Present
CLIMBING OUT OF THE CAR, I grabbed the baseball bat from the passenger’s seat and shut the door. My pulse pumped violently, heat washing over my entire body and sweat breaking out on my forehead. I could barely breathe.
I’ll be safe. Michael and Kai would go far, but they wouldn’t hurt me. I’ll be safe.
My mother was out there somewhere, God knows where, and she was the only reason I was here.
I walked for the house, noticing that none of the lights were on, inside or out. The windows were black, and I approached the door, stepping into the shadows of the tree overhead as it blocked out the moonlight.
My hands shook. Everything was so dark.
My mother. Don’t back down, and don’t leave until you get answers.
If I called the police, it would take weeks to sort through the mess as they looked for her. She was on the yacht. She wasn’t on the yacht. She was abroad, so of course it was difficult to reach her. Give it some time, go back to school, and leave it in our capable hands.
No.
Turning the handle on the door, I tightened all of my muscles, hearing the crackling of the packing tape stuck to the inside of my forearm.
The baseball bat was a decoy. If they thought they got one weapon away from me, they might not suspect I had another. Hence, the Damascus blade I’d taped to the inside of my arm, under my sleeve, when I went back to my apartment to get my car earlier.
I forced in a deep breath and inched open the door, putting a foot inside the dark house.
A cold hand snatched my wrist and yanked me inside. I cried out, the door slamming behind me as the baseball bat was torn out of my hand.
“You came.”
Will. I sucked in a breath as his arm came down in front of me and wrapped around my neck, putting me in a lock.
“That was really fucking stupid,” he whispered in my ear.
He released me and shoved me forward, and I whipped around, gasping for breath.
Oh, my God. I immediately shot back, away from him.
He wore a black hoodie with the hood drawn, as well as a mask. But the mask wasn’t like the ones they usually wore. This one was plain white, and I’d never seen it before.
I hunched down just an inch or so and kept my hands out, preparing for him to come at me again.
Holding up the bat, he took slow steps toward me. “What are you going to do with this, huh?” He held it to his groin and began stroking it as if it were his cock. “Yeah, that’s what you like, isn’t it?”
And then he shot out his arm, launching the bat off to the side of the foyer, the wood clanking against the marble floor.
Eyeing me through his white mask, he stalked slowly toward me.
I backed away. “No.”
But then someone else came down on my back, and I screamed as he wrapped his arms around me.
“He may not be as big as that bat, but I am,” a sinister voice threatened in my ear.
Damon.
I steeled every muscle, twisting and fighting against him as I tried to keep my forearm tucked close to me. I didn’t want them to find the dagger, and I didn’t want to use it unless I had to.
Unless I had the opportunity to run, because I wouldn’t be able to take all of them at once.
“Hey, fuck you,” Will shot out. “Rika’s going to love me the most.”
I sucked in short, hard breaths, my abs burning as I fought against his hold. “Fuck off, and let me go!”
Damon grabbed me by the back of my shirt and shoved me away, but it was straight back into Will’s arms.
Will caught me, taking my ass in his hands and holding me to him. “Are you going to love me good, Rika?” he taunted. “Or would you like to try him first?”
He jerked his head behind me, gesturing to Damon before pushing me away from him again and sending me back to his friend.
The room was spinning. “Stop it!” I yelled. “Get off me!”
Where the hell was Michael?
Damon fisted my collar, bringing my face up to his, and I could hear his heavy breathing behind his white mask that was identical to Will’s. “I served the most time. She should get to feel me first,” he told Will, and then looked to his right, speaking to someone else. “What do you think?”
Who—?
But before I had a chance to turn my head to see who he was talking to now, he threw me over to another white-masked man, and I gasped, instantly pushing against his chest as my bare foot got caught under his boot. I hadn’t realized I’d lost a sandal.
“Stop it,” I breathed out, shaking my head.
But the third man simply wrapped an arm around me and fisted the back of my hair with the other. I cried out, my scalp burning.
