Page 46 of Encircled in Darkness
Jacob nodded and glanced at his older brother before disappearing through the door and across the yard. With slow deliberate steps, we walked down the hallway and I glanced into the study, finding Victor and three other men watching something flickering on the back wall.
Amaya was on the floor on the other side of them, huddled against the wall, and rocking with her hands over her ears. The tears were flowing down her face as she tried to hide from the visual of her sister being raped and beaten.
Victor yelled at her, “Watch this whore. She loved taking three cocks at once. Almost as much as you. Too bad she wasn’t strong enough to handle us. Watch this. She begged for mercy.” He laughed and gripped Amaya by her hair, pulling her up as she fought against his hold.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, his chest to her back, and the monster inside of me snapped. My gaze caught Devlin’s and he nodded as the three of us burst through the doorway, catching them all off guard.
The three men in the chairs who were watching the movie turned toward the loud noise and we rushed them. Devlin shot one in the leg and he wailed as he dropped to the floor. Skid grasped his knife and plunged into the shoulder of the second man. I fired my weapon, striking the third man in his knee. He shrieked and collapsed on the floor, blood flowing across the marble as the reality of the situation caught up with Victor.
I leveled my gun on Victor and the coward ducked behind Amaya. She struggled against his hold when suddenly she reached under her long red dress and pulled out a small stun gun. Twisting, she pressed it into his side and fired the weapon into Victor. He screeched and released her.
Amaya dropped the stun gun and stumbled toward me as Skid stopped the horrible movie that was playing. The sounds of Natalia’s cries were silenced forever. I wrapped my arms around her as she collapsed to the floor, sobs breaking from her in a gut curdling scream.
“I’ve got you. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.” I whispered, kissing the top of her head, and rocking her in my arms as she broke apart.
The rage coming off Devlin as he watched Amaya break, her raw pain too much for any person to bear, was a fraction of the sheer fury the monster was ready to unleash. The four men struggled on the floor, their moans and cries becoming annoying. Devlin walked over and kicked each one in the mouth before standing over Victor, begging him to make a move. He laid there, rage pouring off him as I lifted Amaya into my arms and carried her out of the room.
She stopped me and I looked into her tear-filled eyes, seeing the bruises forming on her beautiful face. She kissed me softly and hugged herself tightly to me. Her words filled the empty parts of me, urging the monster back into his cage. “I love you James.”
“I love you Amaya.” I kissed the stitches on her head and tried to set her down.
She wrapped herself tighter against me and pleaded on a whisper. “Please, don’t let me go.” I could see the panic and pain in her eyes, and I silently vowed to carry her forever.
“I’ll never let you go, sweetheart.” I promised her and crushed her tighter to me.
Turning to my brother with a sick smile on my face, I told him. “Let’s take them to the warehouse.”
Devlin’s eyes flashed black and I felt the monsters that were born out of necessity push fully to the surface. I kept Amaya securely in my arms and took her out front so she wouldn’t have to be in that hellish place anymore. She turned her honey brown eyes to me, and I watched the tears fall down her bruised face.
I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better, but I knew how to destroy her nightmares forever. I hummed a tune to her and rubbed my hand up and down her back as she cried in my arms.
A few minutes later, the DeathHounds descended on the house, their loud motorcycles drowning out the muffled yells coming from Victor and his three degenerate friends. My truck pulled up and they carried the four men out like pigs going to the spit. The cold dead stare of Victor toward Amaya pissed me off and I tried to release her. She grasped me tighter and I felt her shaking against me as they tossed Victor into the truck and Devlin closed the hard cover, trapping them in the back.
Devlin nodded to me and patted his backpack as he got behind the wheel of my truck. I climbed into the backseat and held Amaya close to me, knowing what he had secured from inside. There was a huge bump under the stitches on her forehead and every time she tried to close her eyes, I would shake her gently and whisper her name. Blinking her eyes up at me, she would smile at me before her lip would tremble and the tears would start again.
The monster roared that I couldn’t let her out of my sight for a single moment. I tried to figure out what to do with her while I annihilated the four assholes who hurt Natalia and destroyed that fucking lawyer. As tightly as she was clinging to me, I don’t think she would allow herself to be separated from me. Holding her in my arms, feeling her love for me, I finally understood why Devlin went crazy for so many years over Elise.
“I’m sorry about Natalia. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
She turned in my arms and kissed me softly. “You were there when it counted and that’s all that matters.”
“I know you don’t want me to let you go, but I need to get you to a hospital - then to bed.” She shook her head and I continued. “This is going to be bad and I don’t want to upset you any more than you already are. I can take you to my apartment if you want. You don’t have to be there for any of this. I promise.”
“They raped and killed my sister, evenifshe only died today. They deserve to pay and before they die, I want to know why.”Something changed in her expression and as she looked at me, I saw her darkness smiling at my monster. “I want to watch them suffer.”
Her stare was blank, and I knew I could pull her back from the darkness when she was ready to leave its safety. For now, I would let her be protected there and the monster would stand watch over her, guarding her, killing for her, and destroying anyone who got in my way.
“I’ll do my best.” I looked at her through my lashes and saw the same rage burning in her. I kissed her softly. “I love you so much.”
“I love you more.”
Amaya
As James held me in his arms, I felt the edges of the darkness blur around me, drawing me into its safety. I could tell he was worried about me, but there was no need. He would find me in the dark and pull me back into the light. James loved me and all the darkness that lived within me, and knowing that, I could survive anything.
We pulled up to an old warehouse on the edge of Pierce Bluff. The area was run down and deserted. Devlin left us alone in the truck and was talking to Skid and a few of his MC brothers who had followed us here. James looked at me, still holding me tightly, and kissed me softly.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his green eyes filled with worry for me and rage for the four men being dragged from the bed of the truck into the building.
