Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ATTICUS
From the driver’s seat of my car, I watch while Yorick disappears inside the club with that woman.
My rage is boiling over since I know that there’s no way Morpheus will let him go anywhere without watching his every move.
He’s taken what is mine and is determined to never let him go if he can use him against me.
He will do anything he can to ruin me, even if it means destroying others.
I park a good distance from the club and look down at my attire, well aware I’m going to draw attention the instant I try to enter through the front door like this. I’ll have to allure them, which could alert Lou or Morpheus.
My phone rings, and I look down and see that it’s Johnny.
I immediately answer, in case he has something that will help with this situation.
“Tell me he’s not heading here,” I say, since I left Johnny to tail Morpheus while I tailed Yorick and Lou.
“All I can tell you is that I have been staked to a tree. It really is rather unpleasant,” Johnny says.
“Are you going to live?”
“Possibly.”
“He left you there?”
“Yes. I assume he’s heading your way. If you plan to extract Yorick, you need to do it now.”
I push my car door open but the second I do, a hand reaches in for me.
“Allow me,” Morpheus says, as if he thinks I’m going to take his hand to exit the car.
“I want Yorick. That’s all I want, and then you can return to your miserable fucking existence,” I snarl.
Morpheus leans against my door as he beams down at me.
“He wants me, though. So how could you take that precious little sweetheart away from where he’s happiest?
He’s already told you he wants nothing to do with you.
And we both know that he’ll live a much longer life in my care…
mostly because I won’t be itching to kill him just to make you miserable, Atticus. ”
I shove him back, knowing that I can only do it because he allows me to. Then I exit the car and watch him closely. “Let me talk to him, at least.”
“And tell him what? How horrible a person I am? How much I abused you? Atticus, I hate every part of you. Ever since that day, I made sure you knew that I was going to rip you apart. I was going to kill everyone you cared about until you were a miserable husk. So stop acting so surprised every time I do. You always were such a whiny thing. This is what you deserve.”
I grit my teeth, knowing that I need to play this game of his carefully.
Morpheus’s eyes drop down to my clothes and his smirk widens. “Look at you. Look what happened the last time we ‘talked.’ Are you sure you want to ‘talk’ again?”
I know he’s referring to my bloodstained clothes. I should have changed them to blend in better, but by the time I healed enough to function, it was daylight and I was left hiding in some shed, hoping the owners didn’t decide that today was the day to do yard work. Then I rushed straight here.
Morpheus reaches out for me, and I dart toward the club, confident he won’t attack me inside.
But before I reach the door, he drives me back into the alley next to the club.
He’s fast; hell, the monster is twice my age.
I dodge his first hit, but a second comes right after.
I manage to avoid another strike, but I’m doing nothing to return any of his blows.
All I can do is defend myself while he strikes me again and again.
His punch is so hard that when he misses me, his hand sinks into the bricks that make up the neighboring building. When I try to use his miss as an advantage so I can attack, I realize we’re not alone.
A laugh escapes me. “You can’t even fight fair, can you?
Nothing in life is ever fair when it comes to you,” I say as two vampires rush me at the same time.
I’m quick to immobilize both of them, but it gives Morpheus the opening he desires, and he tears open my throat and my side in two fast movements.
They’ll both heal and are already doing so, but it leaves me vulnerable when facing him.
He grabs me by the throat and lifts me up.
“You are nothing, Atticus. And the sooner you learn that, the better it’ll be.
I left you alone for the past hundred years because you were being good.
I stopped by just to remind you of your place, and look at all the drama you’ve caused.
” He throws me to the ground. “You will listen in time. I’m sure of it. ”
“I will fucking destroy you if you hurt Yorick,” I snarl as he pins me to the ground.
“You can’t even protect yourself. How would you ever protect Yorick?
Then again, we both know that you care more about him than you care about yourself.
” Morpheus chuckles. “What’s funny is that him thinking that no one cares about him is what led him to me.
He’s so desperate for attention that he’ll do anything I ask of him. ”
“Yorick is not as weak as you seem to think he is.”
With a laugh, he walks away as I hold the slit in my throat and try to find the strength to get back to my feet, but in this state, I’m weak.
