34. Asher
It’s late when I park this giant decked out truck in front of Blackwood University. I couldn’t stop the dry laugh that burst out of me when Prudence and I found it beyond the woods of Genevieve’s cabin. Dude was seriously overcompensating. The tires alone on this thing are absurd, and I had to lift my little pet into the passenger seat.
Once I shut the engine off, Prudence glances at me with worry and determination mingling in her hazel eyes. We spoke a little about our plan on the drive over, but mostly the hours just melted by while we both panicked over Griffin and Creed’s fate.
“Are you ready?” she murmurs, reaching across the center console and taking my hand. “There’s a good chance we all die in there.”
I squeeze her hand in mine, offering a smile that feels much more confident that I really am. “Or we win and the four of us live happily ever after,” I counter, pleased with myself when a light laugh tumbles from her.
“I didn’t realize you were so optimistic,” she drawls, arching a brow at me.
“How can I not be now that I’ve got something worth looking forward to now?”
Prudence bites her lip to contain her smile, rolling her eyes at me. “Yeah, yeah, I’m amazing and you’re a lucky fucker. Now, shall we go save the other two lucky fuckers, so you can all spout your cheesy lines of love to me for the rest of eternity?”
Despite the dread pooling in my stomach about what we’re about to do, I bark a laugh at her, glad for the moment of lightheartedness. “Sure, pet. Let’s go fuck shit up,” I tell her, opening my door and climbing out of the truck.
Prudence swings her door open, and I rush around the vehicle just in time to help her out. Sure, she could have jumped out, but I’m nothing if not a gentleman. With my hands on her waist and hers on my shoulders, Prudence slides down my body until she’s safely planted on the sidewalk.
“Thanks,” she breathes, lingering against me. I don’t even have time to respond before she”s pushing up to her tiptoes and planting the sweetest fucking kiss on my lips. There”s nothing rushed or heated in it as I part my lips and sweep my tongue out to meet hers. It”s tender and languid, almost like she”s savoring this moment, in case it”s our last chance to let our souls tangle.
I pull back with my heart aching and thrashing around in my chest. ”None of that,” I rasp, stepping back from the warmth of her body. ”We”re going to win this fight, Prudence.”
Prudence doesn”t say a word back, just takes a deep breath and glances out at the campus sprawled out before us. I parked near the edge along the back of Blackwood University, close to where I found that hatch in the woods last time I went on a rescue mission. It’s not a full moon, so our hopes of striking during Midnight Mass are out the window, which means finding our family might be a bit harder. But I’m sure if The Celestials are keeping Griffin and Creed anywhere, it’ll be down under the ground where they held Prudence.
Lucky for me, I know exactly where to go.
”The FBI should be getting to your dad”s office by now if that call worked,” Prudence says as we start the journey into the forest beyond the edge of campus.
I nod as my stomach twists into knots. The drive here was long as fuck, and during one of our quick stops for gas, I had an idea. All those files in my father”s office are filled to the damn brim with incriminating evidence. Proof of coercion, corruption, pay-offs, and outright murder. While Prudence was using the restroom, I talked the gas station clerk into letting me use his phone, and I called the FBI and told them everything. There”s no way the FBI can look the other way… Right?
Here”s hoping they chose to listen to me and there”s a team barging into my father”s office right now. And also that there”s a team on their way here because we didn”t have a second to spare to get any guns. We”re walking in naked, basically, and without some extra manpower charging in behind us… Well, fuck, this might not go our way tonight.
But it”s not like we had a choice. Putting this off, risking Griffin and Creed, it just wasn”t going to happen.
As we near the hatch in the forest that leads to the weird sacrifice chamber underground, I grab Prudence”s hand and pull her to a stop. ”Stay close to me, okay? We don”t know what kind of hell Griffin and Creed have been put through. They could be hurt, so worst-case scenario, we sneak in, find them, and get the hell out. Live to spill blood another day.”
Prudence purses her lips, barely jerking a nod, but doesn”t say anything.
I narrow my eyes at her, tightening my grip on her hand. ”Prudence, please. Tell me you won”t go off half-cocked and risk your life in there.”
