Chapter Thirteen #3
Peter braced himself, his voice turning cold. “Alright then. How about this? No one has found the Diamond Kiss yet. Run along and keep searching and—”
“If I wanted to kill someone, I could just kill you right now.” Larry chuckled. “Hey, Daxton? Fancy participating in a bit of murder tonight, or would you rather stick your cock in the forbidden jewel?”
“Or we could do both?” Daxton grinned at the other two. “Fuck her and kill him? That might be fun.”
“Vic would be mighty pissed.” Roger wiped his forehead free from rain. “He told us that she’s off limits, and we all know Peter has been groomed to be his manservant. How about we fuck both and kill both? That way he can only be pissed once?”
“Your reasoning is sound.” Daxton laughed. “I could get down with that.”
A flash of lightning.
A sonic boom of thunder.
“Hang on...he could revoke our memberships,” Larry muttered. “Do we really want to run that risk?”
“Meh.” Roger shrugged. “I hear he’s leaving tomorrow on another hunt. He won’t miss these two when he brings back shiny new jewels to play with.”
“Fine.” Larry pushed his sodden shirt cuffs up his arms. “I’m keen.” His beady eyes flicked between Peter and me. “Ready to play a new game? This one’s called Suck and Scream.”
For a second, no one moved.
The rain kept pelting; the moon kept trying to sneak beneath black turbulent clouds.
Outwardly, I didn’t twitch.
But inwardly?
I broke.
I screamed at the howling wind.
I punched the sky.
I shredded the stars.
I hated this...this helplessness. This uselessness. This tragic inability to say NO.
Every atom inside urged to fly far, far away.
I wanted to transform into the fledgling monster inside me and tear these bastards into bloody, messy viscera.
I didn’t want to play by their rules anymore.
I didn’t want to abide by any rules.
I wanted revenge.
War.
Carnage.
But I was just a girl.
Helpless and useless.
Dripping in a storm.
“Get on your knees, Peter,” Larry ordered, pointing at the grass. “We’ll let you watch. How about that? We’ll even let you jerk off before you die.” He snickered. “Hang on. Daxton? Didn’t you say he gave great blowjobs?”
“Yeah, man. Sucks the cum right out of you.”
“Excellent. New plan. You stick your dick in him, and I’ll take first dibs on her.”
“Whoa. Who put you in charge?” Roger scowled. “We take a vote.”
“But I spotted them first.” Larry pouted like a petulant four-year-old.
“Don’t care.” Roger stepped forward. “That Henri cunt has been keeping her out of our reach. I want to see what’s so magical about her pussy to keep him going back for more. I’m first.”
“Both of you can have a rub and tug. I’m gonna have first ride.” Daxton stepped forward, his hands already unbuckling his belt. Everyone’s clothes clung to skin and limb. Water sluiced down faces and the garden lights jerked and jumped as rain continued to pour over their lenses.
My heart pumped so fast it smoked.
I actually smelled it.
The burning, charring scent of soot and sorry organ.
Fear I’d never felt before burned me alive.
Peter trembled; all his bravery seemed to desert him. “I, eh...” He swallowed hard as five years of abuse strangled his throat. “He...I mean, Master H won’t appreciate you touching what’s his. He—”
“Can take a running leap off the cliff for all I care,” Daxton muttered.
“I didn’t like that Henri fellow the moment he arrived, and I dislike him even more now.
Know what I think? I think he’s still a cop.
I think Victor is wearing rose-fucking-glasses where he’s concerned and I’m performing my duty as a fellow Joyero member in getting rid of him. ”
Larry nodded. “So we’re gonna do it then?”
My head snapped up.
Do what?
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll kill him. Just have to bide our time for a bit. You know Victor doesn’t like us brawling.”
“I’ve got one of the guards on a bribe retainer. He’ll give me his gun when we choose to shoot the bastard,” Larry said.
“Perfect.” Roger nodded.
“Are we gonna stand around all night and fucking chinwag?” Daxton barked. “You.” He shoved a finger in Peter’s face. “Kneel. Now.”
Peter’s knees visibly wobbled.
A horrible lifetime of obedience swayed his legs to bend.
But...he glanced over his shoulder at me.
Our eyes met.
And something happened.
The uselessness, the helplessness—every tragic lesson taught by fists and kicks—all faded from Peter’s harrowed stare.
All his abuse.
All his pain and rape and degradation.
It curdled into one mass of addictive, noble fury and he nodded just once. “You know what, jaanu? Fuck it. Main aapke saath reh Kar yuddh Karnes ke like tayyar khadi hoon.” (I’m ready to go to war with you.)
His words hadn’t even sunk in before he threw himself forward and tackled Daxton.
