“Well, I bet you never thought you’d be here, did you, Blair?”
“What do you want from me?” I croak. It’s a stupid question, though. I know exactly what he wants from me—revenge.
“You know, I thought of many ways over the years that I could make you pay. I thought it would be fun to just kill you. Then I figured I’d rape you because, let’s face it, that’s where this all started.” He grins at me and I lean over and dry retch. “But that all seemed so . . . cliché. So, I came up with something better. Something that allows me to watch you suffer, all the while making me money.”
I lift my tear-blurred vision and stare at him, confused.
“I can’t tell you right now, but you’ll find out more tonight when I put you to the test. Of course, if my plan is ineffective, I’ll simply kill you.”
God, please help me.
“I’ll leave you with that, shall I?”
“You’re a monster,” I growl, my voice pathetic and low.
He throws his head back and laughs, causing strands of wispy gray to flow around his shoulders. When he’s finished laughing, he lowers his head and stares me dead in the eyes. “You haven’t seen the worst of me yet, Blair. You’ll pay for what you did to my face, pay for the years I spent getting taunted, pay for everything you did to make my life hell.”
“Your life!” I growl. “What about what you did to mine?”
“I was teaching you a lesson. You should have taken it instead of being ungrateful.”
“A lesson.” I laugh bitterly. “Is that what you call it? I’d love to know how ripping my innocence from me at such a young age was considered a lesson.”
He smirks at me. “I got you ready for other men, so when you had a husband he could appreciate a well-fucked woman.”
“A woman!” I scream, jerking on my chains and thrashing my body. “I was a fucking kid. A child!”
He shrugs. “Child, woman, same parts, same feeling.”
I jerk so hard the cuffs burn into my wrists. I scream so loudly my voice cracks and I can hear no more than a strangled gasp. He laughs again, stepping forward and leaning down. He takes my hair in his hands and yanks me forward. My hair feels like it is ripping out of my scalp.
“Felt nice, too. Fucking you slowly, listening to you scream—”
“Die!” I wail. “You piece of shit!”
He chuckles as he turns. “I’m done here. Be ready for tonight. It’s a live or die kind of situation.”
He exits the room without another word.
I want to curl up and die.
Dimitri
“Have you found the phone?” I ask, storming into Luke’s room on the ship.
He’s standing at his desk, but at the sound of my voice he turns and stares at me, his expression compassionate. Fuck compassion. I don’t want compassion. I just want to fucking find her and show her that I’m not the kind of person she fucks with.
“No,” Luke says, his voice weary.
“Fuck!” I bellow. “How am I supposed to find him?”
“You’ve got the recourses, Dimitri. Just go back through what you’ve got.”
“It’s not enough!” I bellow. “We couldn’t fuckin’ find him last time.”
“He’s not going to hide now,” he adds. “He’s going to be waiting because he knows Jess is safe now that she’s with him. He’s got no reason to hide from you.”
“This is fucked up,” I growl, running my hands through my hair. “She completely fucked me over.”
“I’m sorry about that, boss.”
I turn and walk out of the room, not saying another word. What is there to say? She used me. She made me think that I could finally trust someone, that maybe my need for revenge was dramatic and misinformed. It was all a lie. She was never interested in helping me; she was only luring me close enough so she could get the chance to run. The moment she got that chance, she took it.
Now who’s the fool?
That’s what you get for trusting.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jess
Let me go!” I cry as Roger drags me down a set of rickety stairs.
We seem to be going underground. The stairs are going lower and lower and it’s getting darker and smellier down here. As we draw closer, I can hear the sounds of chattering voices. Other people? Why would he take me in front of other people? He reaches a large, metal door and shoves it open, dragging me into a well-lit room. I gape when I see what he’s got down here.
A fighting ring.
There’s a massive ring in the middle, surrounded by a floor to ceiling cage. My stomach turns and I struggle to keep the vomit from rising. Why would he make people fight in a cage? As we move closer, I notice the ten or so people in the room have stopped speaking. I can feel their eyes on me, burning into the back of my head as I move. I keep my eyes to the floor as Roger pulls me closer to the ring.
He’s not going to make me fight . . . is he?
Suddenly I’m sure I can’t keep the vomit down. I begin to retch. Roger spins me around in front of him and slaps my face hard. I cry out, cupping my cheek. “Stop your fuckin’ retching. I need you in top form.”
Top form?
“Rex,” a man says, approaching Roger.
It clicks now. Rex is obviously his name in this world.
“How are we doin’, Trev?”
“Ready to go. Sheila is raring. This your girl?”
The man’s eyes turn to me and look me up and down. “She ain’t big enough, Rex. She’ll get knocked down in one hit.”
Oh God.
Oh no.
My knees begin to tremble and my skin prickles all over.
“We’ll give her a go. Sometimes the smallest fighters are in fact the best.”
The man looks unconvinced, but nods anyway. He turns and disappears, muttering something about five minutes. Then Roger turns to me, smirking. “Ready to fight, little Blair?”
“What?” I gasp, feeling my bottom lip tremble.
