48
My heartbeat pulses in my ears. The fucker is going for a low blow.
The one thing he enjoys is getting a reaction out of me.
I'm losing my head again. He knows it. He wants to sabotage our plan.
He suspects I want to bring him down but has no proof.
These slow calculated games are tests, and I refuse to fail.
Even though playing the part is becoming increasingly difficult.
He wants me to break. He knows watching Clara getting fucked would send me into a spiral.
He was correct. Why he wanted Vesper, I don't fucking know, but I'm gonna find out.
He wants to show that I'm weak and untrustworthy to the Void just to watch if I'll sink or swim.
My outburst doesn't help matters. He's waiting for me to slip up.
“Fuck you,” I growl. He scoffs, eyeing me. The entirety of the Void has eyes on us.
“I have something you will want to know.” He ushers us towards his office. My teeth grind together, knowing whatever it is is going to test my limits. He nods toward Zain and the girls. “Bring them with you.”
I weigh my options. Mortensen is cold and calculated.
I don't trust him, but I trust these Elites less.
We file into his office. The girls are reluctant, but blindly follow because there is no other means of escape for them.
Just like at home. Solid wood bookshelves line the walls.
Mahogany and cherry carved wood furniture.
Wooden beams line the ceiling above us. I shrug off my jacket at the same time as Zain.
We cover the girls' nudity. Something strange tugs on my insides.
It's a wordless gesture, nothing more. The girls refuse to sit on the leather sofa, choosing to instead linger in the doorway.
I don't blame them. This lifestyle sure as hell isn't for the faint of heart.
Once you've grown accustomed, you grow immune.
Mortensen plucks a handkerchief from his pocket to dab the dried blood caked along his jawline. His eyes harden at Zain.
Zain's contemptible look burns into Mortensen. He decides to stay perched by the exit in case shit goes down. Smart man. Always a step ahead. Let's hope we're two steps ahead of Mortensen.
I cross my arms over my chest. “What the fuck? You're an instigating piece of shit, you know that?” I start going hard. Probably not the best choice of words, but I can't help myself. He neatly adjusts his vest, clutching his pocket watch as if I didn't just insult him.
I suppose to a sick fucker like him, that’s a compliment.
He takes a seat behind his desk with a wicked grin, settling into his high-back chair. “How do you think I kept the power? It’s not by weakness,” he muses. He clicks his tongue, his face wrinkling with mirth.
“Do you remember her? Hmm?” He drills me. I know he's talking about the blonde woman. How the fuck could I forget? She's terrorized my thoughts for too long. I clamp down on my tongue ring to prevent myself from saying some stupid shit.
He rests his hands on the desk. “I suppose you do. It’s difficult to forget your first time.” I recoil in disgust at his words. My first time. I forced her. I hurt her. I took her without remorse like a savage. A mistake that led the way to who I am now and what I need to function.
“Did you know, the blonde was your sister? Her name was Isolde.” he says calmly as if he isn't delivering a devastating blow.
His words seize my entire system. Don't slip, Kieran. Don't take
the bait. He's a liar.
“What the fuck?” The words crack on my tongue.
I shake my head. My neck snaps to Zain. His mouth falls open, a shocking look of bewilderment written on his face.
The girls exchanged glances, probably wondering how they're involved in any of this shit.
Guess they're along for the ride. “I never had a sister. Mom only had me. You're a lying sack of shit!”
I shout, my eyes narrowing. I slam my fist on his desk jostling it.
He rounds the desk to approach me. The look in his eyes offers truth, something he rarely shows.
“Oh, she did only have you. Unfortunately.”
he sneers, hinting at the disappointment I've always been.
Never been good enough. His desire for a perfect son never ended.
When he realized I wouldn't be malleable, he resorted to violence and psychological abuse.
Even then I rebelled. His voice sours. “Though, that didn’t stop me from fucking the girls inside the Void. The perks of being a Grimshaw. My mistake was not forcing the slut to abort the child sooner. Your mother was livid when she found out I knocked up one of the whores,
but she knew the life she got into when we married. Monogamy is beneath me. She wanted a simple life. Deplorable,” he hisses.
My head whirls. Anger radiates from my skin. “Are you telling me . . . I fucked my sister? My half-sister?” My voice grows increasingly loud with each syllable. I take a step closer. I'm on the verge of punching his face in. Fuck the plan.
Actually. New Goddamn plan. Kill Mortensen. NOW. I no longer want to dethrone him and watch him crumble while his world falls to ash. Fuck it, I want to watch his blood seep from his skin until he admits he's a fucked up father.
