8. Tyson

Tyson

F or the sake of my sanity, Ansel pauses the video.

“We owe it to Olivia to watch everything. You owe it to her to know what she’s been through,” Ansel insists.

He is right.

“To know how and why Camila died,” he reminds us.

Rueben grits his teeth. “We already know how Camila died. Killed by Olivia with a bullet right in her heart.”

It angers me because he said he is all in, but he changes his mind more often than his socks. He is not reliable when it comes to our woman. My woman. The thought of having to share her with my blood-brothers is fucking with my head, but I’m not the only one who loves her. Ansel and Jasper have proven that they care deeply for Olivia.

“But I do agree that we do need to find out why Olivia killed Camila,” Rueben adds, making me whip my head in his direction, wanting to know if he is finally pulling his head out of his ass.

I get dizzy almost immediately.

Fucking Senator Deymar.

How the fuck did he know where we lived? Except for the few people we trust, we never gave our address to anyone. And we have it registered under a fake name.

I need to smoke, clear my head and rest my eyes for a bit before Ansel finishes showing us the rest of the videos. I’m going to have to watch how Olivia was raped. For years, I hated her for something she didn’t do. I abandoned her, blocked her number, not wanting to hear her voice, and drowned myself in alcohol and drugs, not caring for one second how she felt. I should leave her alone so she can heal from what Jason and Carlos did to her, from what I did to her, but I’m too selfish to do so. When we find her, because we will, I’ll take her to my bed and make it up to her in whatever way she desires for as long as it takes. I want to make it clear to her that no matter what, she is still mine and she owns my heart for eternity. I want to paint her insides with my cum and cover her body in kisses. I want her to know that everything that happened to her is not her fault, but mine, for not being there to protect her when she needed it the most. For the rest of my life, I’ll make sure she knows she is loved. More than that, I’ll do whatever it takes to show her how sorry I am for everything.

I stand. “I need a smoke break,” I say before heading out of the house. Before I reach the front door, I trip several times, because I can’t remember where the furniture is. My fingers hurt like a motherfucker, and grabbing the doorknob sends jolts of pain throughout my body, but it keeps me from spiraling into fucking madness.

If I had listened to Olivia back then, today I would have the life I dreamed of—a beautiful family with the woman of my dreams and a home in the suburbs. After a long day at work, I would have come home to my gorgeous wife and our little ones, had dinner together and after the kids were asleep in their rooms, I would have tried to get her pregnant again. And I wouldn’t have had to share her with anyone because I would have been a Priest, not a blood-brother. I am the only one to blame that I’ll never have that life.

The urge to fucking yell is so overwhelming I bite my tongue.

“Tyson,” Ansel calls my name, but I don’t stop to hear what he wants. I just want to smoke and maybe take a walk around the farm.

The light bothers me, and it takes me a few attempts to put on my sunglasses. Having my fingers broken is no fun, especially when I have to go to the bathroom. I feel my pockets, but I can’t find the cigarette pack. It takes me a moment to remember that the nurse took away my last one when she caught me smoking inside my room. I sit on the rocking chair and try to clear my head.

I lean my head back and close my eyes.

“I know how you’re feeling,” Ansel tells me as he joins me on the porch a few minutes later.

I shake my head. “You don’t. I fucking failed her. I hurt her. I tortured her. How the hell do I make up for that? How do I even begin to ask her to forgive me?” I don’t deserve to be forgiven. “She would be a fool to take me back. But even so, I can’t give up on her. I need her, man. I need her more than I need oxygen. Not knowing where she is, if someone is hurting her, it fucking hurts. I need to find her and keep her safe.”

“We will, but you understand why we must see the videos.”

My stomach drops. “How many more are left?”

Resting my eyes for a few minutes helps.

Ansel takes out his pack of cigarettes and lights one for me and another for him before replying, “A few.”

I take a long drag. “How graphic do they get?”

“Some are very graphic, especially the ones with her in the Celestial Heaven.” Ansel leans closer to me. “There’s one video that you might want to watch when you are alone.”

“Did you see it?”

Ansel takes out his phone. “It was for the best that I did. It helped me clear up a misunderstanding I had.”

The notification sound coming from my phone lets me know I have a new email. “What’s on the video?”

Ansel stands. “If you need someone to talk to, I’m here.”

If it’s about something terrible done to Olivia, I don’t want to see the video.

Ansel climbs down the porch stairs. “Maddox is here.”

