21. A Forceful Bride

21

A Forceful Bride

Jessica

I’m frozen.

Normally, I wouldn’t find myself standing in the same spot, completely incapable of voice or thought.

Normally, my fight response is instantaneous, my refusal to just stand there and be killed prevalent in my mind.

Normally, my brain is operating on all cylinders, and I’m capable of making decisions in high-stress situations.

Normally.

What a funny fucking word.

A hand on my arm startles me from my ridiculous thought process, and I see the priest standing beside me, urging me out of the way. I go with him, mostly because I’m incapable of doing anything else, and with the room sealed, there’s not exactly a flight option.

Matt and Kaian are making their way through the room, obviously fighting for their lives, and I’m torn.

Torn between jumping out into the middle of the fray and helping someone I care about and running screaming from my first glimpse of the devil I never knew existed.

Even thinking this, I know it’s not a fair assessment. Previously, I’ve witnessed the type of chaos Matt and his friends are capable of. I’m not sure why I thought that maybe he was a little different than the others, but that na?ve thought process has now been squashed.

He’s a fucking blood-thirsty psycho.

I turn to the priest and whisper-shout, “We should get out of here.”

He raises his brows at me, seeming to be entirely unaffected by the chaos around us, as he replies calmly, “That is not an option, my dear.”

I frown, bristling at the idea that I’m a prisoner, still. “And why not?”

“Do you value your life?”

“Matt won’t hurt me,” I scoff.

The man gives me an almost pitying look, but then he says, “That may be true, but I cannot say the same thing. And I value my life.”

More shouting across the room draws my attention, and I see three men surrounding a fallen figure. Glancing around, I locate Kaian on the other side of the room, fighting his way out of the fray.

The sounds of laughter draw my attention back to the previous group, a shiver zapping down my spine as I realize who is on the ground, attempting to rise above the men forcing him to stay down.

My heart jackhammers in my chest, fury and agony fueling me as I jump up and yank my arm from the grasp of the priest. I run toward the small group, rushing them blindly, numbness enveloping me as I manage to bend down and, without breaking stride, scoop up a fallen blade. Three lunging steps, and I launch myself through the air, weightless and merciless, as I leap onto the back of the laughing man.

Kill or be killed.

My left hand grabs him by the hair. I yank viciously as my right hand comes around, impaling the blade into the side of his neck. He screams, his hands coming back and knocking me in the head. I don’t budge. I twist and twist and twist, realizing that I’m screaming like a banshee.

The two other men stare at me, wide-eyed, and Matt uses the few seconds’ distraction to gain his footing, taking them both out with a few swipes of his knife.

The man I’m still clutching falls to the ground with me on top of him, and only then do I release him, panting for breath. I scramble to my feet, attempting to rise, but I stagger. The priest is there again, assisting me to my feet and helping me back to the edge of the room. He pushes me into a chair and kneels in front of me, a bottle of water in one hand and a square of cloth in the other. He pours water on the cloth, and then the coolness is against my face.

His eyes meet mine, and he says grimly, “Apparently, you can take care of yourself.”

I laugh. That maniacal sense of self that was locked in my gut erupts, and I laugh even more loudly. His eyes widen, and then he shakes his head as he continues to rub the wet cloth against my face.

He hands the water bottle over to me. “Drink some of this.”

I take the bottle, pour some into my mouth, and immediately choke through my laughter. He winces as water sprays against his face, and he steps back, taking the bottle from me and muttering, “Get control of yourself.”

I snap my mouth shut, holding my breath, glancing around at the now-quiet room. Matt and Kaian are standing in the middle of it, chests heaving, what I can only assume are trickles of sweat leaving rivulets in the blood staining their skin.

I can’t make out their words, but they’re speaking forcefully to each other, and then they both nod and walk toward me. Kaian is still looking at Matt, but Matt is focused on me.

He stops a few feet from me and motions to the priest, who walks over and stops in front of him. They put their heads together, and the priest nods, speaking incoherently. Not being able to understand is starting to piss me off.

Matt turns to Kaian and says, “See if Marie is still out there.”

Kaian takes off across the room, opens the door, and peeks out. Then, the younger woman steps back into the room and shuts the door behind them.

I force myself to stand, my entire body feeling like lead, and then I walk over to the group and ask, “What’s going on?”

The priest hands another cloth and bottle of water to Matt. He dumps the water on the cloth, swiping at himself, dumping some of the water straight onto his face and using the cloth to scrub. He does the same with his hands and grabs onto my right hand which I didn’t even realize was still bloody, and does the same to it.

“Someone answer me,” I growl.

Matt swallows and clears his throat, his gaze focused on cleaning the blood off my hands as he whispers, “You need to get out of here.”

“Wait. What?”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, and then the priest responds, “The marriage pact has been broken. That’s the only way to protect you.”

I frown, shaking my head. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Matt raises angry eyes to mine, and he spits out, “Nothing about this is a fucking joke. And you’re going to fucking do what you’re told.”

I bristle, not at all accustomed to being dictated to and certainly not accustomed to having those types of words come out of his mouth.

I go to speak, but Marieka steps over to me. Resting her hand on my forearm, she leans in and says, “He’s right, Jessica. You must do it.”

I look at her and ask, “But what about you all? Won’t that put you in danger?”

She shrugs and then answers, “That is not our main concern right now.”