“Boys,” he called out, “she won’t even be able to tell us apart after a while.”
And then he shoved me back to another one, my feet stumbling across the floor as I fought not to fall.
Kai. How could he do this?
“Hold her,” he commanded as Will caught my upper arms and held my back to his front.
My arms and legs felt heavy, and my head was swimming. I couldn’t get enough air.
“Stop it,” I begged, fighting against Will’s hold.
Kai knelt down in front of me and looked up as he began running his hands slowly up my legs, going around my calves and up my thighs.
“No!” I lashed out, kicking my legs with the small bit of energy I had left.
But he caught my ankles and squeezed them so hard the bones ached. “Got to make sure you’re clean,” he explained in a too calm voice.
“Get away from me!” I bellowed. “Where’s Michael?”
I jerked my head left and right, looking up the stairs and everywhere, but I couldn’t see him.
He was here. He had to be here.
Damon leered behind Kai, watching me with his head cocked as if I were an animal being dissected in front of him. Will kept me flush with his body, his masked-face nuzzling my neck.
“Got anything hidden here?” Kai asked, running his hand up the inside of my thigh.
But I lurched forward, growling, “Fuck you!”
Will laughed, tightening his fingers around my arms and yanking me back into him again.
“Why don’t you just take off her clothes?” Damon suggested. “That way we’ll know for sure.”
“Hell, yeah,” came Will’s voice behind me.
I instantly recoiled, seeing Kai stand up, his dark eyes like deep black pools behind his mask.
“Let’s set the mood first.” And then he took out a remote from his sweatshirt and held it up, clicking a button.
I jerked as a motor-like sound started, and then I twisted my head, my stomach shaking with silent sobs as I watched the steel shutters descend over all the windows.
I shook my head, not knowing how to stop this. Any moonlight that had been streaming into the house slowly got smaller and smaller, the floor growing darker and darker. The house turned pitch black, and I watched as Kai and Damon disappeared in front of me, the room becoming as dark as oil. My legs started to shake.
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded. “What do you want?”
“Why are we doing this?” Will mocked in my voice.
And then they all joined in.
“Why are we doing this?”
“Why are we doing this?”
“I don’t know. Why are we doing this?” Damon laughed.
And then I screamed as Will launched me forward into his arms. At least, I think they were his.
Damon caught me and pressed his body into mine, pawing my ass with his hands.
I planted my hands on his chest and tried to straighten my arms, grunting and choking on my breaths as I tried to push myself away from him.
“Get off me!” I shouted, my face burning with rage.
But he spun me around and shoved me into another set of arms. I stumbled in the darkness, lightheaded and losing my balance.
The new guy wrapped his arms around me, and I clutched his sweatshirt to stabilize myself. Acid bile rising in my throat.
“What?!” I choked out, trying to keep the fucking tears at bay. “What do you want from me?”
“What do you want from me?” Kai mocked, followed by the others.
“What do you want from me?”
“What do you want from me?”
And then I was shoved away again, another set of arms catching me.
“Stop it!” I yelled, and I raised my arm, coming down and catching him on the side of his mask.
“Oh, she’s got some spit and fire,” Will teased and pushed me to someone else.
My legs went limp, and I broke. Sobbing, I buried my hands in my hair on the side of my head and curled my fingers, my nails scraping against my scalp so hard my skin stung.
I threw my head back. “Michael!”
“Michael?” someone called after me.
And then someone else sing-songed, “Michael, where are youuuu?”
“Mi-chael!” the third one rang out, their voice echoing up the stairs and down the hall.
“I don’t think he’s coming!”
“Or he’s already here!” Will taunted.
“Stop it!” I raged. “Why are you doing this?”
A head nudged my ear, making me jerk. “Payback,” he said in a hard whisper.
“A little revenge,” Will added.
“And restitution for time served,” Kai finished.
Tears streamed down my face. What were they talking about?
Where was Michael?
But then someone grabbed my hips from behind and pulled me into him, his arms circling my waist.
