Page 45 of Santiago's Conquest (Four Dark Horsemen 1)

“I—I don’t understand.” None of what he says adds up in my head. Why go through all this trouble of kidnapping and chaining me in his dungeon when he doesn’t plan to kill me and, in fact, promises me freedom no matter what?

Showing me the dark side of their life, introducing me to all the things they are capable of… does he expect me to just accept it and never report them to the police? The massacre in my house will be enough evidence to lock them all up for eternity!

“Paciencia, mi amor, paciencia.” Patience? Is he kidding me right now?

Going back into the middle of the arena, he claps his hands twice, and instantly the rattling of chains echoes as two rusty cages slowly slide down to the floor. I cover my mouth in shock when I see my father in one of them, bruised and beaten up, one eye swollen shut. He whispers something, his voice barely audible. The cage sways just a little bit above the floor, and he breathes heavily, resting his back on the bars.

“Let him go!” I scream, my nails sinking into my palms and probably drawing blood, but I don’t give a shit. “You almost killed him.”

“We didn’t do it, Briseis.” Octavius’s voice makes me shift my attention back to the benches.

“How stupid do you think I am to believe that?” Or did me sleeping with their best friend make them think I’m a fool who eats up whatever bullshit people dump on me?

“If we did that, everyone would have been dead.” Remi gets up and leans on the banister, pointing at my father. “We don’t leave loose ends.” Disgust prickles my skin, their words smearing me in such dirt even a long bath wouldn’t wash it away.

“I don’t believe you.”

“No me importa si nos crees o no.” Of course he doesn’t care if I believe them or not; the bastard thinks he rules the world with his horsemen—as if they are the true riders who came when the seals were opened.

“Let him go!” I repeat, and Santiago sighs, shaking his head.

“Querida, everything in this world has a price.” I freeze, his earlier words playing in my mind while he continues. “Your father’s life as well.”

“And what’s the price?” Dread coats my voice in anticipation of his horrible request.

“Cásate conmigo.”

Everything inside me goes still, my heart beating wildly in my chest while the ringing in my ears intensifies, and I’m sure I haven’t heard him right.

Hope like hell I heard him wrong.

He grins, lifting his palm up and pointing at the second cage to which I shift my focus, and my eyes widen when I see a wedding dress hanging inside. “Marry me, and I won’t kill your father.”

The words spill from my mouth before I can stop them. “Are you out of your mind? I won’t marry you!”

“I always keep my word. You’re free to go if you don’t want to marry me.” He fetches a lighter out of his pocket, flipping it through his fingers before putting a cigarette in his mouth. “But your father will be dead today.”

Shaking my head in disbelief, I whisper, “No. No.” And I do the one thing I promised myself to never do while subjected to the abuse of others. “Please, please don’t do this to me, Santiago. We won’t say a word to anyone. Please let us go,” I plead, my lips trembling while fear and shock from his proposition fills every pore on my body, creating a dreadful picture in my head of my future where life will be constant suffering.

Marriage to the monster, serial killer, collateral damage in order to fulfill a despicable plan in his head.

Whatever the hell that is.

No rational explanation exists here. If he truly wanted to serve revenge against my father, he would have picked Addison or Ava, his princesses. Not me, a bastard of a whore who he never gave a shit about.

Free to go?

A bitter laugh almost erupts from me, but I hold it back, too afraid to make a sound or otherwise I’ll go insane.

Santiago stays oblivious to my begging, threading his fingers in my hair, and pulls at it as I kneel in front of him. “Choose, Briseis. Our wedding or your father’s funeral.”

Endless memories of my father snap in front of my eyes, playing like a colorful movie on a projector showing me his angry face, remarks, the beatings, and snarls. His face twisted in a grimace when in my company, his wish for me to never have been born, and finally how I destroyed his relationship with my mother.

But try as I might, I don’t find any happy memory with him that could push me in the right direction.

My mouth opens to refuse his offer, let my father face the consequences of his life choices, but the other part of me, the one bleeding with compassion and conscience, doesn’t allow me to make a heartless choice.

It urges me to stay human despite being sired by a monster and to rise above it, even if it means marrying one.

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