I SPENT THE last two days locked away with Elli in our basement. I fucked her like there’s no tomorrow. In a way, there isn’t. It was my last chance to get her pregnant. To leave her with something of mine. She has my last name, but I wanted to give her a child. I didn’t give her a choice, not like she cared. She lay there, bound and gagged, letting me have my way with her. She was too exhausted to even try and stop me. Her cunt dripping wet and my cock so hard it hurt. I used every second to my advantage.
Nicholas has been staying at his old house. I don’t know how he’s been torturing her mother and my father, and I don’t care either. I did my part. Spent more time on them than I wanted to. Now was my time to be with my wife, so I made the best out of it. This morning after I was done with her, I carried her to our bed, and when I walked out the front door, I noticed her mother’s SUV in our driveway, and I was glad that Nicholas was back. I didn’t want her waking up this morning home alone.
“Guess I can’t talk you out of this?” Tyson asks, breaking the silence.
“You of all people should know why I’m doing it,” I say, looking out the windshield of his car, the clock on the dash of his Bentley shows it’s now almost six in the morning. The sun is just starting to rise above the tree line.
“Why is that?” he wonders.
“You gave up your future for love.”
He snorts. “I gave up mine for revenge. They are not the same. One is power, the other a weakness.”
“If giving her a future that she deserves makes me weak, then so be it.”
He gives a rough laugh. “You seriously think she wants a life without you?”
“I think she deserves a dad.” Pulling my cell out, I look down at the cameras in our bedroom. She’s cuddled up to my pillow, sound asleep. “I’m doing the right thing.” I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince him or myself. I would never give Elli her father just to take him away after a week. Even I’m not that cruel of a person. She’s finally starting to warm up to him.
“People don’t go to Carnage to die, Easton.” He growls, going on, “For fuck’s sake. Look at Nicholas. Years they have kept him alive. They are about torture, not death.”
“Everyone pays for their sins,” I mumble. None of us are untouchable, no matter if we want to think we are or not.
His hand tightens on the steering wheel but thankfully he falls silent for the rest of the thirty-minute drive.
_______________
HE PULLS UP to the circle drive and gets out of the car. I smirk, trying to lighten the mood. “You don’t have to walk me in.” I remove my cell and drop it into the car next to the journal I brought with me. “Make sure she gets that.” I didn’t want her to find it before Tyson returned. I remove my Lords ring and toss that into the seat as well. Won’t be needing that.
Placing his forearms on the roof of the car, he speaks, “You know she won’t forgive you, right?”
My jaw clenches.
“You really think she wants you here?” He taps his finger on the roof. Sunglasses covering his eyes. I can’t see them, but I can feel them glaring at mine. “You think she’ll find someone else? Love someone else?” He shakes his head. “I mean, she’s going to fuck other men, sure.”
“Tyson,” I growl. I’ve already had this conversation with myself a hundred times. Somehow it sounds worse hearing it out loud.
“But she loves you, Easton. And you’re doing what everyone else has always done, turn their back on her.”
I grind my teeth. “I’m protecting her.”
“By turning yourself in?” he snaps, pushing off the car. “For fuck’s sake, Sin. Use your fucking head.”
“Gentlemen, something we can do for you?”
I turn around to see all three brothers standing at the top of the stairs.
I slam my door shut and walk toward them, holding my arms out wide.
The one with the snake tattoos smiles. “You’re early, Sin. Sure you don’t want your two extra days of freedom?”
With fists clenched, I walk past them and into the open door, not bothering to look back. I follow the one I’m guessing is the leader down a hallway while the other two walk behind me.
We get into an elevator and my breathing picks up. Not because of what I’m doing, but because of what Tyson said to me. I hope that the pain is so unbearable that I never think of her with another man.
The elevator dings before the door opens. Freezing cold air fills the metal box before we can even step out. My breath now a cloud in front of my face. I smell blood. Fresh and old. There’s a haunting feeling in the air. Almost like souls trapped down here.
