Page 63 of Elicit (Decadence After Dark)

There’s no time for a response after that because all hell suddenly breaks loose. London pounces out from behind me and nails Easton right in the chest with the knife I gave her.

“I’m not yours!” she shrieks insanely as she plunges the blade all the way into his heart. At the same erupting moment, Kayne mows down Silas, stabbing him in the neck a split second before he pulls out his gun. Blood spurts out everywhere from the rip in his jugular vein as Kayne viciously slits his throat open. I’m trapped in a momentary time lapse, torn between which direction I should go.

“I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!”London’s distraught screams yank me to her.“I’m not yours!”She stabs him over and over again.“I’m not fucking yours!”Blood is smeared all over her fists and splattered across her face and chest. I attempt to pull her away, but her adrenaline is pumping too hard. She’s imprisoned in the moment.

“Die!”She stabs him one last time and literally twists the knife. Then she collapses, a dazed look in her distraught eyes.

Kayne and I share the same dumbstruck expression as I attempt to pull her into my arms.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s all okay.” London comes to me slowly, warily. Like she doesn’t know who I am. Like she doesn’t even know who she is.

She’s in shock.

Once she’s sure she’s secure in my embrace, she nuzzles her head against my chest and lets it all go. She sobs so hard she shakes us both. Loud, anguished, afflicted sounds tearing from her throat. Never have I sensed so much pain. It’s so powerful I can almost carry it with me. I would gladly take it all if it meant she would finally be free.

“Shhh.” I rock her until she’s calm. Until the agonizing moans stop and she becomes a zombie in my arms.

I look up at Kayne who’s standing over two dead, bloody bodies, heaving like all the oxygen has been sucked out of the room. The wood floor flooding with red the longer the two corpses lay there.

“We need a cleanup in aisle three,” he says wryly.

Ya think?I fixate my attention on one of the hidden cameras in the corner of the office. I know Juice just saw everything and is cursing his head off right now. So much for no more messes.Oops.

We have a protocol for situations like these, which we’ve never had to deploy until now.

“Text Alistair. Get him in here,” I order Kayne with a paralyzed London still in my grasp.

I don’t think more than fifteen heartbeats pass before Alistair slips into the room. His facial expression says it all. “Holy fuck.”

“I need you to take her,” I bark at him. “Take her out to the pool house and wait for me. Use one of the back entrances so no one sees.”

Alistair hesitates for a second before prying London out of my arms.

“Jesus Christ, did she kill someone?” He notes the blood all over her face and body.

“Do you really want to know the answer to that?” I challenge.

His skin pales as he makes his conclusion.

Trust me, no one is more shocked by her actions than I am. My sexy, fierce little bird is a badass.

Mansion is full of service entrances and old staff corridors, so sneaking around can be easy as long as you know the ins and outs. It’s part of the reason Kayne and I chose this place. Plenty of escape routes, if needed. And tonight, it’s paying off tenfold.

Alistair guides London out of the alternate entrance of the office, leaving me with minimal time to handle what I need to.

“Are you good waiting for the crew?” I ask Kayne.

“I’m good. Just bring me a change of clothes.”

I nod. Fresh clothing is number one on my list for everyone. Time is of the essence. I need Alistair back monitoring the party room before anything else goes wrong.

I disappear up a back staircase and race around my room grabbing T-shirts and shorts for both London and me. Kayne is way too large to fit into anything of mine, so I grab clothes for him and Alistair out of his closet. Hopefully, no one will notice their wardrobe change.

Right before I vanish back down the stairwell, I hear a scream. And not a pleasurable one. My stomach drops. I know where it’s coming from. Javier’s room. And I know what he’s doing. Abusing the shit out of Spice. If it was any other night and he was any other man, I would kick the door down and toss his ass out of my house. But I can’t. Because this isn’t just any other night and he isn’t just any other man. He’s a devil with an open invite to stay.

I swallow my searing anger as I’m shrouded in darkness. I’ll tend to Spice tomorrow. Tonight, London is my sole focus.

I toss Kayne’s clothes on his desk and send him to wash off in the en-suite bathroom attached to the gargantuan office. He emerges from the bathroom in just his underwear, the soiled clothes crumpled in the garbage can. I strip down in the bathroom as well, washing Easton’s dried blood from my hands, neck, and chin. Quickly, I dress in the fresh shirt and gym shorts, tossing the bloody evidence in the full trash can.

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