If she was going to die, she wasn’t
going to stare it in the face.
Jamie’s desperation rose till it was
the only thing she could feel, could understand. She was numb to
everything, even the angry snarls of the man behind her. Her last
scream echoed through the room as she fell against the door, body
shuddering, face tear-stained.
The door opened.
At first, she stayed there,
unbelieving.
Then the twins stormed in,
the colder one in the lead. Their stench wafted past her as they
strode to the man. Her head turned with their movements, horror
dawning on her as the ruthless one lifted his hand.
Auro
, an inner voice
whispered. The other one was Lyne.
The dark, unmistakable eyes of the man
turned to hers before he was dragged into the center of the room.
He made no sound, gave no outward emotions. Jamie couldn’t look
away from him, from the utter hate that filled his gaze.
It burned.
Auro let his hand fall with quick
precision. The hard sound of Auro hitting him had her crying out,
shocked. It was clear on the man’s face that he blamed her for what
was happening.
“
Stop
!” she screamed, latching onto Lyne. His face changed as he
looked down at her, registering the indignation. Jamie was
desperate. To stop them from hurting him anymore than he already
was, to save herself, to figure out what they wanted from her. Her
eyes blazed with pure fury as she stood to her feet, not caring
that the priceless gown was now covered with blood and
dirt.
“
Why should he? Our pet
looks like he is enjoying it,” he said with a sick laugh. Jamie’s
blood churned, along with her stomach. She took a calming breath,
despite the hate and terror that swirled around them
all.
“
Please,” she whispered,
tucking her hand into his arm. The action made a complete change
come over his face. Jamie felt as shock coursed through her before
she hid it, tucking the knowledge away for use. Bile rose in her
throat as she pleaded with him for the other man.
Shivers started to wrack her body,
turmoil filling her mind. Auro was still beating him, his cruel
laughter ringing through the room, the man soundless under the
powerful hits. She dared to glance at him, and felt her heart
break.
Auro’s fist slammed down,
making an imprint on his back. Pain filled her, for him, for
everything that was happening. Guilty, panicking, she pleaded with
him and pressed closer to his side, knowing that it would work.
“I’ll do anything for you, just take him back to my room. Take him
there, and I’ll do
anything
,” she begged, tugging on
him.
Murderous crimson eyes connected with
Jamie’s. She froze, knowing that if he could have, he would have
killed her. Lyne’s chest puffed up, yet the disdain for her
remained. The man fell limply into the ground, not a muscle moving
in the aftermath. Jamie cursed herself, the damnation she had
caused herself ingrained into her mind, into her soul. For defying
his brother, Lyne was going to use her deal to his
advantage.
“
Auro,” he snapped,
flinging her away from him. The look of a virile man, of
consideration, was gone, replaced by cruel calculation. “Take him
to the rooms. Clean him. I want their coupling to be over tonight,”
he said. By Auro’s shocked expression, it was obvious that Lyne
rarely commanded him, or took charge of anything with such
authority. He started to shake his head, but Lyne’s hiss stopped
him.
The look he gave Jamie chilled her to
her soul. She swallowed and wrapped her arms around herself, all of
their eyes turning on her. The unknown man’s filled with hate,
Auro’s filled with murder, and Lyne’s filled with
authority.
Jamie looked away, towards the door.
As much as she wished she could make a run for it, she had to stay
for him. He had probably done nothing to deserve this, and since
she was dragged in, she wasn’t leaving without him. Once they were
out, they could go on with their lives and hopefully forget about
everything.
She knew the thought was ridiculous,
false. Still, she hoped.
“
Yes,
brother
,” Auro spat, yanking the man
to his feet. A viscous roar came from him then, and he lashed out,
catching Auro on his chin. Jamie watched with horrified fascination
as he rounded on the pale man with a murderous fury, Lyne jumping
in to stop the attack.
He was on the ground in seconds, eyes
shut, blood pooling at his temple. Her heart pounded before Auro
picked him up with such ease that she blinked. A tear slowly fell
down her cheek, watching him walk away. “He is going to my room?”
she blurted once Auro had left. Lyne paused, looking down at her as
if he had forgotten about she was there.
Then he nodded, a perverted smile
gracing his weathered face. “And you’re going to mine.”
Bile rose in her throat at the damning
words, but she couldn’t regret them. Not when they had helped the
man, not when it would mean freeing them. She forced herself to
think of this as Chris and her, how he would force himself on her
when she did something wrong, when he was drunk or
angry.
Just Chris,
she coaxed herself, avoiding his leering crimson
eyes.
You know it isn’t “just
Chris”,
her mind whispered to her.
It’s “just some monster who is going to suck you
dry and have his way with you”.
Tears welled in her eyes,
but she forced herself to be strong. If she kept the man safe, he
would be their way of escape.
Just
Chris
, she chanted, shuddering with disgust
as his hand wrapped around the back of her neck, leading her...like
some kind of dog.
They were exiting the dark room in
time to see the man’s bloodied feet disappear behind a corner. The
fact that Auro had the strength to carry a grown man, one twice the
size of any she had ever seen before, attested to what she
suspected to be true. They weren’t human.
The house amazed her for the second
time. It was large, spacious, dark and goth. It was mysterious,
terrifying, and made her want to weep. Where Chris’s house had been
light and airy, it had still been a prison. This house was dark and
terrifying, the exact opposite of Chris’s house and yet so
painfully similar.
Torches cast shadows, like dark ghosts
reaping their revenge. How many men had died here? she thought.
Lyne yanked her along, tearing her gaze away from a portrait of the
twins together, a malnourished bloodhound at their feet. In its
mouth was a limp rodent, shredded to bits. It looked like a
cat.