We walk down a narrow hallway and he pushes open a door, moving to the side to allow me to enter first.
Stepping inside, I come to a stop when I get a look at the room.
The guy with the gagged nun tattoo slaps me on the back, giving a dark chuckle. “We’ve never had someone willingly give themselves up. It won’t be as fun knowing you won’t put up a fight.”
Taking in a deep breath, I square my shoulders. This is what I agreed to. For her. She deserves this. I deserve this. We are not forgiven of our sins just because we are Lords. In the real world, Lords are gods. Here at Carnage, you’re nothing. Long gone, a forgotten soul. I’m not sure what my wife will say to the world when asked how I died. And honestly, it doesn’t matter. Eventually no one will know that I ever existed.
“Remove your shirt,” One orders.
Reaching up, I grab the back of my collar and rip it up and over my head, tossing it to the corner.
A hand hits my bare back, shoving me forward toward the center of the room. Spun around, I’m pushed up against a wooden post. The smell of blood is even stronger in here. And judging by the drains placed throughout the concrete floor, I’m guessing a lot is spilled. Hoses even hang from the ceiling. I count at least three. Easy to wash a body off. You want a quick and easy cleanup after taking a life.
My arms are yanked in front of me, handcuffs placed around each wrist, tightened to the point it pinches my skin and makes me hiss in a breath. Fuck, my hands will be numb in no time.
I see the other one walk behind me with something hanging from his hand that gets my attention, but it’s too dark for me to see. The next second, a rubber ball gag is shoved into my mouth, prying it wide open. I feel him fastening it in place behind my head.
“This is so you don’t bite off your tongue,” he whispers darkly in my ear. “We like to hear the screams. It would be a shame to make you a mute so quickly.”
Another leather belt is wrapped around my neck, pinning it to the post, before tightening to the point it restricts my air but not rendering me completely breathless. I try to slow my racing heart and breathe deeply through my nose.
The guy in front of me pulls a chain down from a spool on the ceiling. The sound echoing through the concrete room. A link is attached to the end that he places around the chain connecting the cuffs, linking them together. He pulls sharply to unlock the chain and lets go, yanking my arms above my head in the process. The position pins my already immobile head between my arms. The pinch the cuffs cause to my wrists makes me bite into the gag.
My legs are kicked wide open, and each pant leg shoved up to my calves where I feel a cuff wrap around each one, just as tight as my wrists, before they’re shackled to the floor. A third belt is wrapped around my hips, pinning them to the post as well.
I’m unable to move a muscle. Hell, I can barely breathe.
The door opens and I get a glimpse of an older man pushing a cart with him. It looks like medical instruments on it. My breathing is rapid, and my heart is pounding as drool starts to run out of the corner of my lips.
The guy comes to a stop in front of me and pulls on a pair of gloves. Then he takes the stethoscope around his neck and places it to my chest. He listens silently and then looks to one of the brothers and nods. A cold chill runs up my spine when the guy with the snake tattoos around his neck smiles at me.
The doctor grabs a syringe and pushes the tip into a vial, extracting some of the liquid, and then turns to face me.
My body involuntary fights the restraints as he places his fingers on my chest. I feel my skin tear around my wrists from the cuffs before the blood starts to run down my arms.
“You’re going to feel a pinch.” He plunges the needle into my chest, making the room fill with my gagged scream.
ELLINGTON
I WAKE TO find myself alone in bed, my body is so sore. Sin acted like the world was coming to an end. I mean, he’s always been rough, but he wasn’t holding anything back over the last two days. Hell, this past week for that matter.
I make my way to the kitchen to get a drink and see my dad already sitting at the table. “Have you seen Sin?” I ask him.
“No.” He frowns. “But I just woke up.”
“Sin?” I call out, entering the living room. I yelp in surprise when I see Tyson sitting on the couch, arms out across the back of the cushion. “You scared me.” I smile but it drops when he doesn’t return it. “Where’s Sin?” I ask, looking around as my father enters as well.
