Page 33 of Depravity

My eyes dart about, and instinctively I look for an escape route. The curtains are drawn, so I have no idea what level we’re on. The door is shut, so I can’t tell how big this house even is. Is it as big as my grandfathers? It certainly feels older.

“You’re safe here.” He says again, as if I should be afraid of something other than him.

And that makes me pause.

“Why, why wouldn’t I be safe?” I ask before it hits me what’s really going on. Why we got married in an empty chapel and not the Cathedral. Why we had no witnesses. “Nooo one knows, do they? That’s why it was justtt you and me there. No one knows that you ster-ster-stole me away, that you married me.”

He narrows his gaze, and his hand reaches up to grab my jaw. “It doesn’t matter. By the time everyone finds out, I’ll have all my pieces in place and there’ll be nothing anyone can do.”

Nothing anyone can do? Over my dead body. It’s alright for him, he’s a Lord, his brother is about to become Chapter Lord. Ifthis blows up, he’ll probably end up with little more than a slap on the wrist. But me? My fate will be far worse. I’ll be carted off to Oblivion. Locked away. I’ll be condemned not because of what I’ve done myself, but because of how my now-husband has ruined me.

A tear slips down my cheek. I can’t keep the tremble from my body at the thought of what will happen because let’s face it; even if this does work out, even if Conrad gets what he wants, I’ll still be here by his side, bound to my rapist.

It’s not a future anyone would want.

It’s not the future I so desperately dreamed of.

“Ssssh,” He says, soothing me. “It’ll be fine. Trust me. Trust your husband.”

As if I could. As if I would.

Ileave her there, in my home. There are enough cameras and guards to ensure she won’t be able to escape if she decides to be that stupid, but I’ll admit I am curious to see how she responds now that she thinks she has the chance.

Will she wait to see the lay of the land, or will she try to flee the first chance she gets?

I don’t know much about my wife, but I know she’s malleable. Mouldable. I know, given the right pressure, I can turn her into everything I want. Sure, she’s going to resist. Sure, she’s going to fight but then, where would the fun be if she didn’t?

As I stroll in through the doors to Oblivion, I realise that’s something I have been yearning for. Someone that is solelymine, someone who is loyal only to me. I can fuck anyone I want, hurt anyone I want; within these walls I am a God, but it’s not the same. It’s not as delicious when you know the meat is already primed.

The fact that Brynn is locked away, captured, ensnared; that’s what makes her so much more enticing. She’s forbidden fruit and now that I have her, I will gorge on every single bit.

Ahead, I can see my brother. He’s not meant to be here; he’s meant to be off somewhere with Antonio, and it makes me pause for a second.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Magnus snarls.

“Excuse me?”

“You missed the Purification Ritual, you missed my declaration as a candidate for Chapter Lord.”

I stop, realising instantly that I have fucked up. I’ve spent too many days enjoying my new prize, and I’ve dropped the ball on the things that should matter. Keeping up appearances has always been a point of pride for me. Presenting to the world the carefully crafted image they want of me.

In less than a week, Brynn seems to have shattered that resolve, she seems to have made me forget myself, my responsibilities.

Subconsciously, my fingers wrap around that digit where my ring should be. I left it behind. I had to. Until everything is in place, no one can know what I’ve done.

“I was busy.” I reply. It’s a bullshit answer ,and we all know it.

Magnus scowls more. “Busy?” He repeats, “What could possibly be more important than our family’s indoctrination?”

“Giselle,” I say with little thought.

He arches a brow, his face turning to bloody murder. “You really think I’m as stupid as that?” He growls in a voice I know only too well. Magnus may be my brother, but for the past twenty years he’s been more of a father figure than a sibling.He brought me and Devin up after our parents died. He did everything he could to ensure we were cared for, nurtured, fucking moulded into perfect Blakes.

And that’s half the problem. He knows me too well. Knows my secrets, knows my everything.

“We spoke to her.” Antonio says and I turn my gaze onto him.

He’s an enigma I don’t care to pick apart, the man can make or break a Lord. One word from him and your entire standing in the Brethren would be altered entirely. You’d think with that sort of power he’d be more of a presence, and yet the fact he skulks in the shadows and keeps his cards so close? Yeah, it’s unnerving.

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