Forget Me Not (Raven Soul MC #6)

Prologue

CITI

“Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broken—”

I stop singing at the sound of a car approaching, my fingers pausing as they stroke through Star’s hair.

I gently ease myself from the bed and make my way to the door, holding the chain shackled to my ankle so it doesn’t drag noisily across the floor.

I creep down the stairs and head to the kitchen.

I need to start baking something. I’m not an expert by any means, but I’ve picked up things over the years thanks to cooking shows.

Something about the smell of bread or cookies baking when Jasper turns up makes him less aggressive.

I think it has very little to do with my baking skills but more to do with him thinking I’m accepting the role he’s cast me in, like I’m some happy and content traditional wife from the fifties and not his unwilling captive.

I hear the back door slam open and swallow the bile in my throat before I paste on a neutral expression and move to the hall to greet him. Better to face his aggression head-on, and deal with the brunt of it before Star wakes up.

As I step into the hallway, I stare at the woman standing at the other end in disbelief. Am I hallucinating? That can’t be my sister. This has to be a dream?

She gasps. “Citlalli?”

“Nevaeh?” My head spins at the possibility. “Oh my god, what are you doing here?”

Her eyes take me in, roving over my body in disbelief as I sway on my bare feet, willing myself not to pass out from the shock.

“Oh god, I thought you were dead,” she chokes out, swiping at her tears as she runs toward me. “We need to get out of here.”

Before she can reach me, the sound of gunfire has us both jumping—her with shock, me with a cold, hard dose of reality.

“You can’t be here. He’ll kill you.”

“I’m not leaving without you, Citi.”

She doesn’t understand what she’s saying. “You have to. Please, just go.”

The gun fires again, splintering the wood of the door.

Star. I have to get to Star. Every other thought disappears from my head as I scream and run.

Please God, do not take my daughter from me, too.

“Citi, wait!”

I don’t listen. I run up the stairs as fast as my feet will carry me, the clanking of the chains underlining the very real danger we’re all in.

Star is standing in the middle of the room, terror etched into every pore of her face. I sweep her into my arms and hold her tightly to me.

Nevaeh tears into the room, freezing when she sees Star, her face paling as she puts all the pieces together.

“Oh, Jesus.”

More gunfire sounds as I cradle Star protectively. I don’t know how or why Jasper brought Nevaeh here, but it changes nothing. He’ll have to pry my baby girl from my cold, dead hands before I let him take her from me.

“I have a niece?”

“I won’t let him hurt her. He can do what he wants to me, but I won’t let him hurt her.” I let my eyes slip closed so she doesn’t see the truth in them, that I won’t just pick Star over myself. I’ll pick her over Nevaeh, too.

“He’ll have to go through me first,” she snaps, making something inside me rejoice. It will take a whole fucking lot more than me to get us out of here, god knows I’ve tried.

Another shot rings out, followed by a second and a third, each one making me jump as Star silently cries into my shoulder.

“Stay here,” Nevaeh orders, looking a damn sight braver than I feel. I hear the gun click, signaling that it’s empty. Nevaeh grins, but I shake my head because nothing is as simple as she seems to think it is.

“You can’t go out there, Nevaeh. He’ll kill you.”

“Not if I kill him first.”

“There are no weapons here. He took everything and then used Star to make me comply.” And he did it knowing I’d give in every single time if it kept her safe.

“Everything’s a weapon with the right intent.”

I look around the empty room and find nothing.

When I look at Nevaeh, she’s staring at the curtain pole above the window.

She pushes Star’s bed directly underneath it before she climbs on it and fiddles with the brackets holding the pole in place.

She pulls the curtains hard until the pole slips free, stepping back so it doesn’t hit her.

“Yes,” she hisses, slipping the fabric free from the wood, which is when I notice the pole is actually two pieces screwed together in the middle.

Nevaeh rushes to unscrew them as Jasper’s voice slithers up the stairs like a snake ready to strike.

“If you don’t come down here now, I’ll set fire to the house and watch you all burn.”

I swallow the vomit rushing up the back of my throat and try to control my racing heart as sweat dampens my forehead and my arms start to shake.

Nevaeh turns to me with one of the curtains in her hands and wraps it around us, effectively tying Star to me.

