Chapter 25: Tarnished Embers: Chapter 24

The guys help me clean the remaining guest rooms as we try to keep everything looking as normal as possible, but they have to leave when Odette calls them for their afternoon training session. Apparently, they can’t miss that, which now makes more sense if she wants to keep them in top condition for…

My stomach churns at the idea of why she needs them looking so gorgeous and buff. How can she do this to them? Why would she do this? Not only is it fucking abhorrent, but she’s also Prince’s mother and should be a mother figure to the rest of them. So what is she trying to achieve? I know money is tight at the moment, but surely she’s never been that hard up that she had to resort to pimping out her son and stepsons or starve? Even if she was, the end doesn’t justify the means, nothing could make what she’s done okay.

“Ember, honey.” I jump, my hands jerking and spilling water from the bucket that I was carrying out of the last guest bathroom as my forehead is beaded with sweat. Who knew cleaning was such hard work?

“Y–yes, Odette?” My voice might tremble, but there’s a note of coldness in it I’ve never had cause to use with her before. I just can’t keep it in, not now that I know what she really is; a fucking monster.

“I need you to help me sort through the attic, see if there’s anything up there that is worth selling or bringing down for the party.” The fake warmth she used to use with me is gone, replaced by a command that she has no right to make.

Act normal, you won’t be here soon.

“Sure,” I hesitantly reply, heading towards the stairs to leave my bucket in the kitchen.

“Oh, you can leave that here for now, I’ll get one of the boys to take it down.” She gestures to the top of the stairs, so I place the bucket on the floor and then follow behind her down the corridor. My back is tight from spending hours cleaning, and I roll my neck to ease the tension from the muscles.

She pauses at a large painting, and I stop a couple of feet away, then she reaches out to the frame. Then a soft click sounds, and the painting swings forward to reveal a dark passage beyond.

“Whoa. I never knew that was there,” I murmur, my surprise making me forget the present company for a moment. She steps back, holding her hand out to indicate that I go first. The hair on my arms rises, but I ignore the feeling of unease—I just need to get through this next crazy request and then we can leave once Odette is asleep—and step through.

“Yes, well, your father told me all about this secret staircase up to the attic. Apparently, lots of old houses here have them,” she tells me, almost conversationally. A pang hits my chest, yet another thing my father trusted this fucking snake with and not me. Sighing, pushing the pain aside, I peer into the gloom. There’s a small noise behind me, and I twist to see Odette grabbing a battery-powered torch, handing it to me before she, too, steps through and shuts the painting behind us. The darkness of the space immediately closes around me, the chill, musty air making me shiver.

“Huh, I guess that’s not surprising, and to be honest, I did not know we even had an attic,” I muse, turning the torch on and sweeping it across the space. A thick layer of dust coats the old wooden stairs that are now visible in the gloom.

“Quite. Up you go then,” she orders, and taking in an inhale of stale air, I straighten my shoulders and place my foot on the first stair. It creaks and groans under my weight, but feeling Odette so close behind me, I carry on, and soon, sweat beads along my spine.

“Gosh, it’s high up,” I wheeze, and she just titters behind me.

“Well, if you were in better shape, honey, it wouldn’t be such a trial now, would it?” Her tone is sickly sweet, the same one people use when they are insulting you but pretending like they’re not being a cunt.

I grit my teeth, my nostrils flaring as anger fuels my last few steps. I pause at the small landing, taking some deep breaths in order to calm my racing heart. Fuck me, that was a lot of stairs.

Before me stands a thick wooden door, which looks really fucking sturdy given that this is the attic, a place to store unwanted things that you can’t be bothered to get rid of. Reaching out, I grasp the doorknob and twist, almost surprised when it opens easily.

I blink at the light-filled space, seeing that there are several dormer windows letting in pools of light. Perhaps it isn’t so bad up here after all. My eyes scan across the room, finding a few ghostly shapes, presumably furniture under white sheets, and a few boxes, trunks, old mirrors, and paintings leaning against the walls. I wonder if the previous owners left some of this stuff here as I don’t recognise a lot of it.

