Chapter Nineteen
Moth
The ringing in my head woke me from my deep slumber. I squeezed my eyelids closed to try and calm the pounding pain that rattled my brain. I didn't want to wake up, I'd been numb to it all, switched off again, just like normal me.
Dragging my eyelids up, I grunted when the darkness stayed, trying to suck me back under. I wanted to go, but something… an instinct was calling me to wake up.
Where was I? And why did I feel so drugged? Moving my arm, I paused when the grinding of metal on the ground shrilled through my head. I suddenly became aware of the cool concrete beneath my fingers, my torso and my forehead.
Alia!
Lifting my head weakly, I blinked my eyes open, squinting when the light attacked my pupils. The last time I'd seen Alia, she'd been held hostage by Brandon and he'd fired something at me. Clearly it hadn't been a bullet, otherwise I'd be with Wasp right now.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the light and things started to come into focus. Metal poles rose from the floor to the ceiling, concreted in at either end. A bright light from above illuminated the whole room.
“Alia.”
She was in the corner of the square cage, her arms tied by chains and attached to the metal poles around her. I pushed myself up, ready to go to her. The heaviness around my wrists pulled and I looked down, studying the manacles that bound me. Shit, I was also chained to the metal poles, in the opposite corner of the cage.
“Alia,” I croaked, “wake up!”
Her body was slouched against the poles, her head resting awkwardly. She still looked beautiful, despite the drool that dribbled down her chin. My chest tightened and I pushed up into a stand, unsteady on my legs.
“Sunshine, wake the fuck up,” I barked, my voice getting stronger.
The sound of a door opening drew my attention. There was a big metal double door just outside the cage. Brandon came through it, swinging something on a piece of string as he closed it behind him and came nearer.
“Oh, good, you're awake!” he said, coming to stand by the bars that formed an entrance to the cage. “How's the headache?”
Growling, I rushed towards him, gasping when the chains tugged me back, yanking on my wrists painfully.
“I'm not going to lie,” Brandon said, leaning on the bars, “I can see why she's fallen for you. The tattoos, the leathers, the muscles and the dirty hair almost flopping in your eyes. She used to like me because I was a brooding hero.”
“Fuck off,” I spat, “and let her go.”
Lifting the key on the string, he unlocked the door and came inside, smirking when I tried, and failed, to go for him again.
My wrists burned from the cold metal as it dug into my skin. Brandon held up a finger, his eyebrows raised as he studied me.
“It's funny,” he said, moving closer to Alia, “I thought I was obsessed with her, which I was to a certain degree, but I just wanted to fuck her, one last time, against her will.”
My teeth gritted hard as I breathed through them, my chest rising and falling. Brandon crouched beside Alia and stroked a strand of blonde hair out of her face.
“Get off her!” I took hold of the chain attached to the right manacle and tried to pull it off, using all of my strength.
Brandon chuckled at my feeble attempt. “Don't pretend that it wouldn't turn you on to do the same. She's comatose right now. I could just bury myself deep inside her and she wouldn't even know.”
A feral shout exploded from me as I struggled against my restraints, pacing towards him and away. “I said, get away from her.”
My insides quivered at the powerlessness that gripped me. If he dared to touch Alia, in any way, I would break my own hands to get out. I'd somehow reach her before he could do it.
“It's too early.” Brandon stood and backed away from Alia. “And she's too sweaty. I like my woman clean. I shall give her a strip wash tomorrow. Something we'll both enjoy, I'm sure. You better get some rest, all that pacing will wear you out and the thirst will kill you before I've had my fun.”
He slipped through the gate and locked it, turning straight to the door.
“Release me!” I shouted loudly.
He didn't even flinch, just threw up a wave without looking back before disappearing out the door.
Alia groaned and stirred, lifting her head and clasping it with a hand. “What's going on?” she muttered, smacking her dry mouth.
Stretching the chains out as far as I could, I sighed, relieved that she had come around. “That bastard has us in chains. Are you okay?”
Her forehead scrunched as her eyes opened, snapping shut again as soon as the light hit them. She'd also been drugged by the bastard. He’d better not have done anything to her while we’d been out cold.
“How did we get here?” Alia blinked her eyes open and stared at me, her eyebrows still furrowed. “Especially you, you're heavy.”
“Thanks,” I replied, not quite sure how to reassure her. “He must have put us in a truck or van, I don't know.”
