“It could be a number of people — any man on my personal guard knew about our plans, especially once I had to organize the attack. We checked the warehouse, but when it was discovered to be empty except for a few cages, I came here. I hoped the bastard would be stupid enough to bring you back to his house. Jason scouted before we arrived and confirmed what I’d hoped.” He paused. “Jason was able to identify three units based on the guards who were here. They will all be eliminated.”
Xander breathed out heavily. “Let’s go.”
They made their way from the house and approached Jason who was standing guard over Honor’s sleeping body. Hope moved to her side and reached out to hold her hand.
“Jason, place Hope’s sister in my car. Xander, I want you to drive Hope, her sister and yourself back to the mansion and go to Maddy immediately. I want all of your wounds cleaned, disinfected and the bones set. Maddy might also know what can be done about Hope’s sister. If we have to call in doctors, we will.”
When they moved to the car, Aaron also instructed, “Jason, once they’ve left, I want the victim’s bodies removed for proper burial, but leave the rest inside. The entire fucking house needs to be burned to the ground. Once that’s done, barricade the men into the houses of the other two units and burn them alive. This ends tonight.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Is there any part of your body they didn’t touch?” Maddy worked over Xander’s skin, cleaning away the blood and surveying the damage inflicted when he’d been interrogated by Patrick’s men.
Hope sat back in a shadowed corner, her eyes locked to his, refusing to let him out of her sight now that they’d escaped the horror of Patrick’s house. His heart melted for her, his mind replaying the images of her face when she’d ripped Patrick apart, when the look in her eyes was that of a demon instead of the woman he’d known.
When they’d returned to the mansion, they’d worked together to carry Honor inside. Completely passed out and oblivious, they’d placed her on a bed in Aaron’s suite before leaving the room in search of Maddy. They found her in the bedroom she shared with Aaron, silently staring out a window, watching the fire rise in the horizon mimicking dawn in its intensity. Maddy turned when she heard them, the expression on her face revealing the depth of her relief to see them both standing in her doorway, beaten but alive.
Maddy moved instantly to them, her hands reaching up to run over their skin, exploring and surveying the injuries on their bodies before she dragged them both into the bathroom and into the shower. “The water is going to hurt, but we need to clean you quickly.” Maddy turned on the water and Hope and Xander clung to each other; their bodies shuddering against the liquid washing away the blood and dirt from their skin. Hope had helped Xander remove his clothes and he stripped his shirt from her body in return. The water gathered brown and pink in puddles around them and they both had sunk to the floor, exhaustion overtaking them. They held on to each other, refusing to let go, to risk being once again torn from the other’s arms.
And now that Maddy had forced them apart in order to tend to them, they still clung to each other from across the room; their eyes remaining locked to the other.
Maddy pushed against the flesh around his broken bones as she searched for signs of internal bleeding. Finally satisfied that his injuries weren’t life threatening, she stitched up the open wounds and wrapped gauze tight around his abdomen to keep the ribs from moving where they’d been broken beneath his skin.
“There, that’s the best I can do with you. I think some of your fingers are broken, but if you’re able to move them, I’ll leave them alone. If they get worse, we can make a splint.” Her voice was shaking, the memory of the night Joseph died was obviously on her thoughts — the hours spent in Aaron’s suite stitching and cleaning the wounds on Aaron’s body, on Xander’s and on hers.
Her blue eyes looked up from his hand, a haze apparent from the mist of tears. “Will it ever end?”
Hope frowned in the background at Maddy’s words. Xander looked away from the gold of her eyes finally to answer, “It takes time.” He reached up, cupping her chin and kissing her on the forehead. “But yes, Maddy, it will end.”
She nodded, her next works spoken weakly. “Go get dressed. I’ll tend to Hope.”
He looked back at the girl hidden amongst the shadows. “No. I’ll wait if you don’t mind, I’ve been separated from her enough for one night. I’m not letting her out of my sight again.”
