We’re landing and in the car within an hour and twenty minutes. Way too long but as fast as we could get back. We enter Carnage when my cell rings. I answer on speakerphone. “We’re here…”
“We found her. Sending you a pin now.”
I hang up and look down at my cell. We race to the back of Carnage and run through the woods. My heart hammers in my chest.
Voices come from deep within the trees, and I’m sucking in breath after breath as I watch the guys grow closer. Ryat stands next to the broken box, shovel in hand. Tyson is down on his knees next to a body.
“ASHTYN!” I scream, running faster, not sure where I got the rush from, but knowing I have to get to her.
“Saint.” Tyson stands and turns to face me. He moves in front of me, hands on my chest, bringing me to an abrupt stop.
She lies on her stomach, head to the side, dark hair hiding her face. Her arms are still tied behind her back and secured to her ankles in a hogtie position. “Untie her!” I bark at them as they just stand around staring.
“Her neck is broken.” Sin whispers, kneeling beside her while looking up at Ryat.
“No!” I shove Tyson out of the way and drop to my knees next to her.
“Saint?” Tyson places a hand on my shoulder, and I push it off.
“Someone give me a fucking knife,” I demand.
“Here.” Ryat kneels on the other side of her and opens his pocketknife. He cuts the rope that binds her wrists to her ankles, and they fall to the ground. I pick her up in my arms, and her head falls to the side. Sin was right…her neck is broken. My shaky hand pushes her dark hair from her face, and I take in a deep breath, pulling the body to me.
I drop my head to hers and let out a cry of relief. Dropping the body, I stand and look at Kashton who also stares at the dead woman. When his eyes meet mine, he frowns. “Where the fuck is she?”
“So this isn’t Ashtyn?” Jenks asks. He, Alex, Finn, and Colton stand quietly to the side.
“No!” I growl, my shaking hand pushing my hair off my slick forehead. “How the fuck did you find her?” I point at the dead woman. I’m not sorry she’s dead. I’m just glad it’s not my wife. But the fact that this was a setup makes my stomach knot more than it already was. What was their plan? Did they think I’d find her so quickly? Was this just a ploy to keep me busy for however long while they took my wife out of the country? It hasn’t even been two hours since they sent the videos, but they had been pre-recorded. How and when did they switch out the bodies?
“After watching the video, I decided to try to track the vibrator…”
“Excuse me?” Kashton asks, frowning.
Finn holds up his cell. “The vibrator is linked to an app. Anything linked to an app requires some sort of Wi-Fi, which allows me to track the signal.”
“Can you track the cell it’s coming from?” Kashton asks.
He shakes his head. “I tried, but it’s no longer in service.”
“FUCK!” I take a step back from the woman.
“We’re not going to give up.” Tyson steps in front of me. “We’ll find her.”
But the question is, will she be dead? I don’t ask that out loud because we’re all thinking about it.
“It has to be an inside job.” Kashton is the one who speaks next. “We’ve got to find out who the fuck got access to Carnage and how.”
As much as I hate it, he’s right. I need to find her, but I also don’t want to be looking blindly. I need answers, and I’m only going to get them if I know who has her.
“But where do we start?” Sin is the one who asks.
I look at him, and I’m thankful that we didn’t kill him when he gave us the chance. And the fact that he showed up to help when he knows I was using him as bait. My eyes drop to the dead woman at our feet, and I get the first glimmer of hope. It makes the corners of my lips twitch. I love a good bloodbath. “I know just where to start. Bring her.”
ASHTYN
They say death is peaceful. They say there’s a white light and that you have this sense of serenity. A calmness washes over you as you accept that it’s all over.
Is that only if you go to heaven?
Because I’m pretty sure I’m dead, and everything hurts like hell. I’m freezing. Like a bone-chilling coldness that has my entire body shivering. My jaw is sore, my teeth locked down tightly on the ball shoved into my mouth. Lips cracked and face swelling.
I hear voices and music in the distance. It takes everything I have to lift my head. A light shines ahead of me, and I can see through the back of a house. The floor-to-ceiling windows allow me an inside view of the three-story mansion.
I’m not sure how I got here or how long we’ve been here. But I woke up like this what seems like hours ago. From the looks of the trees that surround me, I’d say I’m in the woods. My wrists are tied together with rope and secured above my head to what looks like a metal pole that runs between two trees. It pulls my torso tight.
My legs are spread wide open, rope wrapped around each ankle and secured to cinder blocks that I’m standing on. I try to pull free, but all it does is feel like I’m tearing my muscles.
I whimper as drool runs from my gagged mouth, and I sniff, trying to breathe, but my nose is stuffy. Something crawls up the back of my leg. For all I know, it could be a snake or a spider. I’m praying for the snake. Maybe it’ll make its way to my neck and wrap itself around me, suffocating me. The thought makes me think of Saint and what he watched on the tape that the guys recorded back in that room at Carnage. Has he seen it yet? Was it live? Does he even know that I’m no longer there? And Haidyn? Where the fuck is he? Did they kill him? He had been shot and wasn’t talking much when they separated us. God, I hope not. I’d hate to be the reason they hurt him.
