Page 126 of Reaper Flame

“There’s too many of them,” Zander panted. “We can’t hold them off any longer.”

He was right.

What had we done?

TWENTY-SIX

“You don’t need to be so fucking rough!” I snarled at the creepy slimeball who shoved me through the door to the adjoining room where Hiram waited. Inside, the other Sevens were all being held at gunpoint by Hiram’s men.

“Did you really think you could beat me, Kitten?” Hiram taunted. He nodded at the guard to drop me. I fell to my knees and forced myself to look at him. It hurt to move, but pain had become my armor long ago. It reminded me I was still alive and of what I’d overcome. “Do you really want to choosethemover me?”

“Don’t hurt them.” My voice cracked. “Please.”

Hiram circled the room and stopped at each of the Sevens. First, there was Zander, who wrestled against his captor. As he resisted, Hiram’s goon cracked him over the head with the butt of his gun. Blood trickled down his face, covering his Seven tattoo. Anyone else would collapse from the pain, but Zander’s eyes stayed open. He refused to lose consciousness.

“Don’t you remember how you meant so little to him?” Hiram mocked. “He handed you over to me. He never cared about you. He only wanted money and a name, just like his father.”

Next, he moved onto West. The big man’s clothes were soaked through, and his gigantic frame shivered like a tree caught in a hurricane. I’d never seen him so fragile, but I couldn’t allow myself to show weakness. I had to be strong.

“Don’t you remember how quickly he moved on?” Hiram continued. “He doesn’t want a woman like you. What happened to the woman at the funeral? The pretty one with all the money. That’s the kind of girl he wants to be with.”

West’s eyes met my gaze, and he opened his mouth to speak, but one of the two men holding him punched him in the ribs. He dissolved into a coughing fit, spraying water everywhere.

“He’s lying, C!” Rocky cried out. “Don’t listen to him.”

“Andyou?” Hiram whirled around and pointed at Rocky. “Are you forgetting how you abandoned her? She trusted you, and you lured her out that night. You let me take her.”

Rocky held his head high. “But I won’t let you take her again.”

Hiram nodded, and his man punched him straight in the face. Rocky’s nose exploded into a bloody mess, but he only laughed.

“I will kill you first,” Hiram snarled. “I should have killed you years ago.”

Hiram motioned again, and his men continued to beat Rocky until he could barely open his eyes. They took pleasure in it. Rocky had learned to take a beating, but even he couldn’t last this long.

“And these two...” Hiram continued around the room, stopping at Mieko and Vixen. He surveyed Vixen with disgust. “I will have no use for her, but the other one...” He stroked Mieko’s collarbone, making her shudder. “I know people who would be very keen to meet her.”

“Stop!” I screamed, putting an end to his theatrics. “Leave them! It’s me you want!”

Hiram paused and turned to face me.

“Why defend them, Kitten?” he snarled. “Did I teach you nothing?”

“You know nothing about love,” I said, rising to my feet. “Someone like you will never understand what it’s like to put another person before yourself.”

He struck me hard across the face, making my head snap around. His hand print would bruise.

“This?” Hiram gestured at all the people I loved. “This is not love! This is a weakness. Everything I did was to make you stronger.”

“You turned me into a monster,” I spat, averting my eyes to look into his face.

The face of the devil who’d plagued my life.

He’d taken away my childhood.

He’d robbed me of happiness.

He’d molded me into his image, but I never asked for it.

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