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I realize with horror that she isn’t the only one. There are other corpses tethered to the sea floor with stones and ropes, dropped in like garbage. Most are just skeletons now, featureless and falling apart.
I wonder if Peaches’ mother is down there.
“Why did you bring me out here?” I demand. My senses are in overdrive, waiting for someone to stab me in the back. It would be easy enough; they’ve brought me to their killing grounds and I’m outnumbered four to one. And if they killed Boyd and Lila, there’s nothing stopping them from doing the same to me.
“You know the terms carrot and stick, Javier?” he asks.
I grit my teeth. “Of course I do.”
“Good,” Gideon says. “Because here’s the thing - I wanted you to see where we’re sending dear Esther if you don’t get your act together and start treating her like an alpha should.”
I should kill him right now—toss him and Abel into the ocean, and slaughter the other two while I’m at it. I’m confident I could take them, but I can’t risk dying and leaving Peaches alone in that prison.
Already, my relationship with her is interfering with my ability to do what needs to be done.
“I’ve collared her,” I say. “I punished her, bit her, bred her. What the hell else do you want me to do?”
“Stop pampering her,” Gideon says. “Don’t give her an inch. She’s a sweet thing, I know—I used to spoil the shit out of her when she was a little girl. But if you don’t make sure she knows who’s in charge, she’ll turn around and stab you in the back the minute you give her the chance. And if she makes a single move like the last time she left…well, I’ll have no choice but to send her straight to hell with her mother.”
I don’t know what to do.
I can’t threaten him, can’t kill him, can’t so much as talk back. They can hear us in the citadel; they know when we’re fucking, when we’re arguing, when I’m making her scream with pleasure. As far as I know, they’re always watching, maybe navigating through secret halls and doorways in that house of horrors.
“I’m gonna need you to be specific,” I grunt.
“Keep her collared,” Gideon says. “Keep her docile. Don’t let her speak because, well…we don’t want her getting any ideas in her head, do we?”
“What do you want from me?” I ask quietly.
Gideon snorts.
“You make it sound like I’m torturing you, Javier—when I really just want one thing,” he says. “Give me a grandbaby, and I’ll make sure you want for nothing.”
He’s using me just as much as he’s using Peaches.
“Yes, sir,” I say.
The tension breaks, though it keeps coiling like a snake in the pit of my stomach. Gideon pats my shoulder with a congenial grin.
“Good talk,” he says. “Now let’s enjoy some fishing, son!”
I swallow hard.
It’s going to be a long day.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
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PEACHES
I find myself glad that I bit Javi—even if it was on accident—last night. I can feel him as he gets on the boat and coasts away, and every bit of anxiety and rage and apprehension hits me as it sweeps through his system.
For my part, I’m mostly left alone. One of my father’s mates stops by to bring me some food, but she doesn’t talk to me, even when I try to start a conversation. I even think she would betray me if she had the chance, so I put the damn collar on and make sure I’m silent and docile when she arrives.
I hate it.
This isn’t who I am.
