Xander’s blue-eyed gaze rested on her face. “You are going in as a slave. They’ll never believe I allowed you to keep your weapons. If weapons are found on you, it might tip them off to what we are doing.”
“I’m going in as YOUR slave. Keep their grubby hands off my body and they’ll never know that I’m armed.” Her eyebrow arched in challenge of his concern.
The entire room grew silent in reaction to her words. She looked from Xander’s face to Aaron’s, and eventually to Maddy’s. “Was it something I said?”
“Slaves of The Estate were not permitted to wear clothes.” Maddy’s delicate voice pierced the air. “You’ll be stripped immediately upon entering the building. You’ll have to comply if it is to be believable.”
Hope’s body tensed. The idea of walking in unarmed went against everything she was trained to do in her profession.
Aaron eyed her, a small, knowing grin peeking out at the corner of his mouth — mocking her. “I don’t understand your hesitancy, Hope. Being that we are alike in our habits, I assume you’ve been adequately trained in hand to hand combat as much as the use of weapons. However, if you have not …”
“I’m fine.” The metallic gold of her eyes stared back, noting the arrogance in Aaron’s expression. “If you’d like to find out for yourself, I’m sure that can be arranged.” She smiled when she noticed how he immediately fell into a discreet fighting stance at the sharp cut of her tone.
Xander pushed off the wall, moving to step in between the two assassins. “Fighting amongst ourselves won’t solve anything.”
“Why not?” Hope turned to Xander, her stance also easing into one intended for a fight. “It might do him some good to have his dick ripped from his body and shoved down his throat.”
Xander’s eyes widened and when she looked back to Aaron, a blade was already at his palm. She grinned in response.
“Please don’t. I’m rather fond of his dick and I’d like it to remain where it’s useful.” The words sounded wrong when spoken; Maddy’s small voice ringing out with innocence and kindness despite the crude topic.
Hope, Xander and Aaron turned in unison to stare at her. She shrugged in response.
Looking over the petite brunette, Hope asked. “Are you sure? From what you just told me, he marched you around naked in your role as a slave. What kind of man does that to a woman he cares for?”
Maddy blinked, her dark lashes momentarily covering the sapphire blue of her eyes before she smiled. “He also allowed another man to touch me, a woman to rape me, he whipped me, and he executed other slaves in front of me, leaving their entrails for me to clean from the floor.”
Hope’s jaw dropped. Complete shock overtook her and she was unable to respond to what Maddy had said.
Maddy walked over to Aaron and wrapped her arm around his. “But sometimes, when you are stuck in an impossible situation, the solution is not always violence and fighting your way out. Sometimes, it takes patience and cunning to free yourself. Remember that when you two go in to that warehouse. It might be the only thing that saves you and your sister’s life.”
Despite Maddy making light of prior events between them, Hope noticed that Aaron’s face looked pained to be reminded of the past. Maddy noticed as well and brought her hand up to rest it against his cheek. “We accomplished what we set out to accomplish at that time,” she reminded him quietly. “And even if we have to continue enduring the madness that this network breeds, eventually we’ll be free of it and will watch it burn to the ground around us.”
Aaron relaxed, but his expression carried an undercurrent of renewed determination. He looked up from Maddy to lock his gaze on Xander. “You will go in fully armed. If possible, carry some of Hope’s weapons in with you as well. If you are caught, or if something goes wrong prior to my arrival, give Hope her weapons so that you both can fight your way out.”
Xander nodded his understanding. “The first thing we’ll need to do is escape the compound. I’ll need you to pull the guards away from the perimeter wall.”
“It’ll be done.”
Turning to Hope, Xander held out his hand. “Care to escort me to my room? I’ll only be able to carry a few of your weapons as well as mine. I’ll let you pick your favorites.” He winked.
She smiled in response, uncertainty creeping along her thoughts at how Xander was able to set her at ease. Accepting his hand, she looked back at Aaron and Maddy. Both of their expressions were grim. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that if my sister still lives, both she and Xander will walk away from this intact.”
Maddy’s brows furrowed deeper. “What about you?”
Hope blinked at her concern, not used to having someone who cared if she returned. “I’ve wished for death for many years, Maddy. Considering I’ve never yet had a wish come true in this hell I’ve called a life, I’m not worried that it will happen now. We will see each other again.”
~ ~ ~
Run down to a point of looking deserted, the large white warehouse was shadowed by the dark sky, a phantom across the horizon only when the bright moonlight above touched softly upon the metal surface of the building.
Silently, Hope and Xander walked the perimeter of the building, seeking out hidden exits or small areas where they could escape if they were discovered.
“It’s closed in tight, I’ve seen only two doors besides the main door. Retreat would be difficult if things went sour.” Xander spoke low so that his words would not carry on the wind that beat violently against their bodies.
Hope straightened her spine, while rolling her shoulders back, stretching her neck out in habit, physically loosening the muscles in her body so that her movement would be smooth and fluid. “Then we’ll have no choice but to be believable.”
