Page 80 of Deviant Illusions

“Kane?” Delilah whispers through tears as I close the bathroom door behind me.

There’s no lock on the outside of the door, so I drag the dresser across the wall to barricade her inside. The wooden legs scrape against the floor, the top wobbling, and my arm burns, but her steps are covered by the sound as Helene’s tapping becomes more urgent. “Do not think you can hide, boy.”

Once Delilah’s safe, I turn and grit my teeth to suppress the pain in my shoulder as I go to the other door and open it to my cunt of a grandmother. She stands in front of me, that fucking stick in her hand that she taps against the floor like I’m a dog.

“Go,” she snarls.

I walk ahead as she taps that fucking stick behind me. It clangs against the edge of the metal staircase. “Down.”

Fuck her. I turn, my fists clenched, and snap, “Watch how the fuck you speak to me. I’m neither a dog nor one of your fucking sons to order around.”

Her eyes blaze as she storms past me, the staircase rattling beneath her feet as she violently smacks her stick against the spindles. None of those sounds mute her anger as she grits, “You will come down to take your punishment or you will watch as thatwifeof yours takes it in your place.”

The urge to kick her in the back of the head sits right in front of me, but we’re trapped. Everything on the property is under her control. I need to get Delilah away from here. Someone onthe island will be able to help her. They’ll know a way out that isn’t at the hand of this decrepit cunt.

So, I resist and walk down as she reaches the bottom. Loud bangs vibrate through the hallway and I can’t make out what Delilah is screaming as I reach the bottom step.

Helene lifts her chin, full of her own self-importance, and Anna walks into the creepy space like her little lap dog. She doesn’t have a crossbow in her hand this time and she doesn’t lift her chin from her chest as she hands the cunt a cloth bag.

“Will you be obedient?” Helene asks, waiting for Anna to open the bag.

“Will you attempt to hurt my wife?” I counter.

Helene smiles without any warmth as she reaches into the bag, her hand pausing on the contents inside. “You seem to misunderstand a lot of things, a trait you inherited from your worthless mother no doubt, but make no mistake, Kane, that woman upstairs belongs to me before she will ever belong to you.”

“Fuck you. She’s my fucking wife. I married her, I fucked her, I will be the one to stick to the agreement.” I take a step forward on to the tile. “And you make no fucking mistake, if you raise a hand to her, you lift one fucking finger to order one of these fuckwits to hurt her on your behalf, I will kill both Delilah and myself so that your agreement is void.”

She locks her soulless eyes on me, a smirk playing on her lips that slowly widens into a sinister smile. “Oh, sweet boy, that’s another thing you seem to have misunderstood.” She takes a step forward, her lackey following her as Helene absentmindedly keeps her hand in the cloth bag. She doesn’t come close enough to inflict physical harm, but her eyes harden.

“You see, there are many ways for that girl?—”

“My wife,” I correct, “not girl.”

“Do not interrupt me,” she seethes. “Thatgirlwill carry a Kobalt, with your assistance or without.” She laughs to herself, a vile sound that turns my insides. “The only thing we require from thatgirlis her body. You may take her arms, her legs, even her head, because you have yet to learn that this is my kingdom. I am your God, your judge, your executioner, the creator, and the mother of all.”

36

DELILAH

Kane is a fucking idiot. I knew he was crazy, since he decided to pretend to be his brother, but he’s also stupid. His attempt at locking me away didn’t factor in that the door opensintothe bathroom. I push my shoulder against the heavy wooden dresser to get it to move.

If he leaves me here, I’ll kill him.

The dresser rocks as I try to slide it forward, so I stop and shout, “Kane! Come back!”

I’m not staying here with his crazy grandmother. Somehow, that’s worse than the fact he left me to burn to death. He’s the lesser of two evils, but their steps get further away, and I stare at the dresser like I can find another way to move it without toppling it over. My grandparents always hated if I made noise. They’d force me into piano practice for hours as a punishment, so if they hear me destroying this room, they’ll do it again.

The dresser comes up to my shoulders and I silently laugh to myself as I remember the game Scarlet created. She was always the weirdo, but at least her strange games come into use as I flatten my back against the door jamb then plant my feet on the opposite side. I can almost hear her saying,“Just like a spider,or do you want to be a little princess locked away forever?”as I climb up the inside of the doorframe.

I reach the top and place my knee on the wooden surface, only for it to rock. I have to latch onto the top of the doorframe so tightly that the tips of my fingers hurt. There’s nothing I can use for leverage to stop it falling if I slide off it so I grit my teeth, wincing as I jump. The loudthudmakes me cringe and I freeze in anticipation of my grandparents barging into the room to drag me out by my hair.

The door doesn’t fly open though, which doesn’t ease me as I walk with my heart in my throat to slowly crack the door open. Kane’s low voice floats up, but it’s too far away for me to make out what he’s saying, so I keep walking. The hallway is even darker now that the sun is beginning to set. He booms, “Fuck you!”

It’s immediately followed by a crack, then a muffled scream filled with pain. I nearly trip over my own feet as I run towards the sound of his voice, only to abruptly stop at the top of the staircase with my fingers wrapped around the metal handrail to prevent me from falling, because the sight in front of me is barbaric.

The crack comes again as his grandmother takes a step back, flicking her wrist to weave a bullwhip through the air. I flinch at the crack before I can register that the tail has hit Kane’s shoulder. He turns, attempting to avoid it, but she continues walking backwards to gain better leverage.

Anna, my nanny who was the only kind person in my house, doesn’t open her fucking mouth as Kane hisses. In his attempt to catch the braided leather, it wraps around his wrist, leaving an angry red mark behind.

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