19. Vaughn
Vaughn
There was no anger. No uncontrollable need to destroy the woman I’d hated now for over a year. I was past living in the rage of making her pay. This wasn’t revenge—this was inevitable.
I pushed the door open, walking into the room with slow steps.
A shaky hand lifted and rose, flattening on the floor as Katia tried to sit.
She got a few inches off the ground before her arm gave out.
She hit the stone hard, crying out as she tried again, managing to find the strength to finally scissor her legs to keep some form of balance.
Dark hair was oily and separated as it swayed. She had dirt mixed with blood covering her legs and thighs. Small lacerations were across her arms, and her knees and elbows were raw from friction.
“How were you welcomed into The Order? I hear you were quite popular with my guards.”
A sharp cry left her as she shifted and brought her head up.
Bruising webbed in purples and greens across her face, and her lip was split down the middle.
“I’ve been raped before.”
I let her words process.
“Would you like to be raped again?”
Her lip trembled and her body shook.
“N-No.”
I walked to the chair, sitting down to face her. I rested my forearms on my knees, tilting my face up to take her in.
“You kept Penelope from me for a year.”
Silence.
Katia’s fingers pressed into the stone, and she winced as she drew her legs in closer to her body. Blood was already starting to pool underneath her.
“Y-You are not safe.”
Her words registered.
“There is nobody safer for her than me.”
Again, she got quiet.
“You kept her from me for a year.”
Her eyes lifted in confusion. She was weighing the words she wanted to speak.
“You hurt people. T-Trafficking. Sacrifice.”
“If not me, someone else.”
Katia shifted, stealing glances at me.
I kept my focus on her cautious expressions. Her eyes were beginning to roll. “You kept her from me for a year.”
“You’ll kill her. One way or another… she will die.”
I jerked the knife free from under my jacket, pointing the tip at her. A strained cry escaped, and tears ran down her face, but she didn’t let her stare drop from me. Even as they darted, she forced her gaze back on mine.
“It’s time to start telling the truth. You poisoned Penelope against me.” Harder, she shook as I continued. “You lied to her. You told her things that simply… weren’t… true.”
More silence.
A drip sounded in the distance, and I waited patiently as she continued to squirm on the floor.
She could barely keep her lids open. She was rocking and beginning to whisper incoherent words.
I opened my phone, pulling up the footage of the camera to check on Penelope.
She was curled in a ball, her face barely visible as she hugged to the pillow.
I cut my gaze up, placing the phone back in my pocket as I repeated the first two statements.
“You stole a year. You tried to poison her against me.”
“…I.” She stopped, squeezing her lids shut as she winced and swayed to the side. “I stand by what I b-believe. You are dangerous.”
“I am dangerous. Especially to those who hurt people I love. You hurt her. Purposely.”
Silence.
A smile was automatic as the thought pushed through. “I’m going to be a father. Does that worry you, too?”
A paleness took over as Katia’s eyes lowered to the stone. She was barely keeping it together. Her head kept nodding, and her voice was beginning to slur.
“You… should be… worried.” Her breaths increased. “She—She should worry.”
My lids narrowed through her increasing panic. I didn’t speak as Katia was sucked into some sort of episode. I didn’t have to as she continued to half mumble, half cry out.
“But he’ll kill … die—And… I’ll die. I need—”
Her eyes shot up to mine.
“It is a game. Every level is a game. Yes! Baby. And then…No.”
I searched the hysteria she displayed. The madness, it was there, lurking amongst the broken parts of her as she fought to function.
“T-The Council…” Her head shook and she started tracing her finger over the floor. “The north—no, south. South…. Chile! Y-You… But not you, because you do not know.”
More her finger circled around. Interest sparked, but I didn’t put stock into much of what she was saying. I stored it away, acknowledging but not relying upon it. Maybe she was pretending. Maybe she was exposing pieces of the truth, triggered from my confession.
“The Gardens… P-Pleasure Den. S-Sex.” Her head gave a hard shake. “N-No.” She froze, looking back up to me.
“Mr. P-Prescott… you… but… The Sultan… h-he’s with the king. K-King Lawrence.”
I sat up straighter, narrowing my lids. The Sultan? How did she know about Mr. Prescott?
“H-He won’t kill me b-because you are. H-He… baby.” Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she gazed up at me. “K-King Lawrence…” Her head jerked to the door and she cried out, fisting her hair. She was still breathing hard, panting. “W-Wait. No. Wait. Where’s Penelope?”
I didn’t answer. I placed the tip of the knife against my finger, slowly turning my hand back and forth. With the smallest increase of pressure, it cut through my skin. A drop of blood bubbled up, and I rubbed the crimson between my fingers.
