Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
I cry into the leather ball, and my watery eyes widen when I see him pull a black hood from his back pocket. He shoves it over my head and pulls a string, tightening it on my neck like before. “Get some sleep, sweetheart.” He calls me by Saint’s nickname, and I shake my head the best I can, but of course, it’s no use. “I’ll wake you in the morning for another test.”
FIFTY-EIGHT
SAINT
I make my way down to the basement and pull my key out to unlock the prisoner’s door. The sound of squeaking metal wakes him. The man sits up on the concrete floor and begins to crawl backward when I enter. He pushes his back into the far wall.
“Where is she?” I get to the point. I don’t have a single second to waste. I’ve seen what they did to her when they thought I was watching. I can’t imagine what she’s going through right now. The fucked-up part of me wishes they’d send me another video. Just so I can see that she’s alive. The what-ifs are the worst part. I need to know she’s breathing. That she’s not lying in a corner all alone, bleeding to death and praying that I make it in time.
The man chooses to ignore me and brings his knees to his chest to shield his naked body from me. “Bring her in,” I order.
Kashton and Sin enter the room and drop the woman’s body to the floor in the center. She’s on her stomach so I kick my boot out, pushing her onto her back so he can get a better view of the dead woman. Her body has started to harden. Rigor mortis is setting in. It usually can take up to six to eight hours to take over the entire body. But it seems to be happening faster.
“Whitney?” He gasps, getting to his hands and knees, he crawls over to her where she lies. “What the fuck did you do to her?” he demands.
“They killed her-“
“No.” He interrupts me as if that’s impossible.
“They broke her neck and buried her in the woods after they switched out Ashtyn’s body with hers.”
He shakes his head the best he can, still not believing me.
“Who the fuck did this?” I shout, losing my patience. I don’t have time for this. “Where is my wife?” I grip his hair as hard as I can, trying to rip his scalp clean off his head and rip him off her body.
He chooses to remain silent. I look at Kashton and nod my head. I see Ryat and Tyson approach the open door and enter the small cell.
Kashton pops the lid on what Ryat gives him and pours the contents all over Whitney’s naked body. Then Sin pulls a lighter out of his pocket and hands it to me. I strike it on my jeans and toss it onto Whitney, and she instantly goes up in flames. The fire heats up the small concrete room.
He screams out but once again pushes himself up against the wall. I go over, grip his hair once again, and drag him closer to her, pushing his face as close to the fire so he can feel the heat but not burn him alive. I need answers before I can kill the bastard.
“Where. Is. She?” I growl through gritted teeth.
“I…don’t…know…” he says between sobs, fighting my hand that keeps a grip on his hair.
I look at Kashton, and the look of annoyance he gives me tells me that he too thinks Luke is telling the truth. But if it’s not him, then who? Who the fuck has access to Carnage and the security system? Why kill Whitney? She’s the only connection to Luke.
Now a list of men who want to hurt me? That list is a mile long. They aren’t after Ashtyn. It’s me they want to hurt. And they know that the only fucking thing I care about in this world is her.
I turn my back and go to the door. Kashton, Tyson, Ryat, and Sin each walk out. I watch Luke stare at his wife’s burning body as I shut the metal door and lock it.
“WAIT!” He rushes to the door.
“Do you know how long it takes for a body to burn?” I ask him.
He shakes his head, crying while his bony fingers curl around the bars, trying to yank it open. The smell of burning flesh already fills the hallway outside of his cell.
I smile. “You’re about to find out.” Then we all walk away, leaving her in there with him, screaming for us to put her out. The heat alone will be excruciating. I’ll wait until tomorrow to give him his daily amount of water. Maybe he’ll have more to say then. Even once she stops burning, the smoke will linger, and the smell…it’ll be hell in there. Literally. I’d say it’d kill him, but he can get fresh air through the door. And if he dies, he dies.
We all enter our office, and I walk to my desk. I catch sight of the picture on my desk of the four of us from years ago. The one Elli had seen when she visited. It’s our senior year at Barrington. She’s got a smile on her face. The guys aren’t smiling, but you can see how protective they are of her. I knew that if anything ever happened to me, they would make sure she was taken care of. That’s all I ever wanted. To make sure that she got everything I ever wanted her to have-the world.
Now she’s gone. Naked, bleeding, and probably crying. She needs me, and I’m nowhere to be found. Maybe Haidyn was right…I should have never brought her back here. She deserves a life outside of here. Without me.
Grabbing my computer, I throw it across the room, and it shatters one of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Saint.” Tyson places his hand on my shoulder, and I jump, spinning around to see them all just staring at me.
“What’s the word on Haidyn?” I ask.
“Devin still has him in surgery,” Kashton answers.
We saw the video with the guy holding a gun to Haidyn’s head while Devin gave him a shot of adrenaline. We watched him wake up and Devin dig the bullet out. Then the video ended. Once we arrived, everyone who was involved in both videos was gone.
“Maybe he can tell us something…”
“It could be days before he’s awake.” I interrupt Kashton. But a part of me knows that he might know something.
“What can we do?” Sin asks.
I run a tatted hand down my face. “We’re going to check every cell. Every person that is here at Carnage.”
“For what exactly?” Ryat is the one who asks this time.
“Anything. Ask them what they know. If you even think they’re lying, we take something from them.” This place isn’t called Carnage for nothing. I’ll collect heads and hang them on the fucking wall. Make my wife a bouquet with them for her return because I will bring her home. I’ve done it once; I’ll do it again. No matter what it costs me.
* * *
I kick both doors open to the house not caring about giving myself away. I know she’s here. Finn was able to track her down an hour ago. It took me that long to get here.
Two men sit on couches in the living room, and I’m able to put a bullet between each of their eyes before they’re able to get me.
Another one jumps out from a side door, and he gets a shot off before I put one in his knee. He drops to the floor, and I land another in his chest.
A guy rushes me from the hall, and I put two into him. A third goes into the back of his head as he falls to the floor, making sure he’s taken care of as well.
I head toward the hallway that he came from and come to a quick stop when I see her at the other end of the hall.
“Sa-int.” She speaks my name, but it sounds like the first word she’s said in days. Her wide eyes go to my left arm, and I look down at it to see blood drip from my fingertips. I’ve been shot, but I don’t feel it. Not yet. My adrenaline is too high. “You’re-” A man stands behind her and places a hand over her mouth. The fact that she doesn’t fight him tells me what I feared. She’s weak.
“I’m fine,” I assure her. She’s naked, dirty, and trembling.
The man behind her grabs a hold of her matted hair. I swallow when I see him lift a gun and press the barrel into her hollow cheek. She looks so skinny. It’s only been a day, but it looks like she’s been starved for weeks.
I drop my gun to my side. “Ashtyn.” I manage to say her name, but it’s soft as my eyes sweep over her naked body. She’s covered in bruises and cuts like she’s been beaten. My worst fear comes to life.
“Don’t take another step, or I’ll give her a new hole in her face for me to fuck,” the guy holding her orders.
My teeth grind, and I look over her again once more. She’s not shaking or the least bit scared. Is she drugged? Or did I take too long, and she’s come to terms and accepted a life of being raped and beaten? The thought makes me pissed at myself, and my heart breaks for her.
“Get on your knees,” he orders.
“I’m not-“
“Get on your fucking knees!” he shouts, pushing the barrel of the gun further into the side of her face, smashing her cheek.
“Okay. Okay,” I rush out, lowering myself to my knees, and I interlock my fingers behind my head as if I’m being arrested.