CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Scarlett
"You stay here," he instructed Keri. "I will be back soon."
He turned to give me one last appreciative gaze, which made my stomach sink with foreboding. I knew what he was going to do to me the minute he got me alone and I couldn't help the shiver of fear up my spine at the thought.
The door closed and Keri turned to face me.
"Why did you have to come back?" she asked me angrily as she glared at me like I was the one at fault. "If you hadn't come back things would still be okay. But now everything is going to change and who knows who will still be standing when it ends."
I was stunned by her words. I stood up and faced her.
"How is this my fault?" I asked, shocked at her words.
"If you'd never come back, he wouldn't be starting a war with the surrounding packs... it's because of you this is happening. He knows Cade will fight for you, so he attacked first. But this isn't just about attacking your pack, he will wipe out the other packs to make sure there is no support for Cade and in the process he will take them over," she revealed angrily. "People are going to die."
"Their deaths won't be on my conscience, they will be on yours for doing nothing to stop your crazy father."
A few moments of strained silence settled between us. She flickered a quick nervous look at the door.
"I have no choice," she whispered and then she pressed her lips together.
"Help me get out and we can stop it," I tried to reason with her but she was shaking her head at me.
"I can't go against him," she said in a determined voice. The glimpse of the girl that had been my friend disappeared into the cold heartless bitch in front of me. I tried to take another angle as I began to run out of time.
"What about Blake?" I asked. I had no idea if her feelings for him were real.
Her features remained stone-like.
"He will die along with the rest of them," she stated calmly.
She was going to do nothing to help me while her father slaughtered innocents.
Any connection I'd ever formed with her vanished in that moment and I viewed her as the enemy. She'd never been my friend and if she was willing to do nothing while her father carried out his war, then as far as I was concerned she was on the wrong side.
For a split second her eyes glazed over and I knew she was concentrating on the mind-link and not on me. It was now or never.
I couldn't shift to my wolf form because of the wolfsbane but I had to try something. Whatever I was going to do I had to do before Keri had a chance to fight back.
I launched forward and punched her in the face. Her head hit the wall and she dropped to the floor, holding her nose.
I rushed to her, needing to incapacitate her before she could call for help. I put my arms around her neck and squeezed her air supply off. She struggled against me but I held on.
She clutched desperately at my arms, leaving scratches as she fought to breathe. Just as she stopped struggling and her body went limp I released my hold on her.
My heart began to speed up with adrenaline and fear.
I stood up but faltered—Victor filled the only exit out of the room. He watched me calmly as he stepped into the cell and glanced at his daughter, who lay on the floor.
"That wasn't very nice," he said, like he was scolding a child. I took another step back. He had me cornered and I had no options.
"If you'd killed her I would have been angry," he told me as he stepped closer. His hand slipped into the inside of the jacket of his suit and he pulled out a syringe filled with some liquid.
I knew it didn't matter what that liquid was, but I couldn't let him inject it into me.
"It would have annoyed me if I would have had to replace her," he said calmly as he stepped closer.
He was a monster; any doubt that I might have had evaporated. He didn't care about Keri. She was just another soldier in his army. I felt a moment's sympathy for the girl lying unconscious on the floor. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like being raised by someone as evil as Victor.
"I'm going to inject you with wolfsbane and then I'm going to take you away until I've taken over the additional territories," he told me. "Cade will be dead and you will belong only to me."
My heart squeezed at his words. I didn't want to live if I had to do it without Cade. It wasn't something I could comprehend. He had to stay alive and he had to be safe.
I was out of time and I was out of options but there was no way I was going to let Victor take me without a fight. Without another thought I lurched forward, taking him by surprise. I grabbed the syringe from his hand and slammed it into his knee and pushed the liquid into his body.
He grabbed both my arms and threw me down onto the floor like I was a rag doll. I landed with a thud and rolled onto my back, struggling to catch my breath.
He shook his head at me slowly as he pulled the syringe from his leg without flinching and dropped it to the floor.
