24690 (23 page)

Chapter 39

West

“You have got to be kidding me!”

My voice roared through the room as I stared at my wife holding the gun. Everything kept happening so damn fast. I couldn’t focus for a second. First, with the starved girl clinging to me. Then, with the shots. My mind was a spinning mess of clusterfucked shit.

“Did you not just hear me tell him what a fucking mess I was going to have over Master Max? Then, you decide to bring on more for me by killing another master? Wife!”

Eli jerked the gun from her hand, easing from where he had her pinned to the door. Had I been able to remove the girl from my legs, I would have throttled Everleigh. As it was, the damn child was stronger than she looked, and like cement around me.

“Get off!”

“Please, come here. Don’t be afraid. I’ll help you.”

The soft coo of my wife’s voice grated my ears. Any other time it wouldn’t have bothered me, but now … now that I had two dead masters and a room full of witness to what she’d done …

Pressure and weight disappeared as the girl let go and rushed to Everleigh’s waiting arms.

“I know you’re very angry with me for what I did. I know I deserve to be punished. But I beg you, allow me to take to her to Medical first. She’s not well. I know the role of slaves here, but this …” Everleigh held tighter to the girl, cradling the slave’s head in her chest and almost appearing to cover the girl’s ears with her hand. “Husband, I beg your mercy. Not for me, but for her. She’s just a child. Barely a teenager, if that. She shouldn’t even be here.”

“This has been her life now since she was old enough to walk,” I yelled. “This was all she knew and you took it from her. I can’t sell her. Look at her!” I shook my head angrily at the disgust that infested me. “This is what’s going to happen,
wife
. You are going to let go of that slave. She is going to the White Room for a peaceful death, and you will be lashed five times for inflicting death on a master.”

“W-what?”

Her voice cracked, but I wouldn’t look at her through the rage I felt. “Eli, take her to the apartment. You,” I said, pointing at another guard. “Take that one to the White Room and put it out of its misery.”

“No. No!” Everleigh thrashed in Eli’s arms as he tried to pry her away from the little girl. Both began screaming, infuriating me even more. “I beg you! Send
me
to the White Room. Send me! Don’t hurt her, please! Please!”

“Get them out of here! And someone call for clean-up. Both master’s bodies go to holding. Burn the dead slave.”

Further away the screams sounded and with the distance came a calming. Even an enjoyment. My wife would be upset after the lashing.
After what I’d done.
She’d need to calm. I knew how to calm her. And when I oiled her up, she’d break a little more. But come morning, she would see. She’d know not to cross me. The consequences of what she had done would be a lesson. One, her little slave mind would detect. And there, she’d learn.  

A sigh left my mouth as I turned, taking in the butchery and death around me. What a fucking mess. Some people couldn’t take humiliation. I should have known Master Gilpner would want revenge again Master Max. Appearances were everything here. More so than the outside world. Here, no one had to hide who they were. There were no restraints. No consequences. That had to change. This was a lesson for me too.

Two guards shifted off to the side, waiting for clean-up to arrive. I shook my head, heading past them.
Everleigh
. Damn woman was so unreadable. So unstable in her passion for the youth. Enough to have shot a master. It blew my mind, but should it? She helped skin her only friend alive. What was pulling a trigger? Maybe it wasn’t the significance of her actions, but to whom. I kept putting her in the role of a slave. The more violence she seemed to experience, the less obedient she was becoming.

I headed down the hall, taking in the mass of bloody boot prints tracked along the white floors. The further I got down, the more they lightened. I liked the color. The more white I saw from these halls, the angrier it made me become. All my life here, I’d had to endure the white maze leading me through this stone fortress. I would have them paint the walls. I’d do away with the white once and for all. Whitlock would become mine in every sense of the word, and not only would I make my mark by changing the ways, I’d change the look too.

I took the stairs two at a time, quickening my pace as I got closer to my room. The evil in me churned, brewing deep within, heating my stomach and warping my thoughts until I was pushing through my door. Eli stood over Everleigh’s sitting frame. She was perched on the edge of the sofa, glaring at him. When her head snapped to me, she held no more tears. No more sadness over the slave girl she’d offered to trade places with.

