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“Is she under?” Beast asks.
“Under what?” Camden pipes up, confused.
I haven’t told either of them about my sister’s ability to see things so their confusion is understandable, but Beast knows about her gift. Though he’s as uncomfortable with it as I am. In our kind of work we deal in what’s tangible. We deal withreal life in your face shit, not visions of things that haven’t happened yet.
“Shh!” I grind out under my breath, stress making me snappy. “Just keep a lookout until I tell you to make a move.”
Christy moans, her hand flying upwards as she struggles to understand where she is and what’s happened to her. The Mask holding her, Jakub, sets her down onto her feet, his arm wrapped around her waist as he supports her weight.
“Can you stand?” he asks her, his slightly accented voice filled with concern.
I narrow my eyes on him. These men have a reputation, and showing compassion for another human being isn’t a part of it. On the contrary, these men are conniving fucking monsters and they’ve had my sister in their lair all this time no doubt doing some psychological damage. My blood boils at the thought.
“I t—think so,” she stutters, leaning into his hold.
“Okay, good. Take it easy, you went down hard.”
Anger blossoms and it takes every last bit of restraint not to shoot the cunt in the back of the head. As much as a clean kill would be best all around, I’ve no intention of leaving this place until we’ve at least got a few hits in before putting a bullet in their brains.
“What happened?” she asks, shaking her head a little, the gold mask she’s wearing highlighting her birthmark rather than hiding it. I’ve always thought Christy beautiful, and to see her baring the part of herself she spent years hiding behind a layer of makeup fills me with a mixture of both pride and concern because I don’t know if she’s been forced to bare herself this way or has finally accepted her unique kind of beauty.
“We were hoping you’d be able to tell us that,” Jakub says, cupping her birthmarked cheek as she stares up at him, blinking. The way he looks at her as he caresses her face, pulls me up sharp. What the fuck does he think he’s doing? And more to the point, why is she letting him touch her? Then I remember who these men are and just what she might’ve had to endure to survive here. The smart thing to do is become whatever they need you to be, and buy some time. She would’ve known I’d come for her and acted accordingly.
Atta girl.
“You were dancing and then you just collapsed,” one of the other Masks says. He reaches for her, pulling her into his arms. I bristle at the overfamiliarity, at the fact she doesn’t try to push him away.
“Something doesn't feel right…” she says, her voice trailing off as she looks up at him, concern filling her gaze and something that looks suspiciously like love.
“What’s going on?” Beast asks as I continue to watch their interaction.
“Just wait!” I hiss, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing, because either she’s a really good actress or she’s fallen for the motherfuckers.
“What do you mean, Christy?” One of The Masks asks her, only his question remains unanswered as a woman dressed head-to-toe in black runs into the courtyard, her hair in disarray, red lipstick smudged across her face as tears roll down her cheeks. Even her dress has a tear in it, one sleeve almost ripped right off. Whatever happened to her, it wasn’t good.
“Thirteen? What happened?!” Christy cries, pushing out of Jakub’s arms and rushing toward her. The girl throws herself into Christy’s arms as three familiar men step out into the courtyard directly behind her.
The Deana-dhe.
All three of their gazes are fixed on the woman Christy holds onto and not one of them is wearing the masks they entered the castle with. Arden has a bloody lip, which he swipes at with the back of his hand, a grin pulling up his lips as he focuses his attention on The Masks.
Christy glares at them, making a quick assessment of what’s gone on. “What did you do to her?” she spits, anger bristling as she hugs the woman she calls Thirteen to her chest.
Arden grins, his eyes dancing with a mixture of delight and venom as he flicks his gaze at Jakub. It dawns on me in that moment that coming here appears to have everything to do with the woman named Thirteen fiercely rubbing at the tears pouring down her cheeks.
The secretive, conniving bastards.
“We did nothing that she didn’t ask for,” Arden responds coolly.
That statement gets my back up.Fuck that. I’ve always respected the Deana-dhe, but what Arden just said, that’s fucking horseshit.
“Grim, what thefuckis going on?” Beast insists under his breath, getting more agitated by the second. I reach behind me, grasping his arm in warning.
“The Deana-dhe have just stepped into the courtyard. There’s a girl with Christy. I think they’ve come here for her. Be ready to make a move on my signal,” I whisper quickly.
“They’ve come for apiece of ass?”
“Not just any piece of ass given the way the three of them are eye fucking her. Just be ready to go on my signal.”