"You really shouldn't have done that." He said it so coolly that it scared me.
"It's a good thing I don't need to shift into my wolf form to teach you a lesson," he told me in a deadly calm tone as he walked to me and picked me up by my arms.
Even though he couldn't shift, he was still strong enough to tear me apart limb by limb and there was little I could do to defend myself.
Fuck!
But even in a situation where the odds were stacked against me, I wasn't going to lie down and take it. I was going to fight with every last breath I had.
His fist connected with my mid-section and I stumbled backward. The next hit to my face, which connected with the back of his hand, sent me stumbling backward, making me lose my footing and I fell. I landed on the floor, winding me of the breath in my lungs. My back ached from the hard landing and I rolled onto my chest to try and get to my feet before he landed another blow.
I didn't see his foot until it connected with my stomach and I screamed as pain exploded in my abdomen. I rolled onto my back, clutching the damaged tissue.
"I will break you and then I will build you up again. You will do as I say or you will face the consequences," he said as he picked me up again and set me down on unsteady feet. There was no doubt in my mind that consequences meant death.
"Fuck you," I spat at him. His eyes darkened with anger.
His fist hit my stomach and I bent over gasping, my arms across my abdomen. As I lifted my determined gaze to his, he backhanded me and I landed on the floor.
I tasted blood in my mouth as I groaned in pain. None of my training had prepared me for the absolute ruthlessness of this monster.
My eyes landed on the still form of Keri. Had he broken her to build her back up like he was trying to do to me? Realizing how evil Victor was I couldn’t help feel a little sympathy for Keri even though she’d betrayed us.
"Have you had enough?" he taunted as he took pride in surveying my injuries.
Somehow, I rolled onto my hands and knees and I pulled myself up again.
"You should have stayed down," he said with a sigh as he stepped forward.
My stomach hurt so bad I couldn't stand up straight and my face throbbed with pain but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of staying down.
I thought about Cade and how much I loved him. I prayed that he and the rest of my loved ones were safe.
I was no match for Victor but I couldn't bow my head to him to save my life. I couldn't let him take me because I would never survive. I made the decision there and then to go out fighting.
"Was that the best you could do?" I taunted at him.
I hoped that it would be over soon. His eyes darkened as he took a menacing step closer.
"No...I can do much better than that," he promised with a cruel smile as his hands tightened into fists.
The sound of a groan stopped him and he turned to look at Keri as she started to come around.
"Get up," he instructed a dazed Keri but he didn't offer to help her up.
She blinked a couple of times before she sat up. She was still a little wobbly as she stood up with her hand against the wall for support. I tried not to feel guilty at what I'd done to her. I had to remember that despite my feelings of sympathy she was the enemy.
Her father gave her a disappointed look before he turned to fix his gaze on me.
"There is no escaping. This is your destiny," he ranted on. I wiped the blood that dripped from my nose. My face hurt and I tasted my own blood on my tender lips.
This guy wasn't playing with a full deck of cards. At that moment another guy entered the cell. He was built like Hank, big and bulky. His gaze didn't waver as his eyes passed over me briefly before he looked to Victor.
He seemed unperturbed by the scene in front of him.
"The helicopter is ready," he informed his boss.
A helicopter!
I began to panic. I couldn't let them get me into a helicopter. Who knew where they would take me.
"Get everything we need together and start loading the helicopter," he told the guy. The guy turned and left to do what he'd been ordered.
"Help him," Victor instructed Keri in a stern voice. She bowed her head slightly.
"Yes, Father," she replied obediently. Her eyes flickered to mine briefly just as she turned to leave.
I was alone with Victor. I tried not to show the fear that I felt when his eyes met mine. My face and stomach throbbed. I took a tentative step back as he approached me. I felt like a wild animal he was trying to corner to capture.
"Have you finished fighting me?" he asked mildly as he surveyed my beaten form.
"I'd rather die than go with you," I spat at him.
He cocked his head to the side and studied me for a moment.
"There are worse things than death," he replied in a deadly tone and I felt fear begin to build up further inside of me.