The Master tumbled like a rotten building, crashing against the grass as puddles went flying and another fork of lightning flashed.
“Run, Ily!” he screamed as the other Masters swarmed him.
A flurry of feet as they all kicked him.
A single scratch of time where Peter chose to protect me all while knowing it was pointless.
And I made an equally pointless decision.
I roared and threw myself at Larry. The smallest one. The only one I might have a chance to overpower. “Get off him!”
He grunted in shock as I punched like a wild thing. My knuckles bloomed with pain. Something cracked in my hand. My arms turned into dead weights as I threw hit after hit as strong and as savage as I could.
“Jesus.” He ducked his head. “Someone get her the hell off me!”
Arms snaked around my waist.
Unfightable strength pulled me back.
I stood breathing hard as Roger clamped his hands around my throat, his fingers strangling above my collar. “Do that again and I’ll kill you then fuck you.”
In a dripping black part of my mind, I actually preferred that option.
At least I wouldn’t be alive to feel him pierce my body.
Peter grunted again as Daxton scrambled to his feet and kicked him right in the kidney. “Motherfucker! How dare you jump me, you little whore.”
Larry smoothed his thin mousy blond hair and marched toward Peter.
Kicking him for good measure, he bent down and snapped a leash to his collar.
Wrapping the leather a few times around his hand, he braced himself as if Peter would take off like a rabid dog.
“For that you can watch all three of us fuck her. How does that sound?”
Roger chuckled as Peter spat a glob of blood on the grass. It shone like oil in the darkness.
“Know what I think, boys?” He laughed again, his fingers tightening around my throat. “I think he’s got feelings for this one.”
“Oh?” Larry tugged Peter’s collar, jerking him back. “Is that true, little whore? Fancy that you’re in love with the new girl?”
“Stop it,” I spat, squirming in Roger’s suffocating choke. “Leave him alone.”
“Oh, this is too perfect.” Larry danced on the spot. “Tell you what. Confess you love each other and once we’ve had our fun, we’ll let you have your fun.”
Peter looked away, glowering at a rabbit-shaped hedgerow.
“Nothing to say?” Daxton asked, toeing Peter in the thigh. “Go on. All you have to say is ‘I’m a whore and I’m in love with another whore.’” He ducked down and grabbed Peter by the ear. “Admit you have feelings for her, and we’ll let you fuck her.”
Peter’s dark eyes narrowed. “Let her go. Her Master will only make your lives miserable. Play with me. Fuck me. You know I’ll make it far better than a newbie who doesn’t know how you like it. I’ll even let you—”
“Shut up.” Grabbing the leash from Larry, Daxton dragged Peter by his collar over to me. Grass and mud stained his legs as he struggled to crawl, choking as his collar cut into his windpipe.
Dumping Peter at my feet, Daxton grinned. “How about you, pretty new girl? Do you have feelings for the boy who’s sucked far more dicks than you?”
My back prickled with sobs.
Panic etched the corners of my mind.
Self-preservation urged me to check out.
Turn blank and mute and go.
I couldn’t look away from Peter kneeling before me.
His eyes so worried.
His heart so weary.
Just like all the others.
Corine and Citra, Kirk and Dane.
So many broken faces.
But the one face that stuck in my mind on repeat was his.
The man responsible for all of this.
The man who was my eternal enemy.
Henri fucking Ward.
I hated that my heart clung to his image.
An image before his lies crashed like a house of corrupted cards.
He might’ve fooled me into thinking he had feelings for me. I might’ve fooled myself into thinking I had them for him. But there, in a storm with demons surrounding me, I truly accepted that I was alone.
I’m alone and...about to die.
Unless...
Sex was sex.
My body was just a body.
They can’t touch me...not truly.
No matter what happens to my mortal form.
I’m the watcher within.
And...I don’t have to watch.
Raising my head, I prepared to step into battle, just like Peter.
This would probably destroy me.
I would never be the girl I once was.
I would hate every moment.
Die every second.
But...I’d do it because I was brave enough.
Brave enough to fall in love with thirty jewels and be willing to trade my body, my life, my very soul so they could be free.
Reaching down, I caressed Peter’s wet cheek just as another sheet of lightning turned midnight to daylight. The answering thunder throbbed in my teeth as I gave him a quick, quavering smile. “I’m okay. I’m choosing this. You don’t have to fight for me.”
The three Masters chuckled and crossed their arms. No doubt waiting for me to spout my undying affection and pledge us as soulmates.
Peter wasn’t my soulmate, but he was my friend and purpose.
I’d been brought here to save him.
And so...I’ll save him.
As many times as I can.
“Ily...” He clamped his hand over mine. “Don’t.”