest with such force his fist comes out through the back. 257’s beating heart is trapped between Mose’s fingers. Silence falls around the room.

Mose pulls his hand from 257’s torso as he falls to the ground dead, and slowly turns around. His fist is in the air, blood dripping from between his fingers, and he opens it. The heart beats one last time before stopping. His red eyes find me, and in an inhuman voice, he says, “Yours,” as he squeezes the heart until no more blood comes out of it before letting the heart fall to the ground.

I’ve seen a lot of gross things in my life, but I have never been gifted a heart. It’s kind of… gruesome …sweet. Definitely not sweet, because who in their right mind would like to be gifted a heart? Me. As long as it’s put in a box with a ribbon and it belongs to my brother or father, I wouldn't say no to such a gift.

“And people think romance is dead. Our Lord here just gave his woman a heart. It’s not his, but the details are not important. A heart is a heart,” 429 laughs.

Looking at the experiments in front of the fighting cage, another word comes out of Mose’s mouth. “Next.”

Knowing that I was wrong about Mose being weak, I say to Azael, “New drugs or the same you use on other Lords?” I don’t give names, but I know he understands who I’m talking about. He doesn’t say anything as he watches the cage’s metal door open and several experiments enter. They attack Mose at the same time, but something about the way they are fighting seems off. Are they holding back? “Regardless of the answer, Mose is stronger than I thought. He will survive this.”

“He might,” Azael agrees, “but his mind will be lost forever.” A satisfied grin appears on his face. “Just as I wanted.”

Pain spreads inside my chest. What if Mose is lost forever?

I can’t let that happen. There must be something I can do to help him.

Mose kills two more experiments, and Azael gets closer to the cage. Experiments step in front of me, their loud cheers drowning any sound around me.

Taking advantage of Azael’s distraction, 429 says to me, “Sorry about earlier. 919 sent me and I needed to create a distraction so I could talk to you.” Finally, things are about to happen, but what if it’s too late for Mose? I lean closer to 429 . “He’ll take care of the guards while we blow this place up.” More experiments enter the fighting cage. “We’ll sneak out of here the first chance we get,” he adds.

“Not without Mose,” I make it clear.

429 gives me a pitying look. I hate it when people do that. It makes me feel like I’m a victim of some horrible abuse, and I’m more than that. I got out. I survived all the horrors I was forced to live. 429 keeps talking, and I understand the reason for his look of pity. “It’s too late for him. I know the drugs the Bitch used on him. The moment he let his demon take over, he lost the battle with darkness. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

There’s nothing you can do about it.

“If he goes rogue on me, I’ll kick his ass,” I mutter more for me than for 429 . “Who’s the Bitch?” I’ve heard this name before. “And how do you know what drugs she used on Mose?”

More experiments move closer to Azael.

“She is the main doctor here.” He hesitates before saying, “I know what she did to you. I was there when she…made sure you’ll never have children. She laughed when she put that crystal inside you.”

I glance at him. His eyes are fixed on the fight but I still have a clear view of his face. He looks like any asshole who forced me to do stuff, except this time, I made sure my message was loud and clear—don’t touch me.

“I was forced to help her with her work. She made my life a living hell.” He shudders. “Kill her for me.”

Now I remember where I heard the name before.

Flashback

“Save him,” I screamed at the female doctor who was paying more attention to her phone than to what was happening. “Please,” I begged. “He is all I have left in this world.”

Someone looked at me with pity. A young man. 919 was tattooed on his left cheek. “The Bitch will never help you,” he tells me.

I ignored him as I begged for hours. Until my throat was sore.

She finally looked up at me, a bored expression on her face. “Your father wants him dead.” She stands. From the pocket of her scrubs, she took out a small crystal. “Azael doesn’t need to know about this.”

End of flashback

She likes to break people’s minds and use them for her own purposes. She might work for Azael, but she also likes to do stuff behind his back. He might already know and lets her get away with it because in the end, he loves to see how creative she can get. Or at least that’s what I think, because she is the one who let…Spencer die.

I drag my eyes away from 429 . “I’ll kill her for what she did to me. She left me barren even when I begged and cried. But before I do that, you are free to do whatever you want to her.”

429 thinks for a few seconds before saying, “Deal.”

Slowly, Azael becomes surrounded by those he has altered for life. 429 grabs my arm. “We need to go now.”

I try to yank myself free but he is stronger than I anticipated. “Not without Mose.”

“He is creating the perfect opportunity for us to destroy this place.”

When I hesitate, 429 adds, “If we don’t do this now, we might never get another chance.”

