“You’re gay?”
“I don’t do labels.”
“Oh,” Carter said, confused.
“I told him I couldn’t do it and that pissed him off. It wasn’t because I was with a man, either; it was because I’m not like him. I don’t see these people—his slaves—as objects. I see them as people. Anyway, we had a servant and she had a son my age named Fonso that I was involved with. Silas didn’t know, until someone in security talked to him after he pulled me from the room with the girls. He said,
“Your son can’t perform because he’s a—”.
I don’t like to say the word,” Gabe whispered, lowering his eyes. “When Silas found out, he lost it. He found out that I was romantic with Fonso and …”
“He killed him …” Carter murmured, finishing the sentence.
Gabe raised teary, hazel eyes filled with anger and locked them with hers. “Yes,” he whispered, his voice shaky with emotion. “I tried to run away after that, but I didn’t get far. Silas caught me and nearly beat me to death, then threw me down there. I haven’t seen his face in eight years. I stay locked in one of the rooms during the day, and then I’m released to roam the west basement at night,” he finished.
And right on time, too. Carter was more than ready for this fight.
Be good for mommy
, she silently whispered in her head to her unborn child.
“Thank you, Gabe,” Carter said, and placed both of her hands on his face. “Listen to me, and never forget this. You are brave, and strong. I don’t know how you’ve survived like this, but I’m glad you did. I look forward to getting to know you and developing a strong bond with you. Now I need you to be brave because I’m about to get us out of here.”
“What will you do?” he asked with a confused frown.
A sinister smile spread across her lips before she gripped the front of his white shirt. “This.”
Before Gabriel asked another question, Silas’s voice rang out in the hallway. “Cecilia!”
Carter turned Gabriel away from the door and shoved him into the middle of the hallway. Gabriel turned to face Silas—who had just become silent at the sight of his son—and said nothing.
“Ga–Gabriel …” Silas sounded shaken, as if the sight of his son had caught him off guard.
Like a lioness on a hunt, Carter slowly came from behind the large door with deadly fire in her hazel eyes. Carter was positive that she’d never experienced rage such as this before. It was a quiet, unshaken rage, and it was new to her. Even looking at the face of a man
completely identical
to her deceased father had little effect on her. Even though the man resembled her father right down to the nose, Carter had no doubt that he was a different man. Those eyes were not her father’s eyes.
Silence fell over the hallways as Carter stood in front of her brother and faced off with the three large men. Carter instantly sized each of them up. They were bigger, and probably stronger, but if they didn’t run they would die by her hand. The only thing that would make this moment better was a weapon.
Silas took a cautious step toward her. Carter cocked her head to the side while she watched him approach her like one would an animal. “Stop,” she said, and immediately he did as instructed. “If you come any closer to me, I’ll break your neck.”
Something flashed through his eyes, but it wasn’t what Carter had expected, which was to see disbelief. She was small, and a woman. She figured he’d give her the same reaction many men gave her when she threatened him, yet the look in his eyes was different. He … believed her, and most importantly he believed she could and would do exactly what she’d said.
“I’m serious, Silas,” Carter pressed on. “Unless you are prepared to defend yourself with the skill your brother had, do not approach me. If you can’t beat Robert, don’t even think of fighting me. I’ll kill you within the first five seconds. Back up.”
Silas looked at her with an impassive expression and took a few steps back from her. Suddenly, anger filled his eyes. “Robbie made you this monster.”
“Me, a monster?”
“Yes, monster,” Silas snapped. “You are a little girl! Instead of buying you dolls like he should have, he let you play with knives. I disapprove.”
A humorless laugh escaped her lips. “So if I’m a monster, than what are you, Silas?” she asked.
“Your father!” he yelled. “The man that gave you life. The man that gave the world that pretty little face. You’re a little too much like daddy, sweetheart. Your mother will never admit it to you, but you are. Good luck getting your brother to
fucking
listen to you!”
