51. Aeris
Aeris
“What about this one?” Oscar said, holding up a glass bowl with one hand above his head.
“Wow, let me just take that.” I carefully took the bowl out of his surprisingly strong grip and then smiled apologetically at the stall owner before dragging him away.
“What was wrong with it?” he cried, trying to pull me back. “You said you collect pretty things! That was pretty. It’s a green dinglehopper!”
“A what?”
“A dinglehopper! A thingamabob!”
“It’s a bowl.”
Oscar looked at me with disgust, as if I was destroying his life.
“Okay, where’s your mum, huh?” I glanced across the market, finding Brooke and August looking through the handmade wooden toys.
“This one, Mama!” August held a toy train against his chest, refusing to let it go.
“No, honey. You’ll just—”
“I’ll get it,” I said, turning to Oscar before he could get upset. “You can pick something too.”
His crumpled face immediately grinned with delight, and he became busy meticulously looking over every single toy the stall had to offer.
“First we see you twice in one month,” Brooke whispered to me as she cradled her coffee in one hand while slowly rocking Nohr in his pram. “Then you bring a boyfriend home and spend a ridiculous amount of money on your nephews? Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
“So funny.” I rolled my eyes. “Firstly, I always spoil my nephews. And secondly, Caden’s not my boyfriend.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She took a sip of her coffee, smiling behind the cup. “Oh, by the way, have you heard from Dad?”
I stiffened instantly. “You promised you wouldn’t call him if I met you today.”
That was the only reason I was here. Brooke had always been frighteningly good at blackmail. It was either meet her and the kids or she’d send Dad straight to my house—or worse, to Atlantis. Something I absolutely could not risk.
So this was the safer option, especially since I had chosen a busy open-air market, full of people and multiple exits.
“No, I mean, he’s been acting weird. I’m worried. I haven’t been able to get a hold of him for a few days.”
“You know Tristan, once he’s on a case he buries himself in work.”
“Maybe,” Brooke hummed, as if thinking about it. “It just feels like something’s wrong.”
For fuck’s sake.
“I’ll try to ring him. Will that make you feel better?”
The strain in Brooke’s shoulders immediately vanished. “Thanks, Aeris.”
“This one! This one!” August chanted, having changed his mind from the train to a red car.
“I want that one!” Oscar moaned, trying to snatch the same car while Brooke attempted to separate them.
I scanned across the row of colourful toys until I spotted an identical car on the opposite side of the stall. Looking up, I went to call out to Oscar when my gaze collided with a pair of mismatched eyes: one dark brown, the other green tinged with a touch of yellow.
Renley stood across the bustling market, completely motionless amid the flowing crowd, staring straight at me.
My stomach plummeted, ice flooding my veins when his gaze dropped to Oscar, who was tugging at my dress.
“Aunty Aeris!”
I grabbed his hand and immediately turned to Brooke. “I have to go,” I said, handing her Oscar and then enough cash to cover the cars. “I’m sorry.”
“Aeris—”
I didn’t hear the rest of her words, blood roaring in my ears as I quickly moved away, eyes scanning the crowd as I made my way to the edge of the market.
“There you are,” Renley said, coming up from behind. He grabbed my upper arm, pulling me tight against him. “Stay quiet, and I won’t hurt your cute little family.”
He gestured to our right, where I spotted one of Selene’s men hovering nearby.
“Drop your phone on the floor, otherwise I’ll give him the signal to kill them.”
I followed the order, and Renley immediately stomped on my phone several times until it was broken beyond repair.
“What do you want?” I whispered, trying not to draw attention as he tugged me towards a waiting car. “Does Selene know about this?”
“Who do you think sent me?” Renley sniggered, shoving me inside. I was forced to sit in the middle, a strange man to my left and Renley crushing against me to my right.
I flinched when I realised there was someone sitting opposite, his body slumped to the side with his mouth gaping open. He had no tongue, and blood glistened down his front from where his throat had been slit.
“Now, if you don’t want to end up like this poor, unfortunate soul, I suggest you sit there and don’t fight.”
I tensed, recognising the body as one of Caden’s men.
The driver waited a moment more before the man who’d been walking near Brooke and the kids slipped into the front passenger side.
“It seems Vivienne’s missing,” Renley said, his fingers brushing slowly down my thigh, deceptively gentle. “Know anything about that?”
“Have you tried calling her?” I replied, keeping my voice flat.
His fingers suddenly dug in hard enough to bruise. I bit the inside of my cheek, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a sound.
“I don’t know where Vivienne is. Probably off partying somewhere.”