I look at the main gate, but all I can see are shadows and odd shapes. Plus, Maddox has one of those modern cars with a silent engine, and we don’t always hear when he gets here. He and his blood-brothers like to spend most of their free time on the farm when the weather is good. Winter is that time of the year when they try to date and find a wife, but so far, they haven’t had any luck. Many would think women would be absolutely thrilled at the idea of being shared by three men or more, but I get why they don’t want to get involved with Lords. Being vessels to demons is not easy, and many of us change, becoming cold, violent, and quick to anger. The only person shielding us from utter madness is our bonded. What woman would want to deal with that?

“Have you found Olivia?” Maddox asks once he is on the porch.

My brow shoots up. “You knew about Olivia running away?”

Maddox puts a bag in my lap. “Here, I brought you a few cartons of cigarettes.” If not for him, I would have quit smoking a long time ago since I don’t bother leaving the farm except for my duty as a Lord and book-related stuff. Maddox makes time to buy my favorite cigarette brand and bring it to me. “Olivia didn’t technically run away since Rueben kicked her out.”

If Rueben thinks he’ll ever fuck my woman, he’s more than wrong. He can fucking die of blue balls for all I care.

“Why didn’t you say anything while I was at the hospital?” I question Maddox.

“You needed to focus on getting better. How can you help Olivia if you had remained blind because you went looking for her? Imagine Jasper trying to run after her with his knee crushed. He would have lost his leg.” Maddox doesn’t tell me anything I don’t already know, but he doesn’t understand that I would do anything for Olivia.

“I don’t care if I would have had to spend the rest of my life in darkness.” How can I explain that Olivia is my light? I wouldn’t mind seeing the world through her eyes for the rest of my life.

Ansel takes the bag from my lap. “I’ll go put these in their place. Come inside when you are ready. Maddox, do you want something to drink?”

“I only stopped by to bring you the cigarettes before I head home and get ready for a date.” Maddox sounds excited. Maybe he and his blood-brothers finally found the one.

“Good luck,” I say.

Maddox leaves and Ansel enters the house. I remain on the porch until I finish my cigarette before returning to the living room. I squint my eyes hoping it will focus my vision.

It works for a few moments.

Rueben has a glass full of whiskey in his hands while Jasper and Ansel are smoking. Jasper smoking is a rare sight. But one that I would like to see more often because Jasper with a cigarette between his fingers is hot. He’s always been hot but now, he’s even more so.

What the fuck am I thinking?

The blow Rueben gave me must have affected my brain somehow because I’ve never seen Jasper as hot. Hell, he is one of my blood-brothers. And I’m into women. Only into women.

I sit back on the ottoman, trying not to look at Jasper anymore and to focus only on Olivia. “Let’s do this so we can go after our woman,” I say after I take a deep breath.

Ansel resumes the video.

Sean rips Olivia’s dress and panties before unzipping his pants. Despite the pain, I fist my palms, wanting to feel the same as her, although what I’m experiencing now is not remotely compared to what will happen to her.

Sean slaps her ass. “If you didn’t have a Lord boyfriend, I might have considered making you my little whore. Not sure if Jason would like that since we share our women. Did you see his new girlfriend? Emily? Her pussy is so tight. I bet yours is even tighter since it hasn’t been used,” he spits on his palm, “until now,” and rubs it over his dick.

My mouth goes dry. My demon wants to kill Sean.

“Jason! Help me,” Olivia whimpers.

“Tell me where the daggers are, and I might consider telling my friends not to use your pussy until it’s ruined for life,” Jason says.

Sean slaps Olivia’s ass a few more times, making her yelp. “I bet your Lord boyfriend won’t want you after we fill you with cum.”

Olivia glares at Jason. “Imagine what the press will say when I let everyone know that I was raped while you stood by and did nothing.”

“No one will believe you,” Jason says.

Olivia tries to get away from Sean, but his grip on her hips is strong. “Grandpa Jon will. He’ll kill you. All of you.”

Jon St. Claire. Olivia’s maternal grandfather. He and his wife, Khloe, are the only family members who love Olivia. Because of this, Olivia’s parents have always had little to no contact with them. The last time I spoke with them was around five years ago, when they finally managed to track me down. They insisted they had something very important to tell me, but I told them to fuck off, that I didn’t want anything to do with their whore of a granddaughter, and to never contact me again. After I ended the conversation, I blocked them everywhere, not wanting them to find another way to get in touch with me. I don’t even know if they are still alive or not. I never bothered to ask Olivia.

Jason stiffens. “Don’t fuck her. I don’t want to have to explain to my parents and especially grandparents why my sister is in the hospital with her pussy all stitched up.”