“P-Please. Has he given her the title back yet? Please!” My eyes jerked up.
“H-Has he—don’t let her take it. Don’t—He.
God!” Harder she took in deep breaths. “She’ll have to take it.
She’ll… and then…no! But—baby. Baby. No.
You didn’t!” Her glare cut up to me, and rage left her shaking.
“Stupid man. Stupid! You’ll kill her. I t-told you.
He will have her, and now you’ll have killed her. ”
“Enough,” I growled out.
I stood, walking to loom over her.
“For every time you don’t answer, I’m going to stab you. Not somewhere fatally—You’re going to experience what pain and eternity feels like while you wait for death. This game, it is not in your favor if you lie. Either way, your life ends tonight.”
A sob left her, and Katia’s head hung while she tried to hold herself up. One arm gave out, and she whimpered, sobbing again as she pushed enough to roll to her back. Dark hair fanned out over blood smeared stone, and her lids were swollen and heavy as she stared up at me.
“Who. Sent. You?”
“All.”
I stabbed the knife into her shoulder, jerking it back just as fast. Katia’s mouth gaped, and a deafening scream exploded through the room.
I let a few seconds pass.
“Who?”
She was choking on the cries, trying to catch her breath.
“First, all. Now… The Sultan—Keeper of the King.”
Tears raced down her face as she continued to cry.
“Keeper of the King…. Is that King Lawrence?”
“Y-Yes.”
“What was your objective in keeping Penelope away from me for so long?”
Her bottom lip quivered.
“T-to see… if you would come. To hurt her—”
I stabbed the knife into her other shoulder, pulling it free.
“At least you’re finally being honest. It hurt us both.”
Screams mixed with sobs. Her shoulders lifted from the floor at the hard cries, but Katia didn’t try to turn or move.
“Does King Lawrence know I’m suspected in Penelope’s abduction?”
Katia flinched as I let the tip drag over her bicep.
“…No.”
I brought up the knife, embedding it in the muscle and feeling it hit stone underneath. I pulled it free as her head tilted back through the gasp and cry.
“I don’t believe you.”
“—I s-swear. He doesn’t even know you’re a-live. G-Game. It’s all a game t-to them.”
“Them?”
“The C-Council. Mr. Prescott and The Sultan…” harder she cried. “They m-make bets. They up the stakes by…suggestions, by exposing truths.”
Her head turned back and forth as she hugged her arms to her chest, trying to add pressure to her wounds. Her lids were barely staying open, and she was bleeding out at a rapid rate.
“What is the ultimate objective of this game? What do they want out of me and King Lawrence?”
Sobs shook her, and her lids stayed closed. I drug the blade over her forearm, feeling her jump and sink down underneath me.
“Focus or I stab you again. Objective of this game.”
“Ent…Entertainment. They… don’t care. They…” Her eyes rolled, and she started to pass out. I stabbed the blade close to the other wound on her shoulder.
Katia’s eyes flew opened, and she tried turning as she sucked in air.
“You kept saying baby. Is my child in danger?”
“K-King Lawrence…” More she gasped and sobbed. “He chose… her. He will kill… to… have her. Even… the baby. Espec..ially… the baby. Kill… Theodore. Since Grove Square. He’s going to… kill… Theod—Con…tract—Kill—”
Kill… Contract?
“Repeat that.”
“K-Kill. Con…tract for… Theodore. Since the beginning. He paused but… title… his—he plans—kill.”
My head flew up, and my hand slammed the knife down into her chest, burying the blade in her heart. I was standing and pulling my phone free as I headed for the door. I pushed Theodore’s number, bringing the phone to my ear as I took wide steps towards the guards ahead.
Ring.
Ring.
He hadn’t left that long ago.
An hour?
Two?
I looked down at my watch, pointing to the room as I swept by the guard.
“She’s dead. Get rid of her.”
I didn’t wait for their reply.
A contract since Grove Square? Theodore should already be dead… But she said something about it being paused?
Ring.
Ring.
Panic built at the thought that he might go through with it. I couldn’t lose Theodore. He trusted me. He was more than my friend. She had to be wrong.
“Answer the fucking phone.”
“Ring.”
“This is Theodore Hart. Leave a message—”
I hung up, cursing as I called Able. He answered almost immediately.
“Sire?”
“Find Theodore Hart right now. I believe King Lawrence has put a contract on him. I want him brought here immediately.”
“Right away, Sire.”
I dialed Theodore’s number again, feeling my stomach tighten and twist as fear nearly crushed my chest.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
“This is Theodore Hart. Leave a message—"