Chapter 40 Scarlett
Scarlett
I didn’t really register anything until after we got into his car.
I remembered people talking, commenting on the ceremony, congratulating Azrael only to whisper behind our backs, questioning why I thought I was allowed to look up or sign my words.
About how much of a whore I was for wearing something like this outside of the Back Hall.
But now we were finally in the car, driving down the road, three bikes around us, revving their engines every now and again as if to tell us that they were still present.
I watched the motorcycle in my side mirror keep close behind us, not allowing anyone to cut between him and the car as we drove.
The mirror said that he was closer than he appeared, but I wasn’t sure how that worked.
He looked kind of far to me, and wouldn’t he have to be to keep the cars away from us?
When the buildings and houses turned into thick forests, that’s when I finally looked over. I waved my hand until Azrael looked over. “What are they doing?”
Azrael turned back to the road. “Making sure someone from the church doesn’t do something stupid.”
I leaned back in my chair. Would they? Perhaps they would.
They really didn’t like what Azrael had done.
Taking me away from them and then the ceremony.
Would they really try to follow us to figure out where I now lived though?
They had lost that control, they had to have been angry.
They would never see me again outside of church—
My eyes widened and I looked over, getting his attention again. “Someone said that the other churches want to see me,” I told him. “The…E.L.D.E.R.S. also want to see me.”
Azrael studied me for a moment, his brows lifting a bit before he turned back to the road. “Now that you’re married off, they want to see what all the talk was about,” he replied. “That could work in our favor, little sinner.”
We slipped into silence then, my eyes trained on the forest outside the window. I had never seen much of the outside world, more so since Azrael helped me break out of the church’s habits, but this?
The trees were so green. This dark, haunted kind of green. It was stormy today, the sky grey and black. The smell of rain filled the world as we continued to drive down this winding two lane road, the only people on it being us and the brothers.
“Why are we so deep in the woods?” I asked without looking over.
Azrael must have been looking at me because he answered a second later. “It’s easier to hide and the best place for me to conduct business is a place where if the soundproofing ever fails, the screams still won’t find any ears.”
Screams.
“The Blackheart brothers will stay with us from time to time,” he went on. “That’s the cost of what they’ve done for me. They will need to use the place, but of course, I’m sure my brother will eventually find out about it and think it’ll be a perfect facility to use for the college too.”
I glanced over then, so many questions running through my mind. What did they do for him? What college? Why would they need to use it? “Why?” I asked instead.
He studied me for a moment before turning back to the road, his eyes narrowing.
After a moment of silence, I realized that it was a question he wouldn’t answer.
I was his wife now, but that did not mean I had a right to know him.
I leaned back in the seat, returning my attention to the road.
Azrael may not have been truly a part of that church, but something told me there were some rules that would remain the same.
He would keep his secrets from me. He would use me whenever he needed.
I would obey everything he said without question.
But he had also unlocked something inside of me that I never thought I was capable of feeling. He gave me power, and he had told me how much he liked the fight.
I was right, things had changed now that we were married.
He mentioned screaming, I held no doubt that one of those screams would be mine.
~ ~ ~
Sometime later, the two bikes in front of us finally turned, and we followed.
We drove down a paved road, so new that there was not a crack that I could see as we slowed.
It was windier than the road we were just on, the trees hugging us on either side. One lane, which I suppose made sense if it led straight to our house.
Our house.
All of this felt like a dream and the beginnings of a nightmare I would never escape.
Ten minutes later, the trees and pavement opened up, the house not coming into sight until after we were practically in front of it.
I leaned forward, taking in the beautiful architecture.
It was dark and just as haunting as the trees.
There were pillars and arched windows and old black lampposts lining the entire area.
It reminded me of the stories my mother told me of the beautiful church in a place called Cologne, Germany called the Cathedral Church of St. Peter.
I had never seen it, I didn’t even know where Germany was, but this place gave me the same feeling those stories had.
It was a place where bad things happened, and no one ever escaped.
Azrael parked the car and shut it off, the motorcycles pulling up on either side of us.
He got out and walked around, offering his cane to help me out.
I slid my hat on as soon as I straightened, gazing up at the beautiful, deeply terrifying house.
“What do you think?” Havoc asked, walking over.
“You outdid yourself,” Azrael commented, heading for the stairs that led up to the front doors.
I followed after him, trying to absorb everything I could on my way, the three men following after us.
