Chapter 34
ALEX
Long fingers slid down my arm, and I rolled onto my side, half asleep. I groaned, swatting the hand away. Despite my protests, someone lifted me into their arms and stroked their fingers through my hair.
My mind drifted between sleep and consciousness. Shoes slapped against a hard surface, the sound drawing me out of my dream.
We moved down a set of stairs.
“Where are you taking me?” I slurred.
I tried to open my eyes. But my head pounded so hard I couldn’t see straight. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find the strength to move.
A car door opened.
Several sets of footsteps followed.
I was set on a soft surface.
A few more people hopped into the car, and we drove in complete silence. There was no music, only the sound of four men breathing. As the car rolled forward, someone traced slow circles on my back to soothe me.
The car stopped.
Doors opened.
Rough hands gripped my sides. The fog slowly cleared from my brain as we exited the car, though the darkness still consumed me.
Attempting to get my bearings, I blinked a few times to adjust to my new surroundings. My backside hit a hard surface. Pain shot up my tailbone, waking me from my slumber.
I pinched my arm and felt the sting.
I wasn’t sleeping.
“Wake up,” a man grumbled.
Following his command, I opened my eyes, shocked to see a dark street lined with shops.
“Run,” he ordered.
I glanced to my left, then to my right.
No one was there.
What the fuck?
Am I losing it again?
I pressed my palm to the pavement, using every ounce of energy to pull myself up. My fight-or-flight mode kicked into high gear, adrenaline coursing through my veins like gasoline.
“Get up,” a male voice shouted. “Run!”
Panicked, I bolted down the street, desperate to find my way home. Four sets of footsteps pounded the pavement behind me, following me into the heart of Beacon Bay.
I darted past deserted storefronts, my legs aching as I rounded the corner. Ignoring the groan of my muscles and the throbbing at the base of my skull, I ran faster. Passing a hair salon, an indie bookstore, and two boutiques, I eventually stopped at The River Styx.
The rundown bar was at the end of the block, with its red and black sign dangling from the metal hooks.
Like it was taunting me.
All the devils are here.
I needed a break, a second to refill my lungs. But with the men seconds from catching up to me, I had to keep going.
A group of men tumbled out of the bar and walked toward me dressed in dark jeans and short-sleeved T-shirts.
“Help me,” I yelled, waving my hands.
Instead of rushing to my aid, they stopped, wicked smirks turning up the corners of their mouths. Under the lamplight, I glimpsed their painted faces.
Snakes.
The Serpents.
My mouth dropped in horror as fear rocked through me. The tallest of the group had golden scales. Another man had yellow scales with white chevrons. The dark-haired man at his side had greenish-yellow skin, and the last man looked like a black mamba.
“You want answers,” the black mamba hissed. “We can’t give them to you. Not until you remember what you did.”
I attempted to run in the opposite direction, but the men who followed me to The River Styx were only a few feet away. To my left were The Serpents, and to my right were the four Salvatore brothers.
No, no, no…
I closed my eyes and blinked several times to clear my vision, but they were still there.
Four Serpents.
Four Salvatores.
Shifting my gaze between them, I breathed deeply through my nose to calm down. My lungs worked too hard, the air draining from them with each shallow breath I took.
Five, four, three, two, one.
I chanted the words in my head, telling myself it would be over soon.
“Not real, Alex,” I whispered. “Not real.”
“What you did was real,” Luca snapped in his deep, murderous tone. “You need to face it, Drea. Until you do, you’re stuck here with us.”
“No,” I muttered. “I want to go back. I have to find Aiden.”
He shook his head. “Aiden can’t help you, baby girl.”
“Give him back!”
Luca’s devilish grin twisted into a pained look that broke my heart. He leaned forward, grabbing his side. Blood soaked through his shirt and spilled onto the pavement.
“You did this,” he choked out between breaths.
He staggered toward me and pushed up his shirt, revealing his chiseled abdomen and the gash on his side. Blood coated his olive skin.
A knife slipped from his grasp and bounced a few times. An S wrapped around the silver handle, curved like a snake—the Salvatore crest. Luca carried the knife with him at all times. It was a gift from his grandfather, the last thing he’d given Luca before he passed away.
“Pick it up,” Luca ordered.
Hunched in front of the knife, I glanced up at him. “Why?”
He hissed as more blood poured out of the wound. “You know why.”
I felt the knife’s weight in my hand and the blood coating my palm. A metallic scent penetrated the air like perfume.
I closed my eyes, reminding myself this wasn’t real. Any minute, I would wake up. But as I cut into my skin, blood slid down my hand.
This was very real.
“Open your eyes, Drea,” Luca snapped. “Face what you’ve done.”
No, please don’t make me.
“Open them,” he demanded.
As if I were under his spell, I followed his command and saw my blood dripping onto the pavement.
“Look at me,” Luca said through clenched teeth, still clutching his right side. “Look at what you did.”
I inspected the knife wound on his tanned, muscular stomach. It stood out against the rest of his scars, the fresh blood making his skin glisten crimson.
“No,” I cried out. “No, I couldn’t. I would never hurt you.”
His jaw ticked. “But you did.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You’re not real.”
“I’m real, baby.” He bent down before me and slid his warm fingers beneath my chin. “Do you remember what you did?”
A sob escaped my throat. “Yes.”
The events of that night flashed before my eyes. We argued about Aiden’s disappearance, and I grabbed the knife from his waistband. I stabbed him in the stomach. Luca dropped to his knees, clutching his side as a pool of blood enveloped him.
The Serpents were asking me what I had done, covered in Luca’s blood. I couldn’t move or process a single detail of that night—until now.
My legs wobbled, unable to hold my weight anymore. I fell sideways onto the pavement.
Luca lifted me from the ground and hooked his arm around me. He muttered something, his words a dull hum over the ringing in my ears.
I sucked in a few breaths, attempting to still my racing heart. “Are you going to kill me?”
Luca flashed a cruel smirk. “Death is too kind.”
His face was the last thing I saw… and then nothing.