Page 15 of These Monstrous Ties
“If I have to knock again, I’ll kill you both.” My brother’s cold voice.
“Fuck,”Kristof swears under his breath, but he releases me, and I fall to the floor, trying to catch my breath, my hand going to my neck, rubbing at the burning skin. I crawl out of the way before Kristof can hit me with the door as he pulls it open.
I hear my brother laugh before I see him.
“I knew she wouldn’t let you,” he mutters. The door snaps closed and then he turns to me, his eyes on my hand at my throat. They narrow slightly. “Get up.”
Kristof holds his tongue, but my eyes find his, and he’s fuming. He’s also bleeding and in pain, and he stumbles back against the wall in the foyer, sinking to the floor, not bothering to cover himself in front of me or my brother.
I rub at my neck again, and then get to my feet, tugging down the oversized white t-shirt I’m wearing.
“Why?” I ask, my voice hoarse.
Jeremiah smiles. “Because I can. And you need to learn a lesson.” He turns, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Come with me.” That order is directed to me. He glances at Kristof. “Get cleaned up. I’m going to need you back on duty tomorrow morning.”
Kristof grunts his agreement, which is all he can really manage. I glare at him as I follow Jeremiah out into the dimly lit hall. The door closes behind us, and then Jeremiah pins me against the wall, his hands on my upper arms.
“You cannot afford to disobey me,Sid,” he growls at me, his eyes wild on mine. “What if he finds you again? What if his filthy fucking friends find you?That,” he jerks his head to the door at our left, the door to Kristof’s room. “Was to teach you a lesson. To help you understand just what could happen to you if you don’t trust me fully.” He takes a breath, his fingers curling tighter around my arms. “Do you think Ienjoytormenting you?”
Even though I know I shouldn’t, even though I feel some sick rush of gratitude toward him for not letting it go so far, laughter bubbles on my lips. “Yes,” I hiss. “Yes,Brother, I think you love tormenting me. Aside from making money and fucking women, I think tormenting me is your favorite pastime.”
He blows out a breath, presses his brow against mine. I can feel his words against my lips.
“Sid,” he whispers. My heart slams in my chest. My brother is the most dangerous when he’s quiet. When he’s still. For several moments, he doesn’t speak. And then he says, “If you can’t get it together, I will kill you. I won’t risk letting you crawl around on the streets. I won’t risk anyone coming back for you. I won’t risk the Unsaints finding you again. I’d rather you be dead.”
My heart lodges in my throat, and he smiles.
He pulls back, but still holds on tight to me. In that moment, I’m grateful. Without his grip, I think I might faint. “I know what they do to people that hurt them. And if they were to find out what you are to me…they’d do much worse than Lucifer did that night.”
My cheeks heat, and I look away, no longer able to meet his eyes.
He shakes me. “Look at me,” he spits, his voice venomous.
Reluctantly, I bring my gaze to his.
“I’ve seen all of your dirty little secrets, Sid. I know what you did before me. I know that what I saw was the least of what you’ve done. You’re used goods, Sid. This is the best you’re going to get.” He steps away from me, finally releasing his hold on my arms. “You couldn’t really ask for more though, could you?”
Then he turns and walks away, leaving me half-naked on the dim hallway, just outside of Kristof’s door.
Chapter Six
Present
That night,I lay in bed, the ceiling fan set on high, spinning like a cyclone above my head. I haven’t been able to stand the quiet since that night. Since I had awoken to Jeremiah kicking me in the side, silence ringing out in the forest, after he’d dragged me from the asylum.
I close my eyes against the memory.
But it isn’t the memory I want to block out. At least, not all of it.
It’s the pain in my chest when I think ofhim. The hole of rage. Grief. Obsession. Even one year later, Halloween quickly approaching in two weeks’ time, I can’t let that night go. Those blue eyes behind his skull paint, those full lips outlined in stripes of black and white. He’s fucking burned into my soul.
All of the Unsaints are.
I sit up, slide against the headboard at my back. It’s black, like most everything in my room is. Black comforter, black satin sheets, black marble floor. It’s why I chose this room. Jeremiah had given me the pick of them, the ones not used for his staff or himself. Even the bathtub is inlaid with obsidian stone.
I glance out the balcony window, the heavy black drapes open wide. I’m on the seventh floor, and I know Jeremiah is one above me.Directlyabove me. I don’t know if that’s where his room always was, or if he’d moved his to be closer to me. To keep an eye on me.
I’d asked him. As always, he never answered me. Neither would Nicolas. Although I think that’s more because Nicolas has never known where Jeremiah’s room is. Only his guards seem to know that, and Brooklin.