His blood stained mouth widens. “How fitting really. Your initiation. Your first sexual encounter. Robbed from you. How else do you mold leaders into the hierarchy? I needed her ruined and destitute of all hope. My son, you delivered. All the way up until the very moment you killed her.
I'm impressed.” He showcases a toothy grin.
My breathing bottoms out. I feel fucking nauseous.
I thought I only choked her out, not killed her.
This is where I lose my shit. Before I can react, Zain surges forward to hold me back, but despite being a massive dude, I'm bigger.
My fist connects to Mortensen's face before he wrangles me back.
“What the fuck, you piece of shit! I fucking killed her?”
Zain's hands on my shoulders sear into my skin.
He gargles. Blood seeps from his mouth, “Not directly,” he smooths out.
He dodges my blows. “Who was her mother?!”
I roar, needing some answers before I completely go mental.
Zain manages to restrain me. I demand blood.
My body trembles with adrenaline. Mortensen's gaze flickers to Vesper.
He staggers backward, righting himself against his desk.
A few loose pens scatter along the desktop calendar.
“Emma Riley,” he says slowly. His eyes skitter back to Vesper and Zain.
Oh, fuck.
Zain freezes. Vesper stills. Clara's face drops.
“She was an offering here. Another useless drugged out woman. They're a dime a dozen. When I was your age, I too, chased the high of sex. Pussy is powerful. Don’t let them manipulate you.”
The pounding in my ears grows louder. His words send a wave of bile in my throat.
To think we have any similarities at all is laughable.
“You see, Kieran, I learned from my mistakes. I eradicated Emma and Isolde, using her for the Void's pleasure until her body was utterly spent. Isolde was impure, a half-breed piece of trash, just like them!” His voice grows an octave as he points to Zain, Clara and Vesper with animosity.
I stagger backward into Zain; he keeps me upright.
Isolde. My sister. The blonde who has haunted my inner sanctum, imprisoning my thoughts.
Everyone is awestruck. None of this was part of the plan, but I can't deviate now, no matter how fucked up this is.
Zain and Vesper may never forgive me, and I wouldn't blame them.
My father fucked their mother, lied about her drug overdose while I delivered the final blow with fucking and killing their sister—our sister.
Bile erupts from my throat, spilling onto the hardwood office floor before me.
Mortensen scowls. “Weak.” His harsh words break me down a notch, but I refuse to fall. He's not broken me yet, I'll be damned if he starts now.
I let out a shaky breath and wipe my mouth along my tatted forearm.
“Is that why you needed Vesper? You wanted to punish her for her mother’s sin? Your mistress's sins?!”
I struggle to keep composure, barking out a heady whisper.
I could let the anger consume me, but for once in my fucking life I think before I act.
What I need is for Mortensen to believe I'm just like him so we can escape.
He's a power-hungry corrupt piece of trash.
My entire life—my entire being, I've fought his evil inequities, but deep down his guiding hand has molded me into how he wanted me to turn out.
Maybe I am the evil beast he created . . .
Mortensen stands proud. “That is right, son. We need to eradicate them from Grimshaw, from the world!” he bangs his fist on the desk. The derangement in his voice has reached a peak. He's lost his sanity. He's ruthless.
Quiet sobs ring out behind me. I step forward a notch, but it's Vesper who speaks up.
“So my mother . . . she . . . was in the Void? We had a sister?”
. Mortensen's heated gaze flickers to her.
“Yes. And you are my daughter,” he hisses with distaste, as if she's poison on his tongue and doesn't deserve a moment of his precious time.
Vesper crumbles at his admission. She's my sister? !
Zain is on the verge of snapping. His hands shake against my shoulder.
His eyes bulge from their sockets. All he's ever known too is a lie.
He now had another sister he had no idea about, and I'm the reason for all his problems.
I killed our sister. Mortensen has planned this moment for decades.
A way to tear Zain from my life to ensure I follow in his misaligned footsteps.
A way to eradicate the impure offspring he created.
One final fuck you. I never anticipated this level of fuckery.
“How does Clara play into this?” I ask reluctantly, not sure I actually want the answer.
Am I giving myself away? Probably. Do I give a fuck right now? Nah, not in the slightest.
His lips thin into a tight line. “I saw the way you fixated over her. An unhealthy infatuation. The way she altered you; there is something beneath the surface brewing. I need to keep you shrouded like an eclipse, darkening your soul. She threatens to unravel you. At first it was harmless,
another passing obsession, but you started to soften, Kieran. No impure bitch will destroy my hard work. You're a Grimshaw. The road to the Void is paved with bad intentions and purity. You will conform.”