Page 7 of Hers To Keep

“She lied to you, my mother had to have lied. Chaz was everything to her. She wouldn’t just put the blame on him so easily. It couldn’t have been all an act.”

“Your mother is quite the actress I’m afraid. Cunning, manipulative, an all-around terrible woman. However, whether or not she’s lied is not the issue at hand. It's exactly what you saw.” He stands from his spot behind his desk, moving toward the front where Ace and I stand. He leans back on it, his arms crossed on his chest. “I can’t have you running around campus spewing the awful and terrible things I can assume are going through that pretty little head of yours.” He moves forward, as I unknowingly move backward, running into Ace’s hard chest. Ace’s hand moves to grip my waist and hold me, but his touch is the last thing I want on me right now, so I push his hand off instantly.

“Of course, as expected here comes another threat,” I sneer,stepping toward Agent Servite, my forehead now at his chin as I look up at him.

“You shouldn’t have witnessed what you did. We should have been more careful, made sure you were being watched,” he says, looking from me to Ace who towers behind me. “And that was an oversight on my account. I put children in charge of a man’s job, and I’ll rectify that situation at a later time. But for now,” he steps forward, closing the space between us, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I feel his breath against me. Ace’s hand moves back to my waist pulling me back slightly, but this time I don’t push him away. Out of the two men in this room, the one standing before me frightens me most. I need Ace’s touch on me to make me feel somewhat protected from this monster.

“I’m afraid you have seen too much, know things I’m sure you shouldn’t be aware of,” he says, causing me to turn to look back at Ace. If only he knew the things Ace told me about him, by the looks of it he does. I turn back around, Agent Servite smirking deviously at me. “The question now is, how will we ensure you keep those things to yourself, my dear?”

I turn away from him, looking back at Ace. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh where do I begin, The Gallows, The Devil’s Kiss? You’re a smart girl, I’m fairly certain you’ve concluded that I’m not a good man, Miss Steele.” My body shivers as I recall the task Agent Servite put upon me. He asked me to follow Ace, knowing well enough he’d lead me to The Gallows. He planned this all, and like a puppet I fell for his trap.

“You wanted me to find out, didn’t you? You led me there, to him. Why show me if you consider me a threat?” He steps away, returning to his place behind his desk.

“A threat, no; a liability, yes. I wanted you to see for yourself what we, what I, am capable of. You shouldn’t take my threats lightly, Scarlett. You are right to believe your being here is no coincidence.” I turn to Ace who looks shamefully down at his feet.He’s the only person I talked to about my suspicions of my being here being no accident, and he shamelessly told my secrets to his uncle. What more has he told him?

I bravely, or foolishly–still haven’t decided which–move away from Ace, stepping toward Agent Servite’s desk. “I believed it was to find my mother, but by the looks of it you’ve known where she’s been all along.”

“Ah yes, I must admit in part it was to lure Lilith out. But not out of hiding, more in the sense that she needed a push, to be reminded of her place here, with me. She’d been gone for far too long.” He moves closer, resting his palms atop his desk, leaning forward to meet me, stopping just mere inches before my face.

“Threatening her with my well-being wouldn’t have affected her. So tell me, what is it you hold over my mother?” I raise my head meeting his gaze. Thankfully, I discarded my heels earlier, I now stand much shorter than I was previously with them on.

He reaches a finger out to me, running it down my cheek before gripping my chin. “The threat of you taking her place.” I’m baffled by his response, as I step back slightly.Me, take over my mother’s place? Her place in what? His business, or worse, the place at his side?

I shake off my unwanted thoughts, trying hard to not show any kind of fear or weakness in front of him. “Lucky for her I want nothing to do with you or this world you try so aimlessly to save.”

“Unfortunately for you, my dear, you don’t get a choice. You will keep quiet about everything you’ve discovered, and you will continue to play a part in all of this. You will follow my orders, obey my commands, and you will do it with no defiance. My nephew here is to make sure you comply. He will be your shadow, anywhere and everywhere you go. That won’t be hard seeing as you two have taken that into your own hands.” I laugh wildly at his insinuations, and misleading visions of my compliance.