“I can’t believe you are afraid of old St. Claire,” Roy mutters.

It’s obvious Roy has no idea who Jon is, else he wouldn’t talk like that about him.

Jason looks at his watch before saying to his friends, “I can call Emily over and have her suck my dick while you all take turns fucking her.”

I don’t know who this Emily is, but she sounds stupid for letting Jason and his friends use her.

“And what do I do about my hard-on?” Sean complains.

“Jerk off,” Jason shrugs.

“I have a better idea,” Sean says before grabbing Olivia’s thighs. “Close your legs and keep them like that while I rub my dick between them.”

Olivia tries to fight Sean, but he smacks her ass so hard she stops struggling. “No wonder your father beats you,” Sean snarls as he puts his dick between Olivia’s thighs. When I get my hands on him, I’m going to beat him so hard that not even his mother will recognize him at the morgue.

Sean might not rape her, but he assaults her until he cums down her legs. Leo and Roy are next before the video stops.

I let Jason’s friends fuck my mouth before they put their dicks between my thighs… and… they… until they came… down my legs.

Instead of asking what she meant by that, I humiliated her in front of Levi. I took her shopping at a thrift store, wanting to punish her even more, but she looked so…broken she couldn’t care less. But even so, she tried on every clothing item Rueben and I picked out for her. While Rueben was being an ass, I chose only the best dresses I could find, wanting to bring out her natural beauty.

“They left Olivia and Camila alone after a while, and they made it home with the help of a friend,” Ansel clears any doubts we might have about what happened next to the girls.

“Thank fuck they didn’t take her virginity by force,” Jasper says. “But from what she told Ansel and me, her first time wasn’t very pleasant. Whoever was her first was rough with her.”

My demon is snarling, pacing back and forth inside my head. No wonder he is angry. I failed Olivia time and time again. Her first time should have been perfect. After a relaxing massage, I would have kissed and caressed every inch of her body while whispering to her how perfect she is and how much I love her. After making her cum several times with my tongue and fingers, and only when there was no ounce of doubt in her eyes, I would have slowly made love to her because a woman like Olivia is not to be fucked, but loved and adored.

“Camila died a month after this incident,” Ansel says as he changes the video. “By then, the daggers were well hidden, and both Olivia and Camila were trying to get over their assault. Especially Olivia.”

Rueben takes a sip of his whiskey. “If we had been here instead of at university, we would have protected them. What good came out of it anyway? We dropped out before we could finish, losing time that could have been spent taking care of Olivia and Camila.”

I wanted to become an engineer so I would be able to spoil Olivia as she deserved. When she voiced her concerns about me being hours away from her in another state, I dismissed her. I even got upset that she didn’t trust me when she mentioned other girls. How could she not see that all I could think about was her? How could I have ever cheated on her after I had a taste of her lips? Heck, I even hacked the camera Jason installed in her room so I could spy on her.

When Jon approached me, asking me about my intentions with Olivia, he offered to help us get married before she turned eighteen. He even offered me a job at his firm. I was too stupid back then and I refused his help. I wanted to prove that I could take care of Olivia on my own. She even suggested I take some time away from university, and after she finished high school, we would move near the campus. Again, I said no, wanting to finish my education as soon as possible.

“Before we watch the next video, you have to know that Olivia and Camila hid the daggers in the Catacombs.” Ansel’s words make all of us look at him. “And before you ask how they are still alive or got out of there unharmed, it’s because both of them are hellstars.”

The air leaves my lungs. I never once considered the possibility of Olivia being a hellstar. But it would explain my obsession with her, Or why my demon only wants her as our bonded. It’s because she is our perfect match.

“When they left the daggers in the care of demons, Camila took something that was never supposed to see the light of day.” He makes a small pause before adding, “A Dybbuk box.”

“A what?” Jasper asks.

“A box that contains an evil spirit,” Ansel explains. “Most of the Dybbuk boxes are hoaxes, but not this one. There was a reason why the box was placed in the Catacombs so that the demons there could guard it.”

Jasper runs his fingers through his hair. “Don’t tell me they opened it and released whatever was inside it, and that’s what got Camila killed.”

Ansel doesn’t reply as he puts on the video.

Camila is alone in Olivia’s room, an odd looking box in her hands. It’s like it’s made of silver and has black and pure white stones around it. They might be crystals, but it’s not something I’m particularly interested in so I don’t recognize them.

