Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
PERILOUS
The official meeting of Annika and Serafina happens. Definitely not something I really had planned on having happen, but it was time.
Annika is mine. My claimed. My forever.
The same for Serafina to Tyrant.
Serafina also understands this dark world of ours a little better.
And quite honestly, Annika is in need of a new best friend. One who won’t stab her in the back the way Molly did. Believe me, I wish I could resurrect Molly from the dead just to kill her again. And keep doing it over and over, so she knew what would happen each time. That should be her eternal punishment if any of that heaven and hell shit is real.
“They seem to be getting along,” Tyrant says to me. “You know I’ll protect them with my life. I hope you didn’t just want me to bring Serafina here knowing I’d die for her which means your girl would be safe.”
“With your life,” I say to Tyrant, bypassing his comments.
We exchange a quick hug and I exit the apartment where Demonic is waiting, tree trunk arms folded. He nods. I nod.
Outside the building, Vicious and I meet up and we travel together in complete silence.
The deeper we get into the back part of Sinners Academy the more macabre it looks. For some reason I never really have taken in the sights of this place like I am now. The cathedrals and their haunted looking arches and points. Old black stone scarred with moss and vines. Trees that are a thick forest that could definitely play into the notion that something is wrong with this place.
Which there is.
This is where the most powerful meet and decide fate. Where money is not the essential factor but to exist you must possess it. A very complicated place.
And I have to go alone. Vicious knows this. He doesn’t protest when I start to walk by myself.
All that matters is the safety of Annika. She’s my claimed and my promise to her is to protect her using my life. If I can’t keep her safe, then I die. It’s that simple.
As for right now, I have to meet with Luc and tell him everything that’s been going on. And I have to hope he believes me.
And I have to hope I walk out of here alive.
* * *
I tell myself not to take a deep breath but it’s hard to fight off instinct. I gasp for a breath and the black cloth over my face sucks into my mouth. I thrash my head and growl, knowing if I don’t settle myself, I’m going to suffocate.
A jolt of electricity hits my lower right side. Another at my stomach. I manage to let out a scream as I twist and turn, my wrists chained above my head to an old pipe.
This is how a meeting with Luc alone starts…
I hear hands starting to clap, followed by footsteps.
“Expose his face, I want to see him,” Luc says.
The black cloth is removed and I can breathe fresh oxygen.
Luc stands there, arms folded.
“A simple hello would be just fine,” I say as I gasp for air.
“Meetings come with a price,” Luc says. “I have to make sure the time and offer is worth it. See, for you to be willing to take a beating, it intrigues me. To be chained up, stripped naked, almost suffocated, hit with cattle prods over and over… this has to be good. Also, I’m disgusted with you. You turned your back on me and the Legion when you kept that girl alive. And you claimed her only to defy me.”
Luc looks at two masked men and he nods.
I grit my teeth and try to prepare, but there is no preparing for cattle prods to be jammed against the right side of your ribs and left side of your shoulder. I swear my heart is going to fucking explode. The feeling of the jolts tearing through your nerves is a pain like nothing else.
I scream again.
“Let him down,” Luc orders the masked men. “Perilous, I want you to take a quick shower and clean up. Then we’ll talk.”
“I don’t need a fucking shower,” I growl. “And I don’t need to be placated. We can talk right here, Luc.”
“Wow. This must be something good.”
The chains are undone and my hands are free.
I grab for my jeans, just so I’m somewhat covered up.
“At least take a bottle of water,” Luc says. “It’s got to hurt. Don’t tell me you still don’t feel it.”
Oh, I feel it. I feel every volt of electricity from those cattle prods still moving throughout my body.
One of the men gives me a bottle of water.
I study the cap to see if it’s been opened already. No doubt in my mind that Luc would love to drug me and watch me die.
Luc snaps his fingers and holds his hand out for me to hand him the water bottle. He twists the cap off, breaking the plastic seal and he takes a big gulp.
He lets out an annoying, “Ahhh!”
I take the water bottle back and still don’t drink it. He could have the water poisoned and some antidote available for himself and not for me.
“Why are you here, Perilous?” Luc asks.