Jamie swallowed past the bitter taste
in her mouth. Her old cat, Ralph, would have howled.
Before she realized what was
happening, she was veered into a room and the door slammed shut
behind her. A tense, cold silence screamed through the room. Her
ears rang. Her hands were numb. Jamie thought she was going to
vomit. A cold hand caressed her arm. Her head spun.
“
Why would you put yourself
on the line,” Lyne murmured softly, “for such a monster? What good
has he done you?”
The gentle curiosity was a false mask
to what hid beneath his ancient features. His eyes, while
conciliatory, were narrowed with slight anger, as if he didn’t want
to know but needed to ask. Jamie flinched.
“
I wouldn’t know,” she
answered, voice cracking. His frosty finger trailed over her
shoulder, around the nape of her neck. Shivers spread across her
pale skin. Not with passion, but with horror, fear, repulsion.
Never in her life had a mans touch affected her so. Even with
Chris, it had been discomforting and she had hated him for it, but
it had not made her want to die, to curl into a ball and get burned
alive with hopes of relinquishing his acidic touch on her
skin.
“
Oh, dear,” he said, the
endearment said with mock understanding. “Sure you do. We warned
you about what that monster is capable of. You did not heed our
warnings, and instead wish to salvage him?”
Jamie shook her head, unable to
explain. Lyne would not take kindly or accepting to Jamie using the
man to escape. Her breath halted in her throat as he came around
her front, finger still against her skin. The knife-like digit slid
dangerously close to the swell of her breasts. Goosebumps rose on
her flesh, Lyne taking it as an incentive to go further.
She jerked back, a nervous laugh
bubbling out of her throat. “Master Lyne,” she said between
clenched teeth, hoping it would make him soften. It worked — his
eyes gentled, appreciation for her overcoming his features. So
different he was, she thought, when he was not in front of an
audience.
He was more vulnerable, more exposed
and susceptible.
Lyne curled an arm around her shoulder
and led her to the large bed that lie in the center of the room.
She started to refuse, wishing that Auro would barge in as she
suspected he was going to. The possessiveness that he expressed to
his brother was frightening, but a godsend.
Jamie almost shoved him away, but
those furious black eyes stole into her thoughts. Swallowing, she
let him sit beside her on the plush bed. His arm wrapped around her
tightly, his hand dangerously close to the underside of her breast.
Bile rose in her throat, mind racing for ways to get out of this.
Why wasn’t Auro bursting in, sword at the ready —?
The door slid open softly, the knob
tapping the wall. Jamie almost fainted with relief. Even though the
delicate tap sounded more like a bomb, her shoulders still
slumped.
“
Lyne, I must speak to
you.”
Auro floated into the room, eyes like
frost as they drifted over her. She wrapped her arms around her
waist, avoiding his eyes. There was such hate, such aberration in
them. Jamie was grateful that he had come in when he had, though. A
second later and Lyne would have been over her in a
heartbeat.
Lyne reluctantly dropped his arm from
her shoulder, turning liquid crimson eyes his way. Jamie almost
gagged when Auro stepped forward to place a gentle hand on his
chest, his intent clear. Lyne’s features changed
dramatically.
“
Ivan,” he snapped, though
his eyes held his brothers. “Take her to Talon.”
A large hand came out of nowhere,
latching onto her arm. She went willingly, turning away from the
passionate brothers. Her stomach churned as he took her from the
room.
“
You’re lucky you aren’t
dead right now,” he hissed at her ear, hand wrapping around her arm
impossibly tight. She held in her wince, turning her chin up at
him.
“
You’re lucky you can still
have kids,” she returned quietly, the steel in her voice only
making him incensed. He yanked, dragging a groan from her as the
throbbing in her shoulder returned.
“
Just wait until that man
is done with you,” he sneered, raking his eyes over her body.
“There won’t be much left.”
Jamie swallowed, not
replying.
The room she was pushed into several
minutes was the same as the one she had been in before. Expansive
cream walls were the same, the carpet as spotless as it had been.
The only thing wrong was the bed. Laying on the spread, still as
stone, was the man. She tried to remember what Lyne had called him,
but shrugged it off when she saw him move.
Ivan left, slamming the door behind
him.
Relief coursed through her. She forgot
about the danger he possessed, how he could — and probably would —
snap her neck. If Jamie was going to rely on him to get them out,
then she might as well take care of him.
Her feet carried her to the bed, a
feeling of deja vu coming over her. She could see herself, an apron
clutched in her hand, soft leather shoes tipping over the floor as
quietly as she could... He was there, laying, armor next to the
bed. His hand was holding his head, a day's growth of stubble
making him look like a rogue.
The site of dark red blood snapped the
vision from her mind. Her cheeks flushed brightly. It had almost
seemed as if they were man and wife, close as no other could be.
She shook the feeling off, sitting on the bed. His back, bruised
and damaged, was to her, his bare legs drawn to his
chest.
As Jamie stared at him, her heart
started to break.
She bit her lip, noticing his head
wasn’t even on a pillow. His skin was dark, scarred, rough-looking.
Hand shaking, she started to reach for the pillow closest to him,
her other hand slipping under his neck.
At the light touch, her breath
stopped. Not because it was frozen cold, or because it was so
thick, but because of the sharp tingles that ran up her arm. Jamie
stared down at him, confused, frightened, but still lifted his head
up.
She peered over his shoulder, her
suspicions confirmed. He was asleep. Feeling braver now that he was
unconscious, she stood and tugged the heavy duvet back, pulling it
from under his body.
Slowly, Jamie covered him with the
blanket. Immediately, shivers had him convulsing. And still, he was
asleep. She hoped so, at least. She stared around the room, at the
door in the corner. Going to it cautiously for reasons she didn’t
know, Jamie pulled open the door.