He leans down and kisses me again while moving in between my legs. “Wait!” I push him away, struggling to breathe and covering my naked body in shame.
“What’s wrong?” I shake my head at him, unable to speak. ‘“Sky, I’m sorry, but it’s the best I can do right now. It’s going to take me awhile to understand what love is again.”
“No, it’s not that. You were honest, and that’s all I can ask of you. That should be all you ask of me too, and I don’t think I am ready to be that honest,” I say, running from him and hiding in my room to let the pain of reality take me over. Why now? Why him?
Ryan needed to meet with Eli to assess an issue with one of their new businesses. I come to do my job as expected, but the awkwardness between us is evident to everyone. Thankfully, Eli doesn’t say a word because I really don’t want to talk about it.
A sudden chill causes me to suddenly take notice of what the boys are discussing. “I am not sure what happened, but the men we had guarding the place are all dead. The odd part is, they don’t have a mark on them.” Eli says.
“So someone is watching us, and they aren’t any ordinary someone.” As we pull up to the warehouse, Ryan sits forward. “Maybe you both should stay here while I go in.”
“Fuck that! We are going with you.” Eli says exactly what I was thinking, and we both move in at his side. The place is quiet and completely cleaned out except for the dead bodies littering the ground.
Ryan leans down to one of the bodies and looks him over. “This isn’t Marius’s doing. Someone else is trying to get my attention, and I am not sure why.”
I look around and find a note nailed to one of the dead man’s foreheads. “I think I have some idea why.” I tear off the note and show it to Ryan.
“Whoever you are, go back to where you came from or else I will destroy you. This is my city,” Ryan reads. “Well, if anything, we know it’s definitely not an existing lord because they are well aware of who I am.” Ryan steams.
“Okay, now I am really creeped out and need to leave before things get any creepier,” Eli says, looking around us with his gun ready. I can’t say I blame him. I feel as if we are being watched too. The next thing I know, men begin running at us with everything that have. Ryan, of course, can handle himself with no problem, and Eli, though not in possession of any special powers, is more than capable of taking care of himself, especially with a gun.
I, at first, invite the challenge, but then my arms begin to shake, and I have trouble holding off an attacker. He throws me to the ground, and another assailant joins in on the fun. I fight the best I can, but my body gives with every punch and kick. I try to find some escape when a man holds a gun to my head, gripping me tight to keep me from running as if I could.
“Hey! Stop fighting or we will kill your girl!” he yells as a calm washes over the battle. I look up as Ryan turns to stare down at me in shock. “Yeah, that’s it. You want to keep her alive, then surrender your weapons and get down on your knees,” he says, realizing Ryan doesn’t have a weapon. The man takes hold of me tighter and throws me to the ground in front of Ryan before taking off running. He doesn’t get far and seems to forget Eli has a gun. Between him and Ryan, they either kill the others or get them to surrender easily. I lie on the ground, wishing they had killed me.
Ryan leans down to me and caresses my face. “Are you okay?” I don’t speak. He cleans the blood off of my lip while I struggle to get up on my own. I don’t make it far. “Sky!” I fall into his arms in tears. No, not now. Ryan picks me up, and I try to push him away.
“No, just let me be. Please just … leave me, Ryan.”
“Sky, there is something wrong. I am taking you home and calling a doctor.” Ryan calls in more guns to help Eli before taking me home.
“Ryan, call Ramsey and let him take me home,” I say feebly.
He continues on as if I didn’t say anything. “No.”
“Ryan, I can’t help you anymore, so send me back.”
“No,” he says simply. I have nothing to fight him with and almost feel grateful to him for putting me in my comforting bed. Ryan looks over me with grave concern.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, he pushes my hair from my face and sweeps his hand across my cheek before taking hold of mine. “You don’t feel warm, but you are clearly sick. I think you know why.” I look up at him, scared to death. “You need to tell me, Sky.” I shake my head. “I can’t help you unless you tell me.” I twist my head away and ignore his requests. Sighing, he gets up, letting go of my hand. “The doctor will be here soon.”
“I don’t want a doctor!”
“Why?! There is something wrong, and if you know what it is, then tell me!” I turn away from his glare, ignoring him. “If you don’t want to talk to me now, then I will wait until you do, and believe me Sky, I got all the time in the world. I, however, am not sure you do, so if you want my help, then you better start talking.” I shake my head in frustration. “Fine, I will let you know when the doctor is here,” he says, slamming the bedroom door behind him.
I sink down further into the bed, unsure of what to do next. I don’t know if it matters if I tell Ryan now. Hell, maybe he will be so angry he will kill me and spare me a torturous life with Ramsey. Maybe he will send me to him with pleasure, and enjoy my screams from hell.
CHAPTER 12
Ryan
The doctor looks Skylar over despite her protests. When he leaves her room, he looks at me with a troubled expression. “I am not sure what to tell you. She seems perfectly healthy except that her muscles are deteriorating. It’s as if only that part of her body is nearing death.”
“She’s dying?!” I ask.
