Chapter 31 #2
“We can save you,” Kincaid whispers, and the girl’s head snaps up for a brief second, holding Kincaid’s stare before lowering it once more. “I promise you, we’ll take you with us if you could just give us the keys to the cell.”
Fear is written all over the girl’s features, etched in every line and burning in her eyes like flames of destruction.
She wants to help, she wants to escape, but she’s too afraid.
I’m certain that the courage she has deep in her gut is the reason for her decorated mouth.
Punishment for talking back is my guess.
The handle turns and we go back to our earlier positions. There’s no fucking way we’re putting this poor kid’s life in even more danger. She’s suffered enough.
When the door swings open, the first guy comes back in, but he’s not alone.
Behind him is Viktor, and shackled like a fucking servant, is Mia. She’s no longer dressed in jeans and a crop top. No longer crying. To my horror, she’s dressed exactly like the other girl and I wish that were the reason my stomach bottoms out and my heart breaks into a million pieces.
Mia’s long black hair is shaved, her face is blotchy from hours and possibly days of crying. Her hands are scratched up as well as any visible part of her neck and face. One of her eyes is shut and swollen, the black circle wide enough to include her cheek, whereas her lid is bright red.
“Mia?” I say her name like a prayer, a plea for forgiveness. I’m sorry, Mia. I’m so fucking sorry.
“She won’t respond to Mia. She’s a lamb now.
She’ll need more training, of course, but she’ll get there soon enough.
Once she’s ready, she’ll marry, and by the way the members appreciated her form, I’m thinking she’ll have plenty of worthy suitors.
” As he speaks, Viktor brings his index finger to Mia’s chin, and to her credit, she doesn't even flinch. “Maybe I’ll even take her for myself. We examined her and she’s still a virgin, therefore suited for me. ”
Movement in my periphery tells me the girl has shifted in her seat. I don’t know why, but I can guess. Her body is remembering the cruelty of this man.
“I’ll fucking kill you myself if you touch her.” I speak through gritted teeth, spit flying across the space like a threat to his life.
“You’ll do no such thing.” Then he turns to Mia and smiles like a fucking creep. “Lamb, darling. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be punished for your brother’s insubordination.”
No. No, no, no.
The shackles around her feet are linked to a chain that leads to the shackles around her wrist. AR-15 guy places his gun on the table before busying himself with Mia’s cuffs, snapping them closed on the chains suspended on the walls in front of us.
I hadn’t even seen those, but once I do, I notice them all around the cell and the hallway.
“You see, Mr. Russet, I tried to negotiate with you but you refused to trade your sister for your girlfriend. In my world, that’s unacceptable. Family, after all, is always most important.” With every word he says, my mind is conjuring all the ways I’m going to skin him alive.
Not to mention the hypocrisy and gall of this asshole, the same guy who ran the other night, leaving his daughter in our clutches.
The other guy walks away and as Viktor is lifting Mia’s dress all the way up and covering her shaved head with it, I see the lashings on her back. They’re red and swollen, some are even bleeding and most will leave scars.
My entire body is shaking, my heart beating so fast I’m afraid it’ll jolt right out of my chest. With labored breaths, I try to speak, but I don’t even know what the fuck I’m supposed to say at this point.
Anything that comes out of my mouth will inevitably be a threat and I can’t make this even worse for my sister.
What the fuck am I supposed to do here?
The minion comes back with a whip, a singular long leather cord swinging with every one of his steps, and hands it to Viktor.
“Wait!” I have no fucking clue where I’m going with this but I’ll say anything to give her more time. “What do you want? Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you, but you let go of my sister.”
“You misunderstand me, Mr. Russet.” If my last name is never uttered again, it’ll be too soon. “She is no longer your sister. She is our lamb, and as such, she can never leave. God has chosen her path and brought her straight to us so as to find her salvation.”
Beside me, Kincaid curses under her breath while my mind is trying to make sense of this situation, of this strange parallel universe that shouldn’t exist outside of fiction.
I mean, we know all too well about the sex trafficking happening in the world, and we’ve done our part in trying to eliminate it, but a cult?
What fresh Hell is this?
The first lashing burns Mia’s scream into my soul.
The second makes my entire body revolt with the need to throw up. I should turn away, save myself the agony of watching my sister being whipped raw.
The third lashing steels my resolve that when—not if—I get my hands on Viktor, I will make him pay tenfold for every scar he created.
The fourth streak of the whip changes the very fibers of my DNA and I vow to save every fucking woman in this place and kill anyone who has had a hand in their enslavement.
Viktor throws the whip to the cement floor, and just as he unties his linen robe, a booming crash makes the very foundation of the building shake and crumble.
Sirens are going off, men and women screaming somewhere above us, but Kincaid and I aren’t afraid. We know what’s happening. There was never any doubt.
“What’s going on?” The extra on this action movie that is my life looks confused, scared even, as Viktor takes out his phone and yells shit in what I’m guessing is Russian.
He turns to me, fire burning deep in his irises as he listens to whatever they’re telling him on the other line. All I can do is grin and I don’t need a mirror to know it’s evil. I’m evil. My intentions are as evil as they come.
“Who is it?” he asks, our eyes locked in a duel that he’s going to lose.
“That, you worthless piece of shit, is my wife coming for you.” Pride swells deep in my chest because I know, I can feel it in my bones that the chaos happening outside isn’t the club’s doing.
We’ve always gone under the radar, but Parker?
Yeah, she’s a big announcement kind of warrior in shining armor.
Rubble and dust fall from the ceiling, a crack forming just under the girl’s chair where she’s been sitting quietly this whole time.
The small fault runs beneath her and she jumps to her feet before running to the side just as the useless guy falls, hitting his head hard on the cement.
She tries to help but he’s out cold. My attention, however, shifts to Viktor, who’s unbuckling Mia while avoiding the falling chunks of ceiling that could easily knock him out.
“Lamb! Go meet the others outside.” I don’t look at the girl, I’m too focused on Mia, who’s still unconscious as Viktor drapes her over his shoulder, ready to run and leave us here.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” At the sound of Parker’s Britishy sing-song voice, I grin, and this time, there’s nothing evil about it. This time, I’m as happy as a fucking clown.
Until the familiar rat-tat-tat-tat of a semi-automatic weapon kills my hearing and fills me with fear.
When I turn toward the chaos, I see the teenage girl filling her captor’s body with bullets.
It’s obvious she has no idea what she’s doing, but Viktor does.
Kincaid and I step back, shielding ourselves from the array of wild bullets as best we can, but my eyes are trained on Parker, who’s taking cover behind a half wall.
Unfortunately, this gives Viktor plenty of time to take out a gun and shoot the poor girl in the face. She falls, her trigger finger locked on the AR-15 now blasting bullets into the ceiling.
When Viktor turns his gun to Parker, she raises her gun at the very same time.
It’s like a bad Spaghetti Western and all that’s missing is the whistling music. Except there’s nothing fun about this scene. The two most important women in my life are being held hostage by a fucking cult leader or whatever the fuck he is.
“You wanna dance, motherfucker?” I growl, but Viktor doesn’t take the bait. Instead, he shoots Parker just as she shoots him.
“Parker! Parker!” I’m rattling the cage holding us prisoner, screaming for my woman. Her upper body is hidden by the half wall and Viktor’s shoulder is blossoming with red from where Parker shot him.
“She’s dead. Now shut the fuck up.”
Then he leaves, my sister in tow, and my fucking world is shattered.