Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
I wake up to my cell blaring in my ear. It sounds like a horn going off on a car. Without even bothering to look at it, I ignore it and roll over, throwing my arm over Ashtyn. My eyes spring open when all I feel is the cool sheets.
“Ashtyn?” I sit up, looking to my left. Yanking the covers back, I see no one is there.
My phone goes off again, and I pick it up to see it says code 26. “Fuck!” I hiss, jumping out of bed just as it rings.
“What the fuck is going on?” I demand when I see it’s Kashton.
“I heard the code is for Ashtyn,” he rushes out.
“No.” My stomach drops. “It can’t be.”
“Is she with you?” he demands.
I stand naked and stare at my messy bed.
“Fuck.” He curses at my silence. “I’ll help you look for her. I’ll be there in two minutes.” He hangs up, and I immediately dial Haidyn’s phone.
“Hello?” he asks, voice rough.
“Where the fuck are you?” I snap out of it and start pulling on a pair of jeans.
“In bed. Where the fuck are you?” He yawns. I swear he can sleep through anything.
“Ashtyn is missing, and we’ve got a code 26.” I yank on a T-shirt.
“Fuck.” He sighs, sounding more awake now. “What do you need me to do?”
“Get up, get dressed, and help find her before the guards do.” They don’t send an alert out for no reason. But if they get to her before me, it could be days before I’m allowed to talk to her. She would never do anything that would warrant a code.
You get one chance to control her. If she fucks up, she’s going to the basement.
“I’m up,” he assures me, and then I tell him we’ll split up and to call me if he finds her first.
THIRTY-ONE
ASHTYN
I run down the dimly lit hallway, looking over my shoulder. My hair sticks to my tear-streaked face. Sucking in air, I hold my side, trying to ignore the sharp pain.
“ASH!”
My breath hitches, and I stumble over my own feet but manage not to fall flat on my face. I sidestep into a dark room and yank the door open to shield me as I push my back into the interior wall, allowing the door to cover me. Maybe if they see it’s open, they won’t think to look in here. My bloody hands come up to cover my face to quiet my sobs.
Don’t let them hear you.
“Ash,” Kashton calls out, making me jump. “Where the fuck did she go, man?” he growls.
“I don’t know. But we better find her. You go that way; I’ll go this way,” Saint suggests and just the sound of his voice makes my chest tighten.
“Where the fuck is Haidyn?” Kashton asks.
“I told him we needed to split up. He’s covering the hospital. If he finds her first, he’ll call me,” Saint answers.
I close my eyes after they go quiet, pressing my back into the cold wall, praying it’ll swallow me up and I won’t be seen.
Footsteps grow heavy as someone approaches, and I bite my tongue to keep from whimpering. Prying my watery lashes open, I turn my head to peek through the slit in the door and see Kashton walk by while typing away on his cell.
I knew I’d never survive here, but now I have no choice. The Spade brothers are free to come and go as they please. They’re not prisoners here like I am. As much as they mean to me, they’ll never understand my need to leave. To escape. Especially Saint. No matter how much it physically hurts me to know I won’t have him in my life. That once I’m gone, he’ll move on and be with another woman. That’s part of being a Lord-marriage, kids. They have to provide the world with more of them. That way, when they die one day, they’ll have an heir to carry on their name.
Once Kashton’s out of sight, I push my back into the wall once again and inhale a deep breath before pushing off it. My shaky hand wraps around the edge of the door, and I slowly push it away from me so I can get out from behind it. It squeaks, and I hold my breath for a second as my heart races. After a moment of silence, I go to step out of the room, but a hand hits my chest, shoving me back inside.
“We’ve been looking for you, sweet cheeks.” Kashton’s chuckle fills the concrete room, making my heart skip a beat. “Playing hide-and-seek, huh? What do I get for finding you first?”
