I haven’t been trapped in Carnage long, and I’m already getting depressed, and I think Saint can tell. He’s been extra sweet. Trying to keep me busy and my mind off my dead mother because he thinks that’s why I was so upset last week when he came home to find me passed out. It couldn’t have been further from the truth.
I’m in a constant state of panic. Him finding out I’m pregnant and that I’m hiding it from him. There is no good outcome. I’m just biding my time, trying to come up with a solution to save me and the baby. He thinks fucking me is a distraction, and in a way, it is. I never have to think when I give him my body. But I’m exhausted, mentally and physically drained.
Having to keep this secret from him is making me sick. Or I guess it could be the pregnancy. Either way, it’s getting worse.
It’s almost three in the morning, and I find myself wandering aimlessly inside the main building of Carnage. I couldn’t sleep. My mind runs a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out where my future goes from here. I used to think I didn’t have one, but now I realize it’s true.
I was digging last night asking him when I get to leave here. Or just live a normal life. His response was I have to hide out here until my father returns and everything settles down. I call bullshit. He’s just telling me things he thinks I want to hear. Those who are sent here don’t escape. I’ve seen more evil here in the past month than I ever knew possible. I always thought the Lords were sick, but what the Spade fathers do is just pure disgusting. I wish Saint and I could run away, start a family, and live happily ever after. But like my mother once told me, Lords don’t love the women in their lives. My time here has proven she was right.
I’m not sure how much more time I have before I start showing. But once I do, it’ll all be over. I can’t lie to him forever.
I walk down a hallway and turn a corner to see a door cracked open. Looking back over my shoulder, I make sure I’m not being followed. So many people have been killed within these walls that a cold chill always follows you—as if their souls are left behind.
Pushing the door open, I step inside and come to a stop. My body stiffens at what I see. Four men lie facedown and blood covers the floor. The sound of it dripping through the drains in the floor echoes throughout the cold room.
I’ve seen bodies before, but these seem…different. They all have black hoods over their heads, and their arms are cuffed behind their backs. Of course, they’ve been killed—execution style.
Walking over to one of them, I bend down and carefully pull on the top of the hood. The blood covering it makes it sticky, but I manage to remove it. I drop it to the floor and look over the hole that’s in the center. Bile begins to rise, and my breathing catches.
Leaning over, I look at his cuffed wrists, pulling on his sleeves, and the sight of a wedding ring catches my attention. It’s a simple silver band. I remove it and bring it up to my face. I squint to see the words engraved on the inside.
“Hey?” a voice snaps at me, causing me to drop it while taking a quick step back when I see two men standing there. “What the fuck did you do?”
They both wear a Lords mask and cloak covering a hundred percent of their bodies. They even have gloves on. “I…uh…”
“Call the guards,” one snaps to the other.
The voice is altered so I can’t tell who they are. I lift my hands. “I didn’t do this. I found them…”
“Bullshit!” he shouts, cutting me off.
The other walks to the opposite side of the room and pushes the intercom button. “Code 26,” he snaps into it, and I take another shaky step back.
“I swear.” Tears fill my eyes. How could I kill four men? I would never. Let alone tie them up. And a gun? I don’t have one of those.
“Contain her,” the one by the intercom shouts, and I turn and run.
I turn a corner as a hand fists my hair. I go to scream out but another slaps over my face. I’m pulled into a room and pressed into a wall. It’s pitch black. I blink rapidly, trying to focus on anything as I wait for my vision to adjust to the darkness.
A hard body presses into mine while I hear the two men running down the hall outside of the door looking for me. “Don’t make a sound,” a voice whispers in my ear, making me whimper. “Or you’re dead.”
SAINT
I wake up to my cell blaring in my ear. It sounds like a horn going off on a car. Without even bothering to look at it, I ignore it and roll over, throwing my arm over Ashtyn. My eyes spring open when all I feel is the cool sheets.
“Ashtyn?” I sit up, looking to my left. Yanking the covers back, I see no one is there.
My phone goes off again, and I pick it up to see it says code 26. “Fuck!” I hiss, jumping out of bed just as it rings.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demand when I see it’s Kashton.
“I heard the code is for Ashtyn,” he rushes out.
“No.” My stomach drops. “It can’t be.”
“Is she with you?” he demands.
I stand naked and stare at my messy bed.
“Fuck.” He curses at my silence. “I’ll help you look for her. I’ll be there in two minutes.” He hangs up, and I immediately dial Haidyn’s phone.
“Hello?” he asks, voice rough.
“Where the fuck are you?” I snap out of it and start pulling on a pair of jeans.
“In bed. Where the fuck are you?” He yawns. I swear he can sleep through anything.
“Ashtyn is missing, and we’ve got a code 26.” I yank on a T-shirt.
“Fuck.” He sighs, sounding more awake now. “What do you need me to do?”
“Get up, get dressed, and help find her before the guards do.” They don’t send an alert out for no reason. But if they get to her before me, it could be days before I’m allowed to talk to her. She would never do anything that would warrant a code.
You get one chance to control her. If she fucks up, she’s going to the basement.
“I’m up,” he assures me, and then I tell him we’ll split up and to call me if he finds her first.