Hope’s eyes widened.
Maddy turned around to look at her. “You’re up.”
She shook her head in response. “Not me — not yet. I want you to look at my sister. She’s in another room.”
Maddy opened her mouth to object, but Xander interrupted knowing that Hope would fight against being cared for until she knew her sister was okay. “She’s in the spare room, Maddy. I’ll go with you.”
They all stood, Hope holding a towel around her body, hobbling past them, leading them down the corridor. They entered the room and she moved to the side of Honor’s bed, reaching out immediately to run her palm over her sister’s cheek.
“Honor.” Gently, Hope patted her sister’s cheek. “Wake up, beautiful. You’re safe.”
Maddy approached the bed, looking to Hope for approval before touching Honor. Hope moved just enough to let Maddy close. Xander watched Maddy place her hand on Honor’s head, only to run her hands across her face and down her body looking for any sign of injury or illness. Honor’s eyes blinked open, confusion sitting heavy in the gold of her eyes. She opened her mouth and she screamed.
Maddy jumped away and Hope picked Honor up from the bed, desperate to calm her sister’s nightmare. Xander’s heart fractured and he stepped forward, anxious to help, but not knowing if his presence would do more harm than good.
“Get out!” Hope screamed out her command.
He felt Maddy’s hand on his arm and forced himself to turn away from Hope. Maddy nodded her head in the direction of the door, silent tears sliding down her cheeks to see Honor’s reaction to the touch of another person. Xander looked back, every instinct in him demanding he go to Hope, that he shelter her from the ugly truth of what had become of her sister.
He didn’t move for a few seconds; but, eventually he followed Maddy, leaving Hope to tend to her twin.
Closing the door behind him, he shut his eyes against the sad reality of Honor’s fate; her body freed of captivity, but her mind still lost to the men who’d held her. The screaming didn’t end and he heard Hope quickly speaking over the screams, her voice torn and frantic as she pled with her sister to calm down, to recognize that Hope wasn’t one of the monsters.
An hour passed, then two, and it went quiet. Xander sat on the floor, his body pressed up against the wall where Hope sat with her sister on the other side. The door opened, Hope stepped out.
She fell on her knees and Xander was immediately by her side.
“She didn’t make it …”
His heart felt like it stopped.
“She’s still trapped there, in that fucking house with those bastards. She won’t see me, she doesn’t know me!” Her voice finally broke from the tears that flooded from her eyes.
Xander breathed deeply. “She’ll improve. She has to. We won’t give her any other option.”
Hope looked at him, her eyes red from crying. “She sees the demons inside me, Xander; she always has. She used to look past them, love me despite the beast that hides inside me — but now — I’m the same as the men who destroyed her.”
A door slammed in the front room followed by the hurried fall of boots across the floors. Their heads turned in unison to find Aaron and Jason standing in the entryway of the corridor. Maddy rushed out from their bedroom, running quickly down the hall to wrap her arms around Aaron. He stepped back when she reached him, Jason stepping forward to keep her from approaching.
Xander pushed up and moved quickly down the hall, angry at how Jason had stepped into Maddy; but Aaron
stopped him in his tracks when he demanded, “Ballroom. Now.”
Tension, anxiety and fear exploded over Xander’s body to hear those words.
Aaron looked at Maddy. “This is not for you to witness. I want you to stay here in the suite until I return. Do NOT disobey me.”
Her tiny body shook and she backed up into Xander where he stood behind her.
He knew he had to diffuse the situation, sensing the executioner running in Aaron’s veins, he knew that no emotion was contained in Aaron except for the need to feed the darkness inside.
Bending down, he spoke softly to Maddy. “I’ll go with him. Please stay here and watch over Honor while we’re gone.”
She looked up at him, fear heavy in her eyes, but she nodded and turned to walk back to her room.
Hope stood up and he watched her approach. She took his hand and turned towards Aaron. “Let us get dressed and we’ll go.”