“Take this.” She passes me half the pole before grabbing the other half for herself.

“You stay here unless I tell you to move. If he comes for you, give him hell. He’s an old man now, Citi, and you have a daughter who needs you to fight. ”

I nod rapidly, the rushing of blood in my head now a roar, but I won’t give up, and I won’t give in. Not this time. Not ever again.

Jasper’s voice calls out in the creepy fucking voice that he uses before he’s about to do his worst. “You’re being very naughty. I’ll count from five, and if you’re not down here by the time I get to one, you die.”

“Fine by me,” Nevaeh snaps, and then before I can say anything else, she’s gone.

“Four.”

I close my eyes as Star starts whimpering.

“Hush little baby, don’t say a word, mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.”

“Three.”

And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.

“Two.”

And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama’s gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama’s gonna buy you a billy goat.

I stop singing when I don’t hear the countdown reach one, straining my ears to hear what’s happening.

“I love her.” A loud roar has me stumbling back.

“She was a child, you sicko,” Nevaeh snaps back

I start singing again, louder now, so Star can’t hear what’s happening.

And if that billy goat doesn’t pull, Mama’s gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over, Mama’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

I sway on my feet, my head swimming, my heart beating out of control.

And if that dog named Rover won’t bark, Mama’s gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down, well, you’ll still be the in

town.

A scream has me staggering back. I lose my footing and topple over. Twisting, I mak sure I’m the one who takes the full impact with a bone-jarring thud.

I scramble back against the bed, making soothing noises against Star’s head, my eyes firmly on the door as I wait for the monster to appear.

I look around for the pole I dropped, spotting where it rolled to.

I’m frozen in place, too scared to do anything other than breathe, but I can’t let Star or Nevaeh down.

I fight everything but my need to protect and crawl to my feet.

I grab the pole before I scurry back, holding it out in front of me as if it were a sword.

My breath stalls in my throat at the scuff of a boot before an unfamiliar man appears in the doorway. A cry of alarm escapes before I can swallow it down. As much as I hate Jasper, at least I know what to expect. I can’t do this all over again with someone else.

The man’s eyes widen before he crouches, and I’m dimly aware that he’s trying to make himself seem smaller. It’s not enough to stop the fear from pressing in on me. Nevaeh spills into the room, passing him, her eyes taking me in as I do an impression of a wounded animal.

“Citi, it’s okay. This is my family.” Nevaeh says as she walks slowly toward me. A large man wearing the same leather jacket as the first follows behind her, taking me in before someone else rushes in.

“Holy fuck,” the newcomer chokes out, snagging my attention. His eyes lock on mine as he slowly makes his way toward us. Something in his gaze compels me not to look away. A thin thread holds my sanity in place as he approaches, almost as if he’s tethering me here.

“I promise you they won’t hurt you or Star, Citi, but we need to get out of here now,” Nevaeh says gently.

“He’ll come for me, Nevaeh. He always comes when I run. That’s why he chains me,” I tell her, willing her to understand.

The big guy steps up beside my sister and lifts his bloody hands for me to see. “He’s dead, darling. I killed him myself.”

I stare at him for a minute, wanting to believe him so badly I can taste it. But life has taught me many lessons, and one of those is that escaping Jasper is impossible.

“Do you promise?” I whisper. Please God, let this be real.

“I swear it.”

I drop the pole as a sob rips free from my chest. Nevaeh rushes over, but the guy without the leather jacket gets to me first, catching me when my legs give out.

The chains drag across the floor as Star and I are pulled into this guy’s lap.

A fleeting thought tells me to fight. But when his heat seeps into my always-cold skin, I give in, needing someone to be strong for me now. Even if it’s just for a little while.

“I’ve got you now, pretty girl. Nothing will happen to you on my watch, I swear it,” he murmurs into my ear, making me sob harder. “Name’s Ambros. Your name is Citi, right? And what’s your name, princess?”

Star looks up at him, but she doesn’t answer.

“She doesn’t talk,” I whisper. “But her name is Star.”

“Star, huh? Pretty name,” a new voice states, making me jump. I turn and see a man walk over, a cold, detached look in his eyes that the others don’t have.