Page 14 of Dominion

“Now, now.” He smiled and gripped my jaw in his hand. His thumb pressed against the wound on my cheek, smearing the blood I could feel dripping down my chin. “There’s absolutely no need to be nasty. I hoped we could solve this as grown-ups. Tell me, Ash.” The motherfucker grinned. “How old is your brother now?”

A roar tore from my chest, the chains clinking violently as I thrashed from one side to the other, adrenaline giving me the boost I needed.

“I will fucking kill you, Judah!”

“Will you?” He snickered along with the other men who stood in the darkness, hiding from me. “Looking at you and the state you’re in, I think that the only road you’re heading down is the road to death. That futile wish of yours to avenge your parents will stay that—only a wish.”

My chest rose and fell in an uneven rhythm. I knew deep in my bones that if I didn’t get away from here, his words would come true. But I didn’t survive all this time only to die at his hands. Only to die when the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together.

“And that uncle of yours.” The entire room came alive from their laughter. “He had you fooled, didn’t he? Neal was always a little fucker, but even I couldn’t see it coming. When he told us the location of your parents as well as Skylar, phew… It was such a relief, I must say. They were well hidden.”

After everything I saw, all the documents and all the evidence pointing at Neal, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it still hurt. It was still whiplash over my heart that the person I trusted all these years was the person responsible for everything that had happened to us.

“But one thing I can’t figure out is who you’re working with now.” I grinned at that.

Judah Blackwood hated many things, but one thing he hated the most was the unknown. A true control freak, I could see it in his eyes. The fear, the uncertainty, the knowledge that we weren’t completely alone.

“Neal ran away before he could tell me who was the man that was telling you all the things about the Order, and I want toknow, Ash.” His smile wobbled. “If you tell me everything I need to know, I might let you go.”

We both knew there was no chance in hell that I would ever leave this place on my own feet, or that he would ever let me live.

“I could even offer you a place in the Order. My own son…” he snarled. “My own son turned out to be such a disappointment, and Skylar?—”

“You don’t get to say her name, old man,” I growled. “You are not worthy of her name.”

“Oh, really?” He came closer to me, keeping his hands in his front pockets, his footsteps echoing around us. “You fell for that whore as well?” I pulled at the chains again, forgetting the pain ricocheting through my body. “You did.” Judah snickered. “Her pussy is something else, isn’t it?” he asked, leaning closer to me. “I must say, I taught her well.”

I’d had enough. Enough of his incessant babbling and that irritating voice. Neal often told me I had an ego that would get me killed, but Judah… Judah thought he was untouchable.

Without thinking, I spat in his face, coloring his otherwise pale skin with the crimson color of my blood.

A suffocating silence descended on us and, I knew, without a doubt, that I fucked up even more than before. But there was not a single bone in my body that cared anymore. I knew Skylar was safe, and I was sure my brother was with Sons of Hades.

Skylar wouldn’t let Dylan rot in here. If I died today, I would gladly do it if it meant that my lips stayed sealed, protecting those I loved. I just hoped that Indigo would help in every way that he could.

“Where the fuck is she?” Judah roared, pressing both of his hands around my throat, cutting off the air to my lungs. “Tell me!” He shook me, losing control, but he wasn’t going to get anything from me.

Even if I knew where she was, he would never hear it from me.

“You don’t want to tell me?” He grinned and let go of me. “Fine.” He turned around and started walking toward the line where the darkness hid the other men from me. “Bring him in,” he ordered them.

I could hear the doors opening and closing, the footsteps going out. I never imagined I would see Dylan once the door opened again.

They brought him in, battered and bruised, barely standing, but it was him. Our Dylan.

His eyes were half closed, but as soon as he saw me, he started pushing against the two men holding him, trying to get closer to me.

“Don’t tell him anything!” he roared. “He can’t have her!”

My heart thundered, my limbs shook, and my lower lip trembled seeing him like this. Every time I saw him in the past, he was calm and collected, but the crazed look in his eyes terrified me. This didn’t look like the Dylan I knew.

What had they done to him?

“Look at you two.” Judah stepped in, looking between us. “Foolish little boys. You thought you could play this game and win?” He cackled. “I’ve been playing this game longer than the two of you were born. There’s nothing that can pass next to me without me knowing. Nothing.”

Judah stepped closer to me, looking straight into my eyes. “You can choose, Asher. You can save Skylar, or,” he looked at Dylan, “you can save him. The choice is yours.”

“No!” Dylan howled again. “No matter what, don’t tell him.” The anguish in his eyes was eating me alive, but he would never forgive me if I said anything that could indicate where she was. He would die for her. I could see it now.

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