Chapter Four
………………………….
Ily
“WAKEY, WAKEY, PRECIOUS ILY…”
Panic cut through me like a dagger.
I shot upright. My hand flew to my chest, stopping my pounding heart from escaping.
Just a dream…
The sick chuckle had just been a—
“Finally, one of you open your eyes,” Victor murmured. “I was beginning to think all of you were dead.”
Throwing myself onto my knees, I looked to my left.
And there he was.
After a month of nothing.
A month of fearing when he’d come.
He’s here.
My heart switched from pounding to galloping. “ You .”
“Of course, it’s me. Who did you think it would be?” Victor chuckled. “Your father?”
Huddling into a tight little ball on my hard wooden bed, I couldn’t stop pure hate flowing through me. I’d never truly known the weight of such an emotion. The word was thrown around so frivolously. ‘I hate winter. I hate sand in my shoes. I hate pollen.’
But true hate…real, violent, gut-ripping hate.
It was as potent as poison, and I did my best to get it out of me. Not because Victor didn’t deserve it but because I was only killing myself faster by feeling it.
Forcing my hands to unfurl and my pulse to stop racing, I glowered at him. “You didn’t forget about us, then.”
Victor lounged on a comfy blue suede chair that’d been brought into our dungeon and placed just out of reach of our chains. The bars behind him were closed, the keys swinging around his forefinger with a gentle jingle. “Of course not. It’s been a test of patience to leave you this long.” His gaze flickered to Henri.
God, Henri.
For thirty-three days, I’d had to watch him exist on the line of surviving and dying. Sometimes, I’d physically feel his soul’s attachment to his body growing weaker. I’d scream at him, hoping my voice punctured his dreams, ordering him to stay alive…just for a little longer.
Each time I begged him to stay, he’d suck in a rattling breath across the dungeon and groan in agony as he clung to his broken body.
Whenever he stayed for me, I cried myself to sleep for being so cruel.
I shouldn’t beg him to stay.
I should tell him it was okay to go.
But even with Peter cuddling me in those awful moments and all the terror of what our future held, I just couldn’t say the words for Henri to leave.
Because I knew. I knew as surely as I knew Krish would feel I wasn’t alright that Henri hung on just for me.
He’d clung to life through his beating.
He’d clung to it while Dr Belford spent hours tending to his broken bones and injecting him with God knew what.
And he’d clung to it even as his words grew scrambled with his concussion and he screamed in his sleep.
If I’d given him permission to fade, he would’ve. If I’d made him believe—while he existed in a half-coma, half-stupor for those first couple of weeks—that I was safe and he didn’t have to worry, he would’ve taken one last breath and gone.
And now I wished I’d been strong enough to set him free because Victor stood from his chair, tossed the keys onto the blue velvet, and prowled toward Henri sleeping on his cot.
Unfortunately for Henri, he was now too healed to die on a whim. Too strong to just float away in his sleep.
I’ve condemned him to a fate far, far worse than death.
“Don’t touch him.” I lurched off my bed and ran to the length of my chain. Clutching my collar, cushioning the many lacerations and bruises on my neck from trying to get free, I bared my teeth. “Don’t go near him, you sick bastard.”
Henri’s dirty, healing form went from slack with sleep to stiff with awareness.
Before Victor took another step, he rolled onto his side and sat up with as much power and decorum as he had when he’d been healthy and uncollared.
Victor didn’t see the bone-deep agony inside him or the way his eyes pinched with exhaustion. He merely saw an ex-Master covered in dirt.
I didn’t know how much it cost Henri to give off the vibe of a man not on the brink of breaking—to stand on braced legs and stare down our enemy—but he did.
Victor stopped with a smirk. “Well, it’s nice to see you’re in one piece, mon ami . After Belford’s reports of your injuries, I will admit, I had my doubts.”
Peter roused beside me, his sleep heavier the past few days thanks to our daily meal halving in size.
Our bodies were shutting down. Our skin turning sallow. Our stomachs hollow.