“Black tourmaline and selenite. Used to weaken evil spirits,” Rueben comments. “What? Just because I look stupid as fuck doesn’t mean I don’t know stuff. And yeah, I’m interested in crystals,” he huffs when we give him incredulous looks.

Jasper looks surprised. “You mean you do other stuff in your room besides smoking, drinking, and jerking off to porn?”

Rueben puts the empty glass on the coffee table before folding his arms against his chest and watching the TV.

Camila studies the box, running her fingers along the lid until Olivia enters the room.

“Where did you get that?” Olivia asks as she sits on the bed next to Camila.

“From the Catacombs. How much do you think it’s worth?”

Olivia gasps. “You did what? We have to return it!”

Camila shakes her head. “My parents could really use the money.”

“I’ll pay whatever bills you have or buy you groceries for several weeks, but we have to return it tonight.”

Camila suddenly stands. “I’m tired of you always paying for stuff. For once, I want to go into a store and not have to depend on your daddy’s card to eat or get clothes for my brothers.”

Rueben frowns. “Didn’t Camila say she was working after school to help with money? It was Olivia all along?”

She did, but Levi told me that Olivia was behind everything.

Olivia hugs Camila. “You are hurting so much, I don’t know how to help you.”

“Why aren’t you angry at me? It’s only a matter of time until Jason sends Tyson the video of what his friends did to you. He’ll think you cheated on him.”

Olivia tries to yank the box away from Camila. “Tyson knows how much I love him. There’s no way he will think I’d do anything to jeopardize our relationship.”

Growing up with a mother like mine left deep scars. Trusting women has always been a problem. For years I wondered how I could be sure the woman I would eventually fall in love with wouldn’t turn out to be like my mother—a whore without shame. For that reason, I avoided having girlfriends. Sure, I fucked whatever bitch threw herself at me, except for those who had boyfriends, as they only solidified my convictions—that most women have no morals.

When Camila presented Olivia to me, I thought she would be one of the many who wanted to get into my pants. But she was always so reserved and yet also genuinely interested in knowing me as a person, which led to me lowering my guard around her. We spent hours playing COD and talking about all kinds of stuff.

Once I started getting to know Olivia, I knew I had found the perfect girl. The thought of her cheating never crossed my mind. She was so sweet, too shy to do so. Seeing that video fucking crushed me. But Olivia is right; I should have known that she loved me too much to get on her knees and suck cock of her own free will.

Camila doesn’t let go of the box and Olivia keeps trying to grab it away. “Tyson will believe whatever scenario he’ll build up in his head. He already hates women. How do you think he’ll react to you sucking dick that’s not his?”

“Just because he doesn’t trust women, it doesn’t mean he’s a woman hater. And let go of the box!” Olivia insists.

“Right. That’s why you haven’t told him what Sean and the others did to you.”

Olivia sucks in air. “He is having exams. If I tell him now, he will fail them, and this will only set him back. The box, Camila. It belongs to the Catacombs.”

Shit.

I made Olivia feel like she couldn’t talk to me because my studies were more important to me than her problems. What a shitty boyfriend I was.

“Right. Exams,” Camila snorts. “Why are you so adamant that we return the box?”

Olivia blinks. “Because you took it from demons. Who knows why it was there in the first place.”

Camila laughs while holding tightly onto the box. “It’s just an old trinket. I’m going to sell it and use the money to buy something nice for my mom, then use the rest to spoil my brothers. Tyson only started dating you so he could turn you into the perfect submissive wife.”

Camila couldn’t have been more wrong. I never wanted to control Olivia, nor did I expect her to be a traditional wife. She was into politics and eager to pursue a career in that field. I would have stood by Olivia right from the beginning, supporting and helping her with whatever she needed. Sure, I wanted a perfect American family, but not at the cost of Olivia’s happiness.

Olivia and Camila keep fighting over the box. “That’s not who Tyson is. And why are we even fighting?” Olivia asks .

“Because you’ll never get to be my sister because of me insisting we go to that stupid party. You should have left me with Sean and the others. I would not have remembered anything in the morning.”

Both of them grab the box by the lid. “I would have known,” says Olivia. “Regardless of what happens between Tyson and me, we’ll always be sisters.”

Camila yanks the box hard. “Let go of it already!” she yells as her fingers clamp down on the box. Olivia’s hands are still on the lid.

But not for long.

