Page 43 of Temptation
“More?” Ash asked.
“Yes. There’s a manor not too far away from here, I think.” I shuddered. “I think they’re keeping kids there. I think they’re trafficking kids.”
“Motherfucking—” Ash jumped up and walked toward the old altar behind us, my eyes following every movement.
I needed him to hug me, but I also wanted him far, far away. I wanted him safe, yet I wanted him with me. Hell, I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. I just knew I wanted them to pay.
“He’s not working alone,” I continued when no one said another word. “I don’t know who they are, but I know they’re powerful. More powerful than any of us, and if we fuck with them… I don’t want us to get hurt, but we can’t leave this be.”
“Do you have any of their names?” Rowan asked.
Shaking my head, I answered, “No, not all of them. I only got one name, and that’s because I met him personally. But he’s dead now.”
“What was his name?” Ash ground out.
“Nikolai.” I gulped. “Nikolai Aster.”
Something crashed to the ground, and I turned to look at where Ash stood. A statue of a baby angel was now in pieces on the ground, while he kept gripping the edges of the altar.
“Ash?”
“I need to go,” he suddenly announced and walked right next to us, going for the door. “Get her home, and, Moonshine.” He turned to look at me. “Don’t do anything fucking stupid.”
“Wha… I—”
“I’ll be back. Keep her safe and keep your head down. I’ll let you know when we’ll meet again.”
He stormed out without another word, without a second glance at me, and the only thing running in my head waswhat the actual fuck?
9
DYLAN
The amber liquidsloshing around in the rock glass I held in my hand was not enough to tamper down the anger coursing through my veins. Like a blazing inferno, it started this morning when I realized she wasn’t in her bed.
I should’ve taken the entire bottle. It would’ve been easier than getting up every five minutes to refill this fucking glass. I already finished half of it, so what was the use of this damn glass if I would have to get up, look out the window, and get angry over and over again because she wasn’t here.
She wasn’t home and something akin to blades kept slicing over my heart, driving the need to go out and look for her. I looked toward the wall opposite of the armchair I sat on, at my broken phone lying on the floor. Her message was loud and clear—she was coming home soon, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t break my fucking heart when she snuck out.
I thought we were making tiny progress after lunch yesterday. I thought she understood why I did all those things, yet she decided to run. She ran—from me!
That knowledge hurt more than all those whips and lashes over the years. It hurt more than my father’s detachment or my mother’s touch. The only person I ever wanted in my life didn’t want to be in the same house as me. She didn’t want me, and that killed me.
Tick-Tock.
Tick-Tock.
The old grandfather clock kept going, mocking me, reminding me she still wasn’t here. If I could see her, if I could only touch her, I’d know that she was okay. But she went out, running like a scared little kitten, when the real monsters haunting her weren’t inside this house—they were out there. She had no idea what they were capable of—what my father was capable of. She couldn’t understand because we kept her sheltered, separated from this horrible life they put on us, and she repaid me by running away.
Probably going to him.
She probably went to the one place where I never wanted to see her again. It killed me, seeing him there in that chamber. The look in his eyes licked all over my body, over my soul, and I wasn’t sure what it was. I wasn’t sure about anything anymore, except that Skylar had to be saved.
The clock ticked again. “Dammit!” The amber liquid went all over the wall as the rock glass smashed against it. My hand shook, my heart trembled, and I wanted to get up and get out of here. I had to find her.
I had to.
I fucking had to!