“You think you can go around killing off masters? You think you can show me up in front of my guards?”

She jumped to her feet, barely staying balanced before my hand gripped around her throat. I held firmly, but I didn’t squeeze no matter how much I wanted to.

“My weakness won again. I apologize, husband. I deserve my punishment. You were right to end her life. She’s better off that way. She deserves peace.”

I paused, feeling the anger ignite in the lack of fight she was giving me.

“What you did cannot be so easily erased in my mind. Or in theirs! They follow my lead. I give the orders. I kill people if it has to be done. Not you. Never you! You are meant to be by my side—strong, obedient. You don’t overstep me,” I yelled in her face, squeezing my hand tighter.

“You’re right.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and she reached up with both her hands to clutch around my wrist. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. I try to be who you want. Who you need. But she … the slave keeps coming back. Punish me. Show me who I’m to be.”

Her head turned and lowered. At my loosened grip, she kissed against my fingers, sobbing even more as she held tightly to my hand. The action, her pleas … they fucked with my head even more, softening the sadist in me. Making him want to punish her, but not to the point of breaking her like I dreamed.

“Take off your clothes and stand at the foot of the bed. Place your hands on the mattress and keeping your head down. Don’t you dare look up or move. I’ll be in there shortly.”

Wetness slid over my fingertips as Everleigh snuggled her face into my hand. The action only lasted seconds before she pulled back and left me alone with Eli. The moment the door shut, I cut my gaze over to him.

“How the hell did she get your gun away from you? Her? She’s a woman, barely over five feet tall, who can’t weigh more than a sack of fucking potatoes.”

“She took me by surprise. I was watching the damn master, who by the way, kept getting closer to you. How was I to know he wasn’t going to attack you, too?”

“It would have been hard to protect me without your damn gun! Ridiculous. My wife shoots a master against my orders and shows up my high leader by disarming him. Maybe I should give the fucking title of Master over to her. She seems to be wearing the pants around here.”

Eli shrugged, leaning against the wall. “It might be interesting to see the roles reversed. How do you think she’d do?”

“Not funny. You think things are bad now. If she was suddenly placed in my role, Whitlock would go to shit faster than you could blink. There’d be no order. No one would listen to her.”

“Women have ruled kingdoms before. I think if she took control, the guards would follow her.” He paused, cutting his stare up. “I would.”

“You’d follow her over me?” I stepped closer, closing the distance between us.

“You said if she ruled here. You said nothing about your role. I’m just saying if she got the position, I’d serve her.”

“Watch it, Eli. You’re treading very deep water right now, and you have no idea what’s lurking below. If you turn your back on me—if you so much as look at her the wrong way—I’ll gouge out your eyes and make you eat them. What comes after that, you couldn’t even imagine.”

He smiled, pushing from the wall. Our faces were so close, seeing anything but his eyes were almost impossible.

“I once told you not to forget your friends.
I am your friend,
West. But don’t you dare threaten me again. You forget that the bait that treads the water is usually the hook that kills the prey. Remember that.”

Weight hit my shoulder as Eli stepped around me and headed for the bedroom.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“You threatened her in front of my guards. You said she’s owed five lashings. That offense isn’t between a husband and a wife, but between the high leader and the person, you, as Main Master, punished. If you want to keep things running smoothly here, you’ll go by the laws we’re all sworn to protect. Unless you plan to change those, too?” “He reached up to his radio calling in two names. Before I could so much as argue, the door opened and the men came marching in. Eli opened the door, pausing as he turned to the men. “Stay.” His attention went back inside. “Panties on, Mrs. Harper.”

He pulled the door back shut, but I wasn’t having it. I walked forward, slamming my hand into the barrier. The crash against the wall had Everleigh jumping, but she didn’t move as I continued to the closet, grabbing the flogger from the top.

“If the high leader wishes to give you an extra five, so be it. These are from your husband.”

Everleigh gripped the panties in her fist, spinning back to the bed to grab the comforter tightly. I jerked to a stop, already having my hand reared back. The leather strands slid against each other and I struck forward with a force I knew was enough to break her skin.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

“Who do you take orders from!”