“I know everything, Luc. I’m in love with Holom Alistair’s daughter. I’ve claimed her as my own. And I know everything. I understand why you wanted her dead. Makes perfect sense. Makes perfect sense that I was the guy you chose for it. I’m the killer, right? I’m the ruthless motherfucker who will kill a woman and her child for you. Right, Luc?”
“So, what are you telling me, Perilous? Huh? Are you seeking some kind of retribution right now? You think claiming that bitch solves your issues? Mind you, I don’t give a fuck about your issues. You have a problem, go swallow a bullet. Do me the favor.”
I step closer to Luc. I’m taller than him, but not by much. I’m sure if he and I started throwing punches it would be a brutal yet fair fight.
The thing is— he sits on the throne. He wears the golden mask.
Without a sense of honor there is nothing in life. Luc knows it. I know it.
“Why are you here?” Luc asks. “And don’t try to sell me on some moral higher power or whatever the story is you tell yourself at night. Tell me why the fuck you’re standing here.”
“Because your request was a bad one. It was stupid. It was shortsighted. It would have hurt the Legion . You fucked up this time, Luc. And I saved you. I’m not looking for anything in return. I just want you to know the truth and hear it from me.”
Luc starts to chuckle. “Wow, that bitch’s pussy is laced with something because you’re talking crazy. Fuck, maybe I should go give her a try, huh? Stick my tongue in her cunt and see how it feels.”
“As you please,” I say, my jaw growing extra tight.
Luc nods.
I respect the Legion. Without the Legion there is no existence.
With Annika, all I’ve done is just add to my existence, and there is nothing wrong with doing that.
Luc studies me. “You love her. You kidnapped her and fell in love with her. This isn’t so much revenge and redemption as it is… love .”
“And your point?”
“Strip it all away, Perilous. Fuck love. Fuck feelings. Fuck everything. This is about what that prick has done to us. To the Legion. ”
“He’s broke,” I say. “Dead fucking broke. And he used the Legion ’s allure to help himself. You were his collateral. When that became something he could not produce, he decided to use his own daughter to hold them back for a little bit longer.”
“And why is that, Perilous?”
“He was going to steal…” The words trail for a moment. “This is fucking deep, Luc. I’ve done a lot for you. For the Legion . And even recently, I’ve taken beatings for my brood .”
“My brother has your back in all of this?”
“Yes.”
Luc’s jaw tightens. “You disobeyed an order, Perilous.”
“I faced my punishment.”
“You faced a beating.”
“And another.”
“Just now? That was for fun. That was for me to enjoy.”
“Is the Legion okay with that kind of violence?”
“Are you threatening me with some kind of blackmail?”
“No, Luc. I made a promise to the woman I love. To the woman I claimed. I intend to keep that promise. I’m looking at you, Luc. You’re our leader. You make the final decisions. I respect the Legion. I honor the throne. And I know what must be done in the Perg .”
“You’ve thought this through.”
“I’ve already started to handle it. There’s a dead girl in her apartment and that needs to be cleaned up. I slit her throat. I put a knife into her heart.”
Luc swallows hard.
“See, she was fucking Holom. She was also my claimed’s best friend. Gets really deep and really fucked up. Who knows what Holom told her, right? She was part of the plan to have Annika kidnapped and trafficked. I stopped that. I handled it, Luc.”
“So now you’re in a position to ask for favors?”
“It’s not a favor. It’s a ritual. It’s the respect for the Perg . For the Legion .”
“And it just so happens to revolve around you and the girl I wanted you to kill? But you refused to kill her?”
Now my jaw flexes tight as I know I cannot respond to that statement. I will never win Luc over. Not that I’m here to win him over.
“You’ve got balls, Perilous. I’ll give you that much.”
“No, Luc. It’s not about balls.”
“What is it then? Love ?”
“Honor,” I say right away. “Fucking honor.”
I curl my lip and Luc strokes his chin.
“You do know, Perilous, nothing comes for free.”
Luc stares and does not blink. He has a way of flipping a switch and becoming extremely dark and evil.
Nothing comes for free.
The Legion is power. Control. Money. The Legion is cruel. The Legion is hell.
And I guess in some sense that makes me a fucking demon. And I’m not sure if Annika is my angel or not. But I know Luc has something on his mind.
And I know the deep, intense flames of this hell are going to hurt one more time.