Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
One of the men move out from behind her and picks up the remote to the TV that hangs on the wall to my right. Pushing in a code, it goes to the surveillance system here at Carnage. It’s of the pits.
The view is from the corner of the room, pointed down at the concrete floor. Both pits on the outsides look dry and empty but the one in the middle is full of water. My chest tightens remembering what it was like to be in there, suffocating, cold and mind fucking. “What am I looking at?” I growl through gritted teeth.
“You asked where Haidyn and Kashton were. I’m giving you an answer.”
My head snaps to look at her, my heart racing. She remains smiling. “You’ve been out for two weeks, Saint. A lot has happened since then.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I look back at the TV. Stepping closer, I watch the water spill over the top of the bars onto the concrete floor. The five vertical bars recede three inches into the pit and lock in place. That’s why I couldn’t breathe when I lifted my nose through them when it filled to the top.
The water is dark, and given the angle, I can’t see down into it, but there is a tube of some sort popping out of the top where the head would be if someone were lying down. It’s black and rubber, maybe four inches past the water with a valve on the end. My eyes shoot to the wall across from the pit looking for a timer but I don’t see one.
“Your fathers are dead, and you and your brothers are to blame-“
“They’re not dead! And Haidyn and Kashton would never do that!” I shout, a sickening feeling in my stomach. “Who the fuck is in there?” I point to the TV, glaring at her.
She ignores my question. “They’re dead because of Ashtyn.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“You let her escape, Saint. The Lords didn’t like that.” She steps closer to me and I take one back trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. I’ve been in and out for two weeks but I haven’t been in a fucking coma.
“The Lords think she’s dead,” I grind out. I can’t lie and say she’s dead. This woman obviously knows she isn’t.
Her laugh makes my teeth clench. “If they wanted her dead, she’d be dead,” she says cryptically.
My eyes go back to the TV. “Who the fuck is in there?” I demand once more, a throbbing pain in my right arm. The last pain pill they force-fed me last night starting to wear off. Dropping my bag, I clench and unclench my right fist. My hand numbing.
“That is Haidyn,” she answers. “Sensory deprivation…”
I wrap my hand around her neck and slam her back into the wall below the TV. I hear the guys shuffling behind me and she raises her hand to stop them before her dark green eyes look up to meet mine.
“You better be fucking lying.” My body vibrates against hers. “Where is Haidyn?” I bark in her face.
Her eyes grow hard, and she lifts her chin. “He’s where he belongs.” They search mine, and she adds, “Go ahead, show him.”
My eyes look up at the TV that we stand underneath. The screen still shows the pits, but the middle one is empty and all three have the bars off.
The double doors open to the room and two men enter pushing a stretcher. Haidyn lies on it. He’s dressed in an all-black dry suit that divers wear. It’s unzipped down the front though exposing a cut and bruised chest. He’s also unconscious. His face looks swollen, lip busted. Whatever happened, he put up a fight that he ended up not winning. Something tells me it wasn’t a fair one.
I let go of her neck and step back, watching as the blood rushes in my ears. They bring him to a stop and lift up his head and shoulders, pulling a hood up from underneath him that’s connected to the suit. Lying him flat once again, one of them begins putting stickers on his chest. Four of them in various places before zipping it up to his neck.
The other man pulls out two small plugs and shoves them up his nose, taking away his chance to breathe through them. Then they both maneuver the tight hood over his head, covering every inch of his face except for his mouth. There’s already some sort of mouthpiece in and they connect a tube to it that has a ball valve on the end.
My eyes shoot to the pit as it starts to fill with water. So high to the point it slowly flows over the top and onto the floor. Their shoes splash the water as they step in it and pick him up before lowering him into the watery pit. One holds onto the tube to make sure the bars don’t knock it off while the other closes the hinged bars down into the pit and locks them in place.
The one holding the tube, twists the valve while the other guy pulls out his cell. He looks at it and nods a few times mouthing words that the video doesn’t allow me to hear.
Then they turn and walk away, pushing the stretcher with them, while locking my brother inside.
“He’s been in there for-“
“Fucking bitch!” I slap her across the face so hard it throws her to the side. I reach out to grab her by her bun, but the back of my legs are hit, knocking me to my knees and my arms are yanked up and behind my head, held by my wrists. The position has pain shooting up my chest momentarily taking away my breath.