Carter didn’t respond. Really, what the hell could she say to that? Although she didn’t want it to be true, it was. Silas had a hand in creating her and Gabriel. She hated the fact, but she wasn’t a child, she wasn’t going to cry about it. She was an adult, and she accepted the truth. Now, while she did accept that fact when it came to that sucky ass truth, she refused—
refused
—to accept his insinuation that she was anything like him. He was
not
her fucking daddy. And what the hell did he mean about her brother?
Silas’s eyes cut behind her to Gabriel. Carter wasn’t sure what Gabriel did, but Silas’s eyes moved away from him and back to her.
His jaw ticked and he took another step forward. “You need to calm down, Cecilia. Not only that, but you need to put your brother back in his area. You don’t know him, you can’t control him. You’ll both grow to love it here. If you want to room with your brother then fine,” he shrugged, “you two can share a room. Soon your mother will join us here and we will be a family again. You just have to be patient. If you let me help you, I can make you better. I can make you a decent young lady. I can train you—”
“I am not your fucking pet!” Carter screamed the words and every person in the hallway flinched. “I cannot be trained. I will not be caged for your viewing pleasure.”
Shouting her name angrily, he took a step forward as if to grab her. Carter quickly moved toward him, making him stumble back, startled and surprised by her boldness.
“You think I’m just like
daddy
?” she asked in a menacing tone. “Well, let’s see if you can predict what comes next. You will never lay one fucking finger on me or my brother because if you do, I will
rip you apart
—
piece by piece
—and take great pleasure in hearing you scream!” Carter was sure she was foaming from the mouth but she didn’t give a shit. She was so fucking mad! The subtle fear in their eyes only fueled her murderous rage. “There’s no one in this prison to help you and your friends, Silas, and if you have weapons you won’t have time to go get them. You are unarmed, and unable to protect yourself from what I am going to do to you.”
“What is it you suppose we do then?” Aziz asked, speaking up for the first time.
Carter turned her glare to him. “Let us go. Convince Silas that this is a fight that the Steele family won’t win. Whether I live or die, you’ve all fucked up. You never should have taken me. The war started the moment you sent Henry to take me.”
“Cole,” Silas said as if irritated. “His name is Cole. And he is your half-brother …”
Carter said nothing, even as a wave of nausea suddenly crashed into her and her stomach twisted into a painful knot.
Silas shrugged. “He wasn’t supposed to fuck you, but I suppose he couldn’t help himself. You and Gabriel are Stones. I have no other children that measure up to your level in appearance. Yet I spared you both, and didn’t sell you. You two are the only children of mine that I love.”
“Fuck you,” Gabe and Carter said simultaneously.
Silas continued as if they hadn’t spoken. “Now look at how you thank me. Do you know how much I could have gotten for brown skinned children from the Stone family?”
The motherfucker was seriously angry, too. He was deranged.
“Stop, Silas,” Aziz chided. “Don’t provoke them any further.”
Silas shot a glare at Aziz right before Aziz began to reason with him in a language Carter didn’t understand. Was he … was he speaking Arabic?
“Let them go, Silas,” Gabe whispered from behind her. It only took Carter a second to realize he was translating. “She’s dangerous, and Gabriel is …” A short burst of laughter escaped Gabriel’s lips, before he continued to translate, leaving Carter to wonder what words Aziz used to describe him. “We need to cut our losses. This war must end, our empire is suffering. She’s already found Gabriel. What will you do if she finds something else she isn’t supposed to find? Let her leave here and never seek her, Gabriel, or Anastacia out again. If you do, you will lose—”
“Stop!” Silas suddenly shouted. “Gabriel can understand you.”
Aziz looked over at Carter and Gabriel in a panic. “Silas, we need to let her leave here,” he said.
Silas shook his head angrily. “No!” he yelled. “She needs to be trained.” He turned to Carter with a menacing glare. “She needs to be taught.”