But now it made sense why our rations had been restricted even more than usual.
Victor had no doubt been planning this visit for a few days and wanted to ensure we were extra weak and helpless.
Sucking in a tattered breath, Peter sat up and shot me a look.
The look of pure horror on his handsome, gaunt face did nothing to settle mine.
Ignoring him, I kept my gaze on Henri.
On the way he gathered all the shadows in the room and seemed to use them as his crutches to stand taller. On the way he slipped on a mask that hid his true disgust and despair.
“What do you want?” Balling his hands, Henri looked Victor up and down as if he was one of the many rats that scurried about down here.
“To visit my friend.” Victor grinned. “Is that not permitted?”
“I’d hoped you’d had a heart attack.”
Victor snickered. “Sorry to disappoint.” He bowed with a flourish. “Still fit as a fiddle, I’m afraid.”
“Fiddles are flimsy little things that can be smashed rather easily.” With an arrogant tip of his chin, Henri crossed his arms. “Unlock my chains, and I’ll show you.”
“Nice offer, but I’ll pass.”
“What’s the matter, Vic? Afraid?”
“Of you?” Victor raised an eyebrow. “I’d be a fool to say I’m not aware that when you’re in your prime, you’re a hard man to fend off.”
Henri smiled.
“But you’re not in your prime anymore, are you?” Moving one tiny step closer but not too close, Victor chuckled. “Don’t feel bad, Henri. You can’t help that you’re not who you used to be.”
“I could still kill you.”
“No.” Victor drew himself up. “You couldn’t. Don’t lie, and don’t be argumentative. You tried to win against me, but you lost. What happens next depends entirely on your cooperation.”
Henri didn’t flinch from the pain of his forearm still in its cast. He didn’t wobble on his casted leg or show any signs that his ribs still gave him grief. He didn’t even ask what cooperation Victor wanted, refusing to give him the tiniest bit of satisfaction.
I was so damn proud of him.
So in awe of him.
So inspired by his ability to ignore his pain to protect me.
“Have you come to finish me off, then?” Henri asked with a sneer. “Because if you did, just get it over with so I don’t have to look at you a second longer than necessary.”
Victor scratched his clean-shaven cheek and nodded. “You know what I feared most, my friend? That being beaten within an inch of your life and denied the basic necessities would break you. I feared you’d turn into more beast than human. That’s why I allowed you the company of Ilyana and Peter.” Victor threw us a look over his shoulder. “Thank you for keeping him sane, you two. You’ve ensured the next part of Henri’s initiation will be far more fun.”
“What initiation?” Henri snarled.
“Beginning your training as a jewel, of course. Remember all those levels of obedience you never did with Ilyana?” Victor grinned. “I’m going to ensure you learn each and every one and become the most obedient, sought-after jewel in my collection.”
Peter flinched.
I jerked.
But Henri said nothing.
Victor smirked. “Your role in my home has now changed considerably. I have no desire to kill you because you are far too entertaining, but you’ve disappointed me. You’ve undermined me, mocked me, and tried to kill me. You’ve proven all over again that I can’t trust anyone. Which means I’m going to personally oversee your breaking to prove a point to myself.”
“I don’t care—”
“The point that I don’t need anyone else. I will soon have my heir, and he can cut his teeth on you as well. By the time I’m done with you, you won’t be recognisable. You’ll be my lapdog, my whore, my thing. You will beg to call me Master. You will submit to my every command. You will bend over and—”
“Like fuck I will.” Henri stepped forward so fast the chain holding him in place clanked. “I will never—”
“Yes, you will.” Victor stalked back to the chair and fisted the keys he’d left there. “Because if you don’t, I will take every one of your punishments and give them to Ily. She’s the one who inspired me. A little experiment to see how far you’ll go for love. I know you wouldn’t have gone far if I only threatened you. Sure, you might’ve given me a blowjob to avoid a nasty lashing. You might’ve obeyed me if it meant avoiding another month down here, but you would never go to the lengths you’ll willingly go to without Ilyana.”