I look up into a set of blue eyes through my watery lashes. His narrow on me when he realizes I’m covered in blood. “What the fuck happened, Ashtyn?” Kashton snaps, his playful banter now gone.
“Shh.” I yank on his black T-shirt, pulling him farther into the room to keep from being seen and heard. “Keep your voice down,” I whisper harshly, panic starting to set in. I can’t let them stop me.
“I’m not going to be quiet. What the fuck happened? Is that your blood?” He yanks my shirt up, but I shove him away, pushing the material down. “You’re in some deep shit, Ash. Everyone is looking for you. Come on.” He grabs my hand and goes to remove me from the room.
I yank back, and he spins around to face me once again, but I slam my fist into his nose.
“Fuck.” He stumbles back, grabbing it. “What the fuck, Ash?” When he removes his hand from his face, blood gushes down his chin to fall on his T-shirt.
I knee him in the balls, and he falls to the floor groaning. I rush into the hallway and run the opposite direction that I came from. Coming to the end of the hall, I slowly peek around the corner and immediately slam my back to the wall when I see Saint approaching. My eyes dart back the other way to make sure Kashton isn’t chasing me.
“Ash-what the fuck? Where are you?” Saint adds, calling out. “We’re going to find you, sweetheart. But we can’t protect you if you don’t surrender.”
He’s right. If I hand myself over to them, they can protect me, but it still won’t be enough. Three guys can’t save me from an army of men. They’ll destroy me. Rip me apart. All I have are the Spade brothers. My mother is dead, my brother left me here, and my father…who knows where the fuck that bastard is. And the baby…I can’t leave its life to chance like that. It deserves a better life than I was ever offered. It won’t survive in this hell. And even if it did, they’d never let me see it or be a part of its life. And I refuse to let them be punished for my actions. If they tried to protect me, they’d be in trouble. I’m not worth that.
I place my hand in my front pocket and feel the keys as fresh tears run down my face. At least I had one person on my side. That’s all I needed. A chance.
“Don’t make a sound,” a voice whispers in my ear, making me whimper. “Or you’re dead.”
I inhale sharply through my runny nose. “Can you do that?”
After I nod quickly, he removes his hand from my mouth, and I suck in a deep breath. He takes my hand, and I feel something placed in it. I close my fist around the keys and let out a sob, my shoulders shaking.
“Good luck,” he whispers, and I swallow the lump in my throat.
I can do this. It just means leaving everything I love behind. But nothing lasts forever. My world teaches you that at a young age. You can’t sell sweet dreams to those who constantly live in nightmares.
Taking in a deep breath, I hold my hair back and slowly peek around the corner again just as Saint walks into one of the rooms. I push off the wall and keep running, needing to get as far away from them as possible. I expect to hear his cell ringing any second with Kashton giving him my location away.
Shoving open a door at the end of the hall, I ignore the loud bang it gives off from hitting the interior wall of the stairwell and run down three flights of stairs to the first floor. No one is down here this time of night. The morgue is the last place anyone wants to be. It smells of death and reeks of formaldehyde. I have avoided it at all costs the past few weeks but desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.
Carnage is a city of terror. A prison that you cannot escape, not even in death. It collects your soul and demands your mind. Trap a person for long enough, and they begin to believe their only purpose is to serve. It’s like a hamster running on a wheel-you never get anywhere.
I swallow down the vomit that rises and wipe the tears from my face with my bloody hands. Making my way down the hall, I see an EXIT sign hanging from the ceiling, and I let out a cry of relief.
So close.
I turn the corner and come to a stop. My tennis shoes squeak on the floor. My stomach sinks, and my body begins to shake when a set of green eyes land on me.
“Noooo.” How did he beat me down here? He must have taken the elevator.
Just seeing him is making this harder than it already was. I wanted my last memory of him to be of us in his bed earlier this evening. His lips on mine and his hands in my hair while he called me his good little whore. Afterward, he passed out with me in his arms and his cum running out of my pussy. I’m still wet from it.