Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 124255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
“Ky?” Mae said quietly as I waited for her to rip me a new one. “Bring her back to us. To me, Maddie… to you…” She trailed off, and I thought hell must have frozen over or some shit. Mae had warned me off Lilah more times than I could count, but here she was giving me her blessing?
What the—
A fuckin’ crushingly sad smile played on Mae’s trembling lips. “You love her.”
It wasn’t a question, and we all knew it was the fuckin’ truth. Yeah, I’d given club slut pussy for that woman. Hell, she just fuckin’ got me, got under my skin… a woman pinning me down and really getting me for more than just my cock.
“Yeah, I fuckin’ do,” I rasped. “More than my goddamned life. That bitch is everything. Every-fuckin’-thing.”
Mae’s hand squeezed mine and she breathed a shaky sigh of relief. “She loves you too.”
My chest wound so tight I couldn’t fuckin’ breathe. She loved me. She loved me. She loved me.
“You were saving her, Ky. Day by day, you were saving her. I saw it. I did not like it at first, thought you would eventually hurt her, but you didn’t. In fact, you were accomplishing the impossible.” She suddenly hitched a breath, and sucking up some strength from somewhere down deep, she added, “Lilah needs you to save her again now, Kyler. She needs you to save her life… We all do.” Mae’s eyes dropped and she whispered, “I beg you to save her.”
Reaching down, I pressed a kiss to the back of Mae’s hand and said, “I promise you, sugar. I’m gonna save my woman… or I’m gonna fuckin’ die trying.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lilah
“Wakey, wakey, Blondie!”
I awoke with a jolt. A strong scent of ammonia filled my nostrils, forcing me to sit up to avoid the putrid odor.
Every part of me ached. My head hurt, I struggled to open my eyes, but I was unable to move my arms and legs, for they were tied together with rope.
Fluttering my eyes open, my heart began to race as the strange men from the river sat before me, smiling salaciously, as I sat together with them in a darkened box.
The one with greasy brown, stringy hair reached forward and ran his dry rough hands up my leg. Tears filled my eyes.
Suddenly, a loud knock sounded at the rear of the tinny box, and I realized I was in a van. “Get ready. Buyers will be here in two.”
Buyers?
Frowning, I returned my attention to the men sitting before me. The man who was fondling my leg sighed heavily and ripped away his touch. I exhaled slowly, relieved as he signaled to his men to move out of the van.
The doors opened and immediately slammed shut, trapping me in the darkened vehicle. I frantically tried to think of what to do. Who were the men? What did they want with me? What was to be my fate?
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to suppress the sob traveling up my throat but failed as a cry slipped past my lips and water began spilling like a waterfall from my eyes. Were they going to kill me? Or… take me against my will?
Ky’s face flashed before my eyes, and another sob ripped free. Would he be looking for me? And Mae and Maddie, would they be frightened? Would any of the Hangmen know where to look? Would they know the identity of my captors?
They would not, would they? I was lost to them. They had not known I’d gone to the river to pray. Ky… Ky would have thought I ran away…
Suddenly, with the loud creak of metal grinding metal, the double doors at the back of the van opened, and the brown-haired man who touched my leg stretched out his strong arm and clasped his hand around the rope at my feet.
I scrambled to get away, but there was nowhere to go. With an almighty pull, the man dragged my legs forward, then aggressively heaved me out of the van, releasing me once through the doors. I hit graveled ground with a thud, my cheek scraping against the dirt.
“There, one beautiful bitch found at the Hangmen compound,” my captor said curtly. Hearing the shuffle of feet by my head, I looked up to see several men surrounding me, but from my position, I could not see whom.
Feeling a hand run over my hair, I stiffened.
“This is not her!” somebody snapped. “You were to retrieve the woman with black hair, the woman belonging to Styx, the president!”
Dread raced through my limbs.
Mae? The captors were meant to have taken Mae.
“Our instructions were to take the hottest bitch at the compound. We all agreed this was her. Bitch made her capture easy too. Down at the river, sprouting all kind’a religious shit, just waiting for us to show up.”
Strong fingers wrapped around my bicep and I was hauled to my feet. Letting a pained wail leave my mouth, I squeezed my eyes shut at the agony shooting through my arm. I swayed unsteadily as I fought for my balance on tied feet.
A silence engulfed me, save night owls hooting and crickets chirping. My heavy breathing sounding like a hurricane in the quietness. I bravely opened my eyes and all the air in my lungs whooshed from my chest, leaving me empty, startled… in complete and utter shock.
Five faces stared at me. Five men dressed in sacred white tunics, all with long hair and beards of various colors. Five faces I recognized, their identities etched on my mind. But two of them were identical… I was so confused.
My eyes dipped and, in a shaky voice, I greeted, “Father, Brother Luke, Brother Micah, Brother…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say in greeting to the other two men.
A finger slipped below my chin and lifted my face. I was met with the brown eyes of Brother Cain. But these eyes seemed harsher than the last time I saw him all those months ago. His mouth seemed sterner. He seemed changed. “B-Brother… Cain,” I whispered.