“And what exactly makes him so special?” I ask while leaning back against the couch, watching her carefully.
Tess laughs quietly before looking directly at Sierra again.
“Because once he takes someone,” she breathes out quietly, “they stop belonging to themselves.”
Sierra’s expression crumples instantly. “No!”
“He’s very creative with breaking people.” Tess continues over her, completely unbothered by the crying. “And from what I heard, he enjoys it way too fucking much.” Something about the way she says it leaves a strange tension lingering in the room before a wider smile slowly spreads across her face.
“But honestly?” she adds while staring at Sierra like she’s already imagining her gone.
“I think you and Kage are gonna have a beautiful fucking time together.”
Chapter 29
Sierra
The chains above my head creak softly every time my body shakes, the sound mixing with the shaky pull of my breaths while blood keeps sliding slowly down my skin in sticky trails. My wrists feel raw where the restraints cut into them, my shoulders burning so badly it feels like my arms could rip out of place at any second, and I honestly don’t even know how much blood I’ve lost anymore.
Everything inside me already feels heavy and weak, my body struggling harder and harder just to stay upright while black spots keep flickering at the edges of my vision every couple seconds, but none of that is what my mind keeps circling back to.
Kage.
The name keeps echoing through my head in slow, sick loops while the conversation replays itself over and over again.
“Once he takes someone, they stop belonging to themselves.”
A violent shiver crawls through me while my mind keeps replaying the same thought over and over again no matter how hard I try to stop it. I can’t stop imagining that door opening and some stranger walking through it, somebody even worse than them.
The room feels quieter now, almost relaxed, after the emotional explosion Tess had minutes ago, like everybody already got what they wanted from me tonight. Cain sits lazily against the couch with a glass in his hand while Dom leans against the wall nearby, his eyes fixed on me with that same unsettling focus. And then the realization finally settles properly inside my head, cold and heavy enough to make my entire body tense.
They’re done with me.
They already handed me off to somebody else in their heads.
Tears instantly burn behind my eyes, my chest tightening so badly it almost hurts to force the words out.
“Please…” My voice barely comes out above a whisper. “What’s he gonna do to me?”
Nobody answers. The silence stretching through the room afterward feels almost worse than the answer itself, slowly crushing the air out of my lungs while Cain lazily lifts his glass and takes another sip like we’re discussing the fucking weather instead of my life.
“Honestly?” he mutters casually. “Death would probably be the kinder option.”
My breathing instantly stutters around the words.
No.
No, no, no.
Dom notices immediately. A slow grin spreads across his face while he pushes himself off the wall and starts walking toward me again, looking almost entertained by how fast I’m starting to fall apart.
“You know what the funniest part is, kitten?” he says softly. “Everything that’s been happening to you so far has been personal.”
I shake my head weakly without even realizing I’m doing it.
“Tess hates you,” he continues while his eyes slowly drag over the cuts spread across my body. “We hate you.” He stops right in front of me before lowering his eyes toward my face, studying me like he’s enjoying every second of this. “But him?” Dom mutters quietly. “He doesn’t even know who the fuck you are.”
The words settle inside my head slowly before the meaning finally hits me properly, and the second it does, something deep inside my chest seems to collapse while a broken sound slips out of me before I can stop it.
