Page 32 of Hayes
Peter answers, though. “The contract you signed allows me to do whatever I want to you. I own you until your future husband buys you, and then he’ll own you. You aren’t a Retribution King—you’re the future wife of one. And because of you, the Retribution Kings are now under attack. Someone wants you. Someone is fighting for you. You can’t be trusted, and you’re not worth men dying over.”
Chapter 15
Lilith
I always knew the Retribution Kings were monsters. I knew the truth from a young age, even before they did anything to personally hurt me or my family. They always acted like they were the ones who would right any wrong, would restore balance when some evil was committed. But they were the evil all along.
I knew I would die fighting them, but I hoped my family would live. I hoped my sisters would live and escape this life. It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
I’ve sat in a dark dungeon for days with barely any food or water. No one has spoken to me. No one has said a word to me. No one has said they know I’m the one who killed two of their own, and I’m about to be punished for my crimes. I’m most likely about to be tortured, raped, and then killed.
I just have to stop them from seeking retribution against my family. They had nothing to do with this.
But I can’t stop anything from a cage.
And Hayes—he said he loved me, the foolish man. But he clearly doesn’t care if he can’t save me from this fate.
My wrists and ankles are still locked together in cuffs, and I still have a blindfold over my eyes. Suddenly I hear the metal door of my cage open.
“It’s time,” a deep man’s voice says.
I don’t respond. Maybe if I die with dignity, they’ll let my family go. That’s all I care about now. It’s all I should have ever cared about—earning enough money for them to live, not getting retribution. I thought I could do both—I was wrong.
I feel rough hands on my biceps and thighs as I’m lifted up again. Up, up, up my body is carried up a set of stairs.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, unable to keep silent.
“To your new owner.”
Owner.
Fuck them all.
I don’t care if they kill me; I’ll find a way to come back from the dead and kill them all.
I’m tossed into the back of a van. Doors are slammed shut, and I’m once again left with doing nothing but waiting and waiting and waiting.
The van drives quickly, but I have no idea what’s happening or why. No idea what they discovered or decided to do with me in the days I’ve been locked in a cage and forgotten. No idea what was in that fucking contract that makes them think they can do this to me.
Who am I kidding? Contract or not, they can do whatever they want to me. Who would stop them?
My eyes drift closed from the bouncing of the van as we drive.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty. You don’t want to miss the look on your new master’s face when he sees you. I don’t know who you really are, Lilith Hart, but I do know you’re a much stronger spirit than you first let on. And he’s going to enjoy breaking your will and making you into what you were always meant to be,” a man says.
The voice sounds an awful lot like Leo. At least that must mean Leo’s not my new owner.
I’m roughly yanked out of the van. I try to fight, try to break free of the handcuffs, try to wiggle the blindfold off my face so I can see—but nothing works.
“Stop struggling, or we’ll drug you,” Leo says.
I still.
I should save my energy anyway for the moment when someone decides I’m tame enough to remove these cuffs. It will be their last mistake when they do—I’ll take no mercy.
I feel the hands on me relax as I stop struggling. Finally, they stop walking.
“I’m going to enjoy watching him break you, whore. He does like to share his toys after they’re trained,” Leo says.