Victor grinned with every drop of evil in his blood. “She’s your true leash, dear Henri, and I intend to use her to make you heel.” He laughed. “I’m rather looking forward to it.”
Henri didn’t look at me. “I’ll kill you. I vow to you on my life, one day, I will fucking murder you.”
“Charming.” Victor licked his lips and looked Henri up and down. “Seeing as your little fantasy will never come true, I suggest you prepare to kneel for my fantasies. Because the girl you love so much? I’ll make her life a fucking misery if you don’t. Oh, and Ily?” Victor pinned his flat blue eyes on me. “The same goes for you. If you misbehave. If you put a toe out of line…Peter will pay your price. What’s that expression? Shit rolls downhill? Just remember that, all of you. Henri’s pain becomes yours, and your pain becomes Peter. As long as no one pisses me off, no one gets hurt. Isn’t that nice?”
Heading toward the barred exit, Victor unlocked it and slipped into the stone corridor. Closing the door, he sighed with contentment. “You know, this all could’ve been avoided if you’d only accepted who you truly are, Henri. But…you turned your back on becoming my equal. You spat in my face at my offer, and I’ve finally accepted your choice. You want to be the good guy? You don’t want to be the monster? Fine. I shall ensure you’re as weak and as worthless as all the others who think they’re better than me just because they follow stupid laws made by wolves ruling a society of sheep. I will make you so far beneath me that you will become dirt beneath my shoe. You will know what it feels like to be truly powerless, and then… then we shall see if you please me enough to live or…”
“Or what?” Henri spat.
“I still have a buyer waiting on a heart, don’t I? I could give him yours instead of Ilyana’s. Hers is safe for now. And Peter is my spare—just in case something unforeseen happens to Ily, and I need another bargaining chip over you. Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’ve seen the friendship blooming between you two.” He tapped his nose. “You forget I am omniscient. You live on my island. You fraternise with my jewels. I know all things. I’m also aware that you wouldn’t go to the same lengths for Peter as you will for Ily, so I warn you not to push me too far. We wouldn’t want her to have an unfortunate accident now would we?”
“Fuck you.” Henri gave him the finger. “You’re a dead man. I don’t know how and I have no idea when, but one day, I will wear your blood.”
“You’re getting repetitive in your old age. But I will accept that you have a vivid imagination. Or is it a hallucination? I can’t tell.”
“It’s neither.” Henri grinned like a madman. “It’s a prophecy.”
“Prophecy?” Victor smiled so wide, so sick, shivers darted down my back. “You know what? I think you might become my favourite, my sweetling. I’m so going to enjoy breaking you.”
Casting his eyes to mine, he bowed. “Ilyana.” He blew a kiss at Peter. “Peter.” His cold, predatory gaze landed on Henri. “Henri.”
With a whistle and a wink, Victor stepped away from the bars. “See you soon, my pets.”
And then, he was gone.
* * * * *
My body believed it was the dead of night.
My mind convinced me the moon was shining, the stars were twinkling, and I ought to be fast asleep like Peter and Henri.
But I couldn’t.
I hadn’t slept well since Victor’s visit a few days ago.
Or at least… I think it’s a few days ago.
I did my best to count down the hours and scratch a mark on the wall, but with the ever-flickering light and the one meal given to us appearing at random times instead of regimented, it was impossible to know for sure.
Peter lay on his side, bundled in his dirty blanket, shivering like we all did. He mumbled in his dreams, his face scrunched up and filthy. Reaching across our touching pillows, I brushed away his hair and rested my equally dirty palm on his temple.
He settled immediately. Just like Krish used to do if he snuck into my room because he couldn’t sleep.
A prickle shot down my spine. The uncanny knowledge of being watched—
Glancing at the bars, I braced myself to see Victor or one of his awful Masters. I had no idea when he was coming for us or what would happen when he did but his promise to see us soon kept echoing in my ears.