“It seems so, but I am not sure how to help you from here. This is beyond my expertise. I can suggest some specialists to see, if she will allow it,” he says with a sympathetic sigh. I shake his hand and let him go on his way since he is clearly of no help to me.
I am not sure what to do next. I can’t protect her here, and I am not even sure how to help her. If she is dying, then … she needs more than me. Unfortunately, I have no say. I can only suggest, but if I make too much of it, then Ramsey will become aware and come to retrieve her. I know enough about him to understand she won’t stand a chance at survival in his care. When Nick calls to check in with me, I know I will never be able to hide Skylar’s condition from him. He always knows when I am hiding something. I am just hoping he doesn’t ask about her this time.
“So Mahlah made it to you okay?” I ask, trying to sound as if nothing is amiss.
“Yes, she made it here, and then she met Gideon. I am not sure what happened there, but he offered to watch over her with his army, so she is staying with him now.”
“Whoa, well I guess if it works for them. He does seem like he needs someone to spend time with. We had to drag him out of Pagalle a few times before you forbid him to go back.”
Nick laughs, “Poor guy said he was in love with all of them. I guess that means the girls are doing their jobs right. Speaking of women doing their jobs, how is your guard doing? Are you two working out okay? Or maybe working out better than expected?”
“Everything is fine. We get along okay, and Shadow loves her. Eli is kind of a pain in the ass, but what’s new. Actually, I need to go meet him in a few minutes. We had someone clean one of our warehouses out.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know, but they aren’t a lord and they are not a commoner.” Nick goes silent. “Someone powerful is watching us, but they know nothing of who we are. I assume that means they don’t completely understand who they are.”
“That’s dangerous, very dangerous. Find out what you can and let me know as soon as you do. Oh, and Ryan, be careful.”
“I will, but that’s all I got. Unless you have something else, I better go,” I say, hoping that he is too busy to notice my desperation to get off the phone. There is silence, and I can do nothing but shake my head because I know it’s coming.
“What happened?” Nick asks, apparently shutting the door to his office, I assume as to not alert Kayla.
Damn. “It’s Sky. She’s sick, and I don’t know with what, but the doctor thinks she’s dying.”
“Well, then she needs to go home. She can’t guard you from her sickbed.”
“What? I can’t send her home to Ramsey, the giant goon.”
“I don’t care for him either, but she is promised to him. There is nothing you can do, Ryan. You need to send her back.”
“But maybe Nicky could do something?” I ask quietly.
“Oh, son of a bitch! You’ve fallen for her?! Damn it, Ryan!”
“No. I mean… I don’t know. I like her. I like having her around.”
“No, Ryan. Send her home. You know damn well I will not allow my son’s abilities to be exploited. There is no telling who she might tell. Then, every demon jackass out there who wants his power will make him a new target. You know what could happen to him. Are you willing to take that chance with her?”
“No,” I say quietly.
“Then send her home before Ramsey challenges you for his bride.”
“He can do that?”
“He can, and he certainly would love to. The man craves blood on his hands.”
“What happens if I win?” I ask as innocently as possible, not that it does any good.
“ARGHH! Ryan, I swear! We have so many other things to worry about right now, especially you. I can’t have you putting yourself in any unnecessary danger.” I sigh as he continues to chastise me like a child.
“Nick, shut up! Stop treating me like a kid. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to tell me what I should do every single day of my damn life! I will do what I want, and if you don’t like it, then tough. I’m your brother, Nick, not your kid.”
There is a long pause, and I think about hanging up, but when he doesn’t fight back, I wait. “I’m sorry,” he says for the first time ever to me.
I am not sure what to say now. I have never won an argument with him before. “Um … okay.”
“So, baby brother, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to find out more about her first before I decide. If she can’t be honest with me, then I will send her home.”
“I guess I can live with that,” Nick sighs.
“Wow, you just allowed me to make my own decision without an argument.”
“Yeah, it feels weird to me too,” he says, and I smile, knowing how hard it must be for him to let me go on my own, but I love him for it.
“I miss you,” I confess.
“Yeah, I hate you not being here. I hope you find whatever it is you’re looking for and come home soon.”
I take some time to try and figure out what to say to her and prepare myself for what I might not want to hear. I am not sure what it will take for me to fight for her or what it will take to let her go at this point. I finally take a step towards her room and walk in, but before I can say a word, she speaks up.
“I’m fine,” she clearly lies, her muscles straining to even pick up a cup of coffee.
“What’s happening, Sky? What aren’t you saying? And before you answer, you should know that I have two options right now—either send you home with Ramsey or keep you here and help you. You better believe I will send you home in a heartbeat if you don’t start being honest with me.”
She starts to cry before sucking it up and beginning to steam with anger. “Do you want to know why I am really here?”
“I said I want to know everything, no matter what it is.”
