The Sacrifice: Chapter 56

I hold my wife in my arms while she’s unconscious. I know Gavin was right in keeping her sedated, but I want to see her eyes. Hear her say my name. Hold her and tell her that she’s safe.

I need to know she’s okay. I need to know what happened to her, no matter how bad it got.

“We’re here,” Ryat calls out.

I look up as we pull through the old wrought iron gates. He drives down the curvy two-lane road before we come to a stop in the circle drive.

Gavin and Ryat jump out of the SUV and open the back hatch for me. I crawl out with her in my arms, and a guy I’ve known since my freshman year at Barrington comes out, of the building with two other men and a gurney.

“A room is already ready for you,” Saint states, looking at Gavin.

“Thank you. Bramsen,” he calls to the kid we brought with us.

“What about her?” Ryat asks, yanking the girl out of the back by her hair. She tries to get free of his hold, but he jerks her head back so hard it makes her knees give out and she falls to the gravel.

I lay Lake on the gurney, and before I can even kiss her forehead, Gavin is already wheeling her inside. I turn to Saint. “I need a room.”

He smiles. “Follow us.”

Ryat yanks her up by her hair, and she screams into the gag. I walk over to her and pick her up, placing her over my shoulder and carrying her inside while she kicks and screams nonsense.

We make our way inside and down a hallway. Saint holds open a door, and we enter the cold concrete room.

I drop her squirming body to the floor, and she goes to roll away, but Saint places his boot on her back, holding her down to the floor. Leaning his weight on that foot, he places his elbow on his bent knee. “What did she do?”

“Let’s find out,” I say and reach down, yanking the tape from her mouth and pulling out the gag.

The sound of her sobbing echoes throughout the room. Like I give a fuck what she feels. Her tears aren’t going to do shit. I sigh dramatically. “What am I going to do with you?”

“We could use a new toy.” Kashton chuckles, entering the room. “Our latest one is pregnant and currently out of commission.” He frowns, disappointed by that.

“I think Carnage would be too good for her,” Ryat states.

“Oh, we can be very creative,” Kashton tells him with a smirk.

She jumps to her feet, and I grab her hair, yanking her head back, making her scream. I forgot how much I like that sound until now. And I’m going to make her do it to the point she loses her fucking voice.

LAIKYN

I look down at my bloody hands, and they shake. The lights flash, making my vision blurry, and I try to take in a calming breath while “Panic Room” by Au/Ra blares through the club.

I’m pushed back into the bars, and my hands come up to stop Bethany from knocking me down. “Beth—”

Her eyes are on mine, but they look … vacant. “Bethany?” I holler over the music as her legs give out. My arms wrap around her, and I try to keep us both from going down. The cage isn’t big enough for us to sit down in. “Bethany? Are you okay?” I feel more blood on her back, causing my grip to slip. “What the fuck is going on?”

The door to the cage is yanked open and a hand grabs my arm, causing me to release her. I’m removed from the cage and pushed down onto my hands and knees. I’m screaming, trying to figure out what the hell is happening, but no one can hear me over the music. A hand fists my hair, and I’m yanked up. The person stays behind me as they shove me through the crowd with their hand in my hair.

I take in a deep breath of fresh air once we’re outside. “Let go of me.” I try and fight them, but they let go of my hair to wrap an arm around my waist and pick me up off my feet, carrying me toward a white van parked in the alleyway on the side of the building.

I begin to scream for anyone to hear me. My hair is in my face. The arm around my waist tightens, and the doors on the back of the van open, then I’m shoved inside.

Someone sits on my back, pinning me down, and it restricts my air. It smells like urine and tobacco. So strong it makes me gag.

“Is it done?” someone barks.

“Yep. It’ll be burned to nothing in no time,” another answers.

I get up on my hands and knees, only to be kicked in the side, forcing me back down. I cough, my breath knocked out of my lungs. My hands are grabbed and brought behind my back, and something wraps around them.

“Turn her over,” a man demands.

I’m shoved onto my back, my arms now underneath me, and I scream as loud as I can, hoping that someone on the other side of the van can help me. I’m thrashing around like a fish out of water, kicking and bucking the best I can to keep their hands off me as my heart races. Panic grips my chest, and it makes it harder to breathe.

“Keep her mouth open,” the first guy orders.

I clamp my mouth shut but a hand grips my cheeks tightly, making me cry out as they’re pinched, fingernails digging into my skin.

“That’s it.” Something is shoved into my mouth, placed behind my teeth, and I realize it’s a gag of some sort. My head is lifted as the leather tightens on my cheeks before I feel them fasten it shut.

They let go of my head and I shake it, a sob racking my body as tears run down both sides of my face.

I’m yanked to a sitting position, and someone drops to the floor of the van to sit behind me. A hand grips my chin, forcing my head back. Saliva already runs down my open mouth. I go to pull my legs to my chest to protect my body, but he wraps his legs around my waist from behind, tightens them to the point it pushes mine down. He hooks his ankles over my thighs to hold me in place.

My wild hair covers half my face, and the strands are stuck to my tear-streaked skin. Some in my mouth.

A body comes to stand in front of us, a black boot on either side of my pinned legs. He kneels, and I try to yank my face away from their touch when they reach out to gently move the hair from my face, but the hand on my chin prevents me from going anywhere.

“Hey, Lake.” Familiar eyes meet mine, making my heart skip a beat. His eyes drop to my chest, and he yanks on my leotard exposing my bare chest to the room.

I try to pull away, thrashing around on the floor of the van, but the guy behind me holds me in place. He reaches out and massages my breast. His fingers move to pinch my nipple and I scream into the open mouth gag, spit flying from my mouth. “I’ve got so many plans for you. You’re finally going to know your worth.”

“What about her collar? Want to remove it?” the guy behind me asks. “Cut it off?”

“No,” he barks. “You try to cut it off, it’s going to electrocute you and possibly kill her.”

I whimper.

“We don’t want that, do we, baby? Not yet, anyway.” He hooks his finger into it and pulls my neck forward. The tip of his nose now touching mine. “We’ll leave it for now.”

How does he know about my collar? Has he been watching us? Seen Tyson use it on me?

His eyes lift to look at the guy who sits behind me. “Hold her down.”

“I’ve got her.” The guy chuckles in my ear. “She’s not going anywhere.” He releases my chin to wrap his arm around my throat, restricting my air, and I arch my neck to try and breathe.

The one in front of me drops to straddle my already pinned legs. He grips my cheeks and holds up a pair of pliers. I scream once again, my body trying to fight them but even I know there’s no hope. “This is going to hurt, Lake. But you can thank your husband for it.” Then he shoves them into my open mouth.