Azrael unlocked the front door, but not with a key like my old house. There was some sort of pad next to the front door. He put his thumb on it before the locks slid over, allowing the door to open.
Azrael stepped to the side, his eyes locking with mine.
I turned to the doorway, glancing at that pad as I stepped over the threshold of the house. I wondered if I would ever be able to unlock the door.
The first thing I did was inhale. It smelled so fresh. So clean. It felt like I could breathe here.
The inside was just as beautiful as the outside. Architecture built into the walls, the floors shining and beautiful, a large chandelier hanging high above us. Black and crystal, covered in lights. It felt like I had walked into a twisted kind of fairytale.
“We’ve already hired some staff,” Havoc explained as the door shut behind us.
“They will be living on the second floor. Cleaners, a chef, and we’ve contacted your doctor.
He has a room here, and is willing to stay two nights a week, but he will stay on call per your agreement.
The others have all sworn their lives over to you.
They’ll live here, work for you, until they die. ”
“Offices?”
“Our offices are on the third floor.”
“Rooms,” Azrael asked.
“Third and first, this landing area does not count as a floor,” he clarified, “and of course, all you need in the basement. I’ll show you the blueprints for the tunnel, they’re in the office.”
Azrael nodded and turned to me. “Explore,” he told me. “The place is a maze for a reason, it’s up to you to find your way.”
My brows furrowed and I straightened. “Where is my room?”
“You don’t have a room, little sinner, we do.
Alaric will find you and lead you to it when the time is right, for now, your job is to explore.
There are stairs and an elevator just over there,” he gestured directly in front of us.
“Go, you are free to make your own choices, your own decisions. You now have freewill.”
I searched his eyes, flexing my hands at my sides, feeling my eyes harden.
His face hardened ever so slightly. “Do you not like that you have freewill?” he asked, turning to face me completely. “Because I can very easily take it away.”
It wasn’t that. I felt angry for many reasons, none of which were making themselves known.
My life had been written out for me since the second my mother found out she was pregnant.
I was told what I should be, how I should act, who I was to marry.
I was told when to sit, when to stand, when to breathe, and if I broke the rules, I was left bleeding from a whip the people I was taught to trust held.
Since the very second Azrael brought in those men to marry us, I had realized that nothing was written out anymore.
I was free.
And I hated it.
What was I supposed to do now? Just explore? Wander? I was only just growing comfortable with looking people in the eye, how did he expect me to wander?
“You’re lost because no one is telling you what to do,” he hummed, prowling towards me, “but don’t you worry your precious little heart, sinning doll, you’ll have little freedom here too.
If I were you,” he went on, using the bottom of his cane to push my chin up, “I’d take what you’re given when I give it to you.
You’ll find even in your wandering that you are never truly alone. ”
My heart was beating far too fast, my thighs tightening at his low purr of a voice. It was just a reminder of what was to come later.
He tilted his head to one side, watching me carefully. “Alaric, don’t let her wander too far. I know the people you hire as your staff. Some might…lust after what’s mine, and we can’t have that, can we?”
He didn’t reply, but then again, he didn’t have to. I could feel his powerful presence near me half a second later. He took up as much space as this world could allow, and he wasn’t giving an inch.
Maybe there was a reason I should fear the Blackheart brothers. They may have had the same eyes as Azrael, but they certainly didn’t have the same presence.
He released my chin a moment later. “Let’s go to the office, I have some business to finish.”
With that, he, Havoc, and Bishop turned for the elevator without looking back.
I flexed my hands at my sides, watching after them until the elevator doors shut, cutting off Azrael’s unwavering stare.
Wander?
Wander where?
I looked up to the balcony above us where the stairs on either side of me met. There was nothing but the elevator that I could see from where I stood, so I guess Havoc was right, this was just a landing area.
It didn’t really make sense, but I had never been in a place with more than one story, so maybe this was normal.
I glanced back to Alaric, slowly taking him in from foot to head.
He was the tallest of the three brothers, which made me feel like I was nothing more than a kitten.
I don’t think my head even reached the middle of his chest. He was just as covered in tattoos as Bishop and Havoc, but his eyes were near black.
I couldn’t even distinguish what color they were, they just looked black.
His expression was hard, but not in an angry way. I kept describing things as looking ‘haunted’ because it’s the best word I knew to describe what I saw, but I was wrong. Nothing I had seen since Azrael gave me sight had ever looked as haunted as him.
I turned away from him, clasping my hands together at my waist. Okay, explore. I could explore.