Nails clawed into the cover as she fought to catch her breath. When she inhaled it was so deep and broken up with sobs that it stirred all parts of me. Blood poured open from her lacerated skin, slowly running in streams down her back as her legs fought not to give out.

“Answer me!”

“You, husband. I t-take o-orders from you.”

“That’s fucking right. You better remember that.”

Whack! Whack! Whack!
I paused, rearing back and hitting her across the ass to make seven. When I turned to face Eli, the rage on his face gave me even more pleasure.

“High Leader. Your turn.” I bowed my head just the slightest amount as I offered the flogger. Everleigh tried to push to stand straight again, but collapsed to the floor as her body shook from the heavy cries. She kept jerking through the pain I knew was shooting through at her movements.

Eli walked forward, lowering to crouch beside her. “Shh. We’re finished here. Stand and thank your husband for the punishment.” He eased her to her feet while she tried to stay steady. When he let go, she turned, throwing herself forward and falling into my arms.

“I’m s-sorry. I’m … so … s-sorry.”

I smiled, raising my eyebrow to Eli. “You are forgiven, wife. You know better than to let it happen again.” I brought my palm to rest on the back of her neck while I held the other at her lower back for stability. The warm wetness left me hard and there was nothing I could do to stop my arousal. “Leave,” I ground out to Eli. “I do believe my wife is in need of a relaxing bath. Aren’t you, love?”

The crying turned heart breaking at her slow nods. “Yes.”

Hatred met me as Eli narrowed his lids and stepped back. I knew the look. I’d done it so often with Bram that the extent of the rage he held for me couldn’t be mistaken.

Chapter 40

24690

“You are so beautiful.” Fingers trailed over my healing back, caressing the wounds that I knew were going to scar. My eyes blinked slowly. It was becoming routine to wake up this way. Every morning for almost a week, I’d heard the same thing. Heard the same wooing tone of his voice as he kissed around, and now over his marks. “Lay with me, wife. Hold me.”

West was already rolling me to face him—pulling me into his arms as he kissed my forehead, nose, and then lips. My hand settled on his bare side, sliding to dangle behind him so I wasn’t necessarily having to put intimacy into my action. I was sick with hate. Sick with having to pretend I wasn’t confused by what was happening to me from his affection. Maybe I was just getting ill in general.

“What would you like to do today? Whatever you want.”

My eyes rose at his loving behavior. It’d been this way since he’d given me the lashes. Since I’d given in and let him use the oil on me afterward. Limp and semi-unconscious he had placed me on my stomach and had sex with my marred body. And for three nights, I had let it continue without a fight. Then, it stopped. Maybe he’d gotten his fill of the oil and decided he liked my responsiveness more. Or maybe it was losing its excitement. I didn’t want to know. I was past the point of caring how he used me. To fight would have just been punishing myself. But was it really punishing anymore?

“You’ve been very good,” he continued. “You name it and we’ll do it. Or maybe you’d like me to buy you something? How about jewelry? Or new clothes and shoes?”

My head shook and I kept quiet. Let him think I was sad or upset. That seemed to make him caring toward me for some odd reason. Not that I wanted him so nice. It was messing with me. Ruining me.

“You do have too many clothes, anyway. How about …” He paused, getting quiet while he began to stroke his finger down the back of my shoulder. “How about a picnic and some ice cream, later?”

“In City Center? With all the rape and torture going on down there?”

His brow drew in at my words. “You’re right. That won’t work.”

“Just hold me,” I breathed out. “I don’t want anything. I don’t feel so well.”

Silence stretched while I stayed tucked away in my safe place inside my head. I could almost believe I was in Bram’s arms. That he was holding me and this was just a dream.
Bram
… “Popcorn.”

“What’s that?”

West pulled back to look at me as I blinked through the memory that suddenly swept through. “I want some popcorn. I love popcorn. Can I have some?”

“This early?”

“Is it okay?”

He paused, but laughed, pulling me back in. “Of course. I’ll get up and make coffee. Eli can go pick you some up.