She grinds her teeth, looking away from me. ”I”m not promising that, Asher. If I have the chance to hurt a single Celestial fuck and take some justice, then I”m doing it. But… yes, I agree on finding Creed and Griffin first. After that, all bets are off. I”m not ever coming back here. This is happening tonight.”
I can tell there”s no reasoning with her. She”s blood thirsty and eager to do some damage. I”ll just have to keep my fucking eyes on her every second while we”re down there. Shouldn”t be a problem. Find our family, keep Prudence safe, and get everyone out alive. Maybe take down some cult fucks while we”re at it.
Easy peasy.
With a deep breath, I guide her to the hatch and open it up with a grunt of effort. Cold, stale air drifts up from the opening, and Prudence shudders like she”s having flashbacks of when she was trapped down there. So am I, if I”m being honest. I wasn”t sure if I”d find her in time. If she”d be in one piece or if those sick fucks had hurt her before I could get to her. Thinking about that now while we get to the bottom and start our trek through the cavernous halls is probably not the smartest idea, though, so I force the thoughts from my head with a stiff shake.
I keep pace in front of Prudence while we charge ahead, our steps echoing around the carved stone walls, even as we try to move as quietly as we can. Or maybe I”m just hearing the pounding of my heart in my ears.
The flickering candles lighting the path are ominous in more than one way. Not only are they casting our shadows in every direction and making my skin prickle with goosebumps, but clearly, if the candles are lit, then The Celestials are down here. And if they”re down here, I”m even more confident that my family is.
We just have to find them… and hope they”re okay.
We come to a fork, the path splitting off left and right, and I can”t remember which way leads to the room Prudence was held in. I”d caught her running from that direction last time, after she pulled some badass shit and got herself free, but there was so much going on that I have no clue which way is right.
Prudence brushes my shoulder as she slips in front of me, looking down each pathway. She shakes her hands out and then points down the right one, whispering, ”I think it”s this way.”
”Are you sure? Because we really don”t need to run into any trouble before we find Creed and Griffin,” I murmur as I step right up behind her and place my hand on her waist. I peer down the path she”s pointing down, but the candles only do so much, and it”s dark as fuck.
Prudence shrugs helplessly, taking a few steps forward. ”I don”t know,” she says anxiously, turning back to look at me with concern swimming in her eyes.
I rake my hand through my hair, warring with myself. ”Well, fuck, me either. Maybe it was that way?” I point down the left path, heading that way, but just as I get a few feet away from Prudence, footsteps echo up the path I”m staring into, and my stomach plummets.
I rush back to her and snatch her hand in mine, yanking her as I run down the right side. Our footsteps are loud and Prudence is panting from the exertion, but there”s nothing I can do about that now. We either take our time, be silent, and possibly get caught or we run like hell, announcing our presence, and hope we find who we came here for before it”s too late.
Shouts follow us as we run down the corridor, and a manic laugh bursts from me. With Prudence”s hand in mine and my heart thrashing at this life or death situation we”re in, I call out over my shoulder, ”Hey, if we die tonight, I think now”s a good time to tell you I love you.”
Her steps falter at my admission, but she rights herself quickly and keeps pace while we follow the curving path and spill out into a big circular room with a goddamn altar in the middle. There”s a hole in the ceiling right above it, which is letting in the natural moonlight, and countless lit candles flickering around the stone altar, which is decidedly blood stained…
But that”s not what has me coming to a shocked halt.
No, that would be the sight of Griffin and Creed on their knees before the altar, bags over their heads and their hands bound behind their backs. I don”t need to see their faces to know it”s them. They”ve been stripped down to their boxers, and their bare skin is covered in bruises and cuts, drying blood smeared everywhere, and fucking hell, it”s a horrifying sight. Creed is shouting threats of brutal murder to the people who did this while Griffin is grunting and struggling against his bindings, but it”s obvious he”s too weak to break free.
Prudence gasps and jerks forward, pulled to her other two lovers like an invisible string is drawing her nearer. She runs to them and drops down in front of Creed, and I”m right behind her, stopping in front of Griffin and pulling the bag off his head.
Creed snarls and jerks away from Prudence”s touch, but she whispers soothingly, ”Hey, it”s okay. You”re gonna be alright. It”s me and Asher.” His muscles relax instantly, and she removes the cover from his head next.