~ ~ ~
After exiting the suite and walking to the ballroom, Xander saw the procession of Estate members flooding in between the large doors. Releasing a shuddered breath, he willed his legs to move, tightening his grip on Hope’s hand when they crossed the threshold into the large room.
The Estate members took their seats amongst the tables arranged on the side of the room, their voices murmuring out, each individual voice adding to the tension of the sudden meeting. Pulling Hope behind him, Xander climbed the stairs to the stage, memories washing over him, his stomach twisting at the familiarity of the proceedings.
Aaron stood at the front of the stage, his stance reminiscent of the man who’d raised him. The iridescent light of the crystal chandelier sparkled against his blood soaked skin; his expression indifferent as Jason led in two unit leaders, locked in chains.
Blood pounded through Xander’s veins, his head swimming in white noise and pain. His eyes shot to Hope. She was fixated on what played out before them.
“Thank you for joining us on such late notice gentlemen.” Aaron’s voice boomed out over the large space; the building tension from just moments before becoming a suffocating blanket over the room. “We are here tonight because three men believed they would attack The Estate by attacking me.”
Spinning a blade in his hand, he began to pace the stage. “Tonight, I personally executed and burned each and every member of this network who thought they could outwit me. At this very moment, they are becoming nothing but ash, the houses they were given on the compound burning around them.” He stopped and looked up into the bright lights of the room, crimson trails dripping along his skin. Looking back down he said, “I’ve brought you here tonight, gentlemen, to remind you what happens to a person who attacks The Estate!”
Whispers burst throughout the audience, followed by laughter and sudden applause. It had been years since executions had played out inside these walls and Xander fought to restrain himself from stepping forward and stopping what was about to occur.
“These men took innocent women, bound them, raped them and left them for dead in direct disobedience of my orders as leader of this network. I could have ended their lives quickly, allowed them a death free of the pain and torment they caused. But, I decided other methods would be more appropriate.”
Aaron laughed and Xander’s stomach turned — the sound eerily familiar against his thoughts.
“Adair and Charles …” He looked down at the unit leaders, his eyes slowly traveling over them as he spoke their condemnation. “Since you found so much pleasure in the suffering of the women you killed, I think it’s only fair the same is done to you.” Aaron looked up at the audience. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
The men cheered, boisterous laughter punctuating the approval in the air.
The men were led to the center of the room and tossed to the floor, still bound in chains.
Aaron stepped back. “It’s time to teach these men what happens when you FUCK WITH THE ESTATE!” Holding his hands out to his sides, he smiled. “Gentlemen, do your worst!”
Screams punctured the air when the estate members fell on the men, ripping their clothes from their bodies, violating them in ways no person should have to endure. Xander fell back into his seat, his eyes closed against the carnage that played out before him and his mind reeling against the realization that Joseph’s insanity was still alive in his son. He attempted to pull Hope closer, but she stepped away trying to approach the front of the stage. Looking up at her, he noticed how her eyes were locked to the men, her hands fisting and her shoulders straightening. Her hand slipped from his, their fingers sliding along each other, resting at the tips until separating from him entirely.
She walked forward, stopping when she reached the front. Xander grew still, looking between Aaron and Hope, noticing how they both were lost to a madness from which he could not pull them away. They stood still, the lights of the room playing across their bodies and their expressions completely indifferent to the rape and death of the unit leaders. They were two monsters bred by crime, by violence, and by torment. Two people, born with demons, who were trapped in nightmares for so long that eventually, they became lost within the very thing they fought against.
When the men’s bodies were torn apart and when their screams dissipated from the room, the men slowly exited, leaving Aaron, Xander, Jason and Hope standing on the stage looking down at the strewn body parts across the floor.
No person spoke. The promise of redemption lost instantly within the blood that now ran in rivulets across the floor.