But nothing.
The corridor remained as black and as empty as usual. A rat scurried past, its long tail whipping behind it.
Sucking in a breath, I looked across to where Henri slept.
Only…he wasn’t asleep.
His gorgeous grey eyes locked on me, dull and full of pain but brimming with love and affection. “Hey…”
Licking my dry lips, I smiled. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I was.” Swallowing his groan, he shifted to sit upright. “But I felt your stress, and it gave me nightmares.” Leaning back against the frigid rock wall, he scrubbed his face with his hands. His nails were black with dirt and dried blood, his beard thick and hiding half his handsome face. A few threads of silver glittered around his mouth and temples, matching the silver in his eyes.
We’d all aged down here.
The perpetual dark seemed to march us far quicker into a grave.
Even the darkness within Henri hadn’t made him immune to the ravages of healing and hurt.
I knew he was older than me.
I knew he would only get more handsome with age.
But as we sat in the dark waiting for death, I wondered if any of us would hit forty if we didn’t manage to escape.
“How old are you?” I whispered.
He smirked. “Do I look that decrepit?”
“No.” I laughed softly, sadly. “Just…I’ve never asked.”
“I turn thirty on January the first. According to my mother anyway. I don’t have a birth certificate. Not that I’ve seen anyway.”
“The first of January is your birthday?” I blinked. I coughed. If I needed any other signs that Henri was my twin flame, this was it. I’d read that some were born on the same day. Didn’t matter if the years were different—if you shared the same day, it was yet another cosmic union between a single soul that’d been split.
But I don’t know if I was born on January first…
Oh my God.
Yet another synchronicity.
Another push from forces unseen but so much bigger than us.
He frowned, studying my face. He knew without asking. “You’re January the first too?”
I gave him a small shrug. “I celebrate the first, but…I’m like you. I’m not entirely sure if that’s my true date, seeing as I was found and adopted. I was found on the fourth of January, but my father figured I looked a few days old, so he chose the first for a new beginning.”
Henri didn’t speak for the longest moment. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to all these strange similarities between us.”
“I know. Me either.”
He shivered dramatically. “It’s eerie but cool.”
“Isn’t it?” Tears ached. My nose itched. What would I give to tell my parents about the profound connection I’d found on this hellish island? I’d give anything to hug my brother and tell him everything the Vedic mystic said had come true.
You’re destined to destroy each other.
I flinched.
That part would never come true. Being together was the reason we hadn’t been destroyed. Even Victor was wise enough to use our bond to prevent us from such destruction. He’d used me as a pawn to keep Henri sane. And used Peter as a pawn to keep me in line. And despite knowing that my presence had only condemned Henri to pain I couldn’t begin to imagine, I was incredibly grateful that in that part of the prophecy, the astrologer was wrong.
God…what’s going to happen next…?
My eyes flicked to the bars again, begging to see something I hadn’t noticed in the thirty-six days we’d been trapped: a forgotten key. An axe to chop our chains. A guard that was on our side, sneaking down here to break us out.
A single tear escaped.
I swiped at it.
Henri sucked in a sharp breath. “God, Ily. Please don’t.”
I nodded and forced an overly bright smile. My voice broke, betraying me. “I’m fine.”
“Fuck, you’re killing me.” He drove both fists into his blanket. “I’d give anything to hug you right now. To hold you. Kiss you.”
“I know.” Sitting taller, I ran my fingers through Peter’s unwashed hair. “Just a weak moment, that’s all.”
Silence fell for the longest time before Henri forced a smile. A sinful, sexy smirk that was far too lighthearted for this sullen place. “You’re still driving me mad, little nightmare. Still filling me full of things I’ve never felt before.”
His old nickname for me could’ve been insensitive…but that was the point. Teasing each other. Trading jokes and stories. Taking the heavy and transforming it into light.
It was how we’d survived this long. Being normal. Being together. Not letting this prison choke us.
