The Sacrifice: Chapter 68

I meet Ryat outside of the bedroom door and we make our way downstairs to the basement where the Spade brothers took our guests late last night.

Opening the door, I find Luke tied down to the table with leather straps. His eyes are closed, and I wonder if he’s dead. When Lake and I finally returned this morning, we went straight to the bedroom. I was in the mood to fuck my wife, not torture this sorry bastard. I knew he would be waiting for me this morning.

Walking over to the countertop on the far wall, I pick up what I want, and I look up when the door opens to see Sin enter. “Saint said you’d be in here.”

“What are you doing here?” Ryat asks with a smirk on his face.

“I had to meet Gavin,” he answers vaguely, and only I know what he’s referring to. As far as I know, he and Elli meet him here several times a week for updates.

“Well, you’re just in time for the show.” Ryat chuckles.

Sin walks over and looks down at a naked Luke. I wanted him as humiliated as possible. “Branding?” he wonders.

I didn’t plan on stripping him of his Lords brand, but I guess that’s always an option. “Not right now.” I shake my head and begin to release the restraints. “Grab an arm and help me get him up.”

Ryat frees his legs while Sin and I each grab an arm. We drag him off the table to the center of the room. “Hold him up,” I say, and Ryat takes my place to help Sin out. I remove the handcuffs from my back pocket and cuff his wrists out in front of them. Then I reach up to grab the chain on a spool, hanging from the ceiling and yank it down. I attach the link on the end around the center of the chain and yank. The process releases the chain, pulling his arms up above his head, holding him up by his cuffed wrists.

Stepping back to get a better look, Sin crosses his arms over his chest and smirks over at me. “This looks somewhat familiar,” he jokes.

I snort, fucking bastard. He’s lucky he’s alive.

“I don’t even want to know.” Ryat shakes his head.

Luke groans, his head bobbing a little and I walk over to the counter and pick up the next thing I want. I grab the end and let the rest unravel to the concrete floor. Walking over to him, I reach up from behind him, and I place it between his lips and wrap it around his face and arms that are up by his face multiple times.

His body jerks, mumbled words filling the room. Once I’ve decided there’s enough, I reach out, and Ryat hands me the pliers, and I cut it off where I want it.

Walking in front of him, I look into his wide eyes. “Good morning, Luke. Glad you could join us.”

He looks around the best he can, body fighting the cuffs but there’s nowhere for him to go. He’s here because this is where I want him. Otherwise, he’d be dead and buried in the cemetery behind the Cathedral. I reach out and tug on the barbed wire that I wrapped around him, making sure it went between his busted lips.

Sin gets closer to Luke’s face and frowns. “What happened to his mouth?”

“Tyson yanked his teeth out,” Ryat answers.

“Oh, man.” Sin laughs darkly. “You must have really fucked up.”

I step into Luke, gripping his chin, not caring if I cut myself on the barbed wire, and say, “I’m going to wrap your entire body in this shit, and then we’re going to watch you squirm and fight while you cut yourself open. Just like you did to all those women.”

Who knows how many will never be found. Or how many he sold that wish death would come. It makes me physically sick to think of where my wife would be right now if she wasn’t upstairs, naked in a bed, waiting on me. What he would have done to her. Or allowed to be done to her by others. And the fact that she’s carrying my children, I want to shoot this fucking bastard between the eyes, but that would be too quick of a death. Not enough pain. I want to see him bleeding, sobbing like the bitch he is, begging for his death. I’ve prided myself on being a patient man, now is the time to be one.

I swing, my fisted hand hitting his face, making his body sway in the chains. My hand instantly stings but it feels good. I do it again. His body jerks while it hangs from the ceiling. Spit and blood fly from his mouth, and he makes gurgling noises, unable to speak. The barbed wire not only splits my hand but his face as well.

“Ty—”

I hit Luke in the ribs this time, cutting off Ryat. I don’t want a voice of reason right now; I want to fucking kill him. I hit him again in the stomach and he doubles over the best he can. Blood is flying, my hands slippery and burning. The skin splits more and more every time I make contact, but that’s not going to stop me.

I hit him again, and again. I’m panting, body vibrating with fucking adrenaline. He touched her, hurt her, planned on selling her. That deserves fucking violence.

Heart pounding and gasping for breath, I step back, and my bloody hands drop to my sides as I watch his body convulse, his chest heaving and openly sobbing. Walking over to the counter, I ignore the look that Ryat and Sin give one another, wondering if I’ve lost my mind.

