Chapter 35
A t some point in our lives, we’re all afraid to die.
We worry about what comes next. We worry about leaving our loved ones behind and wonder, will it hurt?
Will it be quick? How will it happen? It’s human instinct to have those worries, those questions.
But what’s not so normal is to long for it to hurry up.
If he’d just kill me already, it wouldn’t hurt so much.
Please, someone put me out of my misery.
Things I never thought I would long for, but time is a cruel mistress, and as days stretched into months with no signs of an escape, the hope I clung to steadily got smaller and smaller until it’s just a distant glimmer now.
Paying close attention to Kyle’s phone calls did little more than fill my head with more questions—questions I’m not sure if I want to know the answers to.
Maybe, in this instance, ignorance is bliss.
“Rise and shine, 103,” Kyle greets as he unshackles me. The feeling of his grimy hands on my skin has me flinching back into the mattress, only to freeze when his grip on my ankles tightens to the point of pain .
Stupid. You know better.
“Enough. We have a very special guest coming today, so if I were you, I’d behave.
” The unspoken threat hangs in the air between us.
If I don’t do as he says, he’ll ensure my life isn’t worth living.
Jokes on him. My life is already not worth living.
I’ve already lost my freedom, my daughter, and the love of my life.
He’s made sure I don’t even have my dignity. What more do I possibly have to lose?
“Fuck you,” I spit, unable to hold myself back a moment longer. For a brief second, satisfaction curls in my gut, only to be snuffed out a moment later when he lashes out. His fist connects with my cheekbone, and blinding pain races through me as my vision goes hazy.
“Ungrateful whore. After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me?
Just you wait. I’ll give you something to curse me for.
” He keeps up a steady strain of bullshit as he drags me through the house, shoving me to my knees on the living room floor and wrapping his belt around my wrists and ankles.
Once I’m hogtied, he crouches in front of me.
Gripping my chin, he forces me to meet his gaze.
“Today was supposed to be a treat for you, but you had to go and piss me off. This is your fault, whore. Remember that.” Spitting on my face, he watches it drip down my cheek with a smirk before rising to his feet.
As he disappears from my line of vision, I try to calm my racing heart.
Panicking won’t do me any good. Panicking won’t get me out of here and back to my baby girl. Panicking won’t change my fate, but maybe I still can.
With resolve sinking into my bones, I force myself not to flinch as the purr of an engine gets closer.
As the door opens and booming laughter washes over me, I brace myself for whatever fresh hell is coming my way.
I don’t have to wait long to find out. A shocked gasp wrenches my eyes from the floor, only to feel my heart lodge itself into my throat.
Blood-stained curls. Glassy blue eyes wide with horror. Features so similar, it’s like looking in a mirror. A collar around her throat, the leash tightly held by the monster at her side.
“Helen?”
“Freya?”
God, please, no. It can’t be.
I can only watch in horror as she stumbles a half step towards me, only to be yanked back.
The flash of pain on her face has me wanting to tear that damn thing off her neck.
Before I can move an inch, my hair is wound around Kyle’s fist. Yanking my head back, he glares down at me.
His expression promises a world of pain if I so much as think about moving, and while every instinct I have is screaming a giant “fuck you” at him, it’s not just my fate that rests in the balance anymore.
“What do you think of your surprise, pet?” he taunts. When all I do is glare back at him, he lets out a dark chuckle before turning his attention to the man at Freya’s side.
“You’ll have to excuse my pet. She’s still got a bit of fight left in her.”
“Impressive. It’s been, what, four years? Mine crumbled about a year in.”
“What can I say? I like it when they fight back. You’re welcome to take her for a spin, assuming the offer goes both ways.”
“Of course.”
Hearing them talk about us so callously—like we aren’t even human—is disgusting, but not surprising.
Watching the colour drain from Freya’s face, knowing I can’t save her from Kyle or her captor, burns, but I can’t tear my eyes from her.
Cataloguing all the changes since I last saw her twenty years ago, knowing everything was in vain, is like a knife to the heart.
Tears trail down her cheeks as her silent agony bleeds between us.