“I’m okay.” I gave him a half smile. “Truly. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Did you meditate today? That always helps.”
“I tried, but I can’t seem to calm my mind enough.”
“Me either.” Resting his head against the stone, he sighed. “I just want it over with. The waiting is driving me insane.” He closed his eyes, and silence fell again.
I studied him, searching for signs of fever or regression in his strength.
I longed to check his pulse for myself. To press my ear against his chest and listen to how strong his heartbeat thundered. I needed it to be strong. I needed him to—
“You’re still worrying about me,” he groaned, his eyes still closed. “I can feel it. I told you…stop that.”
I laughed quietly.
It didn’t surprise me that he’d sensed me.
The connection between us no longer shocked or fascinated us.
It was just there.
A link made of love. A bridge between his soul and mine.
I dreaded to think how much that bridge would torment us when Victor’s training began.
Which led me back to my horrors and everything I wanted to say to him but didn’t know how.
Now’s the time.
It might be the only time.
We would never destroy each other, but…watching each other be hurt would definitely achieve it.
“Henri…” Taking my hand off Peter’s head so I wouldn’t feed him my fear, I scrunched up the blanket in my lap. “I need…I want you to promise me…”
When I didn’t finish, Henri gave me a soft smile. “You want me to promise you that I won’t fight back. That I’ll do what he asks so he won’t—”
“ No !” I sat upright, my heart drumming. “No, not at all. I-I meant…I don’t think I’ll be able to watch Victor use you. Don’t give in. Don’t give him what he wants.”
He scowled. “But if I don’t, he’ll hurt you.”
“He’s already raped me once.” I braced my shoulders with bravery I didn’t feel. “I didn’t watch then, and I won’t watch in the future. It’s just sex—”
“ Just sex ? What the fuck are you saying?”
“Let him have me instead of you. My body is equipped—”
“Equipped? Why? Because you’re a woman and not a man?” His voice wobbled with rage. “Of all the things you could’ve asked me, Ily.”
Before I could reply, he roared, “It’s not just fucking sex, little nightmare. It’s violence. It’s degradation. If you think I’d willingly, actively, make him hurt you instead of me.” He scoffed with a cold laugh. “Fuck, how could you even ask that of me? Of course , I’ll do what he wants if it means protecting you. Of course , I’ll give him my body if it means you go untouched. What sort of man would I be if I didn’t? What sort of monster could—”
“You’re not a monster!” I shouted over him. “That’s the point! You’ve already suffered so much. In your childhood and here and I can’t…” Stinging tears shot to my eyes and trickled down my cheeks. “I won’t be able to watch him break you, Hen. I just…I can’t do it. Let him have me instead of you. If you get strong enough, you can find a way to—”
“I’m not letting him lay another fucking finger on you, Ily! I vowed that the night he raped you. And I’m not going back on my word. Even if it kills me.”
“But don’t you see? It will kill me watching him hurt you!”
“Then do what you’re so good at and don’t watch!” Henri snarled and yanked at the chain, trying to pull it out of the wall like the countless other times he’d tried. When he didn’t succeed, he punched his pillow with enough violence to make me shiver. His rage fanned out in the small space, licking at my ankles and tainting my blood to fight.
When he’d finished losing himself to fury, he clenched his jaw and hissed, “I’ll be okay. If you need to hear that I won’t let a little sodomy break me, then fine. I can handle it. I promise you on my life, Ily, I won’t let him break me. No matter what he does. I won’t break because I have you now, and you’re worth a thousand tortures.”
I rubbed my aching heart as tears ran hotly down my cheeks.
“I mean it, mon c?ur .” He smiled gently. “I can handle it. No matter how bad it gets, I will always come back to you. You have my word.”
I shuddered with his oath. “Henri…”
His violence became a benediction. “I’m yours, little nightmare. And you’re going to have to trust me because you’re trapped in this awful place because of me and while you’re here, you’re mine, just like I’m yours. My heart and body belong to you, not him. And I’ll use every piece of myself if it means I can keep him as far away from you as possible.”