What is worse than death?
"I can show you a new level of pain that will make you beg for death," he revealed with a glint his eye. I had no doubt that he would enjoy every moment of it.
I was on my own, there was no one coming to help me. Everyone would be too busy fighting for survival. It wasn't in me to just keep my mouth shut and do as I was told, so there was no way I was going to go quietly.
I believed Victor when he told me he could keep me in so much pain I'd beg for death. My only option was to force his hand by making him angry. If I made him lose his temper maybe he'd kill me quickly.
I didn't like to believe I was giving up. I looked at it more like I was going out fighting a battle I couldn't win.
"I won't go with you," I told him with all the determination I could muster. More blood dripped down my face and I wiped it away with the back of my hand.
"I can make you," he told me calmly. "Besides, I've got grand plans for you."
He is crazy.
"The first time I saw your mother I knew I had to have her. There was no alternative. It didn't matter that she was already mated to your father," he explained. I felt pain in my heart at the thought of what he'd put my parents through.
I didn't have to imagine how that felt because he was going to do it to me. He was going to take me by force irrespective of the fact that that I was already mated to Cade, the one destiny had chosen for me.
"You will take the place that I wanted your mother in. You will become my mate and you will bear my children," he informed me. I nearly threw up at the thought of what he was saying.
"I have a mate," I replied defiantly. I felt proud of the man fate had chosen to be my mate, Cade. I couldn't imagine being mated to this crazy nut.
"He won't survive the attack. For all you know he could be dead right now," he replied with a cruel smile. His voice was level but I could see his jaw clench slightly. He was calm on the surface but anger simmered beneath.
Was it enough anger to make him lose control and end it quickly for me? I thought about Cade and my heart squeezed at the thought of never seeing him again. All I could do was hope he was safe.
"And I'll fight you every step of the way," I assured him as I fisted my hands and took a fighting stance.
"I warned you," he said in a resigned tone.
His first swing I managed duck away from but the second connected with my stomach. I felt my feet lift off the floor with the force of the blow and I landed on my back with a thud, knocking the breath from me.
I groaned as I tried to roll onto my stomach to get back up.
"I can make this go on forever," he said as he stepped closer. I believed him and that's why I was going to push him to end my life. My body could only take so much before it gave in. Even now the pain in my stomach was excruciating and my face throbbed with pain.
For a moment I closed my eyes and thought about my parents. He'd taken their lives and he was going to take mine. If nothing else, I would find peace with them.
I leaned against the wall for support as I lifted myself to stand.
"You're just like your mother," he murmured as he watched me. "Defiant until the end."
Pride swelled up inside, knowing that my mom had fought against him just like I was. She hadn't just given up.
"Even your father fought hard to save your mother's life," he continued. From the time they'd been murdered, I'd always wondered which one had died first.
"Your mom died first and I made your father watch," he said with pride and I felt my heart break.
"He begged me to take his life instead," he sneered at me. I swallowed hard and tried to ignore the sting of tears at the thought that my dad had done everything he could and it still hadn't been enough. He'd been forced to watch my mother die.
That was horrific.
My temper snapped as he smiled at my reaction. Hank always said that with speed I'd be able to fight. Although I was injured I managed to take him by surprise. I got a hit to his face but it was like hitting a brick. He retaliated by grabbing me by the arms and throwing me against the wall. I felt the impact on my body and I screamed in pain. I landed with a thud on the floor.
"That wasn't very nice either," he said to me as he wiped the blood from his mouth. Even in my haze of pain I smiled at the fact that I'd made him bleed.
Lying on the floor unable to get up, I rolled onto my stomach. It hurt to breathe. I wiped more blood from my face as I groaned in pain. It felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I wanted to stay where I was because everything hurt, but giving up wasn't an option.
I looked up. I noticed the empty syringe on the floor and then it struck me.
Bloodied and in pain I could barely get onto my hands and knees to try and stand up. But in that moment I knew I had another option.
It was an option that could save me.