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“Do you wanna see him?” came from behind me, spoken softly in my ear. I jumped out of my skin, heart flying to my throat.
I stepped into the garage and turned to face him. “Where did you come from?”
“I’ve been behind you almost the whole time.”
That creeped me out on a massive level. And he was all the way dressed. How long had he been out of bed?
“We’re going to have to work on your perception skills.” He placed a gentle hand on my waist, and I realized he was wearing leather gloves.
“Is there a reason you’re dressed like you’re about to commit robbery? All of you?” I asked, taking in each of them.
“We don’t wear anything that shows bloodstains, just in case,” Bri answered happily.
I couldn’t feign shock at her explanation. I knew something was off about all of them. I met Judas under unorthodox circumstances. My gaze traveled the length of the garage again, noting a tool bench, a large metal tub, and lots of boxes. I found myself pausing on the mass beneath the sheet, finally understanding what it was.
“Who did you want me to see?”
“Go ahead, Bri,” Judas said, taking a step closer to me.
She stepped forward with the grace of a ballerina and plucked the blanket from the mass. It took me a moment to recognize the person I was staring at.
“What have you done?” I shrilled.
“He deserved this,” Gavin stated in a bored tone.
I rushed over to the chair, reaching out but then thinking better of it at the last second. “Dax.” I said his name firmly.
His eyes were shut. At least I assumed they were. They’d swollen so much I wasn’t entirely sure. The revolting smell was definitely coming from him. It was urine and feces, and old blood covered by some type of chemical sheen they’d sprayed on him.
Taking him in entirely, I was disgusted.
He’d always been skinny but not like this. His skin was missing in places, burned in others.
An area of his ribs was an ugly yellow-ish color.
“How long has he been here?”
“Since the night of the party,” Judas replied.
“But he’s been online. His car was at the—”
“All us, kitten,” Owen cut in.
I looked right at Judas and asked, “Why?”
“Well…one, he was never supposed to put his hands on you, hence the broken fingers. Two, he works for your father when he’s supposed to work for mine.”
“And he knew where Maisie was,” Gavin added.
I didn’t know what to do with what they were saying or how to process it. The rug had just been swept out from beneath my feet, and my ass had definitely hit the ground.
I attempted to undo his binds, but they were expertly done up.
“His dad died a few years ago,” Judas said, walking across the room.
That couldn’t be right. Dax told me he was driving to see his dad every few weeks.
“He was going to get girls,” Judas kept going, giving explanation to my private thought. “That’s what his job was. He lured them in, and your parents did the rest. You thought he was going to see his dad when he disappeared.”
I shook my head back and forth. “I don’t believe you.” Even as I said that, I moved away from Dax, leaving his emaciated body the same way I’d found it.
The thought of him going to do something like that, and then texting me that he was back in town…It sickened me to the core. All those times he claimed he was at that lake...
If this was true, then the other part of what Judas said would be true too, but it didn’t make any sense.
“What do you mean he works for my dad? My dad’s a roofer.”
“Even as you said that, some part of you has to know that’s not true. And think about it. Your parents pushed this relationship so hard to keep you away from me.”
I stared at Dax, who had yet to wake up. I waited to feel something other than fading pity for the boy in front of me, but I couldn’t force what wouldn’t come. This was all a little surreal but not so much so that it didn’t add up. They’d always had an odd relationship with Dax, liked him seemingly more than I did.
“I hear what you’re saying…” I managed to get out, my thoughts scrambling to find some sense in all of this. Dad was Dad. He couldn’t be…whatever kind of person who needed girls rounded up.
“Dax was playing both sides of the field. Keep Judas happy, keep the Clermonts happy, and get the girl,” Owen explained.
The room went silent, all eyes trained on me. I didn’t have words for them, though. I just needed to go…go and process. This was like a scene out of a shitty B grade horror movie, only no one had given me a script. Swallowing thickly, I gestured to Dax.