Epilogue
She was the epitome of grace, the way her body twisted and spun, the muscles straightening when she moved, only to curl skillfully and strong when she dodged in a different direction. Xander reached out for her, smiling to watch her dance artfully around him. Her instinct was razor sharp, almost as if she knew exactly what he would do next.
Her eyes were focused on his, the gold swirling with playful opposition. He lunged, and she volleyed, springing back, her body arching away, weaving around his arms like she was liquid and impossible to hold.
“Oh, come on, you’re not even trying,” she teased.
Xander smirked. “I’m a little tired. You’ve been keeping me up late.” He winked.
Her cheeks blushed red. “I’ve been staying up with you, so that’s not an excuse.”
Lunging forward again, he caught her and pulled her quickly into his body, sweeping his foot beneath hers and dropping her heavily to floor. The wind was knocked from her chest on a loud huff when she went down, and he fell over her, pinning her arms to her sides and pressing his body tight against hers.
She moaned, her breath catching again when he leaned down, nipped at her ear and growled, “Do I need an excuse now, Sunshine?” He pressed into her again and her lips parted, her eyes closing in reaction to the feel of his body against hers. A growl shook his chest, quickly losing patience with their game.
Bringing his face to hers, he rubbed the tip of his nose along her jaw. “I believe I win this round.”
She struggled against him, her body falling limp beneath him once she realized he wouldn’t budge. He chuckled in response before stripping her of her clothes, forcing her submission even when the light of rebellion still shown in her eyes.
It had been a year since Patrick was killed. Following the events of the ballroom, Hope and Xander had returned to Aaron’s suite long enough to allow Maddy to tend to Hope’s wounds. Aaron had paced the living room while Maddy worked and her eyes would flick over to him every few seconds, her fear of what he was becoming evident in her eyes. Once Maddy had finished, Xander grabbed Hope up from her chair, leading her immediately to the front door to leave. He felt guilty for leaving Maddy alone with Aaron when he was so enraged, but Xander feared what he’d seen on the stage that night: Hope and Aaron lost to the madness, both becoming part of the thing they hated their entire lives.
He’d taken Hope back to his room, laid her down on his bed and crawled beside her. They must have slept for days, only waking up to drink w
ater or use the bathroom.; their minds struggling to process what they’d seen and survived. Only when Maddy arrived and insisted that they get up did they finally leave his suite.
Within weeks, their bodies had healed, but Xander lived with the knowledge that The Estate was infectious, that it had somehow buried itself so far inside Hope that she didn’t notice when she’d become lost to it.
He wouldn’t give up on her, however, because he wouldn’t allow himself to believe that she couldn’t be brought back from the dark depth to which she’d fallen.
Every night Hope woke with nightmares, her voice screaming into the stillness of his room and every morning he brought her in the gym. They fought daily — her against the threat of losing her mind and him out of refusal of letting her fall. Much like Maddy and Aaron, Hope and Xander needed each other to survive — but the tables were turned and it was Xander who dragged Hope into the light each time her heart and mind were covered in shadow.
When she found her release and when he body fell against the floor sated and spent, he joined her. They lay with each other on the floor of the gym, their bodies loose from the fight, their minds lost to the connection that held them together.
When it had grown quiet between them, Hope spoke, and her voice was nothing more than a whisper across his skin.
“Thank you.”
He leaned up, placing his weight on his elbows so he could hold himself while looking down at her face. “For what?”
“For taking care of me. I’ve been a terror these past few months with the nightmares and my mood swings. “I just …” Her voice was frustrated and strained. “I feel so lost sometimes, so helpless without her.”
He sighed and rested his forehead against hers. Locking his eyes to her stare, he smiled, “Don’t worry. We’ll get her back.”
Hope’s smile was hesitant, but she nodded. “I know.”
~ ~ ~
Hope sat on the edge of Honor’s bed. Reaching over to a table, she poured a glass of water and brought it to her sister’s lips encouraging her to drink. Honor’s eyes were blank, her mind trapped in nightmares that Hope worried would never let her go.