A back door to the house opens, and two guys step outside onto the porch. I tremble as they walk down the concrete steps, passing the Olympic-size swimming pool, heading right toward me.
There’s not a lot of light where I’m at, but the back of the house gives off enough that I can see enough. They’re dressed the same as before—black pants, black long-sleeve shirts with matching gloves and masks. They’ve got their voices altered so I can’t tell if they are the ones from earlier or not. I hate that the most, that they’re hiding who they really are. I’d prefer to see their true faces. Only a coward chooses to hide himself.
“I say we let her go, and we play a fun game of hide-and-seek,” one suggests as they come to a stop in front of me. I don’t have to see their eyes to know they’re running over my naked body. “First one to catch her gets her mouth. The other gets that sweet cunt.”
The other man laughs. “Why chase the bitch when we can have her right where she is?”
“You’re no fun.” The first one pouts.
My hair is grabbed, and my head yanked back, making me cry out into the gag. My spit flying out around it. Hands dig into my already sensitive cheeks squeezing painfully and tears fall from my eyes.
“No. I think we’ll fuck her right where she is.” He lets go and lowers his hand to his black jeans.
The sound of his zipper being lowered has me fighting harder against the rope. My body twists back and forth with what little it allows. The blood rushes in my ears and the rope around my ankles tighten with each small movement cutting off the circulation.
“Hold her head in place. I want her eyes on mine while I fuck her,” he tells the man behind me. “Fuck, I can’t believe I’m going to get to fuck Saint’s bitch.”
The one behind me laughs, and I pull against the restraints, screaming into the gag. I try to tear my head free, but he just yanks it farther back, forcing me to stare up at my tied hands above my head. The drool at the back of my mouth slides down my throat, choking me, and I cough into the gag, my body convulsing as I try not to die.
“That’s the sound I want to hear.”
“What the fuck do you two think you’re doing?”
I’m let go, and my head falls to hang down so the drool can leak outside of the edges.
“Sir…we….”
“Get your asses inside,” the new one barks.
I hear their shoes shuffling as they step on twigs and leaves over my heavy breathing.
“Let’s make you a little more comfortable,” the new guy says, and I blink rapidly to free the tears from my eyes to clear my vision.
A second later, the gag is unbuckled at the back of my head. I try to spit it out, but my arms are pulled so tight above my head that the leather straps are stuck between my arms and embedded into my cheeks.
He steps in front of me, grabbing the gag, and yanks it free of my mouth.
I spit out the excess saliva pooled in my mouth, my face stinging from how tight it was. “Ple-ease.” I begin to sob.
“Shh.” He grips my chin and shoves my head up. “See that house ahead of you. There’s over twenty men in there. And guess what they want?” He doesn’t let me answer. “You.”
I sniff.
“If any of them come outside, I’m going to let them have what they want. Understand?” He lets go of my chin.
I nod the best I can. If I get their attention, they get to rape me. Just like the two that he just stopped.
“Let’s try a test.” He reaches out, pinches my nipples painfully hard, and yanks on them.
I throw my head back and grind my teeth, holding my breath at the pain from my skin stretching.
“Good girl.” He lets go, and I sag in the ropes, fresh tears falling from my swollen eyes. “I like this.” His hand goes to my 666 brand, and I flinch at the soft touch of his knuckles. “I knew then that Saint was in love with you. He was nice enough to knock you out. I wouldn’t have.”
How does he know that?
“I sure as fuck would have kept you awake. Watched you cry and scream. Beg me to stop while I made sure it was the most painful experience you’d ever had. But then again, you like that, don’t you?”
I do. I did. But Saint understands how far to take it. He’s never truly hurt me. Not like that.
His glove-covered hands reach down to his pants, and he unbuckles his belt. I pull on the ropes. “No…”
“Shh. Remember, Ashtyn. Anyone comes outside…” he trails off, and I start to hyperventilate. My breathing is coming quicker and quicker. I feel like I’m going to have a panic attack. I’m standing up straight, but it feels like something presses on my chest. “It’s just another test,” he says, ripping his belt from his jeans. Then he slaps it across my chest.
The sting feels like a million fire ants biting me at once, and it takes my breath away. Just when I manage to get one in, he hits me again. This time across my upper thighs.
I shake in the ropes as the leather hits me once more across my ribs, wrapping around to my back.
“That’s good, Ash.” He walks behind me, and I sag.
Finally able to catch my breath, I begin to sob. The belt lands across my back, and I try to arch it to get away before he hits me again, but I can’t escape it.
