Chapter 32
KILLA
Seeing Cass hanging from a hook in nothing but her bra and panties has every cell in my body coming alive with retribution. Gone is the foggy haze of the drug, and in its place is an Unholy Savage.
Her bloody face is swollen and full of terror as she struggles to keep the tips of her sneakers on the ground.
I release a bullet into his hand, and he drops the branding iron, but it does little to reassure me when my woman is at his mercy and not within arm’s reach.
It all happens so quickly, I can barely compute his actions.
He lifts his hands in a calculated surrender that feels too easy, pushing his elbow out.
I feel the surge of heat before I see it, then fire one bullet after the other into the hook that holds Cass in place.
I only breathe again when she falls to the floor in a heap, flames engulfing her lower body as I rush toward her.
Benjamin takes this moment to sail toward me, but I’m quicker, and so is Warrior, who comes in through another entrance and tackles him to the floor.
“Search the house for Stella!” I bellow, grabbing Cass’s clothes from the floor and using them to douse the flames on her legs.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Slash screeches. A pan of cold water is thrown over us.
“More. Get more, Slash,” I bark as I press the wet fabric to her burns; only too grateful they haven’t traveled up her torso.
Morgue steps forward and stabs the struggling fucker in the neck with a needle, and it sedates him instantly, emphasizing the difference in dosage given to me.
The sound of my brothers searching the property is evident as they storm from room to room with their weapons drawn and ready to go.
I shuffle forward and bend over Cass to deliver her a soft kiss on her head. “You okay, baby?”
“Y-Yes.” Her teeth chatter as she speaks. “H-Have you found Stella?”
“We got her! She’s okay!” Raider can be heard shouting from upstairs.
“They have her, Little Demon.” I stroke her hair. “They have her.”
Her eyes flutter closed, and a soft smile plays on her lips.
My brave, beautiful little demon.
“She gonna be okay?” Warrior asks, standing and brushing his hands down his jeans.
“Yeah. Burns need tending to.” I nod down at her legs. They’re a fucking mess, and I’ll make sure to return the same torture to the sick fuck when I have him in our basement.
“Get Cassidy and Stella loaded into the truck. I wanna search this place before we leave,” Savage says, and I give him a firm nod.
If there’s anything here that gives us a clue to Alisha’s disappearance, I want the opportunity to find it too.
“Wanna check out that barn.” Venom nods toward the window, and I smirk at the fact I was right.
“I’ll come with you,” Raider says, and they head out the door.
“Morgue, Slash, you sort Stella and take a look around. Abs, you watch the truck and women,” Savage orders. He stares at me as I lift Cass into my arms. She’s passed out, and her body is still shaking. “You wanna check around with me?”
Part of me doesn’t want to leave her, but I don’t want to leave this place without taking it all in. I owe her this much, to see where she endured such agony, created the memories that haunt her. I need to do this to understand her and Noah better.
“Stella will be with her,” Savage tacks on, sensing my apprehension.
“Yeah. Let me get her in the truck.” Her breathing has evened out, and her fist has tightened on my cut, and I hate the fact she’s as exposed as she is. The moment I get her in the truck, I’m putting my T-shirt over her.
“I got you, Little Demon.” I deliver another gentle kiss on her bruised forehead and breathe in her peachy scent, reminding me she’s here, she’s alive. The fucker is going to pay for every mark on my woman. I stroke the hair from her face and take her in. My warrior. Stunning.
The sun is beaming when I step outside, like it knows we conquered evil and it came out to celebrate with us, but as I slide Cass into the back seat of the truck and pull my T-shirt over her head, I scan the property.
This was my ol’ lady’s home. Her prison. Noah’s too.
This is where she was brutally raped and tortured, yet it still stands like a cruel taunt.
“Some sick shit went down at this place,” Savage says, kicking at the dirt, and takes another puff of his cigarette.
“Yeah,” I grunt. He knows enough about her past to know how bad it must have been for her.
“Can feel it.”
“Me too. More than what we know.”
His head snaps to mine. “You think Alisha was here?”
“I don’t know, but someone else was. I know that.” Don’t ask me how, but I can feel that more went on at this place than anyone is aware of. Cass said she heard voices and that she knew there were more people here, but didn’t know who or why.
She was a scared girl in the middle of nowhere, absolutely terrified of each and every move that fucker made and what he was capable of.
“Let’s go take a look around.” Savage drops his cigarette to the ground.
Slash strides toward the truck with Stella in his arms. She’s alert, which is surprising, clothed too.
“She good?” I ask him.
“Yes, she’s good,” Stella snaps. “You can put me the fuck down now!” she spits out, and I chuckle at the fight behind her while Slash rolls his eyes.
“Cass needs ya.” I nod toward the truck, and the fury in her face is quickly replaced with sympathy.
It oozes from her, and I realize she’s aware of some of the shit my woman has endured.
Apart from tear marks on her face, you wouldn’t know she’s just been kidnapped and potentially assaulted. My stomach rolls on the latter.
“Go do your thing.” She waves toward the house, and when Slash lets her down, Savage steps up to her. He cradles the back of her head in his thick hand and pulls her in for a hug. I glance away at the rare show of affection he gifts her.
He turns his attention over his shoulder and locks eyes with me, then tilts his head in the direction of the house.
Time to find some answers and uncover some truths.
If there are any.
Every damn room upstairs is empty, barring this one, and it shouldn’t be surprising; the police and crime scene investigators must have gone over this place with a fine-tooth comb. Still, I was hoping for something other than a metal-framed bed that gives me the creeps.
There’s not a doubt in my mind that this is where he held Cass, and sickness swells inside me when my eyes focus on a metal hook beside the bed.
“Sick fuck,” Savage grunts, following my train of sight.
I turn away, unable to decipher the emotions bubbling inside me, but as I walk toward the window, marks on the wall have my footing wavering.
“Shit…” I drag my finger over the crayon showing various heights of something—no, not something, someone, Noah and his growth.
“We thought our childhood was fucked up, huh?” Savage says from beside me.
“Yeah,” I respond, at a loss for words.
This is where he kept them both.
I turn again, trying to imagine what it might have been like for them, but I come up empty. There’s no way you can truly get into the psyche of a kidnapped girl and her baby, but that fierce need to have to protect them washes over me greater than ever.
Savage squeezes my shoulder, and I turn back toward the window. We might be on top of a hill, but the vast land means you can’t see the barn that I know is closer than it appears.
Something in the distance catches my eye, and I step closer. A dark rectangular mark in the far corner of the field rolls over the hill. Among the yellow of the field, it appears off, looks almost burned, but I don’t think it is.
“What the fuck is that?” I point toward the mark, and Savage shoulder barges me out of the way.
“No fucking clue, brother. Wanna go check it out?” He cocks an eyebrow.
“Damn right I do.” Something inside me tells me there’s more than meets the eye to this place. It’s a catalyst of evil, and the authorities only scratched the surface.
We’re about to go so much deeper.