Her hand twitches at her side, but with a soft shake of my head, she clenches her jaw instead, visibly forcing herself to shove her emotions down.
“I got a call the other day. Apparently, Jonathan is sniffing around again,” Kyle casually comments.
“Is that so? I’ll tell Jen to work on him. Does Angus know? ”
“Do I look stupid? Fuck no. I quite like having my balls and my pet intact, thank you very much.” He snorts.
The other man just quirks a brow before tugging Freya into his side.
His dark eyes remain focused on me as he whispers something to her.
Terror dances across her face even as she reluctantly nods and strips out of her paper-thin summer dress.
“Fuck, look at those tits,” Kyle groans, reaching for my own even as his eyes stay glued to my sister’s. “I’ve been thinking of piercing my pet’s. Want to join me?”
“You got the right tools? I’m not botching these beauties.”
“Yeah, in the basement.” He nods towards the hall, and then we’re on the move.
Kyle makes quick work of freeing my ankles so he can yank me to my feet.
As soon as we’re in the basement, they secure us to two chairs, so close, we could hold hands, if only our wrists were free.
I lock eyes with her, seeing the raw pain and fear there, and pain slices through me.
I swore to protect her; I sacrificed knowing her to do so.
And for what? For Angus to marry her anyway?
For him to sell her to the highest bidder when he grew tired of her?
It was all for nothing, and that thought burns worse than the poker, leaving a scar deeper than any Kyle could ever dream of inflicting on me.
“I’m so sorry, Frey.” My voice is barely more than a whisper, but it reaches her all the same.
“None of this is your fault, Hel. Mother and Father shouldn’t have let this happen.” She sobs, and not for the first time, I’m reminded just how ill-suited for this life she is. She never stood a chance, and fuck our parents for not doing more to shield her, to protect her as a parent should.
“I should have taken you with me,” I argue, shaking my head.
“It wouldn’t have changed anything. Were you happy, Hel? Please say one of us got a happy ever after.”
“I was,” I confess, my heart breaking at the thought that she might never get her happy ending. “And you?”
“I had a beautiful son; you would have loved him. Promise me you’ll find him one day?”
“I promise, we will find him.” Blinking back my own tears, I implore her to believe me, to trust in me despite how badly I’ve let her down. Before either of us can say anything more, we’re interrupted by approaching footsteps. When I glance at Kyle, the smirk on his face has my skin crawling.
“Guests first, Benedict.” He passes a needle to the other man before coming to stand before me.
Benedict advances on Freya with a look so cold, it chills me to my bones.
With sharp precision and without a moment’s hesitation, he pierces her, ignoring her shrieks of pain, sliding the shiny metal bars into place before tossing the needle to Kyle.
Making short work of sanitising it—small mercies—I’m soon treated to the same white hot pain racing through me. Only, instead of plain silver bars, mine have a little bedazzled ‘K’s dangling from the ends, which makes me want to vomit. Who the fuck does he think he is?
“What a beautiful sight. What do you think, pet?” he croons from his position in front of me.
I meet his brown eyes, and my lip curls back in disgust that I know I will pay for later.
With a smirk, he pinches the sensitive flesh in retaliation before rising to his full height and making his way over to Benedict.
“What do you say? Want to test out my pet for yourself?” Kyle offers me up as easily as a glass of water.
My stomach drops at the implications of what’s to come.
As one, they turn to pin me under their evil stares.
My skin crawls as they look at me, but that’s a small price to pay if it keeps their eyes on me and off Freya.
Eyeing me up and down like I’m cattle being weighed for my worth, Benedict dips his chin before advancing on me. Once he’s within touching distance, he wastes no time in grabbing my chin and tilting my head back.
“This is going to be fun,” he taunts before shoving his free hand between us, grabbing my pussy in the palm of his hand.
When he tightens his grip to the point of pain, my head lolls to the side, and I meet Freya’s gaze.
Anchoring myself to her, I pretend this is all a nightmare.
Soon, I’m going to wake up, and we’re going to be far from the horrors of this basement, far from this cruel reality I would never wish on my worst enemy.
If it’s the last thing I do, I will get us out of here and reunited with our children.
So help anyone who dares try to stop me.