“He’s gone,” Tyson answers, his eyes going to my father then back to mine.
“What do you mean gone? When will he be back?” Maybe he had to go to the house of Lords for something.
“He’s not coming back.” Tyson stands and holds out a journal I hadn’t seen sitting next to him until now. Then he sets a Lords ring on the coffee table next to what I recognize is Sin’s cell phone. It starts to vibrate, and I see it light up with a text.
My breath hitches as the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He’d never leave his phone behind. I pick it up, noticing there’s no longer a lock on it and open up the message to read it out loud.
UNKNOWN: Nicholas, enjoy your freedom.
“Fuck,” my father hisses, yanking the phone from my hand.
“What’s going on?” I demand. “What does it mean by freedom?” Why is it unknown? Why would they text it to Sin and not Tyson? I would wonder why they didn’t text my father if it was directed to him, but he doesn’t have a phone that I know of.
“Tyson, may I speak to you for a second?” My father ignores my questions and doesn’t wait for an answer from Tyson. Instead, he walks out of the house and onto the back porch. I open up the journal to the first page.
Little demon,
I’m sitting here next to you in our bed watching you sleep. It’s taking everything in me to not wake you up and tell you goodbye. To see those gorgeous blue eyes look at me one more time. To hear your sweet voice whisper you love me. I won’t do that to you. I’ve already put you through enough.
So I decided to write you a letter. It’s better this way, I promise.
First, let me just say, I am in love with you, Elli. I have been for as long as I can remember. I’m selfish, I know that. But I also know that you were always meant to be mine, and me yours. No matter what I’ve done or said to you, please believe me when I say it was always you. You are it for me.
I had to make a choice. And I know it was the correct one. I hope one day you will wake up and agree with me. You deserve your father. My family took him from you, it’s my responsibility to give him back. Nicholas can protect you from everything that is bad in our world. I failed you more than once and for that I’m sorry. I should have been there for you, and I wasn’t. Not when it mattered.
I tricked you into marrying me. I’m not sorry about that, though. I went to an attorney yesterday and had divorce papers drawn up, but I couldn’t bring myself to sign them. I can’t let you go. Although, I will no longer exist to the world, I will still be alive. For how long, I don’t know. But I promise you this, Elli, you will be my wife until I take my last breath. I did, however, make sure that you are taken care of. Tyson has the paperwork you’ll need. I left you everything that I have. I know you don’t need it, but you deserve it. You’ve always owned me so it felt wrong to not give you what was left of me.
This is where I’m supposed to tell you that I hope you find someone to make you happy. That you settle down with a good man that isn’t involved with the Lords, have kids, and grow old with him. But I can’t do that either. If that makes me a horrible person, then so be it. You know who I am, and I’m the guy that can’t imagine you with anyone other than me. That will never change.
Lastly—don’t lose yourself in your own mind, Elli. Don’t let yourself drown trying to save someone who refuses to swim. Stay clear-headed. Don’t fog your brain with drugs or doubt. You are stronger than that. Know that you are loved by a man that wanted the world for you, even if he wasn’t able to deliver.
Please know that you’ll always be in my thoughts, and that you will remain my little demon forever.
Love, your devil
“Where the fuck is he?” I hear my father demand and I look up through my watery eyes to see him enter the house. He yanks the journal from my hands.
I feel dizzy, my hands grab at my chest, pulling on my shirt.
Tyson walks over to me. “Breathe, Elli,” he orders, gripping my face, forcing me to look up at him. “Fucking breathe. Before you pass out.”
“Goddammit.” My father hisses, throwing the journal to the floor.
“W-why would he do this?” I’m gasping, trying to catch my breath. I don’t understand. The letter didn’t answer any of my questions, it just gave me more.
“Because he’s an idiot.” My father is the one who answers. “Tyson, we need to leave.”