Her little hand balled and she wiped the drying saliva from the corner of her mouth. The small action was innocent and cute, and for the first time, my chest swelled from affection. Shit.
“I'm sorry,” I started, “I promised to keep you protected and I failed. I–”
“No!” She put a tentative hand on the ground and tried to push up into a stand.
I wanted to go forward, to catch her when she wobbled, but I couldn't move. Our binds were keeping us apart.
My chest was tight, emotion bubbling under the surface as I watched my sworn enemy, weak and in danger. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything for Alia. What did it mean?
“You couldn't have predicted that this would happen,” she went on, holding onto the bar to right herself. “It was a stupid moment of negligence on our part, that's all.”
Shaking my head violently, I clenched my hands into fists. “You can try and justify it, but I was distracted, which goes against rule one of carrying out vengeance.”
“You have rules?” She was standing straight now, checking herself and dusting down her jeans.
Thank goodness she'd kept her jacket on, it was cold in the warehouse and I wouldn't have wanted her to freeze. Fuck, I was getting soft.
“We have rules.”
“We?”
I scowled. “Yes, the three fucking men I swore an allegiance to on the day we got taken back to our families.”
Alia hugged herself and shivered, looking around us to take in our surroundings. “We could do with those men right now.”
My brothers would be looking for us, I was certain. However, I had no idea if they'd find us in time.
“Do you have CCTV on the wall outside the shop?” I stepped forwards, my arm stretching back towards the cage wall.
Nodding, she came closer, tugging her wrists to pull on the chains.
“Careful,” I warned, “you'll hurt yourself.”
She looked down at my wrists and gasped. “You've cut yourself, you're the one who needs to be careful.”
I gave myself a cursory glance, ignoring the slight mar of red blood on my skin. We had to think of a way to get out of the chains in order to escape.
“There is CCTV. I don't know how angled it is, but hopefully they're able to study it and see how he got us out of the alley.” Her face screwed up and she swore. “Fucking bastard! I thought you were dead.”
“Am I the bastard? Did you want me to be dead?”
“No,” she muttered, coming as close as she could, “of course not. My whole being screamed on the inside when I thought you were dead. Waking up to see you here, alive and breathing and sweaty and bare-chested…”
I stepped forward, almost coming flush against her as we stood facing one another, our arms outstretched backwards where the chains were stretched through the air.
“I want to fuck you slow,” I said, my voice cracking as blood pumped to my cock.
She was in my head, in my body, her essence running through my veins, and it was bliss. Except, I couldn't touch her. She was just out of reach, even though her breath fanned my nipples.
Licking her lips, she dropped her head back and leaned closer, wincing when the chains pulled and her tits rubbed against my chest, just barely grazing in the most delicious tease.
“Fuck, Sunshine.” Shaking my head, I moved away, “Don't hurt yourself.”
“Don't run away,” she muttered, closing her eyes and leaning towards me as far as she could.
Her shoulders started to distort, the pressure too much on her joints.
“Stop!” I barked, snarling as I went to her, trying to nudge her with my torso.
The slight connection jolted her and she stumbled back, cringing as she rolled her shoulders. “Trust you to want to fuck when we've been kidnapped.”
“What can I say?” I muttered, going to stand by the corner to allow my achy arms to rest. “Adrenaline fucks with my mind.”
“And you're trying so hard to resist me.” Alia stretched her eyes and swayed slightly.
She was still drugged. Great, she had to rest and drink water. Except, there wasn't any. Not even on the outside of the cage.
“You need water.” I checked the corners of the roof to see if there were any cameras. There wasn’t any visible, although that didn't mean Brandon hadn't hidden them somewhere.
Slipping down into a sit, Alia lifted her knees and leant back against the cage. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she looked around, searching for a way out.
“He's been in,” I said, lowering myself to the floor and mirroring her position.
My cock had softened in the wake of her vulnerability. My plan for revenge had brought with it a shit ton of complications. At first, I'd been more than ready to take her out… all the way out. But now? Now, she was pushing against the cracks that had formed in my protective wall, prodding my psyche. If she managed to get through, everything I had worked hard to attain would be in jeopardy.
Our rules for seeking revenge weren’t just there for fun. They were there to protect our hearts and others, too. If we fell in love, there was a risk we wouldn't go through with our vow. The one to join my brother as soon as everyone who had hurt us had paid.
