Chapter 32 Donovan
THIRTY-TWO
Donovan
I’m going to kill him.
Greely Fucking Aubert.
I’m going to fucking rip his limbs off and douse him with acid.
I’m going to carve out little pieces of him until he’s nothing but a mound of unrecognizable flesh.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to go down.
Rage burns through me. I can’t hold it back. I can’t dim it. Even knowing Astra is feeding off my emotions and shaking with the effort of trying to calm me down in a subtle and silent way, I won’t let it go.
I don’t fucking want to.
Because the moment I’m free, I am going to fucking kill him!
They take Astra first, pulling her roughly out of the van and not even stopping long enough for her to get her feet under her.
I’m going to kill them for putting their hands on her.
All of them. She’s cut up and bloody from being tackled onto a pile of glass.
She’s scared and shaking from being taken against her will.
Her perfect night has been ruined because of this.
None of it is fucking okay.
I try to get to my knees, but I fall to my back when the guy sitting behind me grabs my shoulder and throws me off balance. I turn my head and glare at him. Piece of shit crooked cop. He’ll see what working for my enemy will get him soon enough.
Fabien is taken out next, but since he seems to be in a state of shock, the fucker handling him ends up tossing Fabien over his shoulder.
“Out,” the guy behind me barks. I scoot to the opening with zero grace, feeling caged and useless.
They only took the three of us.
Torrin might be dead.
Andre is likely dead.
Carlo, I’m nearly positive is dead. And he died taking a bullet for Astra. Might not mean much, but I’ll never fucking forget it.
Hell, everyone is probably dead. I don’t see Aubert letting any of my people live.
I want to kick myself. It was stupid to think we’d get through the night peacefully. That we’d get to have the last few moments of our breathing life together, since everyone seems to think this night will end in death for Astra and me.
I haven’t given up yet.
If there’s a way out of this, I’ll fucking find it. The funny thing is, I’m still right where I wanted to be, I just got here the wrong way.
When I see the guy with Astra put his fucking hands on her arm and yank her in the direction he wants her to go, I lose it.
With my hands bound with rope behind my back, I make a break for it, pushing with all my might as I lunge for him.
I nearly knock over the asshole carrying Fabien in my haste to get to the fucker.
I have tunnel vision, and it barely registers as I slam my shoulder into the fucker’s back. He grunts as we both go down.
I’m on my knees, pinning his forearm down with all my weight as I blindly grab at his hand behind me. I wrap my fingers around his wrist and yank hard. I hear something crack, and then he screams. I don’t bother to wipe the smile from my face.
“Pull him off!” he wails.
I manage to get to my feet before the other three can get to me.
With a satisfying smile, I kick him right in the face as the others get their hands on me and pull me away.
The smile stays on my face as he gets to his feet, spitting out a mouth full of blood and, oh, look at that, a tooth.
He’s cradling his limp arm close to his body, and it’s hard not to find satisfaction in that.
“You’re fuckin’ dead,” he seethes. He attempts to look menacing as he comes at me. It’s nearly laughable.
“Stop fucking around, Ted,” one of the other bullshit cops says from behind me. I recognize him, but a name doesn’t come to mind.
I mark Ted’s name in my head right as he comes to a halt a foot in front of me.
Everything in me is telling me to strike. I’m thinking of my next move as we glare death threats at each other.
“No!” Astra gasps at the same moment I feel the cold, hard barrel of a gun press against the back of my head.
Feeling the panic of My Beauty wash over me, I relax and stand down.
If I die now, I’m no good to her. I won’t be able to get us out of this situation.
The small chance we have of surviving the night will be reduced to zero.
I can’t leave her. I won’t. Not unless it’s the last possible option, and not until I know she’s safe.
“Fine,” I seethe out through clenched teeth.
I turn my dark look in Astra’s direction, and a calm settles over me the moment our eyes collide. I have to play this right, even if it kills me.
It takes everything in me to step in line as they herd us into a warehouse.
The only light is coming from the back, spilling out of a room in the right corner with a huge glass pane window.
The door is open, and as we get closer, I can see it’s a nicely furnished office with a huge wooden desk and a few chairs.
It certainly doesn’t fit the look of the abandoned, debris-littered warehouse space we had to walk through to get here.