“You have nothing that will ensure I comply with your demands. You tirelessly threaten my friends, my family, yet haven’tharmed them. Maybe getting kicked out of Servite Academy and being sent far away from Hillcrest Hills is in their best interest.”

Suddenly, a loud, agonizing cry echoes through the hollow walls of the room we are in. I turn back to Agent Servite, a panicked look across my face, and see a wide grin appear on his. But what frightens me the most is Ace, who looks at me with a hint of sorrow.

“And as if on cue,” Agent Servite says, smiling wickedly.

I rush out of the office, racing over toward where I heard the scream erupt from, and find a closed door next to the room I was in. I close my eyes as I shakily turn the knob and push the door open. When I open my eyes, I am rendered speechless, all my blood instantly leaving my body, my heart dropping to my feet. I don’t think I could have ever been prepared for what I see on the other side.

“No!” A loud cry erupts from deep within me as I look over and see Drake tied to a chair in the middle of the dimly lit room. My Dragon, my fierce protector. His body lays limp, his head hanging low, his chin at his chest, and those clear green eyes losing the battle to remain open.

Behind him stand the other three Horsemen, their eyes on me as I stand frozen in place, staring at Drake bloody and beaten before me. Deep crimson blood, smeared all over his white V-neck shirt, leaving a trace of violence clear in its tracks. I try to run to him, but Ace emerges from the shadows behind me, his hand quick to reach out and aggressively grab my arm. I turn furiously to him, tears once again threatening to spill, but it must be something in my gaze, a plea of sorts, which forces him to let go. He stumbles back, slightly staggered by my actions, shocked almost, as I take advantage of his loosened grip on me to run over to Drake.

I kneel before him, being careful not to hurt him as I pull his chin to me, but the guilt I feel at the sight of his bloody and bruised face nearly makes me vomit. His lip is deeply cut and swollen, his cheek a dark shade of purple, and his eyebrow marred with a deepslash. His eyes move rapidly under his lids as he painfully groans. That’s when I notice his shirt’s torn on the right side revealing a bruised abdomen under all his ink. Whatever they did to him, they got him good.

My glare flies back to Ace who looks baffled by my reaction, not understanding the adoration I have for this man in front of me. He’s not just my ex-boyfriend, he’s my best friend, my brother, and he’s here, in this situation, bleeding at the hand of these devils, because of me.

The rest of the Horsemen stand in a straight line surrounding us, but what angers me most, is the man who now stands front and center. Wesley Servite, standing irritatingly smug and proud, his arms crossed over his chest, his wicked smirk upon his face. The same smirk he’s donned since the day I met him. And his soldiers beside him are the ones who’ve done his bidding.

“Princess.” I turn my attention back to Drake as he groans quietly, but loud enough that I know Ace can hear. I know he’s heard by the way his body straightens, and his footsteps eagerly approach us. I turn and glare at him, causing him to stop in his tracks. That’s the third time today he’s looked at me with a glimmer of sorrow sheathing his eyes, almost like regret. Almost.

I once again turn back to Drake, cupping his chin in my hand and moving it to face me. “Shh, don’t force it, Dragon.” His eyes open wider, and I see two emerald jewels solemnly staring into mine. “I’m so sorry,” I mumble between soft sobs. “I never wanted to hurt you, I never wanted you to get hurt because of me. All I’ve done, the decisions I’ve made, have been to make sure you stayed safe, that you were protected, and look what I’ve done now.” My tears slowly spill upon my cheek, burning my ice-cold skin as they land.

“Baby,” he whispers softly, as he winces in pain. He looks directly into my eyes, seeing past the walls I’ve built these past few months, tearing them down one by one, with each drop of blood he shed today. “I can’t remember a time I ever saw you cry.” I movecloser to him as he brings his lips to me, placing a chaste kiss upon my forehead.

“These are for you, Drake,” I whisper softly, lowering my head to his chest, murmuring against it. “They shed for you. Because I couldn’t do enough, be enough.”

“You are more than anything I’d ever wanted or needed,” he groans.

“Well, isn’t this just lovely, boys,” Wesley Servite calls out. “Our girl on her knees before Judas, the traitor.”

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