Page 31 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

“I think you’re probably right.”

“Should we try to find her?”

I didn’t want to think too hard about the sticker-covered telescope in my car. “Rachel... I think I already have.”

Afew days later backin North Carolina, I sat outside on the porch with a large serving of Woodford Reserve, and made a phone call.

“Simon Pierce. Merry Christmas.”

“You’re two days late, Weston. How are you?”

“Becca fill you in on Woodrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know anything about his former slave? The one who ghosted him?”

“Yeah. I know her. I used to do suspension scenes with her, and some primal stuff. And I did all her piercings.” I heard him settle into a chair of some kind and crack open a beer. “She’s a hardcore masochist. Five-foot-nothing, if that, and hotter than sin. Fiery, bratty, mouthy little thing. She played with Woodrow casually for a few months after a bad dynamic ended, and then they became exclusive.”

“What happened?”

“You remember when he took her to The Lounge for that big play party? And Lindsay Murray punched him in the face, and they both got kicked out?”

“Well... they didn’t both get kicked out, but yes, I remember the situation. I wasn’t there to witness it, though. I only know what Jack told me.”

“From what I understand, they had been playing at The Underground and she’d verbally safeworded and he hadn’t stopped their scene. But I didn’t witness that, and she’s famous for topping from the bottom, so it’s hard to say if anything really happened.They call her ‘The Demon of The Underground’ for a reason.

“Then a few days later, I watched her safeword out of a scene, and hedidstop, but he gave her a lot of shit for it. It made me really worry about her. Annette and Michelle and I said something to Anthony, and he asked Pete not to come back if he was going to play like that.

“After that, Pete took her home and nobody saw either of them again for a while. I tried reaching out, but she wouldn’t answer her phone. Saw her again at The Lounge that night... Lindsay is psychic, right?”

I winced at the term. Lindsay had her own unique abilities, but hated being called a psychic for reasons she never liked to get into.

“Sort of, yes. She’s very preceptive.”

“Well, I think my alarm at the vibe I got from her was what set Lindsay off.”

“What happened after the fight?”

“Nobody knows. Apparently, he had her on a leash and he dropped it when he got punched. She ran out of the bar, and nobody’s seen her since. I’m worried about her, Reuben. I’ve been looking around, even tried calling her old boss, but I couldn’t get in touch.”

I closed my eyes, dreading hearing his answer to my next question. “You remember her name?”

“Of course. She’s one of my best friends. I’ll never forget Alice Benson.”

“Thanks, Pierce.” I hung up the phone and stared at the telescope sitting in my living room, swallowing my nausea.

I remembered the short conversation on the porch outside the church.Isn’t that the point of owning a slave? To have someone to break?And the way she’d scoffed when I’d brought up contracts. And the way she constantly bratted for attention. And the way she’d jumped and thrown her arms up in fear when Cat had nudged her foot... That was a trauma response.

Alice wasn’t just a brat, I realized. If Peter Woodrow had hurt her, that would explain a lot of her behavior. She was hurt, terrified, and didn’t know how else to get what she wanted. She manipulated people into giving her what she needed, because the alternative was to not have her needs met.

Because she’d trusted someone to meet them, and they’d broken that confidence.

Anger churned in my gut, and the Beast reared its head. I was furious at the idea of someone hurting her, or even upsetting her. She could cry all she wanted at my hand, but someone else upsetting her?I wasn’t okay with that.

Against my will, the scene I’d witnessed earlier morphed into something different. Instead of many people in the room, it was just Pete. Instead of Rachel on her knees, it was Alice. Mystical blue eyes filled with tears, mascara running down her cheeks, dark hair setting off the red marks that covered her breasts and stomach and back.

Nobody hurts my girl.

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