His grip loosened, only for his hand to slide higher up my thigh, slipping beneath the hem of my dress. I moved to slap his hand away, but the man on my left caught my wrist.
“Let me go,” I said calmly, fighting the instinct to recoil as Renley’s fingers brushed between my legs.
Renley’s smirk was cold and cruel. “No, I don’t think I will.”
I closed my eyes, trying to stop the way my lungs tightened.
“No, no. Don’t do that.” Fingers pinched my face, and my eyes opened to find Renley had moved his face closer to mine. “Don’t hide from me. You know how much I like it when you cry.”
“Touch me again,” I hissed, “and I’ll make sure your death is as painful as possible.”
Renley simply grinned, that familiar, sickening smile spreading across his face.
His hand released my jaw, but his fingers continued their invasive exploration between my legs, stroking and prodding with deliberate, mocking slowness.
I swallowed the bile burning up my throat, forcing myself to remain perfectly still, detached, refusing to give him the reaction he wanted.
I didn’t know how long he tried to get me to react, but it felt like a lifetime before the car slowed to a stop outside my house.
“Get out.”
I was tugged out of the car, shoved forward until my palms slapped against my front door.
“Open it.”
I was proud my hands didn’t shake as I took out my keys, taking my time to unlock the door. But Renley ran out of patience, shoving me through hard enough that I stumbled, catching myself on the wall as he and the three other men moved inside my home.
My heart raced, one of the men yanking me harshly. I was pressed against his chest, one hand groping my breast while the other bunched the hem of my dress.
“Don’t,” I warned, only for Renley to laugh. “Selene will kill you. You know you’re not allowed to touch me.”
“That was before,” he laughed, moving to stand in front of me. “Now I have permission to make this hurt.”
Pulling out a knife, he pressed the flat of the cold blade against my jaw. Slowly, deliberately, he dragged it down the front of my throat and across my collarbone, the sharp edge teasing my skin without breaking it.
The man behind me yanked my dress all the way up to my waist, his rough hand groping my breast hard enough for me to wince. The other two watched with hungry, predatory eyes, one slowly undoing his belt while the other was already stroking his exposed cock.
I flinched when the knife nicked me, only to slip beneath a strap and slice the fabric. My dress sagged on one side, and the guy behind took full advantage, shoving his hand beneath the torn material to knead my flesh with painful force.
I stood frozen.
Unable to move.
“Do you remember this?” Renley whispered, slicing the other strap. “Because I do.” The dress slid down to pool at my waist.
My breathing came too fast, my head spinning with dizziness. My past threatening my present.
Look at her crying.
“I remember how you fought,” he continued, voice thick with sick pleasure. “How you begged and cried until we stuffed that pretty little mouth full.”
The knife moved lower, and the loud, obscene sound of fabric tearing filled the room as he sliced the rest of my dress open.
Let’s see how much she can take.
Cold air hit my bare skin, raising goosebumps as four sets of eyes devoured me.
Renley’s mismatched gaze raked over my body with dark hunger. “Still so fucking perfect,” he murmured, pressing the knife flat against my stomach. “Even after all these years of being Selene’s whore.”
Let’s make her bleed.
My gaze snapped to Renley’s, my anger surging through the nightmares that still haunted me. “Not her whore.”
I shoved my entire weight to the side, the move so sudden the guy behind loosened his grip.
I ducked as Renley went to grab me, hitting out with all my strength.
My fist managed to knock his nose, but as I went to turn around his arms encircled my waist, lifting me up until my legs were kicking in the air.
“Fucking bitch!” he sneered when I elbowed his head, and he threw me to the ground, hard.
My side took the brunt of it, knocking the air from my lungs. I began to cough, choking as I struggled to take in a breath. I tried crawling away, having managed to roll onto my front, but someone caught my hair, yanking it back until my back arched.
Twisting, I kicked out, screaming, fighting, and hitting with everything in me. I knew four men against one wouldn’t end well, but I wasn’t going to just take it.
I wasn’t fifteen anymore.
I was going to make them hurt. Make them fucking regret coming for me.
Someone cursed as my heel connected with their shin, and whoever had my hair released me just long enough for me to scramble forward again. Until someone else grabbed my ankle, dragging me back and flipping me over.
I lashed out, catching him across the face with my nails, drawing deep red lines down his cheek. He howled and backhanded me hard enough to split my lip.
“Hold the fucking bitch down!” Renley barked, wiping blood from his nose.
One of them pinned my arms above my head while the other two grabbed my kicking legs, spreading them wide.
“I’m going to make this hurt,” Renley sneered, reaching for his belt. “Let’s see how long it lasts until I have you sobbing.”