My eyes catch on something, and I have to blink several times to make sense of what I’m seeing. Taking a few steps closer, it fully comes into view and my brows dip low.

What is a bed doing up here? It’s not the beautiful, cream metal frame that has me confused, but the fact that it’s made up with what looks like freshly laundered sheets.

“Odette…?” I turn, seeing her still on the other side of the doorway, a large key in her hand and a hulking shadow behind her. My heart thuds painfully inside my chest as my mind screams at me to run, but there’s nowhere to go. I take a step towards her, and she just smiles her stunning, fake smile at me.

“It’s sweet that you think you could take them away from me. Especially when I was the one to give you to them in the first place,” she tells me, that smile now looking evil as the light from the room casts eerie shadows across her features. “You were always a means to control them, Ember, not a way to set them free.”

And before I can do anything else, the door slams with a thud that echoes around the room, followed by the click of the lock.

I run to it anyway, trying the knob and pounding my fists on the solid wood.

“Fucking let me out, you bitch! You can’t keep me here!” Adrenaline rushes through me, but it doesn’t give me enough strength to break the door down, it’s just too bloody heavy. My heart thuds dully in my chest, tears pricking behind my eyelids as my hands suddenly go limp at my sides. I’m stuck here, with no way out and no one coming to rescue me.

I strain to listen, but no one answers, and I can hear her heels clicking down the stairs, the sound getting quieter, sealing my incarceration.

“She’s not coming back, girlie,” a deep voice sounds on the other side of the door, my raised fists pausing. “So I wouldn’t waste your breath.”

“W–who are you?” I ask, my hands trembling as I press my forehead to the door and tears fill my eyes. There’s a flicker of hope, knowing at least I’m not totally alone, even if it is someone who is in the pay from my evil stepmother.

“Name’s Dan,” he replies in that same deep tone, and then I remember the shadow behind Odette.

“Dan, I need you to help get me out of here. She’s holding me against my will and she’s going to make the boys do something horrible.” I can’t bring myself to say the words. Can’t bear to tell a stranger that she’s going to force them to have sex with strange women, and they’ll do it all because they love me and won’t let me take their place.

“I’m not paid to interfere, miss…” he starts, but he sounds unsure and I jump on it. I press myself closer to the wood, my limbs tingling as my stomach flutters.

“Well, maybe you could get a message to one of the boys? So they at least know where I am?” I ask, hope filling my chest. I’m sure they’d be able to help, to get me out somehow.

“I’m not sure…”

“Please, Dan. She’s…” I swallow hard, deciding that knowing the truth might help my cause, our cause. “She’s going to force them to sleep with women for money, and if they refuse, s–she’s going to s–sell me to the highest bidder for the night.”

Tears track down my cheeks as I wait for his reply, the small nugget of hope at having found an ally dwindling like a flame flickering in the wind the longer he remains silent. I wait so long that I don’t think he’ll answer, and it’s as if all that was holding me up is gone as I sink to my knees on the dusty floor.

“I’ll see what I can do. No promises.”

“Anyone seen Ember?” I ask, striding into Prince’s room where I find the others, all of us damp from our showers after a rigorous training session with Andy. “She’s not in her room.”

Prince sits at his desk, his back straightening and his brows furrowed at my question. “She was cleaning the guest quarters, I think. Getting it ready for tomorrow.”

I look at my twin, seeing the worry shining in his eyes, his feet bouncing as he sits on the edge of the bed. Cas gets up, heading to the door I just came out of, but it opens before he reaches it, and my heartbeat becomes rapid as Odette walks in with two armed men.

“Ah, I’m glad that you’re all in one place, makes this so much easier,” she says, her pleasant tone sending shivers down my spine.

“What the fuck have you done to Ember, Odette?” Prince growls out, his voice low and menacing as he gets to his feet.