“You’ve pissed off the Lords, Saint.” She rubs her cheek, coming to stand in front of me. “And I’ve been sent to train the next generation of the Spade brothers before you’re allowed to step up and take your position here. For the next six months, I will put the three of you through hell.” She kneels in front of me. So close I can smell her expensive perfume. Her smile makes my stomach drop, “I’m going to teach you not to let pussy get in the way of your oath.” Reaching out, she takes a red-painted nail and pushes on my chest where Ashtyn shot me.
I clench my teeth to keep from screaming while holding my breath.
“Haidyn and Kashton already have two weeks of training done, so you’re going to have to catch up.” Her eyes drop to my lips. “I have a feeling that you’re a quick study.”
I take the opportunity of her closeness and ram my head into hers, knocking her back off her heels and onto her ass as her back hits the wall. My arms are freed as they go to help her, but before I can get to the bitch, I’m pushed down onto my stomach, and they’re yanked behind my back. This time, they place me in handcuffs.
Breathing heavily, I try to roll over so I’m not lying on my burning chest but someone steps on the back of my neck, pinning me down.
She snaps her fingers, “Let him see.”
I’m yanked to sit up, and I glare up at her. If I wasn’t so enraged, I’d enjoy the blood running down her face as she shoves a phone into mine. “I control everything. The water is forty degrees, but he’s burning up inside of the dry suit. The stickers on his chest…those are wireless chest monitors and they show me his vitals.” She points to the screen with the tip of her nail. “See that? His core body temperature is up to a 103. 107 is brain dead, by the way.”
I can’t speak, I can barely breathe from the weight on my chest.
“He woke up some time ago.” She goes on. “His current blood oxygen content is around fifty percent. Probably experiencing problems with circulation, possible hallucinations, body spasms…” She pauses. “And this one here, it controls the valve on the end of the tube-his only access to air. I can give him more or take it away…”
“I’m going to fucking kill you.” I manage to say through gritted teeth, cutting her off. If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to hang this bitch by her fucking neck on the gates of Carnage for all to see as they drive by.
She laughs and signals for them to get me to my feet. I bite down on my tongue as they lift me by my arms and try to ignore the pain that shoots down my side. The cuffs are undone and I take a step toward her, ready to knock her fucking teeth out when she speaks.
“You have a choice here, Saint. Stay and willingly give yourself over to me. Or go and chase your whore while I play with your brothers.”
My hands clench. “She’s my …” I refuse to finish that sentence. She arches a brow. A very select few know what Ash and I did that first week she was here. And right now, both of them need me.
Fuck Ashtyn for doing this. For making me choose. For making me let her go! And fuck this bitch for thinking she can give me an ultimatum.
I’ll do what must be done now, but I won’t forget Ashtyn. She can’t run forever.
“Pull him out,” I demand. “Right now.” My eyes go to the screen and my already tight chest seizes when I see the black tube and valve. How many times has she taken it away? Who knows how long he’s been in there and it’s such a tight space it gives little movement to begin with. I had barely any and Haidyn is taller than me.
“And you’ll stay?” she asks, and my eyes drop to her as she arches her brow. “Because I could really use your help. The other two have not been cooperative, Saint. I’ve had to force my power-“
“LET HIM OUT!” I shout, my throat burning, tired of her fucking voice. I want to shove that black tube down her throat and slowly fill it with water and watch her drown.
She smiles and dials up a number on her phone. Placing it to her ear, she speaks one word. “Enough.”
My eyes shoot to the screen and two men enter the double doors once again pushing the stretcher. They go to the center pit and unlock the bars, pulling them up. The water remains as they reach down and grip his shoulders first sitting him up, then drag him out. They lie him on the floor, and he doesn’t move.
“If he’s dead…”
“Take him to Devin,” she says into the phone. “I want a full checkup.” When she hangs up her phone, my eyes shoot back to the surveillance.
They remove the hood, and his eyes are closed, but I can see his chest moving in the tightly fitting suit. His body is shaking and his hair and face are soaked from sweat. They remove the plugs in his nose and the tube with the mouthpiece. Then they place him on the stretcher and push him out of the room.
My breathing is erratic, muscles tight, and my blood is boiling. Someone will pay for this. Even if it takes years to get my revenge, it will happen. That’s what I’ve been taught to do, and I let Ashtyn fool me into forgetting who the fuck I am.
Lowering my eyes from the TV, I look at the unknown woman. She smiles at me while addressing her four men. “Take him down to the observation room, strip him naked, and get him ready for his initiation.” Stepping into me, she places her palm on my heaving chest. Her eyes light up when she feels my racing heart. “I’m looking forward to making you a good boy, Saint.”
THIRTY-TWO
SAINT