“What did he say?” she sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Why doesn't he just kill us, now?”
I'd been staring at the ground, but my eyes lifted with her question, my straggly hair almost covering them. “He wants to terrorise us,” I muttered, my voice low. “To see how far he can push us.”
Her pretty eyes widened and I almost regretted my words. It was better that she prepared herself for the worst, just in case the bastard did return to carry out his heinous act.
“We need to come up with a plan,” I went on, ignoring the tears that slowly dribbled down her cheeks. “You have to be strong, no matter what he does.”
Wringing her hands together, she shook her head. “It would be bad enough that he forced me without you in the room, but you…watching?”
She held her stomach and heaved, her free hand coming up to cover her mouth. I tried to shove down the tide of protectiveness that surged. I wanted to go to her, to hold her and reassure her that nothing bad was going to happen.
I'd be fucking lying if I dared to say any of those words. Because as much as I wanted to keep her safe, even more so now that it was my fault she had been captured, there was a chance I couldn't break my wrists to get free from the chains.
“I'm sorry,” I muttered, “I should've just done what my instincts told me.”
“Kill him?” Her eyes widened. “I wouldn't let you. Now I regret it.”
“And would you have judged me for it?”
Pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes, she shook her head. “Of course not. You respected my wishes, but I never thought he would do this. I should've let you kill him so he couldn't get us first.”
“Sunshine,” I pushed through my teeth, “I will try everything in my power to kill him before he hurts you.”
Now that was a promise I could keep. Breaking bones for her would be easy compared to watching her suffer.
“Moth…” She looked me directly in the eye. “…if he returns and does anything to me… promise me that you'll look away.”
Heat seared every inch of my skin and I snarled, my lip raising above my teeth. I would kill myself with the chains wrapped around my neck before letting him get her. In fact…
“The chains are fairly long,” I said, lifting them and clinking them back down on the ground. “You need to rest and get your strength up.”
Her forehead creased as she looked at the silver links on the ground before replying. “You ignored my last request.”
Turning to the side, I rested against the bar. “The chains are a weapon.” I ignored her again. “If you can build your strength, you can either hit him with them or wrap them around his neck.”
“Okay.” She lifted her wrist, holding the chain up in the air. “They're fucking heavy, I don't know if I'll be strong enough. It won't stop me from trying, though.”
“I'll try to entice him closer to me first. I'll have more of a chance to get them around his neck.” I chuckled. “Oh the satisfaction of seeing his face turn blue would probably turn me on.”
Alia blinked, her eyes rolling as she rubbed her wrist where she dropped it on her lap. “How did you get so dark?” she murmured, shrinking in on herself when I glared in her direction.
“Just rest.”
I laid down to encourage her to do the same, and she did, copying me by putting her arm under her head and closing her eyes.
The drugs would still be in her system, which would make her slow. If she could sleep it off, she would have a slight chance at fighting Brandon off when he returned.
Sitting up slowly when her chest rose and fell steadily, I studied the manacles on my wrists. Using my teeth, I tried to undo the bolt that fastened them. The bastard hurt my tooth and sliced my gum, but I didn't care.
Spitting out the blood that pooled in my mouth, I swore silently. Gripping the metal, I tugged and pulled, twisting my arm to try and wrench at least one hand free. I felt no pain as my bones bruised and my skin cut. If I wanted to be free, I had to try and get the cuffs wet.
I checked that Alia was still asleep and faced slightly away from her. Holding the manacle, I ground the metal into my skin, spinning the circle around as I pressed it down hard. My teeth clenched against the pain as the material grazed my skin, drawing some blood, but mostly burning me.
Blinking, I looked around, checking to see if there was a way to cut myself. It had to be enough to get my wrist completely saturated, but not too much to bleed out before I could do anything to defend Alia.
It was useless, as much as I didn't want to admit it, we were fucked. The cunt had well and truly done us over. I was fucking stupid. An idiot for even thinking I'd be strong enough to keep her safe as well as exact her revenge.
And that was why I'd wanted to stay numb in the first place. Feeling something for her had made me weak and put her in danger.
Now it was too late. I'd use every ounce of strength I had to kill Brandon if I could get hold of him, but if I couldn’t...
I just had to hope my brothers would find us before the bastard came back.