I haven’t. My head is clear. I know what I have to do. And when I’m done, I’m going to go crawl in bed with my wife and remind her that I will do whatever needs to be done in order to protect her.

Grabbing the roll of barbed wire, I grab the end and let it unravel as I walk back over to him. He shakes his head the best he can, and I smile. I’m going to decorate him like a Christmas tree and then watch him squirm, cutting himself open. It won’t kill him. It’s not razor wire. It’s going to dig into his skin, but not cut him open. It’s going to hurt like a bitch and make him wish he was dead.

LAIKYN

I’m walking the halls looking for a fucking place to eat. I know there’s a kitchen around here somewhere because Tyson brought me food when I was in the hospital room. It was good, too. But we’re in a different building now. Carnage is a fucking city all on its own.

Turning a corner, I jump and let out a scream when I run into someone. “I’m so sorry,” I rush out when I see its Saint. My eyes drop to the snake tattoos that wrap around his neck, and I rub mine. Just the thought of them makes it hard to breathe as if they’re tightening, cutting off his air.

“Lost?” he questions.

“I’m, uh … hungry.” I stumble over my words. There were stories that I heard about the Spade brothers over the years. They are what nightmares are made of.

I’ve always believed evil walks the earth, and they are the devil, times three. Just because I know Tyson trusts them doesn’t mean they don’t scare me. I feel sorry for Ashtyn if she really is alive, and they find her. Hell would be better than Carnage.

“Fourth floor,” he states, and then walks past me. He doesn’t bother to show me the way, as if he doesn’t have an extra second of his time to give me.

I turn around and watch him pass on by. He wears a pair of black jeans and a black long-sleeve T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing the ink on his arms as well. “Wait,” I call out, and then curse myself when he stops and turns to face me.

“What, Laikyn?” he asks. The sound of my name on his lips makes me shiver. His voice is as cold as this hallway.

“Do you know where my sister is?” I ask, wrapping my arms around myself.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he crosses his arms over his broad chest and leans against the wall, his eyes on mine.

I take a step back, all of a sudden feeling stupid that I asked. Why would he tell me?

“He’s right, you know,” he says, and I lift my eyes to meet his through my lashes, frowning. “In wanting to keep you from her.”

I swallow the knot in my throat.

“She can’t be trusted.” He pushes off the wall.

I step forward. “Don’t I deserve to know why?”

His brow furrows. “Does it matter? She was willing to throw you to the wolves and let them eat you alive while she planned to take what was yours. That’s reason enough to want her dead.”

Take what’s mine? Was that why she watched me when Luke locked me away? She wanted to make sure I was long gone before she moved in on my husband? Not sure how she planned on that working. Tyson wasn’t even sure she was still alive at that point. And how would she be with Tyson if she was married to Luke? His words were meant to make me stay away from her, but they just make me want to speak to her even more.

“Don’t you want to know why Ashtyn left you?” I question. I’m reaching because I don’t know their personal story, but he’s curious. Otherwise, my sister would already be dead.

His body goes rigid, his face morphing into something evil that makes my breath get stuck in my lungs. He slowly strolls toward me, and I can’t make my legs work to run away. Stopping inches from me, he glares down at me. “Wanting to make someone pay for what they did, and wondering why they did it are two very different things. And one of them doesn’t fucking matter.”

My hands fist, getting annoyed. I let out a huff and take a step back from him, needing the space.

“Oh, come on, brother.” A man speaks from behind me, and I jump, pressing my back to the wall so I can see both of them. It’s Kashton. “Let her see her sister.”

My eyes fall to the tattoo of a woman dressed as a nun on his arm. She’s got a ball gag in her mouth, drool and makeup running down her face and an upside-down cross on her cheek.

“It’s not worth it,” Saint states.

“Saint?”

We all turn to look, and I see Gavin standing at the end of the hallway. His eyes go from me to Saint. “A word please?”

Saint walks off and leaves me alone with his brother. Kashton’s blue eyes are on mine, and I look at the floor. “Come on. I’ll take you.”

“You will?” I ask, skeptical.

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he turns, and I find myself following him. We make our way down a hallway to an elevator, and I stay silent, back in the corner while he leans up against the wall. His eyes on his cell while he types out what I’m guessing is a text.

It comes to a stop, and we exit. We’ve got to be in a basement. Nothing but concrete walls and floor. The ceiling is low, and some lights hang from it. Kashton is tall enough that they almost hit him in the head. We approach a set of double doors and he pushes them open.

Entering the next room, I come to a stop, gasping at what I see. Two men hang from the ceiling. Each one has blood running down their naked bodies, arms tied behind their backs, heads hanging down, eyes closed. They look dead. “What …?” I whisper, walking over to them. “Why are they …?”