“Fine, but I didn’t come here to protect you or impress your brother. I wanted to come here to get back at you and every other person with even a drop of Savage blood inside them, for what he did to me. I hate your family, and I have done everything I can to study you and try and figure out how to win favor with Nick so I can destroy him and his whole family, including you,” she seethes into my face. Rather than being angry like I should be, I begin to feel sorry for her. I know how heinous and torturous my grandfather could be, and I don’t even want to imagine what he did to her. “Stop looking at me that way, Ryan.” She pushes me and manages to somehow get up and start packing.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m packing. I am sure you don’t want an enemy living in your house any longer.”
“Are you really my enemy, Skylar? You have had plenty of chances to try and kill me, and you have walked away from every single one of them.”
She turns towards me. “You’re not who I thought you were. I want to hate you, but I can’t. If you could just hit me or hurt me in some way.”
“It looks like you have been hurt enough, Sky.”
She turns away. “I need to go. I am set to marry Ramsey soon, and I am sure when he hears about me being sick, he will come looking for me. I really have no choice but to go. You’ll find someone else to guard you, and I am sure they will be much better at it.”
“I don’t want another guard. I want you.”
“No you don’t. I’m going, Ryan, so you better … just deal with it.” I shake my head, and she gets angry. “Stop it! You don’t want me here! I need to go, I want to go! I don’t want to be here with you anymore!”
“You want to go? Go. No one is going to stop you,” I say, walking away from her.
“Ryan!” I stop and look over my shoulder at her. She turns away, hiding her tears as she collapses to the floor.
I go to her and pick her up as she buries her head into my chest. I lay her down gently and tuck her in under the warm blankets before sitting down at her side. “Look at me.” I speak softly, forcing her eyes up to mine before leaning down to kiss her gently. “You know you want to stay. I want you to stay. So stay and …”
“I can’t,” she forces out.
“Why? What are you hiding from me? Tell me.”
“Ryan, I have been infected, and if you have sex with me, you will be too.”
“Infected with what?” She stares at me and slowly holds out her arm as it shakes and trembles terribly. “I don’t know what I’m looking at, Sky, other than you’re weakness and exhaustion. Your muscles are giving out a rapid pace, and I don’t understand why.”
“Your grandfather took me to his bed, and I refused him. I was able to turn his power against him over and over again, keeping him from forcing me. He didn’t like it, so he stripped me naked, tied me up, and demanded I submit to what he wanted or I would stay vulnerable for eternity. I didn’t break. I preferred to die, which is what I thought would eventually happen, but it didn’t. Instead, he drugged me and gave me to another, a monster he created to be an unyielding, loyal warrior for him. He’s so heinous and devoted that he took me and infected me with this curse that Savage created for him, and now, I have no choice but to be his forever because no one will want me once they see what he has done to me. I will be vulnerable to him forever and forced to be his anytime he wants and however he wants because I will have no strength to fight him.”
Ryan sits back away from me. “That’s how you wanted to get back at me, to give back the curse my grandfather forced on you?” She nods. “Ramsey is the monster?” Again she nods. “Why, why would he create such a thing?”
“You know how he was— he liked to inflict fear on people. Women especially. He would send him in, completely covered except for his handsome face, and then he would strip down and force his horrible aggressiveness on you until you begged to die. I begged and begged to die, but that’s my punishment for denying him. I shall remain powerless against him and anyone else who seeks to harm me. My body will slowly become crippled, unable to even hold a cup on my own, but my appearance will never change because as he wanted, I will still draw attention, the most unwanted attention, and there won’t be anything I can do about it. In the end, I will be nothing but a rag doll for Ramsey to use as he wants. I will live as long as he sees fit because I am forever his. Anyone that touches me without Ramsey’s consent will be cur
sed too. You can’t be with me, Ryan, or you will become vulnerable like he wants, like they want,” she says, finally helping me understand the reasoning for her to be allowed to leave her future husband.
“Ramsey is helping Marius?” I confirm.
“I assume, but he is Savage’s creature. He would only be helping him if he thought he would be getting his master back. I’ve known the entire time you were in danger, and I was willing to protect you, only so I could help kill you. I’m sorry, and I will have someone come get me as soon as possible.” I don’t say a word to her. I need to figure out what to do now. “You’re not at all like your grandfather, and I wish you were. Then maybe I wouldn’t feel so guilty right now.” She looks up at me—pitiful, guilt ridden. Still all I want to do is help her. She moves to the side of the bed and tries to get up but instantly falls to the floor.
I rush to her and pick her up, placing her back in bed. “Sky, you are declining fast. You need to stay in bed. I don’t like the idea of you living the rest of your life like that or with someone so awful. There has to be a cure for this. In fact, I’m sure there is.”
She shakes her head, still trying to get out of bed. “Since Savage’s death, I have asked everyone I could think of, searched everywhere, trying to find a remedy before it’s too late, but there’s nothing.”
“Have you tried a healer?”
“A healer? There are very few of those anymore, and the ones left have nowhere near the power to combat Savage’s poisonous curses. Let me go, Ryan. Let me go before he comes for me. He seems harmless within your brother’s army, but you don’t know his true power yet.”