Page 67 of Anathema
“You can’t be serious. What makes you think that after all this time, I would still want to marry you?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. He had to be joking. There was no way he believed I would even remotely consider returning to him.
“How about the safety of those you love most?” Adrian snapped his fingers, and the large room was plunged into darkness.
I could hear screaming and yelling, complete chaos in the darkness that blinded me. I gasped as a strong hand covered my mouth while another wrapped around my body tightly, pinning my arms at my sides.
“It seems I need to retrain my girl to behave again.” Adrian’s voice crept into my ear, and my heart sank as I swallowed the bile that burned in the back of my throat.
“Madison!” I heard Dean calling for me, and I whimpered.
What I wouldn’t give to be wrapped up in the safety of his arms right this second.
“What’s it going to be, sweetheart? Him or me?” His voice was poison in my ear, sharp fangs sinking deep into my skin, ready for the kill.
I sucked in a sharp breath before shifting my weight and driving my knife, which I had grabbed when the lights went out, wherever I could, hoping it would land somewhere painful enough for him to let me go.
“You fucking cunt!” He shouted, releasing me, and I fell to the floor, scrambling away as fast as my arms and legs could carry me. I couldn’t see where I was going, but anywhere was better than being near him for a second longer.
“You want to play hard to get… I’ll play.” Adrian panted his malicious words as they echoed throughout the darkness.
The torches on the walls were re-lit in a flash, and as my eyes adjusted to the contrast of light, they went wide. Adrian’s followers had separated Chyler and Alexis from Atlas and Derek, restraining them on the opposite end of the room.
Derek, Dean, and Atlas had been roughly beaten, kneeling on the raised dais with their hands secured behind their backs. All of this over seconds. I looked up to see Adrian towering over me as I lay on the floor. Vulnerable. The knife sticking out from the side of his thigh.
“You know how much I love to teach.” He growled, gripping my hair at the nape of my neck and pulling me aggressively to stand. Adrian dragged me to where the guys were kneeling and threw me to the ground before them.
“You have a choice, Madison. Him or your sisters.” Adrian grunted, pulling the knife from his thigh, and gestured over to Chyler and Alexis before dropping it on the floor in front of me.I looked from the knife to Dean and whimpered like a fucking coward.
“And if you don’t choose within the next five minutes, I’ll just kill them all.” He added, sliding his hands into his pockets, ignoring the blood soaking through his slacks.
What I wouldn’t give to have the ability to save them all. Tears began streaming down the sides of my face. I couldn’t breathe. I had an impossible decision to make, and I didn’t agree with any of the outcomes.
Chapter 29
Alexis
Thelightshadallblown out, the vast room falling into complete darkness. I felt strong arms rip me away from Derek’s embrace. I cried out his name, attempting to reach him, but whoever had their arms around me squeezed so tightly that I could barely breathe.
I always knew Adrian was as fucked up as he presented himself to be, but never did I think he would come back for Madison. The grudge he held against Chyler and me for causing their separation and his loss of her was malicious and violent. He was doing all of this to make a statement. That Adrian Valtores always gets what he wants; he always wins.
When the light finally returned to the room, I gasped, seeing Derek, Dean, and Atlas restrained and kneeling on the dais, hands secured behind their backs and several cloaked Anathemamembers surrounding them. Chyler and I struggled against the two who had pulled us across the room from them.
“Atlas.” Chyler choked out, taking in his current state.
All three of them, at some point between the darkness and separation, had the shit kicked out of them. I’m assuming they all put up a fight before they were ultimately brought down. Three heavily trained CIA agents and us. Did we even stand a chance of making it out of here alive? There were too many of them…
“—Him or your sisters.” I heard Adrian’s voice over the blood pounding in my ears, and my eyes shifted to where Madison had been thrown to the floor at his feet.
I growled, searching the room for an idea, something, anything that could be a way out of this shit show of a situation. We were helpless, all of us.
A hand wrapped around my throat, and my head was pulled back, the cloaked individual’s mouth pressed right up against my cheek.
“If you want to save your lover and your friends, you will listen carefully and do as I say.” His voice was a soft murmur. I couldn’t identify it.
“W—why? Why help us?” I wheezed, his grip crushing my windpipe.
“Because not all of us are particularly fond of Adrian and his corrupt behavior. We’ve been working for the last year to eliminate Anathema from this city.”
We?Who was this man, and where was this coming from?