“Where are we going?” he asks, confused.
“My old house. Now.” My father starts gathering his things. “Does the cathedral still have a triage set up?”
“Yeah.” Tyson nods.
“Good. Call Gavin. Have him meet us at the cathedral. We’re going to need him.”
_______________
I REFUSED TO stay back at the house after reading the note that Sin left me. If he is going to choose to leave me, he’ll say it to my motherfucking face. After everything we’ve been through, and he thinks he can just walk out on me? I won’t accept that from him. He’s never been a coward; I won’t let him be one now.
I sit in the back seat of my mother’s Cadillac Escalade. Looking over the seat, I see my mother and Sin’s father both hog-tied, lying side by side in the back. We went and picked them up at my parents’ house.
My father and Tyson have been talking nonstop. I’m trying to keep up with their conversation but half the words I don’t even understand. The other times I’m too busy crying, wondering why Sin would do this to me. Why can’t I have them both? Him and my father? Is that too much to ask? Just when I thought I was going to get what I want, what I deserve, the world takes it from me.
Tyson pulls into a driveway and stops at a gate. He punches in a code and the gate opens. We come to a circle drive, and I jump out of the SUV, my hands sweating as I look over the building. It looks like an old castle. One you would see sitting on a cliff where a monster would live. The dark clouds that cover the sky just add to the haunting feeling.
Tyson grabs my mother and my father grabs Sin’s. I follow after them on shaky legs and up the stairs. Tyson shoves both front doors open, and we enter the grand foyer. Two staircases are on either side that lead up to a second-story balcony. The smell makes me gag. It looks just as threatening on the inside as the outside.
“Well, well, well. We love when company shows up unannounced, don’t we, brothers?” a man’s voice echoes before he comes into view from a hallway off to the right.
“Surprise,” Tyson states dryly, dropping my mother to the floor. She sobs around the tape over her mouth. I should feel bad for her, but I don’t. Not after I found out everything that she had done.
Two more enter the room and they’re all covered in blood. From their hands to their shirts and their jeans. One guy even leaves bloody shoe prints with his black boots as he walks to stand in front of us. I gag again, getting the attention of one of them. He looks me up and down, smirking. “If you brought the girl to beg for Romeo, it won’t work.”
My watery eyes go to Tyson, but he keeps his eyes ahead on the three men who stand before us.
“I’m here for a trade.” It’s my father who speaks to them. “Two for one.” He then drops Sin’s father to the floor at the men’s feet.
“What am I going to do with them?” one asks, kicking Sin’s father in the chest, making him cry out into his gag.
“Whatever the fuck you want.” My father shrugs carelessly. “I’m sure you can come up with something.”
“I say we keep the kid and let her come visit him.” The same one from before steps closer to me. His blood-covered shirt almost touching mine. “We’ll let him watch us fuck her. I bet they’d both get off on that. I know I would.” He takes another step closer and my breathing stops. “Starve a man for a few days, he’ll eat anything. We’ll each take our turns, filling your cunt with our cum, then lay you out for him like a feast. He’ll eat every drop of us out of you.”
Tyson grabs me and yanks me behind him, and I try to swallow the bile that rises.
“Enough.” The first one who entered sighs heavily, sounding bored. “Jessie?” he then calls out, making me jump, and the one that was speaking to me laughs at my unease.
A man appears dressed in an all-black tuxedo. “Yes, sir?”
“Take these two to be prepared for initiation,” the one guy orders with a wave of his hand.
That one guy who was talking to me steps closer to Tyson, and he notices. “She’s not for you,” he tells the bloodied man.
“I’m just having fun, Tyson. Of all people, you should know what it’s like to have a piece of something that doesn’t belong to you.”
If Tyson is irritated, he doesn’t show it.
The one who called for Jessie gives us his back and the other two follow. Tyson takes my hand and drags me down a hallway on shaky legs and to an elevator. I cling to his side, staring straight ahead, ignoring the eyes that are on me. I want to ask if they’re taking us to Sin but bite my tongue instead. Where else would we be going?
