Chapter 11 - Scarlett #2
He handed me a pair of sky-blue gloves before turning back to the bike and pulling off a bag I hadn’t noticed him wearing. He pulled out his own leather jacket and slid my mask inside. “Just in case,” he said.
A few moments later, we were finally settled, my body wrapped around his, my dress tucked tightly under my butt.
Havoc pulled out and I could immediately feel the difference between his bike and Azrael’s. There weren’t as many vibrations in this bike as there had been on his. It must have been part of the modifications Havoc mentioned.
By the time we got to the city, the sun had set. I guided Havoc to the museum from memory the best I could, and when we finally drove by it, I could see the line out the door, causing my grip around Havoc to tighten as the rage inside of me grew.
We parked a block over, Havoc taking the chaps off of me the moment we all got off.
I took off the gloves and jacket when he was done, laying them on the seat before finally removing my helmet and taking out my braid.
Havoc put the clothes in his bag and left the helmets hanging from the handlebars. “They know who we are,” was all he said.
I must have had a look on my face at the idea of leaving the helmets just hanging from the bike on a city street at night. I didn’t know who ‘they’ were, but part of me was sure it wasn’t everyone.
“So,” Havoc began when we were all settled, “are we going to be your Favorites this time around?”
My brows pulled together. “Favorites don’t become owners,” I told him. “I have to be yours.”
“You will never be a Favorite ever again, Scarlett, not even for pretend,” he told me, his voice hard.
“So, let’s play a different game. Azrael sent his girl to check up on how the church is handling something like this.
We were interested in buying someone to share,” he gestured towards Alaric, “you’re showing us the ropes. Equals.”
I shook my head, my brows pulling together. “Thomas will never believe it.”
“He doesn’t have to believe anything. I’ve heard the stories. Azrael has proved time and time again that you two are equals, let’s not disappoint the audience.”
I searched his eyes for a moment before looking in the direction of the museum.
I never knew what became of the Favorites outside of the church, but Havoc was right.
Azrael had been giving me little inklings of power long before we ever left that church.
In reality, they should be expecting some sort of change.
I turned back to Havoc. “How will we know it’s her?”
He gestured down towards my hips. “Maybe now is the time to practice your texting.”
My face twisted before my brows lifted. Oh, right, I had a phone!
Scarlett
How will I know it’s Vanessa’s
Woman?
A few seconds went by before the phone started ringing, Azrael’s face appearing on the screen.
I frowned and held it up for Havoc to see.
He smiled. “Green means answer,” he explained, taking the phone from me and hitting answer. He hit another button and held it up in the middle of us. “You’re on speaker.”
“Dear little sinner,” he hummed, that familiar lilt singing through his voice, “what fun are you up to today?”
I looked at Havoc. He couldn’t see me. I couldn’t sign to him. “Tell him that I want to see her.”
“She had a thought that Thomas put her in the museum,” Havoc answered. “We’re going to check.”
“And what a good thought to have,” he sang back. “Be good, sinning doll and look for a crown.”
Havoc and I looked eyes. A crown? It wouldn’t be on her face, I was sure of it. If Vanessa was in charge of them and her crown was on her face, then her girls’ crowns would be put elsewhere. Royalty couldn’t be contested. Not ever.
“I’ll send you a message when we’re done,” Havoc told him and hung up.
I took the phone back from Havoc, sliding it into my dress pocket.
I wondered how the meeting with Father Dearest was going.
He seemed as on edge as he had been during our session at the church when he said that his family had found out that there were more people in his world than he ever wanted there to be.
He had told me that they were meddling. He told me of the Cheshire Cat, which I knew now was Red.
He had told me that they were ruining the game, and I had wanted to do everything in my power to make him happy again.
That’s what he sounded like now, and I found myself wanting to do everything I could to make him proud. Perhaps it would distract him from whatever was going on in his head.
I straightened and smoothed out my expression, not letting anything show but cool indifference.
If this were to be my first real mission with the Blackheart brothers, I would not let them down.
“A crown is what we are searching for,” I told them.
“You are my owner by proxy, Alaric your brother. I haven’t seen you work much, but I assume you’re just like Azrael, so be that. ”
He smiled, a sick light shining in his eyes. “Doll, who do you think taught him to be like this?” He gestured towards the street. “Lead the way.”
So, I did.
I walked down the sidewalk with two of the Blackheart brothers behind me, putting every ounce of my knowledge to use. People looked over, staring at us, at them, and I didn’t spare them a glance. I had a singular goal in mind, and nothing would distract me from accomplishing it.
We stepped up to the door, the same security guard from last time standing there.
His eyes shifted from me to the two men behind me. “Where is your husband?” he asked, turning back to me, lifting his chin as if he could intimidate me.
“He sent us,” Havoc answered when I didn’t move to answer myself. Why should I? He wouldn’t have understood in the first place so I may as well take the position of control; that I was too good to answer his questions. “We’re escorting Mrs. Thorin today.”
He eyed them before turning back to me, scanning down my body slowly.
It was the most revealing thing I had worn out in public. A simple black dress that tightened around my waist and had a sweetheart neckline with spaghetti straps and lacy off-the-shoulder sleeves. It fell to my knees, and I had paired it with my favorite black boots. No bow in my hair today.
“Very well,” he finally said and stepped to the side.
Havoc walked between him and I to get the door, Alaric right behind me.
