Page 62 of Deadmen's Captive

As I raised my knife, I locked eyes with my father one final time. His eyes were ice cold and flat, like a sharks. I looked down at the man beneath me waiting just for a moment, and then, I struck.

Bast joined me in the bathroom a little while later. For a few minutes, he said nothing, just watched the blood rinse off my hands, swirling down the sink.

“Are you travelling back to Blackvellyn tonight?'' I asked.

He nodded. “The second trial is tomorrow night. I want to be ready, and I’ve settled everything here with my father.”

“Did you ask him about Paige?” I grabbed the Egyptian cotton towel off the rail and dried my now clean hands, cursing as I noticed the flecks of blood on my cuffs.

“I did, but all he had is what we already knew. Her parents have links to our parents through the club, and there’s potential that they could cause some kind of scandal, but Paige is their daughter, and no parent is going to put their kids through that.”

“You’d be surprised what some parents put their kids through,” I muttered.

“True, but offering her up for…”

“Rape.”

“It wasn’t rape, Nate.”

“Sexual assault then, it was non consensual,” I snapped.

Bast sighed. “Look, I know you’re big on the whole consent thing, and I get it. I would never force myself on a woman who didn’t want it, but we didn’t know, Nate. We all thought she was willing, that she’d volunteered. She even agreed it wasn’t our fault.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t feel like shit about it,” I growled. “You didn’t see her after, Bast.”

“I saw her after you,” I said. “And don’t get me wrong, I felt like shit about it too, but if what she’s saying is true, then we were all victims to whoever masterminded this delightful misunderstanding. Besides, something tells me she seriously got off on it, even though she’d never admit it, maybe even to herself.”

I grunted, not wanting to admit Bast had a point. I’d felt the way her hips had pushed towards me as I'd eaten out that delicious cunt of hers, lapped up her mess when she’d come, heard those breathy little moans that I replayed in my head every night when I jerked off thinking of her.

“Has she actually said that she forgives us?” I asked quietly, not wanting to meet Bast’s eyes. He was as shrewd as his father, and I didn’t want him to see more than I was comfortable with.

He grinned. “Well, she certainly forgave me in the bedroom afterwards.”

“What?” I snapped, turning to glare at him. “You fucked her already?”

“Not her pussy, just her mouth, and fuck was she good at sucking cock. All big innocent eyes as she choked on it…”

“Fuck’s sake, Bast. You want me to walk out there and talk to my father with a raging hard on?” I groaned.

Bast laughed. “You'll get your chance tomorrow. I have some interesting ideas for Paige's second trial, and you and Tristan will definitely feel the benefit, trust me.”

"She hasn't agreed to it yet," I reminded him.

"She will," Bast said confidently, as his phone rang suddenly and he reached for it. "Bast. Hey, Tris, you sound fucking dreadful..."

I zoned out as Bast talked business with Tris. We'd bought up an abandoned building on the edge of Blackvellyn, with the idea of turning it into a luxury hotel aimed at the parents of the university students who came for events and visits. I was involved, but I had no interest in the reservation system that Tris was handling. Right now, all I could think about was getting back to Blackvellyn and seeing Paige again.

"Shit, Tristan's really fucked up there. We should get back," said Bast, pocketing his phone.

"He mix his drinks again?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Sounds like he's had serious food poisoning. Been puking his guts up the last couple of days and hasn't been able to get out of bed."

"Has he seen Paige?" I asked. "She isn't ill too, is she?"

"He doesn't think so. She messaged him from class yesterday." Bast inhaled slowly.

"Look, I know I said it was her choice, but Paige is our Persephone." He looked up at me, his eyes like steel. "I want her Nate. Let's go get her."

---