“Stop,” Aubert commands when we get within a couple of feet of the threshold. “I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen to them. If they start growing boils and leaking blood, I’d rather not have to clean it out of the carpet.”
Aubert’s eyes hold nothing as he looks over Astra.
Her head is held high, but her gaze is cast downward, and I smirk at the clear defiance she holds as she blatantly refuses to look at him.
I can feel her emotions wrapping around me.
A hit of pain and hurt. Then her anger begins to prickle my skin like static in dry air.
“I pray your death is the worst,” he says as he turns his gaze on me. “Your father died without even a single scream. I’m hoping I’ll get more out of you. And if it’s not, I have no problem helping out.”
He nods to the guy beside me. He’s quicker than I am, and I have no chance to ready myself for the blow my face takes.
My head whips to the side, and I instantly taste the blood leaking from the split on my bottom lip.
I lunge for him, but I’m jerked back by my bound hands.
I feel something pull and pinch in my shoulders, and I worry if I’ve fucking hurt myself.
I stop, seeing as there’s no sense in making it worse.
There will be a time to bite through the pain, but the time is not now.
As I pull myself together, his words ring in my head.
I knew it. I never had any proof, but deep down, I fucking knew Aubert killed my father.
The air changes. I take in a slow breath, holding it in for a count of five. Astra doesn’t need me going off the rails right now. I tell myself I’m going to kill him as I make sure my mask is firmly in place.
“This wasn’t the deal,” I say, glaring at Aubert, acting as if his confession hasn’t even affected me.
“What deal?” Astra asks, her voice shaking.
“Do you really think I’d let you get one up on me?” Aubert sneers.
“You were supposed to let me get Astra safely home. I said you could have me as long as you let her go.”
He has the nerve to fucking laugh in my face. Then again, I guess I am looking like the fucking fool here. He thinks he’s got me at his mercy, but even tied up, I’m no house kitten. I just have to plan my moves and make sure the execution is precise.
“Yes, but what would it get me? This way, I get you, the child that isn’t supposed to be, and the nerdy witch.” He turns his attention to Fabien, and it hits me why he isn’t bound like Astra and me. “You should join me,” Aubert says to him.
“I-I… no, thank you,” Fabien manages to get out.
“But you will be so useful to my coven,” Sandra says as she steps out from her hidden corner of the room like a bad villain.
She comes to Fabien’s side and guides him into the office.
I start to struggle against the assholes holding me, but Fabien quickly shoots me a look over his shoulder and shakes his head.
Sandra has almost a motherly way about her as she touches his shoulder and tells him to have a seat in a chair in front of the desk. My stomach sours at her false display.
I’m so mad at myself. Not just because of Fabien, but for everyone who got caught up in this shit.
Fabien shouldn’t fucking be here.
“Speak quickly. I don’t want to miss the show,” Aubert says to Sandra.
“Let them go,” I growl. “I fucking mean it, you piece of shit.”
Aubert has the nerve to look over at me like he’s bored.
I’m going to gut him and leave him for the rats to eat.
Fabien catches my eye. He’s moving his arm like he’s trying to scratch the inside of his elbow. It takes me a moment to catch on. As much as I hate it, maybe it’s a good thing he’s here.
When Aubert turns his back to me, I give Fabien the slightest nod of my head.
“I’ve read some of your notes. This is fascinating stuff,” Sandra says to Fabien.
“I also appreciate all the things you've collected about the curse. This really is interesting. I’m surprised at how well the curse took, considering the magic used didn’t actually have a witch to do it.
I mean, maybe he had someone plant the seed of how it should be done,” her face holds a smile that’s all too telling of how she was the one to do just that, “but as far as I know, no witch was used. And the symbol…” Her mouth tips into a wide, evil smile.
“I really do think death is coming for them.”
“You’re the one who broke into my office?” Fabien sounds like he’s holding back anger. I wish I knew what was going through his head. “That stuff is… not for you.”
“Take the offer, Fabien,” Sandra says as she moves to stand in front of him. “Come join me. Help me build this new coven. A new age for us and the craft. A new set of rules to live by.”
There’s no way Fabien will fall for that shit. There’s no way he will want to be a part of something so dark. Something that goes against everything he believes in.
Fabien stays quiet.
As time ticks on, I start to worry, even though I fucking know better.
He’s sitting in the chair, looking at his hands in his lap.