Page 14 of Cruel (Brutal Academy)

We're coming. Hang on a little while longer.

CHAPTER6

LILA

The rocking of the truck made my stomach turn and twist. What made me even more nauseous was Hades' words tumbling around and around in my mind. I was naïve to consider trusting Chloe or Zachary, but Slade… Was he really working with my sister? Was I that bad at judging who I let into my heart? Into my bed?

The twins trusted him, and I trusted them more than I trusted myself. Had they misjudged that badly?

I didn't want to believe any of it. Once the seeds were sown, I couldn’t get the thoughts out of my mind. To make it worse, I finally realised why Hades looked familiar. He worked for the Brantley family. I wasn't surprised to learn they were behind this. What I couldn't figure out was how my sister was involved. I didn't doubt she was, but the fact she might be working with another Brantley against me and the twins, was new. Unless…

Unless Slade organised this on her behalf.

The thought he was in it that deep made my heart hurt. And made me want to stab him in his.

I shifted my position to try to get comfortable and lifted a hand to my ear. Hades had made us take all our jewellery off shortly after we arrived at the big shed. He and Brutus had thrown every piece into a machine that ground them all down to nothing. Tracking chip and all.

The girl with the septum piercing, Danica, had refused to remove hers. Hades had held her arms while Brutus laughed and tore it out so hard it bled. While Hades ground down the ring, Brutus grabbed her hair, forced her to her knees and undid the front of his jeans.

I stood and opened my mouth to protest, but Hades cut me a look.

"Unless you want to take her place? Maybe you'd prefer to suck my cock?" He grabbed his groin and grinned.

I backed down and turned away, but couldn't shut out the sound of her sobs. Those hadn't stopped for hours. She was only silent now because she was asleep.

I suspected she would have preferred if she was dead.

"How long?" the woman beside me whispered. What was her name? Mary. Her skin and hair were a shade or two darker than mine, but she was about the same age as me.

"How long what?" I whispered back, my tone more curt than I intended.

She licked her lips. "How long do you think it will be until we get…wherever they're taking us? It feels like we've been in here for hours."

"Yeah, it does." It was hot, dark and uncomfortable, but the hours in here would be better than what was coming after. What Brutus did to Danica was going to happen to all of us. We didn't talk about it. We didn't talk about much of anything, but we all knew.

I had no intention of letting anyone do anything to me without one hell of a fight, but I planned to get the fuck away before it came to that.

Whoever did this to me, I was done being a victim. I would escape, and when I did, I would find out exactly who was behind this and they'd pay dearly for it. Breaking them wouldn't be enough.

"Why does Hades treat you differently?" Mary surprised me by asking. "Are you someone famous?"

I choked back a laugh. "Infamous, more like it. But no, I'm no one special. He just… Singled me out." Better to pretend he planned to toy with me when he got the chance, than admit who I really was. If she'd heard of the Bells, she'd know my father had a hand in doing this to other women. In her mind, that may make me as bad as Hades and Brutus. As bad as Caleb Brantley.

She should think that, because I was thinking it myself. What had I done to stop this from happening to other women? Nothing, because I never gave it any thought. Not for a moment. My father did what he did to make us rich and powerful. I was so far removed from the consequences, I didn't consider there were any. Especially consequences that involved innocent women. These weren't hardened criminals or corrupt politicians who deserved to be fucked with. They were women going about their daily lives when they ended up here.

It went without saying that when I became the head of the Bell family, I would shut down any operations like this. I'd insist the twins make their family do the same. I wouldn't stand for it a moment longer. There were dozens of other ways to make money.

"Why did he single you out?" Mary pressed. "He seemed to know you somehow."

"He's probably seen lots of women like me over however the fuck long he's been involved in this," I said. "No doubt he chooses one in every batch. Brutus too."

The other asshole had his eyes on Danica every time I saw him. He'd do a lot worse to her if it wouldn't leave her more damaged than she already was. Honestly, it was Hades' presence that stopped him. Men like him only gave a shit to a certain extent.

Mary shuddered. "Brutus is horrible."

As if saying his name woke her up, Danica resumed sobbing softly in the corner.

"Do you think they'll find us in time?" Mary asked.

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