“Dad?!” I hear Raithe say from behind me. That answers my question of whether Raithe saw him earlier. And … dad? Why is Raithe addressing him asdadwhen he’s been anything but our entire lives?
“Hello, my dear Raithe,” my father says, his voice full of pride for his favorite son.My dear Raithe? Okay, this is all getting a bit weird. But before Raithe can say anything else, I hear a pair of heels that can only belong to one bitch.
“That will be all for now, Dorian.” Sabel places a hand on my father’s shoulder, pausing to whisper something into his ear. He leans in and places a very intimate-looking kiss on her cheek, and then walks out of the room and shuts the door behind him.Good riddance.
“Oh, boys.” I shake my damp hair out of my eyes to look into her soulless ones. Sabel assesses all of us, tilting her head to get a better look at Kai. “He doesn’t look very good. Perhaps I should just let him go this time. We all know that Kai is toeing the line, anyway. What’s a few years early gonna hurt?”
“Sabel,” I warn, “fucking help him,now. If something happens to him, I will—”
“You’llwhat?” She raises an inquisitive brow. “It doesn’t look to me like you’re in much of a position to bargain, Riven.”
“I’ll kill you myself.Slowly,” Callum snarls.
Sabel laughs. “You think that I’m scared of your idle threats, Callum?” Before Callum can say another word, Raithe speaks up.
“You can have me.”
“Raithe,” I warn.
“Nowthatis a proposition,” she purrs. Sabel’s always had her eyes on Raithe. She’s wanted him since the moment we stepped into Sonus. In a sick and sadistic way, she’s already had him. Giving himself to her on his own accord would be different, though. She won’t turn this down, and I can’t let Raithe do this.
“No, Raithe. You aren’t doing this,” I say, at the same time as Sabel’s, “I accept.”Fuck.
Sabel doesn’t give me a second of her attention before turning around and walking out of the room. Minutes later, Brian walks in to take Kai to the medical ward. We all watch as Brian cuts the zip ties and carries Kai out. Kai’s head dangles as Brian walks toward the door.
Brian stops at the closed door, turning. “I got him. Trust me,” he says.
I do. I trust him with every fiber of my being. We nod, and the door opens for Brian and Kai. Once it closes again, Cal and I both give Raithe our undivided attention.
“What thefuckwere you thinking, Raithe?” I ask.
“What a fucking idiot,” Cal grunts.
“What other choice do we have? She was going to let him die. I knew it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. Let me do thisonething, please. Let me fucking do this.” His voice shakes, and his tone reeks of defeat and devastation. It’s so unlike his usual upbeat and carefree attitude, and I don’t like it. Something is up with him, and I can tell he’s withholding the whole truth.
“She isn’t going to get anywhere near you,” I assure. I’ll figure something out once we get the fuck out of this. We have to get out of this. There’s a long moment of silence before Raithe speaks again.
“He’ll never let me go,” Raithe whispers. My head snaps in his direction, confusion written all over my face. I start tospeak, to ask him what the fuck he means, when Cal grunts in interruption.
“Enough,” Cal groans, knowing a fight is sure to ensue if this conversation continues. Callum knows what kind of person our father is. Dorian left us when I was fifteen. He was a shitty father to us both, but I’m not sure to what extent Raithe had to suffer. We don’t talk about our past like that.
Several minutes of silence pass before the door opens up again. I see four men walk in. I recognize them as the men who usually flank Sabel at all times. These are her guards. The last man who walks through the door is one whom I only know from the pictures I’ve seen of him.
David Galinsky. What a pleasure it is to finally meet.
Sabel’s bodyguards cut our zip ties and pull us free of the chairs. I’m dragged roughly to my feet, wobbling and still weak from being drugged.
“Boys, how nice to finally meet you,” David says, smiling with his hands in his suit pockets. He looks exactly like he did in the photos, except a little older.
The guards place our hands behind our backs, pushing to lead us toward the mirrored viewing room. Why are they bringing us in there? My anxiety rises again. Several scenarios run through my mind, none easing the panic. The guards push us through the door and sit us down in three chairs that are all side by side, facing the two-way mirror that looks into the torture room. I don’t see any zip ties or other restraints, but that does little to quiet my reckless thoughts. Each of us is led to a chair and forced to sit, still too weak to truly put up a fight.
“What is this?” I ask, turning toward David.
“All in due time,” he replies. There’s a pretty long list of things that I truly loathe, and you can bet that cryptic responses are near the fucking top of it. I scoff, but offer nothing more. I’m saving my energy, like myfathersuggested. Minutes go by insilence before the lights in the torture room shut off. All of our attention is drawn to the viewing mirror in front of us. My pulse skyrockets, thrumming through my eardrums and wreaking havoc on my nervous system. Cal reaches over and places a hand on my shoulder, steadying me.
I hear the door to the torture room open, followed by shuffled steps. I’m unable to calculate how many people are in the room, and it alarms me. Cal’s grip on my shoulder tightens, and my breathing accelerates. The next sound that I hear is the rustling of chains, followed by the clinking of metal against metal. I hear a faint groaning, but between the blood rushing in my ears and the noise in my head, I’m unable to discern whether it’s familiar. Cal tenses beside me, and I turn my head to look at him. His eyes are filled with agony and … horror. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and I don’t like what my mind conjures in response to it.
I hear the sharp whirring of the fluorescent lights flicker on, and my head snaps to the mirror. I see the silhouette of a person sitting in a chair beneath a large black sheet. The person’s head appears to be hanging, and the sheet rises and falls in a steady rhythm. I hear David’s voice, but I can’t break my attention away from what’s in front of me.
