36. Tyson

Tyson

T ime slows down.

I’ve been drugged for years. What if it’s the reason why I hated Olivia so much all this time? Even now, after knowing the truth, my heart still holds resentment.

The hand in which I have the knife reaches Maddox’s thigh.

How do I cope with that? How do I fill my heart only with love, knowing she did nothing wrong?

The sharp blade sinks into his muscles.

Rueben shakes uncontrollably. He feels the same wrath as me.

I fucking feel…violated. Do men ever feel like that? Am I allowed to feel like that? I don’t think I should feel like this since no harm was done to me, but what if it influenced all my decisions, which added to Olivia’s suffering?

Maddox grunts in pain. I fucking want him to beg on his knees for forgiveness. I don’t care if his entire family was in the hands of Azael; what he did is unforgivable.

“You drugged us?” Ansel snarls.

I judged Olivia for being high when I was doing the same shit. No wonder I couldn’t quit smoking, no matter how hard I tried.

I twist the blade, wanting to cause as much harm as possible.

Maddox yells, “Stop!”

But I don’t want to stop, not now, not ever.

“I’ll be done with you when I know every little dirty secret you have,” I slowly snarl each and every word.

Thoughts, questions, and a thousand possibilities rush through my head like endless torrents. If Azael hated Olivia so much and Maddox knew we had her on the farm… “What else did you do to us? Did you manipulate our thoughts? Tell me what you did to my blood-brothers and me!”

Fear flickers in his eyes. “You need to understand that—”

I cut him short. “Did you?” I yell. The knife is still impaled in his leg. It would be so easy to stab him until I found his artery and let him bleed to death.

“Yes.”

What the fuck was I forced to do while under the influence of their drugs? I don’t remember losing track of time; there was just endless rage when it came to Olivia. But the thought of someone hurting her made me even more enraged. That’s why I punished Roy for hitting her. “You are her consort. There’s no way you would have hated her if not for the drugs and all the subtle suggestions given to you each time we talked. I tried with the others as well, but only Rueben responded positively. As for Ansel,” Maddox scoffs, “he is the epitome of zen when it comes to Olivia. Jasper and Mose only smoke occasionally, so they were never affected.”

“What did you make me do?” I question him.

Maddox traces the contour of his bottom lip with his thumb. “I only voiced what I would do if my woman ever cheated on me, and you went ahead and did it.”

The shed. I only took Olivia there because Maddox commented that she might know things since she had been one of Carlos’ pornais. In my head, I truly believed she had information we could use.

“Rueben was the easiest to manipulate. He was already eager to hate Olivia. It all started at a party Olivia snuck out to attend while her parents weren’t home. I’m pretty sure she wanted to see you, but you were working that night. It was easy to put some drugs in Olivia’s juice and watch her stumble into Rueben’s lap.”

Bile rises to my throat. I feel sick. Maddox even drugged Olivia. My demon demands vengeance. He wants Maddox’s blood.

“It didn’t take long for them to kiss. I assume he already liked her, and it stung him that she didn’t remember anything from the party. For what it’s worth, Rueben kept her safe.” Maddox’s gaze shifts to Rueben. “Or am I wrong?”

Rueben crosses his arms against his chest. “Told you I didn’t drug her,” he says to me. To Maddox, he says, “If Azael started hating Olivia after Camila’s death, why were you drugging her back then?”

“Azael wanted me to test out drugs for him.”

The cabin’s door opens. Maddox’s throat bobs. He probably realizes he has to tell all his dirty secrets in front of his blood-brothers.

Henry lets out a cry before rushing to the couch and sitting on it. “Maddox, love, are you alright?” he frantically asks while checking Maddox’s injuries.

Cole makes his way to Henry and Maddox, his face a mask of worry.

Alekos and Reyes go and sit at the table.

Henry wraps his arms around Maddox, and the latter affectionately says, “Don’t do that. You’ll get wet.”

“Don’t be silly,” Henry says before kissing Maddox. Very few know that Henry is in a relationship with Maddox and Cole. After breaking the kiss, Henry glares at me. “What did you do to him?”

My eyes narrow to slits. “You know what happens to traitors. He works for Azael.”

Cole’s silence tells me he knows about Maddox being a spy, but Henry looks in disbelief at Maddox. Then at me. “He would never do that. He…he…is not like that. Right, my love?” he asks Maddox.

Maddox caresses Henry’s cheek. “It was best that you never learned the truth. I never wanted you to think badly of me.”

Henry blinks. “But…you hate Azael. For what he did to Indy.”

“You don’t understand; he would have gone after you and everyone else I love. I had to do what he ordered. The idea of you locked in that facility gives me nightmares.”

I laugh like a madman. “But you had no problem getting my woman hurt.”

“I never laid a finger on Olivia. You and Rueben are the ones who tortured her,” Maddox contradicts me.

“Because I was fucking drugged!” I snarl, making Henry flinch. Maddox rubs his back. “What else did you suggest I should do? Fuck women?” The guilt on Maddox’s face lets me know I’m right. Jesus fucking Christ! “Are the effects of the drugs permanent?”

“If you stop smoking, they will slowly disappear. There won’t be any more anger outbursts, especially in Rueben’s case, while in your case, it will stop blocking the bond, but I have a feeling you already sense it.”

For years, the bond was just a flicker of light in my soul. It was more like an annoyance because it tied me to Olivia. Now I understand why I was repulsed by the thought of being with anyone else except Olivia.

