Page 88 of Entombed In Sin

“Have a seat, won’t you?” I offer.

“W-where?” the guy asks as Sagan shoves him in front of us.

As he whirls around to face us, he meets the end of my fist. The thug crumples to the ground with a cry. He reaches up to hold his nose.

“You can sit right there,” I tell him with a cold smile. “Now, let’s see what Angel Eyes so thoughtfully sent.”

My stomach clenches as I lift the box. What could fit inside here that he wanted hand delivered? Whatever it is, it won’t be good. I know that as certainly as I know my first name. Rather than open it right away, I glance over to Sagan. He’s staring at the box as if it’s a bomb he’s going to attempt to survive when it goes off. With a deep breath and a pounding heart, I lift the lid.

The world goes silent. My heart grinds to a halt. And the breath in my lungs is expelled sharply.

There, sitting in the box, is a blue eyeball. Afamiliareyeball. I’d stared into the pair of these baby blues not all that long ago.

Fuck.

I start to shut the box as an icy rage grips my heart, but stop when something beneath the eye catches my attention. Reaching in, I pull out a small, thin, “Y” shaped piece of plastic. Blood stains it. I’m no doctor, but I know what this is and who it belongs to. Just as I know whose eyeball sits staring back at me. Thanks to Sagan’s intensive stalking before we consumed Beatrix’s life, I know about my sister’s preferred method of birth control. The fact that I’m holding it tells me this IUD is no longer a viable option.Howit got from Beatrix’s uterus into my hands is an even bigger issue.

An eerie stillness settles over me. It’s heavy but welcomed as it numbs the fury and pain that tries to overwhelm. Calmly, I shut the box and pocket it.

“Well, what a thoughtful gift,” I say, my voice even and soft. I look down at our guest and smile.

Sagan says nothing.

Between us, our bond has never felt more solid. The dark stillness that is stretching to every corner of my body reaches for a similar one in him. When they merge, the thoughts and desiresthat well up inside me, insideus, would make even the devil quake.

I pull my knife out, and the man on the ground begins to scramble back. “It would be rude if we didn’t give him something special in return, wouldn’t it, Sagan?”

“It certainly would,” he agrees, his voice gravelly and low.

“Good thing I have just the surprise for him.”

29

BEATRIX

Barney Witt. Rooney Monroe. George Amery. Patrick Hunt. Trevor Michaels. Sebastian Heins.

I can see each of their faces, whether my eyes are open, trained on the white tile wall, or in the darkness behind my eyelids. I can feel their grubby, rough hands gripping my tits and the way they force their dicks between my legs. The first four were the men my mother brought home. Her horrible decisions caused misery that lasted years. The others were men in my life who the world had gifted with privilege and a lack of morals. There are so many men like them in the world.

It just happened to be my luck that I found so many so close to home.

Every agonizing moment that I spent in each of their hands replays over and over in my head with each visit I get from Ronald. It’s not just Angel Eyes staring down at me, his dick buried deep and staying there long after his release—it’s all the men in my life above me, doing the same thing.

Ronald Reed, Angel Eyes, or whatever the hell he wanted to be called, thought I would break the first time he visited. Was sure of it the second time he came down here, and overly confident during his third visit. But I’ve played this game before.

A smile pulls at the corners of my mouth. Maybe the old Beatrix Starr would’ve broken down and accepted this pathetic, miserable new chapter of her life. But I’m not that girl anymore. I’m Sagan’s Little Viper. I’m Thatcher’s Little Sister, and I’m Knox’s best fucking friend. My family is made up of sadistic men, and they’ve taught me that surviving means striking back. And that’s exactly what I plan to do. I’m getting the hell out of here, and I’m going to make sure someone bleeds as I go. Tension has the muscles in my chest clenching tight, and I feel the determination to get out of here solidifying once more.

As I lay on my side, enjoying the cool tile against my flushed naked skin, I use what’s left of my thumb’s nail to twist the rusted, loose screw that holds down an old steel plate to the tile floor. It’s a small miracle Shannon managed to convince Angel Eyes to shackle my wrists and chain me to the floor rather than leave me strapped down forever on that stupid exam table. She might be psycho enough to stand beside the table while her husband fights to get me pregnant, but at least she has the common decency to allow me to stand and move around during down times.

Lucky me.

But yesterday, as I lay on the tiled floor, curled up into a ball after her husband had come down for the third time that day, luck really had found me here in this basement. I’d discovered that the plate that connects my chains to the floor is loose. Out of the four screws holding it in place, one was missing and two were movable. I’ve worked the two loose screws nearly out of their holes—a hard tug should send them flying.

But this third screw? It’s being a pain. It’s hardly budged since I’ve started playing with it this morning. Or what I think was morning. Shannon brought down breakfast, so I can only assume it was early in the day. Without a clock or windows, who knows how much time has passed?

“Hey, Shining Starr?” Knox calls out from across the basement.

My heart flutters at the sound of his voice. God, I’m so relieved he’s not dead. My heart wouldn’t have survived the devastation. He might have one less eye, but I’ll take that any day over losing him. Knox is everything I could’ve asked for, maybe even more. A friend who has my back. Someone who will stand up for me, laugh with me, and who understands the pain from my past like no other. We may have started out on rocky footing, but everything’s changed. He’s worth surviving this for. When we get out of here, we’ll find the twins and live happily ever after. I just know it.

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