Page 91 of Tainted Saints

After a showerand eating the meal that Lan prepared before he went all caveman on me, we hang out for a few hours watching movies, but there’s a tension in the air that has all of us on edge.

Finally, Lan looks at his phone as a message comes through.

“Our guest is ready for us,” he states coldly, his eyes fathomless, and a chill runs down my spine. I know who the guest is, the Ambassador, and I can only imagine what he means by him being ready for us. “Remember, if at any point it becomes too much or you want to leave, Duchess, you just tell us. Okay?”

“Okay,” I whisper back, getting to my feet. I’m in dark, high-waisted jeans and a black, polo-neck sweater, the guys all in black too. They were in the bundle that Aoife had dropped off, and I couldn’t help the ironic chuckle at the appropriateness of this outfit when I put it on earlier. She’d see the funny side, her preemptively giving me an outfit to commit murder in, because she’s badass like that.

“Good girl,” Lan praises softly, a different kind of shiver travelling over me this time. “Forest, you’re with Blaine. Duchess with me.”

We all head down to the bikes and climb on after Lan pulls on my helmet and a leather jacket that he insists I wear when riding with them. The cool night air whips past us as we take off, making our way out of Fairview and towards the countryside that surrounds us.

We drive for what feels like ages, my fingers freezing as they grip Lan’s jacket, and then we’re pulling up in front of what looks like an abandoned cabin in the middle of some woods.

“Where are we?” I ask, getting off the bike. Blaine’s hands are there to steady me and help take my helmet off. I like that they’re always fussing over me, helping me when I don’t need it but I love it nonetheless.

“Just a place we use when we have these kinds of…jobs,mi tesoro,” Blaine murmurs in my ear as he pulls me into his side, his large arm wrapping around my shoulders. I snuggle into the warmth of his huge body, taking a deep, calming breath of his woodsy scent and letting it calm me. My blood still thrums in my veins, but at least I’m not feeling nauseous or shaking like a leaf which I worried I would do.

“Hey, boss,” Reg greets, his brows set in a hard line. “Blaine, Forest, Miss Aspen. Good to see you all.”

“How is our guest?” Lan asks, and an evil sort of smile crosses Reg’s face.

“He’s been pretty responsive to the noises, keeps muttering to himself, and flinches anytime we start up again,” Reg tells us, a gleam in his eyes.

“Noises?” I ask in an uncertain tone.

“As he liked being around dogs so much, we’ve been playing the noises of dogs barking, snarling, and growling pretty much nonstop for the past week,” Forest tells me, taking my cold hand in his. “Seemed fittin’ that he should get a taste of his own medicine.”

I blink, taking in what he’s just told me. “You’ve had him this whole time?”

“My uncle helped bring him in. After we gave him all the evidence, he agreed that our debt to him was cancelled and that we could deal with the Ambassador as we saw fit. He was happy to lend a hand, but we have to decide what happens to him.” Lan’s voice is devoid of all emotion, and I swallow hard, wondering if I'll ever be so detached.

“You doing okay,mi princesa linda?” Blaine whispers in my ear as Reg and Lan chat some more.

“I think so,” I tell him honestly, my thoughts a jumbled mess. I know that I should feel something, horror maybe at what has happened and will happen to the man that gave me life, but I just don’t, and that’s the thing that’s bothering me.

“Everything that you’re feeling, or not, is okay, sugar,” Forest assures me, placing a light kiss on my cheek.

My shoulders loosen as his words give me the permission I needed to let go of my worries about being so damaged that I don’t feel normal human emotions. This is the man who repeatedly tried to break me, tried to manipulate and abuse me. It’s no wonder that I don’t care about his pain, maybe even relish the idea of him being the powerless one for once.

“Let’s bring him out, shall we?” Lan asks, Reg giving a nod and then going into the cabin. Moments later, Reg and another Saint are dragging out what looks like a homeless man.

It takes me a moment to recognise him, to see that he is the Ambassador, just stripped of all his imposing power and presence. He’s not even fighting, just dragging his heels, his suit dishevelled and stained. As they bring him closer, I wrinkle my nose at the stale, acrid stink that wafts from him.

The two men dump him in a heap before us, stepping back with matching looks of disgust on their faces. No one says a word, all of us looking at the broken man before us, a shadow of his former self.

Slowly, he gets to his knees, lifting his head, his eyes dull and flat as his gaze swings between us, settling on me. His eyes widen, then the shadow of a sneer crosses his gaunt features.

“You disobedient bitch!” he rasps, his voice cracking like they barely gave him any water in the time he was locked up. Good. I hope he felt every second of his body craving what was being denied. My heartbeat picks up, but I don’t feel the blind terror that I once did at his harsh words.

His head snaps to the side when Lan delivers a swift backhand that sends him reeling to the floor.

“You don’t look at her,” Lan seethes, his body trembling with pent-up rage. “You definitely don’t speak to her, you pathetic fuck.”

The Ambassador goes to argue, then Forest steps forward and barks, and the older man screams, scrabbling back as a wet stain appears at his crotch.

“Fucking disgusting,” Forest spits out, coming back to my side and wrapping his arm around my waist so that I’m sandwiched between him and Blaine.

“Now, we have a deal for you,” Lan states, strolling to where the Ambassador lies quivering in the dirt before he crouches down. “If you can evade capture until midnight, you get to walk free.” My head snaps up to stare at him, my eyebrows knitting together. Before I can ask what the fuck is going on, Lan continues. “We’ll even give you a head start. If you can’t, well, then your life is ours to do with as we see fit.” Lan glances at his watch. “Time starts now,Ambassador.”