Page 76 of Hers To Keep
“You’re going to The Calypsos?” Remi asks eagerly, turning to her and trying to cause a nip in the tension of the room.
Lilith tenderly caresses Remi’s cheek as she speaks to her. “Maybe one day, my dear, but he won’t let you leave here. Not until he finds your replacement.” A shock of envy flows through me as I watch my mother act motherly for the first time in her life.
“Why would you want to go there?” I ask, remembering the deplorable place we found my mother at.
“We turn eighteen soon, he has to let us move on,” Remi mutters, disappointment clear in her voice. She doesn’t exactly sound like someone who is here of her own free will like Wesley has made everyone believe.
“We’ll speak about this at a later time, for now I need to make sure my daughter is prepared for her first day of work.” She turns to face me, her green eyes darkening with a glimpse of hatred and disdain.
This is going to be interesting.
Two WeeksLater
This place is worse than I ever could have imagined. Night after night I stand up on this stage, watching the sordid men that come in through these doors, some daily, others once a week, butevery one of them with vile thoughts and deep pockets. They are made to see me as his Queen, untouchable and forbidden. The new Mistress of the Night, which I’ve learned is the official title of my position. Every night I’m up here on this filthy stage dressed in a long, red silk gown, similar to the one he made me wear to the dinner at Servite Manor, with a black lace veil embroidered with red roses draped over my long dark hair, watching how these depraved men watch these young girls, practically salivating as they dance in cages like animals above them.
And then the bidding starts. Each one bought for a ridiculous amount of money, then taken back to a room like the one I was in, where they dance around a pole, give lap dances, or strip to nothing but pasties and thongs before the fuckers. I’m assured they can’t be touched, as if that makes it any better.
Apparently, Wesley has a strict rule of no contact with his underage dancers. I’m told that’s what The Calypsos are for—the underground sex clubs like the one I found my mother at the night of Ace’s birthday party at Torment.
Every night he forces me to watch. It’s why he wanted me here. There’s nothing in this world that turns Wesley on more than instilling fear in others, or showing off the endless power he holds, which in a sense is the same damn thing. He didn’t want me here to rule at his side. He wanted me here just to say he could. To show me what he’s capable of and remind me I have no power to stop him. To take something from Ace, just to show him who holds the actual power. It sickens me to know that he is Ace’s real father and yet doesn’t have a care in the world about his son.
Then again, that’s exactly how my mother feels about me.
“This keeps this world from falling apart,” he said to me the first night I was here. “Giving in to our deepest, darkest desires allows us to thrive in our everyday lives without breaking and letting our deviant needs consume us. To let loose and give in to our free will, our forbidden pleasures, with no shame, guilt, or judgment.”
I once again find myself here, backstage, hiding behind a dark curtain, the music vibrating through the speakers around the room and ceilings, bright strobe lights flashing above. The club is just behind these curtains, and I refuse to believe his vile thoughts.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Gallows,” shouts a voice blaring through the speakers above, visions of that first night I was here vivid in my mind.
The curtain lifts revealing the more than one-hundred men waiting like animals below, watching as the girls are raised up, hanging in their gilded cages. My heart races as it does every fucking night since I stepped foot on this stage. The familiar voice at the center of the stage continues to speak as I look around and see the six cages, like the one I once found myself in, all around the top floor of the club. I feel lightheaded with a sense of Déjà vu as I falter slightly, Cruz right beside me to hold me up. He mumbles something to me but a loud ringing in my ear blinds me.
“I’d like to present to you tonight’s entertainment. These are the ladies of The Gallows,” Luke says, as his eyes connect with mine. Luke Prescott has been a daunting presence here at The Gallows. My eerily dark shadow, a presence I cannot get rid of. I know Wesley has him watching my every move, since surprisingly he’s never here, but the way Luke watches me is fucking terrifying. “Here at The Gallows we believe in giving in to all our deepest, darkest desires. Temptation isn’t a sin but a way of life. This is a place where we can be our true unfiltered selves hiding away from the judgment and intolerance of the outside world. So please enjoy tonight’s entertainment and remember if anyone would like to place any orders, the bidding starts at ten thousand dollars.”
The microphone and lights at the center stage turn off, leaving only a bright spotlight on each of the six cages. Just like every single night since I first stepped foot here, I feel absolutely fucking sick to my stomach.
Chapter
Forty-Three
ACE
One Week Later
It’s been three weeks since the last time I saw Scarlett—since the last time anyone has seen her. I’ve been MIA hiding out here in Pleasant Hills with Maxwell, while Scarlett’s been staying at my family’s house, with my uncle Wesley.
According to Bass, she hasn’t been in school for three weeks. Her sister or friends have not seen her for three fucking weeks. Rage boils in my stomach, igniting everything within me. He’s fucking done what he always wanted—isolated her from everyone in her life, including me. It infuriates me that I can’t do anything about it yet. I am sitting here on my ass with my hands tied behind my back as she’s there with him, no doubt scared and losing her fucking mind.
The only reason I know she’s safe is because Remi and her sister Lexi, my allies on the inside of The Gallows, have assured me she is okay. They say she’s been holed up at Servite Manor, doing homeschool in the morning, then she’s taken to TheGallows for her shift every night of the week. Although The Gallows is only open Thursday to Sunday, they host private events the rest of the week. Her official position as the new madam, or Mistress of the Night, is keeping her busy.
Apparently, she’s been acting weird the last few days, seemingly on edge, more than usual. Remi swears she’s gotten comfortable in her position, but I know it’s only meant to seem that way. Luke’s been on her ass, following her every move, and to top things off today I found out something I am reluctant to believe, but I know it has to be true.
We’ve been betrayed. I’ve been betrayed. By my friend, my chosen brother—Aleksander Smoak.
“Betrayal from Wesley I would have expected. Honestly, I’d have seen it coming from anyone except one of my brothers.” Alek stands across from me, in the middle of the living room of the house Maxwell and I are staying at in Pleasant Hills. I asked him to meet me here when I found out from Remi what he’d done. She’d overheard Luke telling another one of my uncle’s parasites what Alek had done.
I’m surprised he actually showed up. It’s the least he could do after betraying me the way he did. Alek, my brother, one of my best friends, my fellow Horseman, warned my Uncle Wesley that my breakup with Scarlett was just a ploy, a distraction. He told him I was still obsessed with her like I’ve always been, and that Scarlett was infiltrating The Gallows, while I looked for a way to destroy it and him. I wouldn’t have cared if he’d thrown me under the bus the way he did, but that her life may now be in even more danger because of him, I don’t think I can ever forgive.
“I didn’t do it to betray you, Ace,” he says, the fear of what I might do to him is obvious on his face. “I did it because she doesn’t deserve to have your unconditional loyalty. She’s a fraud, a con just like her mother. She’s the one that betrayed you, repeatedly, using you for her own gain, can’t you see that.”