I don’t like this, not even a bit, so I say, “Fine, but we will return for Mose.”

429 doesn’t say anything, but his nod is all the confirmation I need. Since Azael is surrounded by experiments, who are probably in on the entire thing, slipping away unnoticed is not that hard.

The hallways are silent, and it doesn’t take long to see why. Guards lay on the floor, their throats sliced open. No alarm?

“Is this a trap? Because I warn you—”

429 cuts me short. “There’s someone in the surveillance room making sure Azael won’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late.”

“You’ve been planning an escape for some time,” I realize.

429 confirms my suspicions right away. “Despite what Azael did to him, making it hard for him to get close to people, 919 has been my friend for some time. He is the one who came up with the idea of escaping months ago when one of the female experiments was rescued.”

So, getting people out of here is possible.

He keeps talking. “Anyway, during that time, 919 was reunited with someone he met here years ago, and before he helped her escape, they were stopped by Azael. Later on, he was shown a video of how she was tortured by the Dukes.”

Is he talking about Angelica? What are the odds that 919 and Angelica know each other?

“It was soon after that that 919 approached me with a crazy plan to escape. He wants to get out of here and kill the one who tortured his friend.”

“Carlos,” I say.

“How did you know that?”

I shrug. “Just a hunch. Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because 919 told me that I could trust you. And because I miss talking to people. The Bitch has me working in the laboratory all the time. And when I’m not there, I’m in her bed.” He shudders again.

Now I understand why he told me to kill the Bitch for him. “So, what’s the plan? Because 919 didn’t share anything with me.”

“He couldn’t. We are constantly watched. Any wrong step will lead to severe punishments. But he’ll make sure we don’t run into any trouble,” 429 reveals.

No wonder 919 barely interacted with me. He was scared his plan would be exposed. Now I understand why he was so quick to agree to burning this place to the ground—he was already on it. This makes everything much easier.

429’s voice is low as he says, “Azael is not the only one who can make life hell around here. With the drugs she helped create, she induced as much pain as Azael did.”

This news is not a surprise. Wanting to know more about the Bitch, I ask, “Can she make people forget things with her drugs?”

429 peaks behind a corner of the hallway before saying, “About six years ago, three young Lords were brought in. The Bitch took great pleasure in breaking their minds. Apparently, a powerful Duke was behind the entire thing. He wanted to punish his daughter for falling in love with them. The Duke asked the Bitch to drug these Lords and have them sleep with female experiments while making his daughter watch. After that, the Bitch used drugs to erase that from those Lords’ memories.”

My blood chills in my veins. He was forced to forget things? Is it possible that I hated him for nothing all this time? Not for nothing, I remind myself, but at least he is not guilty of completely breaking my heart and killing what was left of our love.

Ever since I was beaten into submission, I rarely feel fury or anger, but a wave of rage suddenly washes over me. “Did she do that to Mose as well?”

429 throws me a glance. “No.”

“Good.” I try to calm, but the more I think about everything, the angrier I get. “Tell me the plan.”

429 leads me to a closet on the first floor used for storing cleaning supplies, where the medical laboratories are. He takes out a small box. “I made a bomb. From the moment I set it, we will have a few minutes to get out.”

Sounds simple, but rarely do things turn out as planned. “Where will we put the bomb?”

“In the control room.”

I don’t get to say that it might be a bad idea since it may lead to the facility being locked down, because the door to one of the medical laboratories opens and a woman holding a pistol pointed at us steps out.

429 freezes with fear.

“I heard you are still a bitch no matter how many years pass,” I say.

The Bitch tilts her head to the side. “I remember you.”

“Glad to see I made an impression.”

Her eyes sparkle. “Putting a part of the Dybbuk Box inside you had the effect I expected.”

Darkness spreads inside my body and I welcome it like an old friend. “Let me show you what exactly you did to me.”

The demons in the catacombs knew that I embraced the darkness inside me—darkness that spilled out of the small crystal, put inside my uterus after my tubes were removed. The crystal was taken from the Dybbuk Box, which ended up in Azael’s hands. It was supposed to be a punishment for killing Camila, but only now do I understand that it was only the wish of a sick-minded person to inflict more pain and suffering on my already crushed soul.

For years, I fought against the darkness that threatened to corrupt my soul. Each time I felt anything close to happiness, it caused me a lot of pain, like the time Ansel made love to me.

I was scared that by accepting it, I would become evil, my soul lost to the darkness for eternity. Then, my desire to be reunited with Camila, Levi, and all those that I’ve lost would be lost forever.

What a surprise I had when I accepted the darkness. Not only was my soul not corrupt, but I also realized I could use this dark power whenever I chose.