“Tyson had Ryat bring them over from his place,” Kashton informs me.

“I don’t understand.” My voice is a whisper. I know them. Why are they here of all places?

“Tyson killed Beau.”

“What?” I gasp, looking at him wide-eyed.

He smirks, obviously getting excitement from telling me this information. “While he was trying to find you, he went to Beau. Killed him and that dumb bitch of his. Then went through his cell to find that he had texted these two when you arrived at the club.”

I remember watching Beau pull his cell out from behind the bar and sending a text when I told him I was ready to work. My eyes go back to the two security guards I know from Blackout.

“Anyway, they had been the ones who helped Bethany out and set the club on fire. Tyson was torturing them at Ryat’s until he found you. Then had them brought here.” He walks over to one of them, pushing on his bloody shoulder. The guy lets out a moan from his taped lips as his body starts to sway back and forth.

I take a step back, my hands going to my face when I realize he’s hanging from a meat hook embedded in his back. My stomach starts to turn, and I give them my back. “I’m going to be sick,” I mumble to myself, but I hear Kashton chuckle at my unease.

“Come on.” He starts to walk to a door at the other end of the room, and I run through it when he holds it open for me.

This room is different than the last and I look over the bars on the floor. I frown. “What are those for?” I ask, unable to stop myself.

He looks over his shoulder and comes to a stop, answering, “Those are the pits.”

Pits? I stand over one. There’s a hole dug out of the floor, like a mini, square bathtub. But they have bars running across the top with three holes in them. The one in the center is bigger than the one on either side of it.

Looking up at him, I step away, not wanting to know what they put in there, or why. He smirks, turns, and opens another set of double doors. We’re in a new hallway, and there are doors on either side. It’s deadly silent down here. Nothing but my heavy breathing fills the dimly lit hallway.

It reminds me of a prison. One where they put you in solitary confinement. No light and no interaction with anyone. Just left alone with your thoughts and voices, causing you to go crazy.

“Here we are.” He comes to a stop at one of the doors. He reaches down and punches in a code on the outside keypad, and it unlocks.

My wide eyes look at him, and I have a moment of panic.

He checks the large watch on his wrist, and it looks out of place next to the nun tattoo. It’s a black and silver Patek Philippe—expensive and classy. My father has one like it. “I’ll give you five minutes to find out what you want to know. Then you’re done.” His blue eyes meet mine as he drops his arm to his side. “I have no problem dragging you out of there.”

Swallowing, I nod and turn to step into the room. It’s freezing cold and looks just like the hallway, nothing but concrete.

Looking over my shoulder, I make sure he doesn’t lock me in here, and I see him leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, eyes on me.

“Lake?”

I jump, and turn to look at the room, seeing my sister step out of the corner. I swallow nervously when I see she’s naked, chains around her wrists that connect to the wall behind her. Now I understand why he didn’t shut the door; she can’t escape even if she tried.

“Whitney.” My voice is rough, all of a sudden dry.

“Thank God, Lake. Please…” Her wide eyes go from mine to the open door. “Please get me out of here.”

“I can’t do that,” I say honestly. I don’t have that kind of power.

She bares her teeth, and the chains rattle as she yanks on them. “They’ve got me chained like an animal.” She holds up her wrists to show me the thick metal wrapped around them with padlocks in place. The links so short that she can’t be more than two feet off the far wall. If she were to sit down, her hands would have to rest in the air. This isn’t the Minson Hotel & Resort, for sure.

A quick look around tells me there’s no bed, not even a cot. There’s no food, water, or blanket. Just her, chains, and my collar around her neck. The sight has my heart racing with jealousy. I want it. Saint said she was going to take what was mine. She’s already accomplished that. I know Tyson put it on her for a reason, but I hate the satisfaction that she has from that one little thing. “Where have you been?” I decide to ask.

Her face grows red with anger. “Laikyn! Get me out of here.”

“Whit—”

“Where is Tyson?” she demands. “TYSON?”

I cover my ears, his name echoing in the small concrete box. “He’s not going to save you,” I tell her, shaking my head. “Not after what you did—”

“What I did was what you deserved,” she interrupts me.

I take a step farther into the room at her words. “What I deserved?” I ask, breathless as if the wind was knocked out of me. “I didn’t do anything.”

She snorts. “I saw you, Lake. The way you obeyed every order he gave you.” Her eyes look me up and down with disgust. “Like an obedient bitch in heat,” she spits out. “And Bethany filled me in on what I didn’t see.”