”What— How did you—” Griffin stammers weakly, blinking between me and Prudence as if he thinks he might be hallucinating this moment.
I smile at him in relief a second before slamming my lips to his, gripping his bearded jaw in my hands to keep him close. Griffin groans into my mouth, his tongue hungry and eager as it meets mine, and my fucking god, I missed him. Even if they were only gone for just over twenty-four hours, it was too goddamn long.
I end our kiss and drop my forehead to his, murmuring, ”Don”t ever do this shit again, or I”m going to chain you to me and make sure you”re never more than five feet away.”
Griffin huffs out a dry laugh, shaking his head. ”Promise,” he rasps.
I stand and round him so I can undo the thick rope knotted around his wrists, biting out a curse when I see the other end of the rope is tied around their ankles. No wonder the guys didn”t try and run for it, even though they were alone in here.
We”re fucked.
Prudence is already working on Creed”s, but from the curse she mutters under her breath, she”s not having a ton of luck. When I reach down to start on Griffin”s, I hiss in a pained breath. He”s been tugging on them relentlessly for who knows how long, and his wrists have been rubbed fucking raw. There”s blood dripping down his hands and puddling on the stone floor beneath him.
”Jesus, Griff,” I choke out, trying to be gentle as I start on the knot. ”Hang on, man, I”m gonna get you out of this.”
A few moments later, those footsteps that were following us sound throughout the room, announcing our very limited time. Prudence whimpers in terror, looking to me for help. ”Asher, I-I can”t get Creed untied. What do I do?”
I grit my teeth, having trouble with Griffin”s too. We”re running out of time, and unless the FBI do show up and save our asses, I don”t see this ending well. But I won”t leave Creed and Griffin here, no matter what, so it looks like Prudence and I will have to fight like hell to keep the bound fuckers safe for as long as we can.
Oh, fuck the wrists.
I frantically start pulling and yanking on the knot around Griffin”s ankles, hoping at the very least, I can get him on his feet. I tell Prudence to do the same, and she frantically starts on Creed”s ankles.
A few seconds later, five elder members in white robes come striding into the altar room at a lazy pace, like they weren”t concerned about us getting away. I look up as sweat beads on my brow, meeting my father”s heartless eyes while he leads the others in.
He grins at me in such a cold, detached way that I swear I see my death reflected back at me. ”Hello, son,” he muses as he comes to a stop a few feet away and the other four fan out around him. ”Glad you two could join us. It”s going to be quite the night.”
”Get out of here, both of you,” Griffin growls in a low, lethal voice, turning to catch Prudence”s gaze. Her eyes are swimming in tears, fear riding her hard, but she steels herself and shakes her head at him. ”Dammit, Prudence, go!” he snaps at her, and then turns to plead with me.
”I won”t leave you,” I tell him sternly.
My father bellows a raucous laugh, chilling me right down to my very bones. ”Oh, what a sad little sight you four make. None of you are getting away, though, so why don”t you and your whore step away from my sacrifices,” he says with a sick smile. I scoff at him, ready to tear him a new asshole, but then he pulls out a pistol and levels it on Prudence. ”Now. Before I paint this room with her brains.”
Prudence sucks in a shuddering breath while Griffin, Creed, and I all growl and hiss and cuss my father out. The three of us must look like fucking animals, especially with the way Griffin jerks forward and strains against his bindings, his muscles trembling with rage. Meanwhile, Creed just sits perfectly still and glares, like a deadly snake coiled and waiting for his kill.
I stand and step away from Griffin, nodding at Prudence to do the same. I hold my arm out, beckoning her to my side, but my father tuts at her and waves the gun. ”Not another step, little girl. This ends tonight.”
Prudence”s lips curl into a sneer as she stares down the man who had a hand in hurting her mom. As if on cue, her own father steps out from the hallway, followed by several more Celestials in those creepy robes. He comes up and stops next to my father, his shock of red hair drawing my gaze as looks at each of us with an excited glint in his eyes.
”Good, you”re all here!” He claps his hands together like a fucking lunatic, and Prudence jumps from the loud noise. ”Now the fun can begin.”