She waves her perfectly manicured hand in the air as if Ember’s whereabouts is not important. “She’s safe, for now. Although I must admit, her plan was brilliant, if a little simple.”

My muscles tense, and I cast a glance at Kit as he comes to stand next to me with his jaw set and nostrils flared. Prince steps away from his chair, striding over to Odette, but one of the armed men raises his gun and points it right between Prince’s eyes. We all freeze, my breath catching.

“Now, we don’t need to have any of that, do we? It would be such a shame if anything were to happen to your dear stepsister on account of your poor decisions.” She’s cool as a motherfucking cucumber, and rage makes my vision waver as she threatens my soulmate. Our soulmate. “Here’s what’s going to happen,” she continues, the fucking gun still pointing at Prince. “No one is running away, and you will take part in the party tomorrow night as planned. If you try to do anything, try to find her and escape, you will fail. These men and their team have orders to keep you all secure by any means necessary, but more than that, I have someone who is very interested in the lovely Ember, says she’ll sell for millions at auction, and believe me, once they have sold her you will never see her again.”

Nausea swirls in my stomach, and a noise behind us has me turning to see another guard out on the balcony, his at ease gun in his hands, his eyes trained on us.

“You fucking cunt,” Cas grits out, his entire body trembling as he holds himself back from lunging at our stepmother.

She laughs, fucking laughs, like he just told the funniest joke, and I think it’s that moment when I realize how truly insane she is. I wonder how I never saw it before, it was clearly always there, waiting. Maybe we all chose to live in ignorance, because before Ember, there wasn’t much to truly live for.

“Perhaps, but I gave her to you, so I can take her away until you’re good boys again.” I fucking hate her, more than I ever have before. My whole being bristles with it, with the loathing that sets my teeth grinding. How can we trust a word out of her lying, serpent mouth? She holds all the cards here, so it doesn’t matter if I believe her. I’ll do as she says because at least then there’s a chance that Ember will be safe. “Once you’ve cooled off, I’ll send someone to escort you down to the kitchen to make some dinner for you all and Ember. You wouldn’t want her to go hungry now, would you?”

“I’ll go,” Prince volunteers in a dark tone, and she doesn’t even bat an eye at the promise of retribution in his voice. We may have nothing now, no money, no connections, and no way out, but somehow, someway, I know that we will get our revenge for this, for everything.

“Excellent. The rest of you can rest here and you’ll be escorted to your rooms later.” She spins on her ridiculous heels and leaves without so much as a look back, the guard who had his weapon trained on Prince lowering his gun and then waiting until Odette has left with the other guard.

“She’s in the attic,” he says, just above a whisper, his eyes fixed on Prince who gives him a nod of thanks. Then he, too, leaves, the door being shut behind him, the sound of a lock engaging loud in the silent room.

“Fuck!” Cas roars, grabbing the lamp off the bedside table and ripping it from the wall before throwing it across the room. The sound of shattering glass accompanies his harsh breathing and tears sting my eyes at the hopelessness of the situation we’re in.

Prince strides over to him, gripping the back of Cas’s neck hard and pressing their foreheads together. “We’ll fix this, Cas. I fucking swear it.”

“How?” Cas asks, his broken voice painful to hear. “How the fuck will we do that, Prince? She has armed guards watching us, and no doubt Ember, who is all alone and trapped in the fucking attic.”

Cas’s chest heaves and then Prince is bringing him in close as Cas sobs into his chest. Kit and I join them, wrapping our arms around the pair as tears fill my eyes.

Cas is right, there’s no way to fix this and no way to stop tomorrow night from happening. We’re outmanned and outgunned, and we can’t risk Odette selling Ember to fucking sex traffickers.

“We’ll keep her safe, Cas,” Prince assures him, his voice thick. “Even if that means we have to go through tomorrow night, at least she’ll be safe.”

A hot tear burns a path down my cheek and my chest is so tight that I can barely take a breath. We’ll keep her safe, but how will she ever forgive us?