Carter’s jaw ticked as she prepared herself for the fight of her life. She was going to kill this son of a bitch. “Be real, Silas. You, Aziz, and Naveed can’t beat me. You have no men! You have no weapons …”
As soon as she said the words, another man joined the party. Scott Flanagan came around the corner in a fit of anger, storming toward Carter. Fearlessly, Carter advance toward him.
“I have a weapon, bitch!” he spat.
Carter smirked. Fucking predictable. It was one of Carter’s methods. She’d thrown the knife in Scott’s chest, but had purposely ensured the wound wasn’t fatal in hopes that he wasn’t a punk-ass. She was impressed. Scott had taken time, managed to pull himself together, and unknowingly brought her weapon back to her. Now they were all fucked.
“Stop, Scott. She’ll kill you,” Silas muttered in a surprisingly calm tone.
Much to Carter’s delight, Scott didn’t stop. He gripped the knife that she had thrown in his chest, yanked it free, and hurled it at her face.
The catch was clean, effortless, and made Scott stop dead in his tracks.
Too bad it was too late for him.
One point five seconds later, Carter’s fist connected with Scott’s face. When he tried to grab her, she caught his arm under her arm, twisted her body, and delivered a swift punch to the back of his elbow with just enough force to break his arm. Scott released a loud shout and fell to his knees. Luckily, he didn’t have to feel the pain long because Carter didn’t hesitate to lift the knife and put Scott Flanagan out of his misery. She stabbed him in the throat over and over again. His blood splattered in her face, but she didn’t stop. She continued until she was satisfied with his death.
When she stopped, all was silent. Looking over to her three remaining enemies, she shoved Scott’s body aside. She began to walk toward Silas, using her arm to wipe Scott’s blood from her face.
“I told you to run.” Her voice didn’t even sound like her own when she said the words. “Not even a weapon will protect you from me …”
Panic fell over Aziz and Naveed’s faces. Naveed was the first to break out running, bringing Carter’s attention to him. He didn’t get far before her knife caught him in the back of his leg. The scene was like a horror movie. The men were the teenagers running from the crazed, undead killer with the machete, and Carter was said undead killer. Aziz shouted Silas’s name and grabbed him, pulling him down the hallway with quick speed. Silas allowed the man to lead him out of the castle as Naveed’s screams and cries of terror filled the entire hallway.
Carter reached him, and slaughtered him mercilessly.
After a moment, Carter stood to her feet, wiping the blood off of her face with her dress, and hesitantly looked over to her brother. The look in his eyes was expected, but it still sort of broke her heart. She’d only begun to accept the person she could become after Nathan had accepted her, but Gabe was not Nathan. Nathan would be proud of Carter for this—what he would call it a
power play
. He would praise her for putting Silas and Aziz in their place. But not Gabe. He was staring at her like she was the worst type of monster.
It hurt.
“I’m sorry,” Carter whispered. “I’m sorry you had to see that, but I had no choice.”
“Are you a monster, like he said?” he asked, his voice a pained whisper.
Carter was … speechless to say the least. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Swallowing the sudden lump in her throat, she turned her eyes away from him.
“You’re just like him, aren’t you?” he asked. “What he said was true.”
Carter snapped back as if she’d just been slapped. “No,” she said, disgusted and hurt that he’d even say such a thing. “I am nothing like him.”
“
Bullshit
,” Gabe yelled as tears welled up in his eyes. “You’re a fucking monster! A killer just like him. Maybe he should have kept you, and then he wouldn’t have been so disappointed in me. You would have fit in here perfectly.”
Carter swallowed and shook her head. “I’m not a monster,” she whispered. She wasn’t; she had to scare people like she’d scared those men. Men like them always thought her weak or docile, just because of her size or gender. She had to defend herself, and prove to them they were wrong.
“I knew this was too good to be true. Here I thought I was getting a sister—
a real sister
—but instead I get another lunatic!”