“Thank you.” Maybe it was a small fuck you to West—to myself for feeling I was betraying Bram with the unwanted emotions. But I had to have it.

I kissed West’s chest, staying in my wifely role. When he pulled back the covers to stand and leave the room, I eased from the bed, dropping to the ground to look underneath. I’d searched countlessly for Bram’s black book and I couldn’t find it anywhere. West came close to catching me once. I blamed it on the matching outfits, but I wouldn’t let this go. I had to find where he hid it. I had to see what Lyle felt was so important for me to read. It ate at me, every minute, every day. It was driving me crazy … or perhaps, I had already lost it. I couldn’t think about that. I wouldn’t.

I squinted through the dimness, wanting to scream as I was met with nothing. Lightheadedness hit and I held to the bed as I stood. The book couldn’t be in the apartment. There was no way. Where in the hell was he keeping it?

Over and over the question repeated in my mind as I went through my morning routine. By the time I managed to dress, I could barely think at all. The fog was getting worse.

“For my wife.”

West held out a bag before him and the smell and memories drew me in, sickeningly. I took two steps when the smile melted from his face. He brought the bag back into his chest, reaching in and grabbing a handful. My pulse spiked, nearly making me drop from the adrenaline. Had I told him about the popcorn with Bram? No. I had to stop worrying. He didn’t know.

“Come here.”

Fear and guilt begged me to run. To cower and brace myself for a beating or rape like I’d never experienced before. My desperation for the smallest part of Bram—for reigniting the devotion to only him—sent me forward.

“Open your mouth.”

My fists clenched as I waited for him to slam my mouth full of popcorn. To make me choke to death on it for once again putting Bram before him. But was I anymore? The fact that I felt uncomfortable for this weird attraction told me something wasn’t right. The lashing hadn’t just scarred my body. With the tearing of my skin, West had somehow imprinted himself deep inside of me. Where I should have detested him more, something wasn’t allowing me to. My fear? My slave? I didn’t know.

My hold to Bram’s love led me forward. I was ready to take the abuse for my loyalty and prepared myself. Instead of anger, West slowly reached back in, pulling out a single piece. I didn’t dare close my eyes until the taste registered on my tongue. My lips eased over the tips of West’s fingers and flashes blinded me. Flashes of hunger and fascination. Of Bram.

“That’s good,” I said, savoring the taste and memories.

“Perfect. Take another.”

And I did. Despite my lack of appetite, I let West feed me. Minutes went by and back and forth he and Bram twisted my mind. They merged as one, stroking down my face between bites. Smiling down at me. It was so real that when West spoke, Bram didn’t disappear right away. It was
his
voice that I heard.
His
eyes that suddenly burned into me, screaming of anger and betrayal. It made me blinked hard and jump back.

“Are you okay?”

My hand shot up to my head and I grabbed to West’s forearm while the room seem to tilt.

“Yes, I’m just dizzy.”

“Dizzy? Come, sit on the bed.”

Each step sent my heart racing faster. The floor seemed to move beneath my feet and a cry left my mouth as ringing pierced my ears. I knew West was talking, but it was so far away. So distant. Even as I tried to focus, I knew I wasn’t in the room anymore. I was gone. Disappearing.

Pressure tapped against my cheek and West was suddenly inches away. “Everleigh, wake up. Come on, open your eyes. Fuck,” he growled, pulling me into his arms. “Something’s not right.”

Tears slipped free and my arms locked around my enemy’s neck. Fear had me grasping to the one person I should have avoided at all cost, and yet, I couldn’t.

“I’m scared. I …” The room blurred and the next thing I knew, white was all I saw. White ceiling, white walls. And …” I blinked, heavily, taking in Eli’s worried expression not inches behind West. We were still walking and I was wet. Soaking wet and shaking. “What’s happening?”

“Shh. I’m taking you to Medical.” West pulled me in closer, but I wiggled in his arms. I knew what would be coming from my suddenly caring husband if I didn’t fight this.

“Let me walk. I am not weak.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Please. I want to walk.”