I’m always weak when it comes to this man, but it doesn’t help that he nearly killed me last night after Yorick went to his room.
Morpheus knew Yorick left in an attempt to give me an opportunity to speak to him.
Instead, Morpheus drew me out of the house and did his best to kill me.
Not that he would kill me. That would ruin his fun for sure.
I need to get Yorick back, but Morpheus has proven again and again that doing so is impossible. Johnny’s right, I’ve fucked up. And now I’m going to pay the price for it.
As I drag my weakened body into a sitting position, my mind drifts off to the second time I came across Yorick, years after the first. Our meetings were always fleeting, yet he knew how to leave an impression on me.
Humans rarely did.
But this one knew how.
After our first encounter when he’d stolen my money, I’d promised myself that after I slept, I would go retrieve my money before tossing his body to rot.
But when I’d woken that evening, I had decided that chasing after a teenager was petty business, and I didn’t have the time or desire to deal with such things.
Which meant that we didn’t meet again for about three years.
“Help! Someone, please, help me!”
The screams won’t stop disturbing my slumber. All I want to do is sleep. I’ve been busy dealing with trading routes that will lead me to significant wealth and finally settled in for some sleep before this insistent screeching started up.
It’s so loud that I can hear it from within the small hunting cabin I’ve holed up in, planning on staying here for a short while.
“HELP! PLEASE!”
Have these people never heard of a gag?
Getting up, I’m filled with rage as I throw open the door to the cabin and storm outside. I follow the sound until I find a small group of slavers hauling some slaves after them. Some are in a large caged wagon and the rest are dragged along by chains.
That’s when I lock eyes with the very one who woke me up.
He stares at me.
I stare at him.
It has been… what? Three years since I’ve seen him? He seems to have finally matured into an adult, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how goddamn irritating he is.
“Uh… what do you think about sending someone else to come save me?” he asks, and because he’s not paying attention, the slaver jerks him forward and he falls. It drags the man down in front of him, and then the whole row is staggering or falling.
“Get to your feet. And shut the fuck up before I cut your tongue out,” the slaver snaps, smacking the young man on the back with a whip. It’s clear from his bruising and welts that this isn’t the first time he’s been hit. The man lifts the whip again before he sees me.
“Who the fuck are you?” the man asks, and the slavers all turn to me.
“I’m just wondering if you can be quieter. I am trying to sleep,” I snarl.
Everyone comes to a stop as the man laughs. “I’m sorry that we were disturbing your precious sleep.”
“Buy me… I really think you should buy me,” the young man calls from where he’s wallowing on the ground. With his pretty face and lithe frame, it’s easy to guess what kind of slave he’ll end up being.
“I would buy you, but I sadly don’t have the money to do so… my purse was taken that had the exact amount of coins that you’re worth.”
“I will pay you back,” he promises.
“Shut the fuck up,” the slaver barks before he charges up to me.
He’s so close that I can smell his rancid breath.
“You think you’re here to save these sorry souls?
How about I teach you a lesson so you can learn to keep to yourself?
” Spittle hits my face as my hand instinctively reaches out, and I grab him by the neck and snap it before dropping him to the ground.
That might have been a bit drastic… although it’s not like any of these sick fucks are good people.
There’s a brief moment of shock over the demise of their leader before they all charge me with weapons drawn, since apparently watching his swift death wasn’t enough to fill them with fear.
Their inconsequential lives all quickly end that day, and then I’m left staring at about twelve human slaves, one of whom is very annoying.
The human acts delighted, as if he thinks I did this for him. “My savior. Oh my. So handsome.”
“Would you like to dig your own grave or would you like me to leave your body to rot alongside theirs?” I ask.
“A grave for sure. I want a cute little sign, too. Here lies Yorick the Brave.”
“Start digging,” I growl as I walk over and break the chains around the door on the slaver wagon.
The people seem uncertain and scared, but I just shoo them off like they’re feral cats.
They take the hint and run, leaving only those who are shackled together.
It’s hard to break their shackles without accidentally breaking their fragile bones, so I find the keys and unlock them.
I leave “Yorick” for last.