My tears turned to sobs.
Our fading fight finally woke Peter.
He came to as if he’d been deep underwater and barely knew how to swim above the surface of it anymore. Groggy eyes, tussled hair, scratchy voice. “What the—” Blinking at Henri fuming with helplessness across from us, he came awake in an instant. “What the hell did you say to her, you idiot?” With a soft groan, he crawled onto my bed and wrapped me in his chilly embrace.
None of us could get warm.
And I so longed to be warm.
I’d give anything to slip into the large spa bath in the jewel quarters.
I’d give five years of my life just to take a hot shower and then crawl into a hot bed with Henri’s arms tight and hot around me.
I cried harder.
The images of Victor bending Henri over and taking him.
The mental videos of other Masters whipping him, beating him, making him do unspeakable things.
It almost broke me seeing Peter and the others having to service men they despised. But watching the man who woke everything primal inside me? The man who seemed so invincible and immortal be diminished to a piece of meat for their pleasure… I-I can’t.
I couldn’t stop my tears now that I’d started.
Peter gathered me tighter and dragged me onto his bony lap. “Hey, jaanu , it’s okay. You’re okay. We’re all okay.”
Yes, but for how long?
How much longer before—
A noise.
A loud clang followed by heavy footfalls.
No.
Tears froze on my cheeks as Henri stiffened and Peter turned to a statue beneath me.
Please no—
Footfalls came closer, closer, echoing down the dungeon corridors, louder, louder, until…
Four guards appeared.
Crawling off Peter’s lap, I swiped at my tears and glowered at our unwanted guests.
None of us spoke as the guard in front used a ring of keys to unlock our bars, then kicked the door wide. “If you move wrong, I’ll electrocute you. If you try to run, I’ll shoot you. If you try to fight back, I’ll beat you.” The guard pulled free a black remote and gun from his utility belt. “Any questions?”
Henri stood by his bed, his hands balled. “What do you want?”
“Your time down here is up.” The head guard shrugged. “My orders are to take you to get ready.”
“Get ready for what?” Peter asked.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Waving his gun, the guard commanded, “Unshackle them.”
I didn’t move as the three other guards fanned out. One went to Henri and unhooked the chain from his collar. One to me to free my own neck. And one to Peter.
Once all three of us were no longer tethered to the wall, the guard by the door marched into the corridor. “Follow quietly and obediently, and no one will get hurt.”
Peter went first, the beads of his spine bruised and red from sleeping on such a hard bed for so long.
I trailed him, my bare feet icy and white dress completely filthy.
Henri slipped silently behind me.
A current of connection tingled across my back.
His energy blended with mine like a warm blanket across my shoulders.
So close.
Far closer than we’d been in over a month.
I shivered as his hand landed on my hip. His thumb stroked those wonderful Morse code circles.
“No touching.”
Henri grunted as the guard behind him struck him.
His hand fell away.
We all shuffled in a long line, barricaded by guards and guns. None of us spoke as we travelled down the long pathways of the dungeon. No other cell was being used. BDSM equipment waited in the gloom for players. Torture devices in others stained by previous victims.
I lost all sense of direction as we turned left then right and left again.
My numb toes hobbled over pebbles and grit, my eyes slowly growing used to the brighter light as we reached a staircase. Memories of traveling down them so many weeks ago on the night of the Halloween masquerade came quick and sharp.
The crowd of Masters as we’d been carted like sheep to the slaughter.
The Temple of Facets. The altar.
Swallowing hard, I followed Peter and the first guard.
My heart pounded at the exercise as we climbed up and up and up.
I squinted as light slowly stopped being artificial and became sunshine instead.
I could barely see as we spilled out at the top and stepped into the small courtyard with its spearing tower and flapping flag far in the sky.
Too bright.
So bright.
Not midnight after all.
No stars.
No moon.
Just a glowing golden disc, a cloudless sky, and a monstrous acropolis ready to swallow us whole.