I open my mouth to say I didn’t have a choice, but Tyson and I have moved past that. Early this morning when he had me bent over the Lords’ table—the very same one she had been hogtied on—we took our vows by choice. “He chose me.” I lift my chin with pride. “And I choose him.”

I’m proud to say I’m Laikyn Grace Crawford.

She throws her head back, giving a manic laugh that sends a chill down my spine. “You think because he fucks you, you’re something special?” She shakes her head, and her matted hair hits her face. “He’ll never love you, Lake. You’re just another worthless bitch to him.”

I tilt my head to the side. “What’s that make you, Whitney?” Her eyes narrow on me. “He put you here. Alone. Your husband is dead.” If Luke isn’t by now, he will be soon. “So what does that make you?”

She lets out a feral scream, her body shaking violently. “You fucking bitch!”

“You’ve been dead to me for three years, Whitney.” Her eyes widen at my words. “You’re still dead to me now.”

“You don’t deserve to have what I had,” she cries. “I fell in love with him, and Dad made me let him go.”

“You set him up,” I growl. “You let the world—you let me—go on believing he killed you. For fuck’s sake, Whitney, people thought you guys were engaged and you were expecting.” I remember Collin and his friend talking about it at Blackout.

“Speaking of baby…” Her watery eyes drop to my stomach. “You’re welcome.”

I step forward, my hands going to my flat stomach. “What do you mean, you’re welcome?”

“It was my idea to have Tyson knock you up. Once Luke realized you’d no longer be useful to him.”

Useful? There’s that word again. “Why would you do that?” I ask breathlessly.

The cruelest smile I’ve ever seen graces her bruised and dirty face. “Because I knew he’d fuck you every chance he got.” She steps forward, the chains pulling as tight as she can from the wall. “I wanted to give you the greatest gift in the world.” I swallow the knot in my throat. “And then take it away from you.”

Tears sting my eyes, and I shake my head at what she did. “I never did anything to you,” I growl.

“You took him from me!” she shouts.

“He was never yours to begin with!” I scream, my lungs burning. “You might have had a chance with him, but you blew it. Now you can rot here while I remain his wife carrying his children.” Her eyes narrow on me. “I hope it eats you alive to know that he loves me. That he married me.” I smile, feeling at peace that it doesn’t bother me. Giving her my back, I move toward the door when her next words stop me.

“He won’t want you once he finds out that you fucked Luke.”

My pulse begins to race at her words. “I’d never cheat on my husband. I’m not you.”

Her face goes red with rage. Taking in a deep breath, she lifts her chin like she’s not chained to a wall, and a smile spreads across her face that makes her look crazy. Like she should be in a padded room with a straitjacket on. I guess she’s not far from it. “If Tyson doesn’t already know, he will soon. I’ll make sure of it.”

I step closer to her, my hands fisting. “I’d never cheat on my husband!” I scream them this time, my body vibrating with violence. I want to get close enough to beat the shit out of her, but I can’t. I won’t put my babies in any position where she can harm them.

“After Luke knocked you out in the hospital bed, he fucked you.”

“No.” I shake my head, refusing to believe that.

She gives a rough laugh. “Yes. He wasn’t allowed to after your wedding, but you were no longer a virgin, so it didn’t matter anymore.” She steps forward, and her arms are pulled behind her due to the shortness of the chains. It doesn’t seem to bother her. “If you weren’t already pregnant, he was going to make sure it happened.”

“No.” Tears sting my eyes once again. A part of me knows she’s telling the truth, but I don’t want to believe it.

“I recorded it.” She smiles at me and my heart stops. “We needed a video to share for those who would bid on you.”

My chest is so tight that I can’t breathe. Tears run down my face, and she watches them as she steps back into the darkened corner as if satisfied with hurting me. I don’t want to believe it. Tyson showed me her phone. The texts. If there was a video on it, he would have shown me. At least told me what happened. “You’re … lying.” I manage to get out through my trembling lips.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” She lifts her chin behind him, and Tyson stands in the doorway.

He’s covered in blood, face hard as stone and narrowed eyes on mine. He’s mad that I’m in here. I don’t expect him to understand why I needed the closure, and although she gave me more than I wanted to know, I got it. Like I told her, she’s dead to me.

He looks away from me, and my stomach drops. Panic gripping my chest. “Ty—”

“I told you.” She gives another laugh and I’m gasping for air. I can’t breathe all of a sudden.

Shoving my way past him, I exit the room and make my way back down the tight hallway as my sister’s laugh gets quieter the farther away from her cell I get.