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“And girls?”
“Are you really asking me this, Ares?” I nod my head and take another drag from my cigarette.
“I am.”
“Ten, if you must know. All ten were girls.” Fuck me. I have ten sisters out there in the world I never knew.
“Older than me, yes?” he nods his head. “And it doesn’t bother you?”
“That I got rid of them? Not at all. Women are weak. Women are useless unless they are to bear children.” I try to keep myself from punching him again. I focus on the smoke billowing from my lips instead.
“I need to take a shower,” I tell him. He nods as I head for the stairs. That’s when he calls out to me once more.
“Ares?”
“What?”
“You’re going to make a great king one day,” he says. I grit my teeth as I walk up the stairs and straight out the front door and down the steps. I head toward my house, glancing at the other houses on my way. Is Sage in there? Are the other girls? Too many thoughts cross my mind as I make my way home. When I get there, I toss the rest of my cigarette and pull my shirt over my head. Thunder rumbles in the distance as I walk around the side of my house and pull the gate open. I step into my backyard just as the rain begins.
Tipping my face to the sky, I let the rain fall on me. I ball up my fist and pound it against my chest in anger. I keep pounding until it hurts. I pound it to the sound of the thunder. Then, I release a roar that could shake anyone to their core.
My chest is heaving as I let the cool rain pelt my flesh. I wish Sage were here. I wish she were experiencing this with me. She’s right; there is beauty in the rain, in the storms. And she was right. There has been a storm brewing in my eyes since the day she first saw me. And now that storm has developed into a fucking tornado that is going to rip this fucking place to its foundation.
I sit outside until I’m drenched. Then I drag my ass inside and down to the basement. I don’t want to be upstairs; I want to be where Sage’s scent lingers.
I walk over to the bed and drop down on it, laying back on the pillows. I can feel her. I can fucking feel her with me. Is it insane? Probably, but I know what the hell I feel, and it’s all her.
I raise my hand so I can look at the scab on my palm, knowing she has the exact same one on hers. I run my fingers along it.
“You’re mine, Little Lamb. You’re mine to fucking sacrifice as I see fit. Our blood is one,” I say to myself, wishing she were here to hear me.
I drop my hand to my side and close my eyes, letting sleep pull me under. The dreams come as always. The blood, the whips. Is this going to be my personal hell? These dreams? The memories? It’s what I deserve.
Darkness snakes its way in and around me, and I let it. The dreams morph into something else. The female isn’t my mother lying there any longer; it’s Sage, and I’m standing over her with a sword in my hand. Her eyes plead with me not to do this. She’s gagged, so she can’t scream. Fire burns all around us, and I stand over her with the sword raised in the air.
I raise it higher and higher as it’s poised over her chest. A few deep breaths, the others chanting. My father is off to the side, watching me intently. I crack my neck from side to side before glancing at my father one last time. He nods his head, a smile on his face. Then I turn back to her, my little lamb lying there so fucking helpless. So fucking beautiful. And so fucking mine.
I raise the sword just a little higher, and then I bring it down, slamming it through her heart. I wake with sweat dripping off me. I can’t catch my breath. I gasp for air as I look around the room, my eyes falling on the blood stain on the floor from Juno. I reach up and wipe the sweat from my face before throwing my legs over the side of the bed and standing. I can’t do this. That dream was too real, although I’d never go through with it. I’d never hurt Sage like that.
I walk to the bathroom and turn on the shower, striping out of my clothes before stepping into the cold water. It hits me, and I shiver, but I need it. I close my eyes and lean in, letting the water hit my face. Visions of Sage’s naked body fill my mind of her looking at me the way she does, kissing me. Sage has come a long way in the short time we’ve been together. She’s grown and changed. I know she still has some bad thoughts in her head about herself, but she’s come so far. She’s starting to see the beauty, the queen I see. She’s starting to come out of her shell. She’s becoming who she was truly meant to be before life and society beat her to the ground and left her to fend for herself.
And when this is all over? She will come out of it on top. She will come out as my queen, my equal, my everything.
28
My fucking head pounds. The past few days, I’ve drank myself to sleep. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I need her. I want her back. The thoughts that run wild in my head aren’t good ones. There’s so much rage in me I can hardly see straight. I can’t focus on anything other than finding her.
Tonight’s the night. I checked in with Ranger to be sure we’re all set. He was ready to go. His team is ready to go. I can’t wait. I’ve already taken anything out of the house that meant anything to me, which wasn’t much. Mainly, it was an old necklace that was my mother’s, although I don’t know why I wanted it if she was as bad as my father says she was.
Now, I pace the floor in my living room, waiting on orders from my father. He told me to be here and be ready, and I am. I just don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t like the unknown. I want to know how this is going to play out. I need to know Sage is safe and in my arms. My heart hammers against my ribs as the front door opens and my father enters. In his hands is a robe of sorts, black in color.
“What the hell is that?” I ask, nodding toward it.
“Your robe, Ares. Once you finish the ritual, you will be gifted a red one,” he explains. I nod, although I don’t know why. I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to kill those girls. He just doesn’t know it yet.
“And I have to do this?” I ask. I need him to believe I’m going to do it. I need him to think his plan is working, just like Ranger said.
“Yes, Ares. You do. It’s the way of the Scott’s. We were all kings at one point,” he tells me.
