Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 115933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Suddenly, large hands gripped my arms. I fought against the strong hold, smashing my lips to Styx’s, needing that connection. I tried to savor his smoky taste, his musky scent. But our fleeting touch was over too soon. I was lifted off my feet and into a tight iron grasp: Cain.
“Noah, Moses, send the Hangmen a message,” Cain commanded and the elders closed in on Styx.
“No! NO!” I screamed over and over. “I love you, Styx. I love you!”
Rider carried me out of Styx’s room and to the stairwell that led to the yard. “Damn you to hell, Cain. Damn you to hell!” I yelled as I fought to get free.
Cain stopped and slammed me against the wall and his blazing eyes bored into mine. “I’m already in hell! This is fuckin’ hell! Seeing you with him… is hell! I’m bringing you back home, away from this sinful place! Back to our people! And away from him!”
Anger blazed through my body. Before I even knew what I had done, I spit in his face. Cain froze as my saliva trickled down his cheek, then into his beard.
“I hate you! How can you take me back to that den of evil after what they did to me for years? You told me you loved me! That was a lie! If you loved me, you would not take me back there. You might as well kill me. JUST KILL ME NOW!”
Cain leaned in real close and once more slammed my back against the hard cement wall, the action robbing me of my breath. “That’s the fuckin’ problem, Salome. I do love you. I’m not meant to. It is forbidden. I was meant to free you for my uncle. Deliver you to Prophet David. And I must. It is the will of the Lord. But I do fuckin’ love you and it is my burden to bear.”
I was even more confused. “What? If you love me, you should let me go. Please…” For a moment, the Rider I knew and loved as my best friend stared back at me, but when Moses, Noah, and Gabriel dragged Styx through the bedroom door, the cold Brother Cain persona reasserted itself.
“Styx!” I screamed as they dragged his bleeding body past me, my heart slamming against my ribs. His head, weak from the pounding he had just taken, lifted at my words. “STYX!” I cried out louder. My body crumpled against the wall… I could not get free. My heart broke as the elders hauled Styx into the yard, and all the time, he fought his restraints, fighting to get back to me.
He will always try to protect me, I thought.
I refocused and stared at Cain. “I will never forgive you for this, Brother Cain,” I hissed, my voice steely and even.
For a moment, a flash of pain sped across Cain’s face as Brother Jacob stopped beside us. Cain straightened my left arm. “Do it!” he ordered Jacob, sternly.
My attention moved to Jacob and I watch helplessly as he held out a long needle and injected it into my outstretched arm.
As my consciousness began to fade, I fought against Cain’s hold. “Never… never… forgive you…”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Styx
I couldn’t speak.
I couldn’t get the words out to say a damn word. Rider. Fuckin’ RIDER! He was one of them. All this time, years of being Road Captain… five years of riding with the Hangmen, front line at gun runs and deals… and he was one of them!
Motherfucker!
“Noah, Moses, send the Hangmen a message,” Rider hissed as he grabbed Mae and dragged her from the room. All I saw was a red misty tunnel.
“Styx! I love you… I love you!” Mae cried, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Rider is taking her from me!
Mae! I wanted to scream, but the words wouldn’t come. The words were a cluster, a fuckin’ lump in my throat, choking me, lodged in place, refusing to move.
The door to the hallway closed and two of the bearded fucks approached. I bared my teeth, fought against the restraints, but the fuckers kept coming. I promised myself if they got any closer I’d head butt the bastards, crush their noses, fracture their jaws… anything.
“So. You’re the famous Hangmen Mute?” The first one taunted.
I just stared, trying to goad them into coming closer.
They looked at each other and laughed. “I’m thinking, by his silence, we got it right. Funny, he doesn’t seem so tough on his knees, begging like a bitch.”
Movement up ahead caught my eye and I spotted Jacob pacing. He was glaring at me, snarling. So this is the pedo, I thought. This was the sick fuck who’d raped my woman. Raped her at the age of eight.
His lip lifted in a knowing smirk, his jaw clicking at the movement. He stepped forward, crouching right in front of me, and started to taunt me.
“She was so tight all those years ago.”
I tensed, my muscles feeling as though they were ripping apart.
“She fought me at first. Struggled to get free, but the trap kept her in her place. She squealed at first, you know, when I ripped through her virginity. But, she soon learned to enjoy me.” His head lowered, as did his voice. “I fucked her in every hole, in every way humanly possible… and she was always dripping wet for more.”
Fury boiled my blood. I lunged forward, sinking my teeth into the side of his neck, ripping off a chunk of his flesh and spitting it on the floor at his feet. The taste of copper filled my mouth. He roared in pain, and I smiled as his blood trickled down my chin.
The other two brothers attacked, punching, hitting, kicking me in the ribs. I held Jacob in a stare, smiling as the bothers’ blows down rained on me.
“Moses, Noah, take him outside,” Gabriel ordered as Jacob held his neck, still glaring at me in shock.
Moses and Noah gripped me by my arms and dragged me through the door.
Mae.
Mae was held up against the wall by Rider. His face far too close to hers. She looked so damn scared.