Page 54 of Bought to Break
‘Kane found Viktor.’
‘After his family was killed,’ she murmured, talking more to herself than to Sorin, but he looked surprised.
‘He told you about it?’
Lana hoped she hadn’t spoken out of turn. ‘Yes. He said they were killed in a fire.’
‘That’s all he said?’
‘He told me that his wife and children died in a fire. He said he killed the men responsible and then he joined the Dark Brothers.’
Sorin’s hands had stilled when she’d mentioned Viktor’s past. Now he pulled them gently from hers.
‘I think it’s time you knew the rest. Do you want me to tell you?’
Lana hesitated, then nodded. She knew it wasn’t Sorin’s story, but she didn’t think Viktor was likely to tell her more.
‘Viktor and his wife married when they were quite young, as they ofttimes do in the remote villages of the north. His wife, Greta, was dissatisfied with her lot. She had married a farmer with few prospects, had two children, but she was still very much a beauty, as Viktor tells it. She was not faithful to her husband and she had a particular weakness for sell-swords. Viktor says he didn’t know, but he must have suspected.’
Sorin shrugged. ‘Anyway, one night a party of them rode into their village led by a man who was … different; powerful and refined. She was drawn to him and ended up in his bed. When it came time for them to leave and Greta found she would not be going with them as he had promised her, she was enraged. When she confronted him, this man had her beaten and taken to the house she shared with her family. He had the two young children secured in their beds and then he burned it to the ground. Viktor found them. Afterwards, he hunted most of them down and killed them, but one escaped.’
Lana shook her head. Poor Viktor; his poor children and even his wife hadn’t deserved such a thing. ‘I don’t understand. Why would the man have done such a thing?’
Sorin smiled coldly. ‘Because he could. My master likes to make sure everyone knows his control over them, and he enjoys making examples out of people.’
Lana’s mouth fell open. ‘Your master?’
‘Yes.’
‘The same man that made you his slave killed Viktor’s family? But how did you find each other? Both of you hunting the same man is quite a coincidence.’
‘Three. Kane also.’
Lana breathed out hard. ‘What did he do to Kane?’
Sorin stood slowly and she rose as well, sensing this conversation would soon be at an end. He tucked a tendril of her hair that had come loose behind her ear.
‘He’s never confided the whole story. It was when he was a boy. That’s all I know. Perhaps he will tell you one day.’
‘Doubtful,’ Lana scoffed. Kane had barely looked at her since the night she’d been bound to them. Even while training her he was cold and detached, only speaking to reprimand her or explain something, making it clear that even a child would know better than she, whatever it was. He seemed to exist only to humiliate her and find her wanting in every single way.
‘Whatever he did,’ Sorin continued, bringing her thoughts back to the present, ‘it was enough for him to devote his life to finding this man. Since we were barely men, all of us have spent our years looking for him so that we can have our revenge.’ Sorin eyes lit with excitement. ‘We’ve searched so many places and found only traces of him, but he is close. In just days we invade the capital city of the Islands. He had ties there, we’re sure. We are going to find him, Lana, and finally we are going to do all the things to him that we’ve been dreaming about for years.’
‘What does he look like, this man? What else do you know about him?’
‘His name is Vineri. He’s thin, tall and his lip is always curved into a sneer, as if he thinks himself better than all those around him. He likes boys, but women too. No one is safe from his attentions. He lives to break people any way he can. He dresses in the finest silks, owns fine houses. He’s a collector.’
‘What does he collect?’
‘Objects that are interesting or unique. He likes to have things that no one else does, and he will pay, steal and kill for his prizes.’
Without thinking about what she was doing, Lana’s hand fluttered up to cup Sorin’s cheek, caressing the stubble starting to grow, though he shaved his face religiously every morning. Surprising herself, she eased her fingers into his hair and tentatively ran them through the coarse dark strands. Then she clasped the back of his neck gently and pulled his head down towards hers. He looked as shocked as she felt by her actions, but something else as well.Hungry.
‘Do you want me to leave you to your demons?’ she asked quietly.
‘No.’
His voice was hoarse and strained. He abruptly sank back onto the chair behind him and pulled her onto his lap, stroking her back and shoulders slowly through her clothes with an almost reverent fervour. She could feel his cock hardening and she loved that she could do this to him. It was a funny sort of power, but power it was, and it was hers. For this, she didn’t need to learn the skills of the Brothers to succeed.
