Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
I turn around and watch him pass on by. He wears a pair of black jeans and a black long-sleeve T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing the ink on his arms as well. “Wait,” I call out, and then curse myself when he stops and turns to face me.
“What, Laikyn?” he asks. The sound of my name on his lips makes me shiver. His voice is as cold as this hallway.
“Do you know where my sister is?” I ask, wrapping my arms around myself.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he crosses his arms over his broad chest and leans against the wall, his eyes on mine.
I take a step back, all of a sudden feeling stupid that I asked. Why would he tell me?
“He’s right, you know,” he says, and I lift my eyes to meet his through my lashes, frowning. “In wanting to keep you from her.”
I swallow the knot in my throat.
“She can’t be trusted.” He pushes off the wall.
I step forward. “Don’t I deserve to know why?”
His brow furrows. “Does it matter? She was willing to throw you to the wolves and let them eat you alive while she planned to take what was yours. That’s reason enough to want her dead.”
Take what’s mine? Was that why she watched me when Luke locked me away? She wanted to make sure I was long gone before she moved in on my husband? Not sure how she planned on that working. Tyson wasn’t even sure she was still alive at that point. And how would she be with Tyson if she was married to Luke? His words were meant to make me stay away from her, but they just make me want to speak to her even more.
“Don’t you want to know why Ashtyn left you?” I question. I’m reaching because I don’t know their personal story, but he’s curious. Otherwise, my sister would already be dead.
His body goes rigid, his face morphing into something evil that makes my breath get stuck in my lungs. He slowly strolls toward me, and I can’t make my legs work to run away. Stopping inches from me, he glares down at me. “Wanting to make someone pay for what they did, and wondering why they did it are two very different things. And one of them doesn’t fucking matter.”
My hands fist, getting annoyed. I let out a huff and take a step back from him, needing the space.
“Oh, come on, brother.” A man speaks from behind me, and I jump, pressing my back to the wall so I can see both of them. It’s Kashton. “Let her see her sister.”
My eyes fall to the tattoo of a woman dressed as a nun on his arm. She’s got a ball gag in her mouth, drool and makeup running down her face and an upside-down cross on her cheek.
“It’s not worth it,” Saint states.
“Saint?”
We all turn to look, and I see Gavin standing at the end of the hallway. His eyes go from me to Saint. “A word please?”
Saint walks off and leaves me alone with his brother. Kashton’s blue eyes are on mine, and I look at the floor. “Come on. I’ll take you.”
“You will?” I ask, skeptical.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he turns, and I find myself following him. We make our way down a hallway to an elevator, and I stay silent, back in the corner while he leans up against the wall. His eyes on his cell while he types out what I’m guessing is a text.
It comes to a stop, and we exit. We’ve got to be in a basement. Nothing but concrete walls and floor. The ceiling is low, and some lights hang from it. Kashton is tall enough that they almost hit him in the head. We approach a set of double doors and he pushes them open.
Entering the next room, I come to a stop, gasping at what I see. Two men hang from the ceiling. Each one has blood running down their naked bodies, arms tied behind their backs, heads hanging down, eyes closed. They look dead. “What …?” I whisper, walking over to them. “Why are they …?”
“Tyson had Ryat bring them over from his place,” Kashton informs me.
“I don’t understand.” My voice is a whisper. I know them. Why are they here of all places?
“Tyson killed Beau.”
“What?” I gasp, looking at him wide-eyed.
He smirks, obviously getting excitement from telling me this information. “While he was trying to find you, he went to Beau. Killed him and that dumb bitch of his. Then went through his cell to find that he had texted these two when you arrived at the club.”
I remember watching Beau pull his cell out from behind the bar and sending a text when I told him I was ready to work. My eyes go back to the two security guards I know from Blackout.
“Anyway, they had been the ones who helped Bethany out and set the club on fire. Tyson was torturing them at Ryat’s until he found you. Then had them brought here.” He walks over to one of them, pushing on his bloody shoulder. The guy lets out a moan from his taped lips as his body starts to sway back and forth.
I take a step back, my hands going to my face when I realize he’s hanging from a meat hook embedded in his back. My stomach starts to turn, and I give them my back. “I’m going to be sick,” I mumble to myself, but I hear Kashton chuckle at my unease.
“Come on.” He starts to walk to a door at the other end of the room, and I run through it when he holds it open for me.
This room is different than the last and I look over the bars on the floor. I frown. “What are those for?” I ask, unable to stop myself.
He looks over his shoulder and comes to a stop, answering, “Those are the pits.”
Pits? I stand over one. There’s a hole dug out of the floor, like a mini, square bathtub. But they have bars running across the top with three holes in them. The one in the center is bigger than the one on either side of it.
Looking up at him, I step away, not wanting to know what they put in there, or why. He smirks, turns, and opens another set of double doors. We’re in a new hallway, and there are doors on either side. It’s deadly silent down here. Nothing but my heavy breathing fills the dimly lit hallway.
It reminds me of a prison. One where they put you in solitary confinement. No light and no interaction with anyone. Just left alone with your thoughts and voices, causing you to go crazy.
“Here we are.” He comes to a stop at one of the doors. He reaches down and punches in a code on the outside keypad, and it unlocks.
My wide eyes look at him, and I have a moment of panic.
He checks the large watch on his wrist, and it looks out of place next to the nun tattoo. It’s a black and silver Patek Philippe-expensive and classy. My father has one like it. “I’ll give you five minutes to find out what you want to know. Then you’re done.” His blue eyes meet mine as he drops his arm to his side. “I have no problem dragging you out of there.”
Swallowing, I nod and turn to step into the room. It’s freezing cold and looks just like the hallway, nothing but concrete.
Looking over my shoulder, I make sure he doesn’t lock me in here, and I see him leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, eyes on me.
“Lake?”
I jump, and turn to look at the room, seeing my sister step out of the corner. I swallow nervously when I see she’s naked, chains around her wrists that connect to the wall behind her. Now I understand why he didn’t shut the door; she can’t escape even if she tried.
“Whitney.” My voice is rough, all of a sudden dry.
“Thank God, Lake. Please…” Her wide eyes go from mine to the open door. “Please get me out of here.”
“I can’t do that,” I say honestly. I don’t have that kind of power.
She bares her teeth, and the chains rattle as she yanks on them. “They’ve got me chained like an animal.” She holds up her wrists to show me the thick metal wrapped around them with padlocks in place. The links so short that she can’t be more than two feet off the far wall. If she were to sit down, her hands would have to rest in the air. This isn’t the Minson Hotel & Resort, for sure.
A quick look around tells me there’s no bed, not even a cot. There’s no food, water, or blanket. Just her, chains, and my collar around her neck. The sight has my heart racing with jealousy. I want it. Saint said she was going to take what was mine. She’s already accomplished that. I know Tyson put it on her for a reason, but I hate the satisfaction that she has from that one little thing. “Where have you been?” I decide to ask.
Her face grows red with anger. “Laikyn! Get me out of here.”
“Whit-“
“Where is Tyson?” she demands. “TYSON?”
I cover my ears, his name echoing in the small concrete box. “He’s not going to save you,” I tell her, shaking my head. “Not after what you did-“