Butterflies with white wings, the edges black, come out of my palms, then they fly directly to where the Bitch is. A creepy smile spreads across her face. Next to me, 429 lets out a loud breath. I'm sure he hasn’t seen something like this before. Hell. I didn’t know I could do this until now. Since the night I accepted the darkness inside me, embracing it, I’ve started finding out things about myself that I didn’t realize before. Like how fierce I can be when it comes to protecting those I love. That’s how I was able to save Ansel in the Catacombs. Despite this power that was put inside me by force, I’m still weak, especially when it comes to him . No matter how much I want to hate him , the truth is that I still need him . Yet, our relationship will never be the same. I’m not the same Olivia as years ago, and he is no longer my boy with turquoise eyes.

“You are my most magnificent creation,” the Bitch says.

“No wonder you work for Azael. You have the same God complex as him,” I say as the butterflies surround her.

Realizing what I’m doing, her smile quickly disappears. “You can’t harm me. I made you like this. Powerful. Magnificent.”

I shake my head. “You took away all my feelings along with my last hope of ever being happy in this life. So I won’t regret killing you.”

The pistol goes off a moment before the Bitch is completely engulfed by my darkness.

Everything occurs in slow motion.

I don’t want to die. Not right now, at least.

429 pushes me out of the way; the bullet hits him in the shoulder. He grunts in pain and almost drops the box.

Did he…protect me? Why?

A few screams come from the Bitch before my deadly butterflies silence her. Knowing that my darkness will keep me safe in case of a surprise attack, I turn my attention to 429 . His wound doesn’t look that bad, but I’m sure it’s painful.

“Why are men always idiots?” I huff. I didn’t need his help, but his gesture makes me wonder if I am worth something.

He gives me a boyish grin. “My uncle always told me that men should protect women. And I’m a bit scared of you.”

The bullet is still in his shoulder, preventing him from bleeding to death in case an artery was hit. It will have to be extracted later by a doctor or someone who knows what they are doing. “I won’t hurt you as long as you don’t try anything funny. Besides, your uncle is not here, is he?” I try to knock some sense into him. “So don’t try to be a hero when it’s not necessary.”

429 reveals something from his past. “He died trying to protect me from being taken by the Dukes.” His eyes turn sad for a moment. “Thank you for killing the Bitch.”

“Oh, she’s not dead—not yet, at least. After you are done with her, I’ll have my revenge.”

429 turns pale as if the idea of having to touch her makes him sick. “Just kill her.”

“Killing her quickly, without making her suffer, won’t be fun. Once we are out of here, we’ll have all the time in the world.”

429 nods. “We need to get moving. Despite 919 clearing the way for us, there are more guards ready to stop us. The noise most likely alerted them of something happening.”

The facility is eerily silent. There’s always noise, but right now, the sound of silence makes this place resemble a graveyard.

Not fully trusting 429 , I ask, “How did 919 get out of his cell?”

Jerking his head in the direction of the stairs, 429 tells me, “After 666 was rescued, Azael went on a killing spree, executing most of the staff. He’s always been paranoid that his own people will betray him.”

I wonder why. I almost chuckle at my sarcasm. The drugs made me lose my sense of humor. Maybe it’s better without them. After all, no matter how fast I run, the past will always catch up with me. While some memories are so painful, every cell of my body hurts remembering them, there are a few that make me think it’s worth living.

“Not wanting to bring outsiders here, he made the experiments work,” 429 adds.

We move quickly, not wanting to be caught by surprise, like it happened with the Bitch. My butterflies drag her behind me, I don’t want to leave her behind and risk her escaping justice.

“Which gave you the freedom to organize the escape under Azael’s nose,” I realize. “You surely must have had a code of some sort to communicate amongst yourselves.”

“Yes,” 429 confirms my suspicions. “We used what we had at hand—food, cleaning products, the fighting tournaments.”

As we climb the stairs, I say, “Those killed by Mose were not accidental deaths.”

“Some of us are too…have nothing left to live for, their bodies too altered, too full of pain, to ever have a normal life. Too far gone to be safe around others.”

So many have suffered because of Azael. He must be stopped before he destroys more innocent people.

When we reach the top of the stairs a roar so vicious, so full of hate, like I’ve never heard before, makes the facility tremble.

429 stops in his tracks. “Shit. Shit. Shit,” he starts to panic.

“Looks like Azzy ate something that upset him.” 429 barely pays me any attention, as he is still busy freaking out.

I keep speaking. “Time to call in the calvary. Let’s go to Azzy’s office. I need to use his phone.”