“I have big plans for you, but I need to see how you move. If you succeed, you’ll be doing this . . . shall we say . . . more regularly?”
No.
“I can’t f-f-f-fight.”
“Oh, but you can. I know all about where you’ve been all these years. Don’t try to tell me you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I don’t know where you got your information,” I rasp. “But it’s wrong.”
He grins and looks down at me, bringing his face closer. “So you haven’t been on a ship with pirates, all of whom are run by a man named Hendrix?”
My knees give way. I fall to the ground and he lets me go, staring down at me as if I’m some sort of pathetic loser. He doesn’t jerk me up, he just leans over me and begins to taunt.
“I know you’re pathetic, but you’ve got only two choices here, Blair. You fight and you come away unscathed, or you don’t fight and you get beaten to within an inch of your life. You decide.”
“You’ll kill me,” I cry, trembling.
“Then you will fight.”
No, he can’t do this to me. I’m not a fighter. I’ve spent my life trying to be anything but. I can’t be what he wants me to be.
“Sheila’s ready,” someone yells.
I turn my eyes to the ring to see a large, raven-haired girl jumping from side to side, just like Dimitri does. I begin to shake all over. She’s twice the size of me and she looks like she wants to snarl and rip apart the next thing that comes close. That thing is me. Roger reaches down, jerking me to my feet. “If you don’t want her to kill you, fight.”
He drags me toward the ring. No . . . no. I struggle, kicking and screaming as loudly as I can. Nobody notices—well, more to the point, nobody cares. They’re all here to see if I’m going to be good enough to make them money. They won’t get money from me. I’d rather die. Wouldn’t I?
When we reach the ring, Roger shoves me in and my world clouds over. I can’t see, I can’t think, I can’t fucking breathe.
I see a pair of blue eyes in my head and I tell myself over and over that he’ll come for me. He won’t let me die. He won’t let me stay here . . . he won’t. He’ll fight for me.
The raven-haired girl glares at me, and my skin prickles. I struggle to fight back the tears welling in my eyes. I can’t let her see my fear but how do I hide it? How do I pretend that the entire situation doesn’t scare me. I can’t. She knows she’s got me, and she is smiling about it. A crooked grin that most definitely tells me she’s going to enjoy every single hit.
“One!” someone yells.
My eyes dart around, and I feel panic swell in my chest. I can’t fight. I don’t know how.
“Two!”
Please, no. Don’t let this be—
“Three!”
Suddenly she lunges toward me, only seconds after the man has stopped counting. I step quickly to the left automatically, but it doesn’t save me—no, it doesn’t even deter her. She swings and her fist connects with my jaw, sending me spiraling around in a full three sixty. I don’t scream, I can’t. My jaw feels as though it’s dislocated. Tears burn in my eyelids.
I feel her hand curl around my hair and tug, nearly ripping it from my scalp. She brings her foot up and puts it against my back, pushing it so hard my spine cracks and I arch forward, going down on my knees unwillingly. I hear the people screaming and yelling for her to “beat the fuck” out of me. I’ve no hope—she’s so strong and I’m so broken.
When her foot comes down over my spine, I finally scream. Pain shoots up my back and travels right down my arms and legs. Her foot connects with my ribs and I roll, trying hard to protect myself from ending up with broken bones. It doesn’t protect my face—her foot hits my nose so hard I see stars. I can no longer hear my own screaming as blood spurts from my nose and lands on the floor. Then it travels quickly down my face and fills my mouth until I’m choking on it.
“Enough!” Roger roars.
I don’t hear anything more, because my entire world goes black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Dimitri
We’re picking up a ship!” Luke says, shoving his finger toward the screen.
“Any idea whose it is?” I ask, tapping my fingers impatiently on the wooden desk.
“No, but we’ve been out here for days. It’s the closest thing we’ve gotten. These are his waters, we can only hope . . .”
“Get the men up on deck, get all the weapons. He’s not running from us again.”
Luke nods and disappears, and I stare at the screen with the pulsing dot that indicates another ship. I pray that it’s her—I need it to be. For days I’ve sat out here, lost in my thoughts, wondering if everything we shared was all just a big fucking lie. She let me give a piece of myself to her, and she’s gone on to crush that piece until now there is nothing left but pure hatred.
I turn and walk out of the office and up onto the deck. I can see a ship in the distance, but it’s too small for me to make out if it’s him or not. I fuckin’ hope it is. I’m tired of searching, tired of fuckin’ trying to be something I’m not. I need to sort this with her, tell her how much I hate her. I drop my head. Fuck, I don’t hate her, that’s the problem. I want to . . . but I don’t. She’s consumed me.
“Boss, it’s them.”
My head snaps up and my eyes grow hard. Face to face with two people who have fucked my world. I straighten my shoulders and walk to the side of the ship, just watching Hendrix draw closer. His ship isn’t bigger than mine, but he’s got more men. I’ve got more weapons. We all hold up our guns as the ship gets close enough that I can see the men on board. And him. Fuck.