Humiliation washes over me that I ever liked this before. To be treated as such. Memories flood my mind of when Saint tied me up in front of Kashton and Haidyn in the woods at the party and how much I was getting off on it. This time, I want to die.
He hits me five more times in various places before I see the belt fall to the ground in front of me. I’m sobbing; tears, snot, and drool run down my face while my entire body shakes uncontrollably. My skin is on fire, and the fact that I’m now sweating makes the pain even worse. He comes to stand in front of me. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulls out a small size of lube.
“I think he may have gotten you pregnant.” He laughs.
“N-o.” I can’t even speak properly anymore. The single word was slurred as if I’ve been drinking all night. If he were to cut the rope, I’d fall to my face unable to stand on my own two feet. It’s like that night Tyson came to my house all over again. Although this time, I know Saint won’t be showing up to save me.
“That’s what a Lord does, Ashtyn. He picks a bitch, and he makes sure to knock her up. Breeding is a requirement.” He pours the lube onto his glove-covered fingers and places them between my open legs. I try to pull my knees together, but the rope around each ankle prevents that. He shoves them into me easily with the help of the lube. “There’s been a story going around for years that the Lords add supplements to the younger generation’s food.”
He pushes his two fingers farther up into me and moves them around. The pain takes my breath away, but I have no choice other than to take it when all I want to do is scream for help. He removes them to add three this time just as forceful.
“They require all the Lords going through initiations to live at the house of Lords, where they are offered three meals a day by a live-in chef. Now granted, the Lords are always coming and going freely. So they could eat out, but after four years of staying at the house of Lords, they’re bound to eat there at some point. But here’s the thing…” He adds another finger, and I can’t hold the whimper that leaves my trembling lips. “I’ve been told they only do it to the highest rankings of Lords. I mean, crazy, right?” He laughs, removing them, and I bite my tongue to hold in a sob. “But totally believable. They used to force the bottom-feeders to undergo vasectomies. So why not enhance the powerful ones to have twins? There’s always power in numbers. And let’s face it, people die. So twins offer more of an opportunity.”
I take a deep breath and lift my watery eyes to meet his black mask. “Why…are you telling me this?” I manage to ask, my voice rough since my throat has gone raw from crying.
“Because I want you to understand why I have to hurt you.”
All I can do is shake my head.
“Did Saint let you keep your birth control, or did he remove it?”
I stiffen at his question. How would he know I had an IUD? Is that what Saint did when he knocked me out? My lack of response makes him laugh.
“You have to lose this baby, too. Just like the last one. I can’t undo a wrong, but I can make a right. A fresh start so we can move on and have our family. Just like we were meant to have.”
My stomach sinks at his words. “It’s…you.” I manage to whisper. How did he find me? I pull harder on my restraints and a sob bubbles up my throat. “Saint will come after you. He’ll make sure you’re dead as well.” Even if Saint doesn’t love me, he will be enraged if I’m pregnant and someone killed his child.
“I’m not afraid of Saint. I have a plan for him too.”
He walks behind me, and I try to lean my head back to see what he’s doing but my fucking arms are in the way. “Another test.” He chuckles and then I feel his hands on my ass.
I struggle, buck and try to kick but nothing helps. It only makes the ropes tighter, my muscles ache and my skin burns. I’m sweating profusely and my shoulders are screaming.
“I’m going to fuck your cunt, Ash. I’m going to make you feel good.” I drop my head to sob.
I feel the tip of his cock at my pussy and I scream out as he goes to push into me. He stills and I hold my breath when one of the back doors opens.
I see a hand on the doorknob, and I stare at it as my heart pounds after a second it closes, and I sob in relief.
He wraps an arm around my waist from behind, pulling my ass back and then he’s pushing into me. I try to let him, knowing the less I fight, the easier it’ll be, but I can’t. Instead, I tighten and try to pull away at the pain he causes.
I stare at the sticks and fallen limbs as he pushes his cock into me and takes what he wants. His grunts fill the night air and tears roll down my face knowing I can’t fight him. He won. I wasn’t strong enough.
When he finally pulls out, I hear him zip his pants and he walks around to stand in front of me. He picks up the gag that lies on the dirty ground.
Panic grips my chest, and I sniff. “I promise.” Gasp. “I won’t…”
He shoves it into my mouth, and I try not to gag at the taste of dirt but fail. “This is for your own good, Ash.” He pushes the leather straps between my tear-streaked cheeks and arms. Pulling it tightly around my head, he buckles it in place and adds, “I’ll let you hang here for the night while my cum leaks from your pussy and down your thighs. Just like it was meant to be.”
I cry into the leather ball, and my watery eyes widen when I see him pull a black hood from his back pocket. He shoves it over my head and pulls a string, tightening it on my neck like before. “Get some sleep, sweetheart.” He calls me by Saint’s nickname, and I shake my head the best I can, but of course, it’s no use. “I’ll wake you in the morning for another test.”