Xander chuckled, the howl of the wind making the sound barely discernable. “I’m interested to see you play the part of a slave, it’ll be amusing watching you attempt to keep your mouth shut and do as you’re told.”
She looked up at him, noticed how his cheek dimpled from the grin pulling at his mouth. Their bodies brushed up against each other from how close they stood and a small pang of desire ran through her at the contact. His expression fell when he looked back at the building. “I want to warn you what you could see in there. If these men are anything like Joseph, you can expect blood and lots of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if flayed bodies hung on the walls.”
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
He nodded. “I’m sure. However, if your sister is one of those bodies, will you be able to stop yourself from slaughtering every man in that room?”
His words were cold … callous in the blunt manner in which he spoke them. Hope took a deep breath attempting to goad her heart back into a slow and steady rhythm. She allowed images to flit through her head. Visions of her sister — naked, bound and bruised — at the end of a madman’s chain. “I’m prepared for whatever we find.”
Xander looked over at her, reached out to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. The gesture was so soft compared to words of his response, “I’ll treat you like a whore. Do not assume that it doesn’t infuriate me to do so as much as it will anger you to have it done. I’m sure whatever you have seen, and whatever you think you are prepared to see, is like a dream compared to what I know could be happening behind those walls.”
She looked up at him again, her eyes widening in shock.
“You may have grown up in the shadow of The Estate, but I grew up inside it. The rumors and murmurs that manage to escape its walls don’t even begin to touch upon the truth of the horror that existed within the mansion.” He paused before looking at her again, foggy memories of a distant cruelty obvious behind the blue of his eyes. “Joseph killed my parents and my sister. From what I’ve heard, I was taken as another punishment inflicted on my father — kept alive so that my parents could never rest.”
“Did you witness their deaths?”
Dark memories settled farther behind his eyes and he gre
w quiet. Finally breaking his silence, he confessed, “I was present when it happened, but I don’t remember the details except for bits and pieces.”
She leaned into him and his hand moved to rub down her back. “When this is over — regardless of what happens after we go inside — can I stay?”
His body stilled, his eyes locked to hers in disbelief.
She shrugged. “We both have scores to settle with The Estate. If the three of you are truthful in your intent to destroy it, I want to help you.”
Silence again before he smiled a wicked grin. “I’m surprised you ask that question.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you would have figured out by now, that I have no absolutely no intention of ever letting you go.”
Leaning down, he brushed his lips across hers, their bodies covered by the shadows filling the alley where they stood. She felt the leather of the collar encircle her throat while his lips moved slowly over hers. Once it was locked into place, she felt him tug the chain before he pulled away. “It’s time. You need to remove your clothes.”
The full weight of their situation finally rested over her body. She would be vulnerable and exposed, an easy target going in without weapons and without clothes to cover her. Maddy’s words echoed in her head and Hope took another deep breath.
“Do me a favor.” She grabbed his hand, relishing the heat of his skin against hers before looking up at him again. “If you can save my sister, I want you to do it regardless; even if it means my death. She is innocent and she doesn’t deserve what’s happened to her.”
He looked like he wanted to argue, but then understanding flashed behind his eyes. “How will I know it’s your sister?”
Hope frowned and turned to look back at the building. “That’s simple. She’s my identical twin.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Xander stood dumbfounded by her words. Already believing her too beautiful to be real, he couldn’t fathom that there was another woman alive who looked identical.
Before he could respond, she slipped the clothes from her body, the moonlight brushing across her form. Each of her injuries was dark against the smooth expanse of her skin — the wound to her shoulder where she’d been shot, the bruises that marred her face and chest from where he’d struck her when they’d fought. It was the perfect disguise, anger and violence that marked her skin, making it believable that he’d treated her as nothing more than a whore.
Moving in front of her, he tugged the chain and she fell in step behind him. Before they reached the dimly lit area around the building he stopped and turned to look at her over his shoulder. Even vulnerable, she wore strength — the true heart of a warrior beating within her chest, hungry for the moment when she’d enjoy letting the blood of her enemies run free from their bodies.
He approached a side door, turning the handle to find that the door swung open freely. He tsked at how they’d left the building exposed and at their arrogance in thinking they were impervious to attack. However, their carelessness wasn’t unexpected. Very few dared attack any property owned by The Estate and the authorities were paid to not notice their activities.
Slipping through the doorway, he listened to the silent interior. The only sound he could hear was the faint rattle of the chain he had around Hope’s throat and the soft sound of her bare feet stepping in behind him. They were in a small storage room in the back of the warehouse, one that didn’t appear to have any person inside for a long time. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling and you could barely traverse the floor because of the amount of boxes and other junk that littered the floors. Weaving his way through the maze of obstacles, he approached an interior door and placed his ear against it to see if he could hear activity on the other side. There was nothing and he began to worry that he’d been wrong to think they’d brought the women to this place.