The door opens and a shiver runs down my spine at the freezing cold air that hits me. Tyson steps out, yanking me with him. Down another hallway and to a door. One of the brothers opens it and Tyson steps in, but then spins around, stopping.
I run into him and ask nervously, “What?” I look up at him with wide eyes and I catch his jaw working as he clenches it.
Tyson looks down at me and commands, “Stay out here.”
“What?” I shriek. “No—”
“Leave her with me,” one of the brothers says from behind me, and I notice it’s the voice of the one that was fucking with me in the entrance upstairs. “I’ll take good care of her.”
Tyson’s eyes narrow on his before they drop to mine and soften. “Keep it together,” he mumbles, and I frown. Confused about what he means by that.
I nod quickly, swallowing the knot in my throat and trying to calm my breathing. Tyson turns to the room, pulling me inside.
I gasp, my heart stopping at what I see once we enter. Sin is in the center of the room, strung up. His arms cuffed above his head, his ankles spread wide and shackled to the floor. A gag in his mouth, drool running from his lips. His eyes are closed, a belt around his neck and hips tying him to a post. Bile rises when I see a piece of skin on the floor in front of him. It’s the Lords’ crest, they cut it off of him. 666 has been branded into him where the Lords’ crest once was. Blood, there’s so much of it. Now I understand where all the blood came from that was on the brothers—it’s Sin’s.
I don’t realize I’m sobbing until Tyson grabs my hand, yanking me into his side. “Get him down,” he barks, making me jump.
One of the guys reaches up, grabs a chain and pulls on it, releasing Sin’s cuffed wrists from above his head.
Tyson lets go of me and walks over to remove the gag and belts holding him up while another one of the brothers releases his ankles. The cuffs around his wrists are undone and Tyson throws one of Sin’s arms over his shoulder while my father helps him out by grabbing the other.
My heart races at the silence in the room. He hasn’t made a single noise. Why isn’t he in pain? Is he even breathing?
“Out,” Tyson snaps at me as they start to drag Sin across the room toward the door.
I spin around to exit, my hair slapping my tear-streaked face, only to find that one guy standing in the doorway, blocking it. His eyes run along my body, making me shiver in fear. “It’s amazing what a man will do for a cunt.” He tilts his head to side in thought. “Makes me want to see what’s so special about it.” He steps toward me.
“Get the fuck out of the goddamn way,” Tyson shouts, still behind me.
The guy licks his lips “Maybe another time.” He steps back and I run out of the room into the hallway and then lead the guys out the way we came in.
Making it outside, Tyson hollers at me. “Open the hatch. Then lay the back seats down. We’re going to have to lay him flat.” I do as I’m told and he and my father load Sin inside the SUV.
My father jumps into the back, making it to Sin’s head, and grabs him underneath his arms, pulling him up while Tyson pushes his legs. I jump in and kneel next to Sin. Tyson shuts the hatch. “I’m going to make this quick. So hold on back there,” he tells us once he jumps into the driver’s seat.
My father nods, removing his shirt. He rips it down the middle, and then into a few more pieces. “Wrap this around his wrist. Make it tight. We have to stop the bleeding.” He hands it to me.
I sniff, snot and tears running down my face, and do as I’m told, seeing the indentions that the cuffs left. They cut deep. Too deep. It looks like he took a knife to the inside of his wrists and cut them himself horizontally.
Then my father is undoing Sin’s belt. He wraps it around Sin’s forearm. “This should provide a little extra help. At this point, it can’t hurt.” He then removes his own and does the same thing to Sin’s other arm.
“Why isn’t he awake?” I cry, my now bloody hands shaking while I place my hand on his chest, trying to feel his heartbeat. He can’t be dead. I don’t believe it.
“You don’t want him to be awake. Trust me, it’s better he’s out.” Tyson is the one who answers me.