“I’m never going to smoke again,” Rueben vows. Ansel and I agree with him.

While I don’t need to understand all his ulterior motives, I still ask Maddox, “Why drug us?”

“Ansel and Rueben, because Azael wanted to see how the drugs affected them over time. Rueben’s hate only grew while Ansel never seemed the least bit affected. With you, it was because Azael was curious to see how the bond affected Olivia if you slept with other women. She felt pain every time. It hurt her more than when she was used by men.”

No wonder she hates me.

“Why didn’t I feel anything?”

“The bond was…muted. You only started to feel it because you’ve been in Olivia’s proximity long enough to sense it more strongly.”

I have to hold back from stabbing Maddox again because I feel like he isn’t telling me anything. “Explain what a consort is.”

“There are two types of bonds. The first one, which is weaker, is when a Lord or a Duke claims a woman. The second one happens when a hellstar claims the man, or men, she wants to spend her eternity with. The man is called a consort because this bond is called The Queen’s Bond, after the first hellstar. She was a queen who claimed the knight who was protecting her as her bonded. He later became her consort.”

That explains how I bonded with Olivia.

Cole intervenes and says, “A Queen’s Bond is much stronger than a normal one, and it only breaks when the hellstar no longer wants to be with her consort. The moment the man is claimed, the bond happens immediately.”

Rueben asks the next question. “How did you know that Olivia was actually Pandora’s heir?”

Maddox looks at my knife, still stuck in his leg. Maybe I should yank it out. “When I took blood for her analysis, I also checked to see if she was a hellstar. I knew right away that she was…different. Then, I used the cameras from the farm to observe. That’s how I learned that Ansel was her Guardian before he even told you.”

When I get home, I’ll fucking break every camera we have inside the house. Better yet, we’ll move. I no longer feel safe on the farm.

Suddenly, something pops into my head. “You told Senator Deymar where to find the farm.”

“That was me,” Cole says. “But I only told Jason.”

I need to call Jasper and have him and Mose take Olivia to a motel or something. She’s not safe there.

“It’s the same shit!” Rueben yells. “People died because of you!”

After everything that I learned today, there’s no way Maddox or his blood-brothers will be forgiven.

“Is there more shit you need to tell us before we start the hunt?” I ask.

Henry’s face turns white. “What hunt?”

“Not the type you’ll like,” Rin replies coldly. “But we will enjoy it.”

“There’s something else,” Cole says, making Maddox growl, “No!” Cole shakes his head. “It’s the only way to get out of this mess. We are working with Wasp and her hellstars to bring down Azael.”

I fist my palms. “Bullshit.” I still don’t know who Wasp is in reality because she was wearing a mask the only time she made contact with the Lords, but there’s no way she would work with a traitor. Although, she might not see Maddox like that.

“We can call her and ask her,” Cole proposes.

While I want to finish this so I can return home to Olivia and hold her in my arms, I say, “Sure.”

Cole pulls out his phone and quickly dials a number.

It takes Wasp a while to answer. Her voice is hoarse. Like she’s been screaming for a long time. “I hope you have a good excuse for calling me so early.”

She no longer has her voice modifier, but I can’t say she sounds familiar even without it.

“Maddox, Henry, and I are about to be killed unless you back us up,” Cole informs her.

Wasp hesitates before saying, “Where are you?”

I grab the phone from Cole and explain the entire situation to Wasp. I tell her what Maddox revealed to us, what he’s done, and what will happen. I don’t tell her about what Olivia is, only that she is a hellstar.

“What Maddox did was out of love,” Wasp says. “He never truly sided with Azael; he only fed crumbs to the Dukes. Why do you think they don’t know where the Blood Lodge is? He might have given away Lords, but only the ones that already worked with the Dukes. Besides, you can’t kill Maddox. I need him to go to Washington and find someone for me.”

“Who?” I ask.

Wasp sighs. “One of my hellstars. Also, Alma.”

Ever since Senator Deymar kidnapped Alma, her father has been looking for her all over the place, but he has found no trace of her.

“If you know where she is, you have to tell us!” I demand.

Wasp’s next words make no sense. “Only Dukes can enter that place.”

“Maddox is not a Duke.”

“True,” Wasp agrees. “But his demon is a chameleon. He can trick other angels into believing he is one of them.”

“No,” I refuse to let Maddox off the hook for everything he’s done.

Wasp, clearly annoyed, threatens me, “What will Olivia say when she hears that you didn’t want to save Alma from the Dukes?”

I hate this woman. “I’ll take my chances. Besides, how do you know Olivia? The two of you have never met.”

Wasp laughs. “I can tell how much she trusts you by how little she tells you. And,” she rolls the n a little too much, “I just let Alma’s father and the Elders know that Maddox is the only one who can save her.”

I yank the knife from Maddox‘s leg and throw it across the room. Half of the blade sinks in the wall. “You fucking bitch! There’s nothing you can do or say that will save Maddox and his blood-brothers.”

Wasp laughs. “Wanna bet? If I’m not mistaken, 514 is with you.”

“My name is Yan!” he snarls, his eyes turning red.

“Yan,” Wasp repeats. “Do you want to know your mate’s name?”

Yan walks up to me. “You know of 713 ?”

“Azael made sure she died before I could get to her. Her name was Indy, and she loved the wind. She was Maddox’s sister.”