Turning the handle slowly, he pushed against the thick wood, the hinges creaking in protest at the movement. He closed his eyes against the putrid smell that assaulted him suddenly and turned to look at Hope before opening them again. The expression on her face gave away the fact that she knew all too well that it was the smell of death that permeated the air. Looking back out into the expansive space he saw cages lined neatly in five rows, some covered with sheets while others were left open. Other miscellaneous tables and equipment was also strewn throughout the room.
Leaving the storage room, he kept to the wall as he moved through the space. Just enough light shown through the musty windows that lined the top of the building to let him see that the cages were empty. Moving slowly, they searched the entire building to find that nobody was there.
“Check the cages.” Releasing her chain, he pulled a gun from its holster to guard the perimeter while Hope walked silently, looking through the steel traps in the center.
“They’re empty.” She kept moving between the rows, but held her nose as she approached two covered cages. Pulling the sheet up, she doubled over coughing. Xander walked over, the smell causing his body to retch as he moved closer.
“Um, I spoke too soon.” She pointed down into the cages she’d uncovered and Xander looked down to notice that one held the decomposing body of a woman and the other held the decomposing body of a man. “It appears our friends have been here for at least two days. The bodies aren’t too badly rotted, so it couldn’t have been longer than that.” Hope paced the edges of the cages, looking in closely. “This one isn’t my sister, so that’s good news I guess.” Peering closer at the body, she winced. “Holy shit, this woman died a painful death.”
Xander stepped over to examine the dead woman, not surprised that it appeared she’d bled out. Blood flooded the interior of the cage, her naked lower torso covered more thoroughly than the upper part of her body. Every inch of her skin was marred by bruising or cuts — some healed, but by the way her body was left after death, some worsened. “Do you recognize her?”
Hope looked up, holding her hand beneath her nose. Moving to the other side, she peered in to look at the face. “For a second there, I thought it was the woman who let me in the mansion, but …” She peered closer, her expression tightening against the stink. “… it’s not her. This woman is much taller, and her hair is lighter, I think. It’s hard to tell with all the blood.”
“A woman let you in the mansion?”
Hope looked up from the body and nodded. “Well, ‘let me in’ is probably the wrong way to phrase it. She opened up one of the exterior doors and I knocked her out and left her outside when I entered the west wing. I figured I’d be in and out pretty quickly, so by the time she woke up, it wouldn’t matter if she ran around to tell you what happened, because I’d be long gone by then.”
Xander blinked, his mind remembering back to the night Hope had attempted Aaron’s life. “Can you describe her to me?”
She shrugged. “Petite, brown hair, didn’t look at her long enough to get an eye color. She looked like Maddy somewhat.”
He closed his eyes in recognition of the woman Hope had been describing. Opening them again, he said, “The decorator? Fuck! You knocked out our decorator?”
Hope shrugged again. “It gave me access to the building.”
Moving to the second cage, Xander eyed her again before looking in at the man’s body. Hope moved to his side and asked, “Do you recognize him as one of yours?”
Xander grimaced. “If he still had a face, I might be able to tell. However, it appears they didn’t want him to be recognizable when found.” He peered down at the skull, bits of flesh left behind from where they’d peeled the skin off entirely. “I’m unsure if they did this before or after he died, but I assume it was before death.”
“Why?”
“Because that was a parlor trick thought up by Joseph. He was quite creative when it came to punishment.” Images flashed in Xander’s head; distant and broken memories of a woman screaming — of a baby crying — and of his father’s body falling to the ground.
“You people are
some sick bastards. We like things much more short and sweet where I come from. Death is one thing, playing in the remains is a whole new level of crazy.” Hope moved beside him again, peering down at the man’s remains. “So, what do we do now?”
Surveying the warehouse again, Xander stepped back when he heard the faint sound of car doors closing outside the building. “We wait.” He grabbed her chain, pulling her close to him. “Kneel down at my feet.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re about to have company.” Pulling his gun from its holster, he aimed it in the direction of the back door. Three men spilled through, their heads moving on their shoulders as they looked over the building. Finally spotting Xander, they raised their guns in his direction.
“And who the fuck do we have here?”
Xander remained still. “I need to see Patrick. Go get him before I kill all three of you and find him myself.”
When the men recognized his voice, they raised their guns higher, not able to tell exactly where Xander stood due to the shadowed interior of the building. When they didn’t move fast enough, he shot one in the head and the other in the stomach, leaving the center man looking at his friends on the floor. When the man looked back up, Xander stepped into the small bit of moonlight that streamed in through the window.
“Would you like to join them?” His tone was a warning. Every man in the network knew that, whereas Aaron was the fastest with a blade, Xander was the best marksman of The Estate.
“Patrick has nothing to do with our unit.” The man attempted to lie, but the chopped quality of his words gave away his dishonesty.
Xander smiled. Cocking his gun, he raised it, noting how the other man immediately stepped back, holding his hands out in front of him in a defensive position.
“I guess that means I’ll have to find him myself.”
“Wait!” The man dropped his gun to the ground and reached into his pocket to pull out a phone. He appeared to be fumbling over the numbers and Xander fired off a warning shot to speed him along.