Kaian speaks up, “We have several different plans on ways to protect ourselves. We’ll figure it out, but right now, we don’t have any time to waste.”

Matt drops the bloody cloth and the water bottle on the floor. His hand grips my wrist painfully, and he yanks me closer to him, his eyes boring into mine, pleading. “Please. You have to go.”

The priest doesn’t spare me a glance, and I frown at him and then glare at Matt and glare down at myself, covered in blood. I can’t say this is how I ever saw myself once I managed to get out of this shithole.

I lean closer to Matt and whisper-shout, “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t. If you’re not here, then they can’t touch you.”

I don’t say anything for a moment, panic rising in my throat. Not because I have any concerns about leaving, as frustrating as it would be to be once again shoved out, but I can only imagine what’s going to happen to Matt and Kaian once the slaughter is found out.

Matt leans close, his hands gripping the sides of my head, and he leans in, staring into my eyes as he says, “This should be the easy part, Jess. Any other option will be hell. You have to go before it’s too late.”

A sob catches in my throat. I raise my hands, gripping his wrists as I contemplate my answer. Not that my answer even matters at this point because it’s too fucking late for any of it. So, after a moment, I shake my head, letting a little of that maniacal laughter trickle out as I say, “No. I’m not fucking leaving.”

His eyes widen, his brow furrowing as my words sink in. Then he glares down at me, his hands tightening painfully on my head. “You must. I swear to fucking Christ, Jess, I can’t have something happen to you.”

“Then you’ll do what has to be done for me stay.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know me leaving won’t be the end of it. You know there will always be someone looking for a reason to be mad, demanding restitution for some wrong done to them.”

“No,” he sputters. “Not this time, they won’t.”

I laugh bitterly, shoving his hands away from me angrily. “Yes, they will, and you know it.”

Matt’s hands drop to his side, his shoulders dropping slightly as he stands before me helplessly. But he says nothing, so I continue, “They will hunt me down like a fucking dog and drag me back here to pay for my sins.”

“But you didn’t fucking do anything,” he barks.

“That won’t matter. No one cares about what women did and didn’t do when it comes to a man feeling disrespected. No one cares about the truth when they’re out to gain so much more from their duplicity.”

“She’s right,” Marieka whispers beside me, her voice sad yet firm. “That’s exactly what will happen. And leaving would insinuate to anyone looking for culpability that she has something to hide.”

Matt turns to Kaian, his hands in front of him as he says, “Help me out, man. There has to be a way.”

Kaian looks at me and then back to Matt, but he says nothing. He just shakes his head. Matt deflates, his eyes going to the ceiling, muttering curses before turning back to me. “So, you stay here and what? Tell the truth and get punished for my sins?”

“No,” I reply hesitantly. “There’s only one way this won’t blow up in our faces.”

Matt stands there staring at me expectantly, and after a few beats, I turn my gaze to the ground, muttering, “I have to marry someone else.”

I could hear a pin drop in the room if someone dropped it.

Holding my breath, I chance a glance at Matt.

His expression, at first, is unreadable. But then, he frowns slightly and shakes his head. “What? No.”

I jerk back as if he has physically slapped me, for a moment, stunned into silence. He’s scowling at me now, his jaw set in a stubborn line I know quite well. I narrow my eyes, my hands moving to my hips as I retort, “If you find the idea of being married to me so reprehensible you’d rather see me punished by a bunch of crusty old men, then forget it.”

“Forget it?”

“Yeah,” I snarl. “You can just forget it. I’ll find someone else to take the old marriage bullet in your stead."

Matt’s expression turns thunderous, but his words are eerily calm as he asks, “Oh, really? And who are you gonna even ask at this point?”

I grit my teeth, my eyes flitting around the room wildly as if there’s suddenly going to be a horde of eligible men for me to choose from. Realizing I’m out of options, I point at Kaian. “Him. He’ll have to do it.”

Kaian’s eyes widen comically, and Marieka giggles briefly before slapping her hands over her mouth. Then Kaian’s lips twitch, and he steps forward with a swagger. “I mean, this is kind of sudden, but I’m not one to leave a lady in distress.”

“Over my dead fucking body.”

“If you don’t get your shit together, then that can be arranged,” I spit out through gritted teeth. “Lord knows I’d rather not drag you to the altar kicking and screaming.”

His expression changes instantly, his eyes softening as he whispers, “I’m not kicking and screaming.”

I purse my lips, tilting my head as I reply sulkily, “Could’ve fooled me.”

He steps into me, wraps his arms around me, and pulls me close. Then he drops his head, pressing his face into my neck. “This is gonna sound fucking stupid, but I’m gonna say it anyway.” He pauses, lifting his head as his hands move to my cheeks, and he looks me in the eyes. “I’d marry you a thousand times over for no other reason than the fact I fucking want you. But I don’t want you to marry me just because you have no other choice.”

I smile sheepishly, poking him in the gut. “I do have another choice. Kaian said he’d do it, remember.”

His eyes narrow at the mention of Kaian, and I laugh, enjoying his annoyance.

The corners of his lips twitch, and I see that familiar sparkle in his eyes that has me breathing a touch easier. Then he nods, releasing his grip on my head, his hands sliding down my shoulders and along my arms until he’s holding my hands. He turns to the priest and says, “Make it quick. We’re out of time.”

“Dearly beloved…”

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