Page 1 of The Madman's Nightmare
Prologue
Six years ago
Ididn’t recognize that the screams filling my ears were coming for me until a breath caught in my throat as another painful blow erupted across my back. Another strike hit me, and my knees almost buckled as the sound of laughter trickled through the pain and shame filling me. I hated giving anyone the satisfaction of seeing me cry, but with the waves and pain and nausea overwhelming me, I couldn’t stop the hot tears from falling down my cheeks.
Struggling did me no good and when another hit made contact with my skin, I felt a trickle of warmth begin to roll down my naked ass cheek and thigh. The burning of the open wound was compounded by the sweat pouring off me in the overly hot room.
My voice was raw, and the plea came out as more of a whisper as I begged, “Please stop.” Another hit connected, and I cried out, “Please.”
Someone pressed against my naked back, and I smelled his rancid breath filling my nostrils. “What are you going to give me if I stop?”
At that moment, I was willing to give anything to make it stop, but I feared what he would demand when I finally broke. Shaking my head without responding, I heard the person behind me take a step back and a moment later, another strike against my skin made my legs wobble.
“Tell me what I want to know, and I’ll make all the pain stop,” he jeered, but how could I believe him.
My head hung down, pressing my chin to my chest as I debated on how much I was willing to tell to get the intense pain to stop. I wanted to protect them and their secrets, but I couldn’t take much more of this man’s torture. Maybe if I told him just enough to get him to stop striking me, he would be satisfied.
Then I knew I was kidding myself. The people who took me wanted everything I knew and would stop at nothing to get the information. I knew that since I could smell the rotting flesh of the man who was caged next to me for the last three days. They took him into the room I was in now, and every hit made him scream louder.
When they came for me and began to string me up, I peed myself at the sight of his damaged body being dragged from the room. I knew what was coming, and as hard as I tried, I knew I was going to cave.
I didn’t want to betray my family, then images would flash in my mind, and I’d think about how I was cast out in the dark. And I blamed him for everything.
Devlin Callahan. The Madman. The person who was responsible for all my pain, not only today, but for the last five years. Every bad moment, every painful lash, every hidden secret was his fault.
When the man struck me again, making contact with my ass cheek, I pushed to my toes as I tried to get away from his abuse. Faster than the last few, he hit me once, twice, and finally, a third time in rapid succession.
“Why do you protect him when he treated you like trash?” the man yelled. “You were once his most prized possession, and now, you’re nothing. Why keep his secrets?”
I knew he was right, but that didn’t make his statements hurt any less. At one time, I was in the inner circle, privy to the darkest of realities as Devlin slashed his way through everyone who stood in his way.
The man behind me sighed and I knew another strike was coming. Deep down, I knew I didn’t owe any loyalty to Devlin. Not anymore. Not after he got everything and I was cast to the side, forgotten along with the rest of the people who stood beside him during his rise to power.
“Stop,” I yelled before the whip made contact with my skin, not able to take anymore.
The burning and stinging of the lashes crisscrossed my back, thighs, ass and shoulders. The man stepped against my back again and asked, “What do you have to tell me?”
“Everything,” I admitted, feeling the last of my resolve drop as I said again. “I’ll tell you everything.”
He reached up, brushing his body against my open wounds as he unhooked my secured hands from the hook hanging from the ceiling. I fell to my knees when he released his hold on me and through tears, I lifted my eyes to the man who had tortured me for the last day.
His eyebrows were raised as he squatted in front of me. Something told me he wasn’t going to ask any questions, so I had to offer him something so he knew I wasn’t going back on my word.
“Devlin and James aren’t real brothers. They aren’t related at all, but everyone thinks they are,” I whispered as my gaze went to the floor.
Lifting my eyes, I saw his crooked smile filled with broken teeth as he reached down and yanked me from my feet. Pain burned across my back and legs as he pulled me from the dark room. The bright lights of the room he took me into were harsh on my eyes as he tossed me into a chair and shoved me against a table. Stinging discomfort was constant as I sat at the table, waiting for whatever came next.
One thing I knew for certain, all of this was Devlin’s fault and if it was the last thing I did, I was going to make him pay. I wasgoing to take as much from him as he took from me and if it was the last thing I did, I would get my revenge.
Even if it meant taking his precious Lamb from him and showing her what kind of monster she slept beside every night.
You see him as some kind of dark savior, but I know the truth. And soon, everyone would know where the bodies were buried . . . even if I had to dig them up myself.
Chapter 1
Devlin
A month ago
