You have twenty-four hours…
The words found me the moment I cracked open my eyes. The room was still dark, kissed with the promise of sunlight, but I closed my eyes once more. Twenty-four hours…until I became the monster once again.
A light snore came from behind me, drawing my attention to her, and my pulse sped, driving sleep further away. I opened my eyes and turned my head, finding the murky silhouette beside me. Helene King. The same King we hunted, the same King who evaded her.
She was his goddamn daughter?
I inhaled, letting my gaze drift down the sheet barely covering her naked body. A lick of my lips and my body came alive, my cock hardening instantly, until I remembered last night and the change between us.
Gone was the sadistic hunger to control and consume. A different yearning filled me now, one that was fucking terrifying. I reached for her, curling my fingers to gently brush her cheek. A memory invaded, the same touch, only last night it’d been her fingers and my cheek.
She opened her eyes at the touch and said nothing, just stared into my eyes.
All I want is you, Helene King.
Those words still gripped me, clenching tight around my heart.
Until reality took hold, forcing me to pull away.
“Riven,” she whispered as I rolled away and pushed upwards.
I sat on the side of the bed, watching the soft spill of sunlight creep closer and hating every second of the things I’d have to do today. Cold gripped me as I rose, letting the sheet fall from around my body. The bed moved as she pushed upward. I knew every move she made, every catch of her breath, every stare of those dark, haunting eyes. But I couldn’t meet them. Not today.
I opened my bedroom door and walked out, heading to the bathroom I shared with my brothers. I winced as the glaring lights bounced off the crisp white tiles. One glance into the mirror and I looked away.
My eyes were bloodshot and felt grainy. I looked like hell. And I felt every bit of it.
The hiss of the shower came as I hit the faucets. I stepped in, letting the hot water carry me away before I reached for the bodywash. By the time I was done, I was a different person, stony and unfeeling. I stepped out and toweled myself dry. There were no longer bloodshot eyes and a tortured stare in the mirror. There was just nothing.
Gone was the man.
Now there was only The Principal.
I cast my towel aside and made my way into the bedroom, where she was waiting. I didn’t look at her as she sat on the side of the bed, dressed in yesterday’s clothes. Instead, I headed for the walk-in closet and grabbed boxers, navy slacks, and a black open-collared shirt before carefully selecting my belt, watch, and boots.
That was my armor.
My mask.
I dressed in silence, buttoning and zipping, then tugged on my boots. When I was dressed, I rose and stared down into her tortured eyes.
“You’re really going to go through with this?” she croaked.
Tears shimmered in her eyes.
I turned away and headed for the door without saying a word. But inside I was howling in rage, beating bloody fists against the cage around my heart. Hard breaths only pushed me closer to the edge, my frantic pulse nearly out of control.
Footsteps came behind me.
I spun, to find Kane heading toward me.
Showered and dressed, the same empty stare in those green eyes which I’d seen in mine.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked.
Movement behind him drew my gaze. Helene moved closer, slipping around him.
“No,” I answered, and stepped toward the cupboard to grab the cuffs. “Helene.” I turned to her, hating the cold, unfeeling tone in my voice. “Can’t have you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong now, can we? Not now that we know who you are.”
She flinched at the words. Her damn lip trembled. I looked away at the sight.
“Fuck you,” she hissed.
I gave a nod. Fuck me, indeed.
She didn’t even fight, just strode to the heater and spun, glaring at me as she sank to the floor and lifted her arms. I cuffed her without meeting her gaze.
The moment my back was turned, she muttered, “Gutless bastard.”
I hesitated, flinching, hating the way she could hurt me with words alone. I forced myself to move, leaving her and her hateful glare behind as I strode from the apartment alone. I slapped my card against the scanners, making my way to where the new shipment of Daughters was kept.
The closer I got, the more I felt the tension. The hairs on my arms stood on end as I rounded the corner of the corridor and stopped. Walker stood there, surrounded by almost all the permanent guards, all of them armed to the teeth, and glaring at the asshole who’d barged into me and Coulter’s other men.
“Walker.” I approached slowly, feeling the tension building with every second. “Everything okay here?”
“Just peachy,” Walker answered, not once looking away.
They were all a Molotov cocktail, just waiting for the match. The Daughters’ rooms behind Coulter’s men were open, but there was no movement.
“I was just explaining to David here that we have a process for onboarding,” Walker explained. “The women bathe and eat, only then do they start.”
Coulter’s men glanced my way. I was missing something here. Something that had pissed Walker off.
“The process has been this way for years,” I added. “Men far smarter than you and I have carefully created it. We have proven any deviation from the program will probably have disastrous effects. Now, you don’t want that.”
“That’s right,” came the cool, dulcet tone of my brother. “When he says smarter men, he means me. I planned the programming, virtually down to the second. I know these women better than anyone else. Their needs, their hunger. I know when they will fight and when they won’t. I know all of that because I am the programmer.” He stepped closer, facing Coulter’s man. “You change that programming and you change everything. Do you want to hand over screaming and hysterical women to whoever is now in charge? Or would you prefer we do what we’ve successfully done previously and provide the very best care?”
The bastard said nothing. Kane gave a slow nod, then stepped forward, meeting his stare with an unflinching gaze. “Now, if you don’t mind.” He nodded to Walker and his men. “Kindly get out of our way.”
Coulter’s man curled his lip, shooting me a look of pure rage. One of his men reached down, pushing the tented outline of his cock to the side. I knew instantly what Walker had interrupted. Motherfuckers.
“Walker, take them to the cafeteria, make sure they’re fed before you take them to the media room for the first round of programming.” I said, make sure I held the bastard’s gaze for a full second before I took a step and pushed past, walking into the first room.
“You heard The Principal,” Walker ordered his men.
Grunts sounded, threats were mumbled. Kane headed further down the hallway as I stepped into the darkened cell, finding the young woman curled up on the cot, knees to her chest, as she stared at me.
“It’s okay.” I lifted my hand for her. “You’re safe now.”
My gut clenched with the words. It was a lie. A terrifying, sickening lie. She wasn’t safe. No one was, not here. She was about to learn just how unsafe she was.
“Come,” I commanded.
A battle raged in her eyes as she tried to fight the conditioning embedded inside her subconscious, pulling away even further from me. But I didn’t move, didn’t twitch, just held her gaze, my hand hovering in the air. Finally, she unfurled her body and slowly slid to the side of the bed.
They had bred her to obey.
Groomed her to do whatever men like me wanted.
Revulsion burned at the thought. My sister was one of them now. Groomed. Used. Bred.
The Daughter neared, letting me grip her arm and lead her from the room. Walker still stood in the hallway, supervising the rest of his men as they led each of the women from their cells.
Coulter’s men remained, standing to the side as they watched…all but the bastard who’d seemed to have a hard-on for me. He was gone. That made a chilling whisper of fear rise up my spine once more.
“The asshole who was just here. Where is he now?” I searched for the rest of the Daughters as they stepped out of their rooms one by one.
“Never said,” Walker answered. “He just left. Why?’’
My pulse raced, filling my head. Something was wrong…something was very wrong.
I shook my head. “Nothing,” I answered, but inside my head, instinct screamed. “Take care of them.”
I glanced at Kane as he stepped out of the last room and lifted his gaze to me. He stopped, concern furrowing his brow.
I couldn’t explain what I was feeling, all I could do was act. I turned away and headed for my office, with the desperate need to find that motherfucker roaring in my head. He was up to something. I just knew it.