He’s got his hands on the railings and he’s staring at me. It isn’t a glare, and it isn’t pleased. It’s just a blank stare. He’s got a pretty young girl by his side—that must be the girl Jess was talking about. I give her a casual look, and, surprisingly, she smiles at me. Why the fuck would she smile at me? I’m guessing she thinks Jess and me are something special. Surely by now she knows we’re not. Considering Jess ran back to them.
“Dimitri! And to what do I owe this visit?” Hendrix says, tilting his head and studying me.
My hands shake, I want to fucking shoot him and yet, at the same time, seeing him warms something inside me. I’m torn. It’s all her fucking fault for making me second guess everything I believed in.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Hendrix. You know exactly why I’m here.”
He shakes his head, having the fucking nerve to look confused. “Actually, I don’t.”
“I know she’s with you, so just hand her over so I can talk to her.”
Something in his face changes; he gets a look that has my skin prickling.
“What are you talkin’ about?”
I grind my jaw. “Jess, where is she?”
Hendrix straightens and his eyes narrow. “What do you mean where is she? She’s with you.”
“Don’t play fuckin’ stupid. I know you’re protectin’ her and there’s no point. Give her up and we can walk away from this unscathed.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t fucking have her, Dimitri. And you’re scaring me.”
“Stop lying and just bring her out!” I shout.
“She’s not here,” the girl by his side whispers.
I turn my eyes to her. If not for the fact that her expression is truly worried, I wouldn’t have believed her.
“What do you mean she’s not here?”
She shakes her head. “She said she was with you and—”
“She ran!” I yell, lifting my hands and clutching the sides of my head. “I thought she came to you.”
Hendrix curses loudly. “She’s not fucking here, Dimitri.”
My face hardens. If she’s not here . . . then where the hell is she?
Jess
I’m freezing cold. My entire body feels like it’s slowly turning to ice from the inside out. I’ve got no blankets, just this crappy mattress. I’m aching all over, it hasn’t stopped for days, but like Roger has told me countless times, it could have been worse. I don’t know how. How could it get worse than this? The girl beat the living hell out of me, and he let her.
I guess now he is going to see I can’t do it. I’m not a fighter.
“Get up.”
I lift my head to see Roger at the door. He’s glaring at me. I turn away.
“Did you not fucking hear me? Get the fuck up.”
I don’t answer.
He storms over, leaning down and gripping my arm before hauling me up so hard I lose my footing and fall into him. He shoves me back and begins the insults again. “You’re a fucking worthless waste of space. There never was any hope for you. Your parents are probably glad they got killed—you’re putting them to shame.”
His words burn into my core and I feel myself beginning to pant. Is he right? Am I putting them to shame? Am I letting them down? I’m letting him kill me. I’m not even fighting. My father told me to always believe that I can do whatever I have to. I close my eyes, remembering him.
“Angel, don’t you ever let anyone tell you that you’re not beautiful,” he soothes, stroking my hair.
“She told me I was ugly, Daddy,” I cry.
He rubs my shoulders. “No one can make you anything you don’t want to be. You’re beautiful, and as long as you believe it, then the rest doesn’t matter. Don’t let your friends make you feel anything less than perfect.”
Tears run down my cheeks.
“Worthless,” Roger taunts. “Just like I thought. I should just let you fucking die. You’re not even worth the effort. You can go and join them and show them your pathetic defeat.”
I don’t even feel my hand lash out, but it does. It comes soaring up and hits him so hard in the face he stumbles two steps backwards. I see my mother’s and father’s faces, and how they used to be so proud of me. I’m not ready to let them down. I have only two choices now—fight or die. I’ll fight. I’ll fight until my last breath because that’s how I was tau
ght.
Never give up.
I lunge at Roger even though my body screams at me to stop. I bring my knee up and hit him so hard in the groin he roars in pain. As he drops down, I bring my other knee up into his face. At his cries, two men rush into the room and tackle me until I’m restrained. I’m panting as Roger gets to his feet.
“You’re fucking wrong,” I growl. “Nothing will stop me.”
He grins even though his face is masked with pain.
“I knew it was in there.”
“You’ll regret this one day,” I vow. “I swear it.”
He laughs. “Your pirates aren’t here to save you this time, princess.”
I give him a stare as cold as ice as he straightens and turns to the men holding me back.
“Order me another fight in two days. In the meantime, get me Damon in here.”
Damon? Who the hell is Damon?
“On it, boss.”
The men let me go and I fall backwards onto the bed. Roger grins at me once more before heading to the door.
“I hope you’re ready.”
I’ll never be ready, but I will fight. I can’t die. I’m not finished and the only option I have here is to do as he asks until I can find a way out. Fighting means he’s going to take me out in public, which will give me a chance.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Jess
The door opens later that day, and Roger steps inside. He’s followed by a man I was not expecting. I knew he was going to bring in this ‘Damon’ fella, but I didn’t realize Damon was a freaking god. I blink a few times as the tall, extremely gorgeous man steps into the room. My mouth opens slightly; it’s really hard not to gape. He’s got long, thick blond hair and the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. He’s at least six feet tall and has more muscle than even Dimitri and that’s saying something. Dimitri is a big fucking man.