Page 19 of Voodoo Doll
“I don’t… I don’t want to be weak, Bash. I don’t want to be pitiful. I don’t want to feel like this anymore. I don’t want to feel at all. How do I do it? How do I become strong when I feel so broken? I need… I need…”
“Tell me.” His sinister voice called to something deep inside of me, urging me to meet his gaze. “Tell me now. Tell me all.”?
“Help me be strong. Help me be powerful. Make me not hurt anymore. I’ll do anything, Bash. Anything,” I pled with him. And I meant every word. Bash was the only one I could trust. The only one who hadn’t lied to me. Not once.?
“Do you truly mean it? Do you mean it with every fiber of your being?” His green eyes bore into mine, holding me captive. And that captivity felt like home.?
I nodded.?
“Say the words,ma chère,” he whispered darkly.?
“I mean it. I mean it. Take it all away. My pain, my heartbreak, my weakness. I don’t want them any more. I don’t want to think. Please, Bash. Please!” Tears ran down my face as I begged him to believe me.?
With a dark smile, he finally answered.
“Come with me.”?
He led me to the back of his shop. I barely noticed the flick of his wrist or the click of the door locking without being touched. Not that it mattered now. I believed in his magic. And all I wanted was for him to take it away.
Chapter Ten
Luna
Stingingpain flooded my senses as Bash’s thumb rubbed along the line of the cut in my hand. He led me past the back room and into an area I’d never seen before. My pulse thrummed, my stomach clenching with unease and trepidation at every step.?
“What is this place?” I whispered between hiccupping sobs, my eyes darting around the dark room. It was cleaner than the reading room, less cluttered and unsettling. A large, antique looking writing desk dominated one wall, balanced by a workbench placed on the opposite wall. In between them was a table of polished wood and dark iron. Bash flicked a hand, and candles along all four walls sprang to life just as the overhead electric light was extinguished.
“This is my private sanctuary,ma chère. This is where I will show you how I can take it all away.” The lure of his promise captivated me, pulling me into him, and made it impossible to think of anything else. I needed the pain to stop. And I would do whatever it took to make that happen.?
The sound of the lock clicking into place rang through the room like a gunshot, making me jump. “Are you certain this is what you want?” he asked. There was only one thought that sprang to my mind in response.
“Yes. Please, Bash. Please take it all away,” I whimpered pathetically. I couldn’t even bring myself to care. Nothing else mattered. I just needed the pain that clutched my heart like a vise to stop.
As my eyes found him again, shock overcame me as his normally bright green eyes changed to a deep black. With a slow smirk, his eyes shifted lower, taking in the sight of me fully, from top to bottom.
I knew I looked like a hot mess, soaked to the bone and shivering, with my dress plastered to my curves. I couldn’t even bring myself to care that my nipples stood out against the soaked fabric of my dress, leaving little to the imagination. The groan of arousal that left his lips had my thighs clenching. I clung to that sound, needing something, anything, to pull me away from the searing pain of betrayal that tormented me.
The coldness of his hand shocked me as he brought my hand to his lips, our eyes locking once more. He kissed the palm of my hand, right where the cut ran deepest, and I watched him inhale the scent of my blood. It stained his lips as he pulled away.
My stomach turned, and my thighs clenched. Disgust and arousal mingled low in my belly. I could not look away. The slick feel of his tongue made my mind spin as it flicked against the wound, tasting me in a way no one had ever tasted me before. His persona turned from friend to predator in that solitary instant.????
“Bash!” I gasped, equally terrified and aroused at his macabre and hedonistic actions.
“No turning back now,ma chère.” The darkness in his voice called to me like a siren’s song. Releasing my hand, he turned to grab something from a drawer. It was a burlap doll, all rickety and strange looking. It took me a moment to realize what it was.?
“What is that?” The truth lingered at the corners of my mind, though I still found it difficult to accept the occult practice herepresented. The answer was right on the tip of my tongue, just waiting for him to confirm my suspicions.
“This is a voodoo doll,” he answered with a knowing grin. He could read me like a book. But I had a feeling he was reading more than my expressions. It was as though he could read my very thoughts.
“Is that for me to use on Joshua?” My voice shook, barely a discernible whisper, and yet I knew he had heard me. My mind felt fuzzy, my body buzzing and yet almost numb, all at the same time. I could barely separate one thought from the next. Shock. It was shock settling into me, mind, body, and soul. I couldn’t even bring myself to care. The emotion of catching Joshua and Kayla together still stabbed like a knife, but the pain seemed duller, less brutal. All I knew was that Bash had promised to take it all away. That was all I wanted.?
“No, Luna.” His voice pierced through the numbness, luring me in like a spider would its prey. “This is the doll I made for you, the very first time we met.”
Seconds ticked by as my brain struggled to catch up with the words he had spoken.?
A voodoo doll? For me??
Realization settled over me like a dead weight, numbness receding just long enough for me to feel the shock, the terror, and the indescribable curiosity of what that truly meant.