Something flashed in his eyes as he slowed. Without saying a word, he came to a stop and lowered me to the ground. My legs were wobbly as I tried to fight whatever was happening. Sickness, some sort of weird insanity episode? Both? I wasn’t sure, but I would not go down like this. I would not be the slave he and everyone else thought I still was.

My body trembled and an odd spasm left me twitching. I clung around West’s waist as he wrapped me in close and helped me walk. The halls seemed to stretch forever as I tried to stay awake and moving. As we branched off to turn onto a new one, pressure on my back left me glancing behind us. At the very end of the hall stood the one person who seemed to trigger my episode.
Bram.
He was gone so fast that I wasn’t sure I’d seen him at all. He moved just like the shadows. There and gone.

Had he been angry at me? Had he been glaring like before?

“Whoa. Whoa. Okay, you’re done.” West barely caught me as I hit the floor. My mouth was opened and all I could do was take deep breaths as I reached out to an empty hall. It had been so real. It had been him. But it hadn’t. Just like he hadn’t been West in the room.

****

“We’ve been in here for over three hours. Rest, that’s what you’re suggesting? Do you not see my wife!”

The doctor shifted uncomfortably as he looked between me and West. “Master Harper, you declined my suggestion of medication. I believe your wife to be experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If she’s not put on something, these episodes could continue.
Will
, probably continue. Since there’s not a therapist in Whitlock, which I would have also suggested, rest is the best thing I can come up with. Low stress. She needs to be kept out of situations that may trigger her anxiety, although … you said she was eating when this happened.” He paused, his brow creasing as he seemed lost to say more.

“She doesn’t need medication because this is not PTSD. For one, her mind is stronger than that. For two, she fucking sick. Look at her! What about poison? Did you check her for fucking poison?”

“We ran the blood work. We did a CT Scan. We’ve done every test in the book. Everything came back as normal. I’m sorry, Master Harper. Perhaps you’d like another opinion?”

“What I would like is for you to get the hell out of this room and recheck your fucking results.”

The doctor didn’t hesitate to rush through the door. The moment he was gone, West closed his eyes, running his fingers through his hair. I couldn’t stop shaking as I held the cover up to my neck. I was so cold. So sleepy and yet nauseous. My mind kept going over Bram. I knew he couldn’t have been there, but I wanted him to be, despite that he seemed mad. I wanted to escape the black hole that I knew was sucking me down—
West.
Even now, there was an odd sense that I needed his presence close.

“I’m sorry for being weak. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Before he could reply, the door reopened. The doctor hesitantly walked over to the bed, studying me as he pulled out a digital thermometer and placed it in my ear. With the click, he was pulling it back just as fast.

“Forgive me. I … it appears I missed some of the results that weren’t in yet. The strand is surprising, but—”

“What is it?” West growled.

“The flu, Master. It looks like she’s getting the flu. That’s the only test that came back positive. She was so early, her fever hadn’t even kicked in when you arrived. I’m sorry, but I stand by what I said before. She’s not just ill with a virus, she clearly has symptoms of Post Traumatic—”

“One more word about that, I swear you’ll never speak again. Tell me how to make her better.”

“It’ll have to run its course. I suggest lots of fluid and—”

“Let me guess. Rest?” West shook his head, walking to the bed. “We’re leaving. If she gets worse, we’ll be back. I suggest you not be the doctor on call if that happens.”

He scooped me into his arms, covering me up with the sheet as he headed us for the door. The vertigo of the fast movement had my eyes nearly rolling as he swept us through. Nurses buzzed around the station toward the back in their blue uniforms and my head swayed as we passed a patient’s room. Color blurred on the glass window and my hand shot to West’s chest as Bram’s figure flashed in the reflection. My head tried to turn to look behind us, but when I managed to finally see over West’s shoulder, he wasn’t there.

“Hang on, baby. We’re going home. Everything’s going to be okay.”

I buried my face in his chest, trying to push away what I knew was becoming true. Flu or not, my mind was broken. What I had seen. What had been done to me, and what I had done, somehow made a permanent stain on my mind. And the horrors weren’t over. They’d never end …