“You belong to us, Rika,” he breathed out in my ear. “That’s what’s happening.”
My eyes widened, and fire spread through my stomach as despair set in.
It was Michael’s voice. No.
“You’re Horsemen property now,” I heard Kai say, “and if you want to have money to eat, you’ll be just as nice to us as you were to Michael last weekend.”
“He said you were a halfway decent fuck,” Damon chimed in, “but we’ll get you up to par.”
“With some training!” Will boasted, sick amusement in his voice.
“But you won’t like it,” Kai growled next to me. “I promise you that.”
“And if you want college money—or rent money—” Damon threatened, “well then, you better be especially pleasing.”
I hunched forward, feeling sick. I wanted to drop.
What the fuck?
“Hey, what are we supposed to do when we get tired of her?” Will asked somewhere to my right. “We can’t pay her for nothing, can we?”
“Of course not.”
“I guess we can just pass her around,” Will suggested. “We’ve got friends.”
“Yeah, shit,” Damon interjected. “My father loves the young ones.”
“He used to give you his sloppy seconds,” Kai joked. “Now you can return the favor.”
Michael’s arms tightened around me, and I heaved, trying to clench my stomach to push back down the vomit.
I raised my forearm, clutching the handle of the dagger.
“Come on, Rika,” someone growled, grabbing me by the arms.
And I cried out as I was thrown across the floor, my shoulder hitting the hard marble and the wind knocked out of me.
“Damon!” I heard a deep voice growl.
My face was wet, both of my shoes were gone, and I coughed and sputtered as I struggled to turn over and see what was happening.
But a large body came down on top of me, and I fumbled, trying to push him away and crawl backward.
But he had me. His mouth was in my neck, and his hand was under my ass as he grinded into me.
“You knew this was going to happen between us,” Damon breathed out, biting my ear as he tried to pry open my legs with his other hand. “Open up, baby.”
I screamed, my throat aching raw as I bellowed with everything I had.
I shot my arms up over us, went straight for my dagger, and ripped it off my arm. Bringing it down to my side, I lurched it forward and dug it into his body, on the side of his torso.
“Oh, shit!” he howled, pulling his hands immediately off me and launching backward. “Shit! Fuck! She stabbed me!”
I scurried away, my legs and hands going as fast as they could to get away from them. The blade fell out of my fingers, and my shirt was hanging down my arms, leaving me in my tank top. I spun around and got to my feet.
And ran.
I didn’t look back, and I didn’t hesitate. I raced through the house, entered the solarium, and threw open the doors, diving out into the night. My heart hammered in my chest so hard it hurt, and I felt eyes on me as I hit the grass and bolted across the vast backyard and through the trees.
Something wet coated my shirt, but I didn’t have to look down to know it was blood.
Droplets of rain hit my skin, my feet slid on the wet grass, and I fell to my knees a couple of times as I bolted. I had no idea where the hell I was going.
My mother was in danger, and I had no money. Who did I have to turn to?
The garden shed appeared ahead, and I slowed, suddenly feeling despair take everything I had left.
My mother.
They had an endless amount of money and power to hide this. There were no videos of their deeds this time to get them arrested.
I’d never find my mom, and I’d never get everything my dad left me back. Michael didn’t care about his father or Trevor. He wouldn’t listen to them when they eventually came back, and by that time, it might be too late for my mom.
I had nowhere to go. There was no one to help me.
Running my hands up and down my face, I wiped away the tears, wanting to scream in anger.
What was I supposed to do? Find a phone and call Noah? The only person I could probably reach?
And then what? Where would I go? How would I find my mom?
There was no one to help me.
There was no one to help me but me. You’re not a victim, his words came back, and I’m not your savior.
I turned around, looking back at the house and seeing the lights inside slowly come on. They were in there.
And once…I was one of them. Once, I ran with them, kept up with them, and stood next to them. I wasn’t their victim, and I had their attention. I’d learned how to fight.
This was on me, and while I wouldn’t make it easy for them, I wouldn’t run.
I would never run.
I was built for this.