It was exactly how I remembered it. A dark hall lined in lights, leading to an open room divided only by partitions that kept the displays separated.
There were more displays this evening though. More people. Thomas had to have been advertising. Maybe in the same way they advertised for the church. Did Pastor Masters know what his son was doing now? Did the Leaders of the church know? Did they approve of the idea?
Would there be more museums opening?
The poses were just like the last ones we had seen. People of all ages, their genitalia wrapped, sliced, or pierced, their bodies suspended by hooks, wire, or rope, tears dripping down their faces, blood pooling under their bodies.
The smell of copper filled the air, the sounds of soft whimpering mixing with the ambient music Thomas had put on.
I looked at every single person they had bloodied and hung for their enjoyment, and I looked at every face of those who were bidding on them, leering at them.
Our mission was to rid this world of tar, and yes, Azrael said that we would never be able to save them all, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to give them every ounce of strength I had.
An hour later we had only managed to get through half the displays. I had yet to see a crown on any of the women’s skin. Maybe I wasn’t looking in the right places. Maybe she wasn’t here.
We stepped off to the side to take a break from the crowd, watching as the people walked, chatted, laughed.
I studied their faces, seeing real joy in their eyes, despite what surrounded them.
It was vile. But even so, I couldn’t help but wonder what they thought of me knowing who I was, who I was married to.
The transporter’s wife, in their eyes. The man who stole the Chosen One out of the hands of the pastor’s son and married her in front of the church, bleeding for him.
Whatever thoughts they had, whatever ideas, I hoped soon that I would plague their nights and days. Be the living nightmare they could never escape.
Alaric stepped up to my right. “I’ll buy her,” he signed, his onyx eyes finding mine. “We’ll have her delivered at the shop. You can have the person who delivers her.”
My eyes lifted to his. I never considered the fact that Thomas would have to hire transporters. It didn’t surprise me that he had never called upon Azrael. “We’re going to save her?”
“They’re selling them, aren’t they? I can play their game.”
I studied him carefully before turning to Havoc who shrugged.
I turned back to the room, studying it again. “What if she’s not here?”
“Then we dig into that pretty little head of yours and think about where Thomas and his friends would take her. They’re angry and they fuck out of hatred. If they haven’t killed her yet, she’s in desperate need of saving, and I’m not one to call savior, but fuck it if it means he loses.”
I watched an older couple as they milled from one display to the next.
The woman had gray hair wrapped in a tight bun, diamonds on her wrists and around her neck, a floor length gown on.
Her husband was in a suit, a giant watch on his wrist. They clearly had money they wanted to spend.
“I want the transporter in the basement,” I signed.
“They might have some answers we don’t and if not?
I’m going to Absolution. This will not go on. ”
“I’m sure Az was thinking the same thing.” Havoc gestured to my right. “Let’s go, we’ve got a few more to look at.”
Display after display, and still no crowns. I could feel my emotions start to grow, the anger and irritation, so I forced a smile on my face. I made it sharp enough to slice as we went to another display.
Children.
The next one was a young man.
The next was a little girl.
Sharper and sharper the smile grew. Colder and colder the rage in me burned.
Tick tock goes the clock, the rivers would soon run red. Tick tock goes the clock, I’ll put them all to bed.
We stepped up to the last one, a woman with orange hair, freckles dusting her cheeks and nose, her lips painted red.
She was hanging in a position I knew well.
Her wrists and ankles were chained, her body spread in the shape of an ‘X’, but it wasn’t that coincidence that stopped me.
What stopped me was the large ‘A’ she had carved into her stomach, the tip of the letter pointing directly to the crown between her breasts.
“Doll.”
I looked over, the smile on my face painful as I did my very best to hide the screaming in my head.
Havoc and Alaric were standing in front of the name plate.
I closed the distance, reading over what it said several times, unsure what it meant.
“Who else could it ever have been?”
Havoc stepped up to me, close enough to feel the warmth from his skin. “We have to leave her.”
I felt confusion but didn’t allow it to show. This had always been a possibility. Sacrifices would never be avoided.
After one last look, we started for the doors.
Havoc was on the phone the second we left.
“I’m going to send you a number,” he told the person on the other end.
“Call it, say you want to purchase the ginger. Label; Who else could it ever have been? If they ask you questions, she had an ‘A’ carved into her stomach, a crown between her tits, brunette cunt hair, chained in an ‘X’ formation. Give them a number they can’t refuse and have them deliver her to the shop. ”
He hung up and called another number, but after a moment, he pulled it away. “Shit,” he mumbled and then found my eyes. “Call him.”
I did so without hesitation and Azrael picked up on the first ring. “Give the phone to your brother, darling,” he hummed icily.
I held it out to Havoc, wondering why the Blackheart brother was pushing when Azrael was in the middle of a meeting.
“I don’t give a fuck,” Havoc stated, “we have a problem. Get to the shop, we need to talk.” He hung up and held out the phone.
I took it, a little shocked at how he spoke to Azrael. He knew that Azrael was in a meeting, and he knew how important it was, which meant that whatever puzzle pieces he had put together after seeing that woman was important enough to face his rage.
I cocked my head to the side. “What did the label mean?”
Havoc turned away from me, ignoring me completely. “We need to get to the bikes.”
I looked over at Alaric in question.
“It means that the time for patience has run out,” he signed back and headed after his brother.