They pull in different directions until the box flies out of their hands onto the floor with a loud thud, the lid wide open. Dark shadows start to pour out of it. Pandora is whispered before the shadows attack both Camila and Olivia. My body tenses as they start to scream, and cuts appear across their skin, blood oozing from them. Despite knowing that Olivia is alive, my brain is screaming at me that Olivia will be killed, that I need to go and save her. But how does someone fight shadows?

The shadows appear to be attacking Camila more than Olivia.

“Mother of God,” Rueben says. “What are those?”

Ansel doesn’t reply right away, but after the shadows start pulling Camila away from Olivia, he finally says, “Nephilims. And their creator, Ophyr.”

“Who the fuck is that?” Jasper asks.

Ansel pauses the video. “Remember the gathering at the Blood Lodge where Wasp talked about the Blight?”

How could I forget? I thought Wasp was so full of shit, but she was telling the truth all along. “What about it?” I want to know as I try to piece together what the Blight has to do with the Dybbuk box.

“The Blight was looking for this box, wanting to free Ophyr and the rest of the Nephilim army.”

Ansel’s reply takes me off guard. “How do you know all this?”

“There are other types of books out there, not only porn. Try reading them from time to time,” Ansel says.

“I write romance, not porn books. Try to educate yourself a bit,” I scowl.

“You are the one calling them porn books,” Rueben comments.

As a joke. Not that it matters since they would still say they are trashy reads. Whatever. It’s not like I only write smut. There’s a lot of plot, too.

Jasper lights another cigarette. “I wouldn’t mind reading some of your books while you play with yourself. Or with Olivia.” His voice is barely a whisper, but I can hear him perfectly. The idea of playing with myself while Jasper watches, pretending to read, sends a thrill through my body.

Focus, Tyson, focus!

In a louder tone, Jasper adds, “We need to go after her.”

“It seems to me that you won’t be going anywhere, not while you are still recuperating,” I point out the obvious. To Ansel, I say, “Let’s finish this. We are already wasting precious time, and I don’t like it. She might be lost in the woods, hurt, cold, and scared. Or maybe….” I don’t finish because the thought of her being in the hands of her brother and father makes my blood boil.

The video resumes.

The door to Olivia’s room bursts open, and Jason enters. No wonder. All the yelling must have alerted him to something bad happening. The moment Jason sees the shadows, he runs out.

“Help us!” Olivia screams after Jason, but the coward doesn’t return.

Strange lights come out of the Dybbuk box before the last shadow emerges from it, taking the shape of a warped angel of darkness with eight wings. It approaches Camila, who is in a fetal position on the floor, shadows still overwhelming her. The ones harming Olivia pause to watch what the angel of darkness will do, giving her the chance to escape their grasp. He grabs Camila by the hair and pulls her to her feet.

“Daughter of Pandora,” the angel hisses. “ Freeing me will bring only suffering and pain to this world.”

Olivia crawls away from the shadows toward her closet.

Camila appears to have no fear as she says, “If I freed you, then you should be grateful. You owe us, so stop attacking us.”

“The only thing I’ll do is kill you, Daughter of Pandora, so that you won’t seal me back in Tartarus,” the angel of darkness hisses at Camila. Tartarus? Wasn’t that a prison for gods in ancient Greece? His free hand wraps around Camila’s throat, blocking her windpipe.

Olivia comes out of the closet, a gun in her hands. Even before the next events unfold, I already know Olivia never meant to kill Camila.

“Let go of her!” Olivia screams. Light comes out of her body, making the shadows retreat. Her wounds and those of Camila heal. Did she do that?

Olivia’s finger slips on the trigger.

The gun fires.

“It’s you,” the dark angel says before disappearing.

The bullet hits Camila right in the chest.

Oh, God.

“It was an accident,” Rueben mumbles. “Olivia was trying to protect Camila.”

Rueben gets up and starts pacing around while I keep my eyes on the video, not wanting to miss any detail.

Camila falls on the rug, blood seeping out of her chest, her eyes closed. Olivia drops to her knees. “No, no, no, no,” she keeps saying as she crawls to Camila. When Olivia is next to Camila, she whispers, her voice cracking, “Wake up.”

Jason returns to the room. “What the fuck did you do?” Seeing Camila, he gasps, “You killed her!”

Olivia bursts out crying. “I didn’t want to shoot her. We have to help her. Call an ambulance.”

Jason goes over to Olivia. “Can you imagine how this will affect father? Not to mention the Lords. She is the daughter of a Priest.”

Olivia’s chin trembles. “It was an accident. You saw those…those things.”

Jason tilts his head to the side. “What things?”

“The shadows.”

“Do you even hear yourself? Shadows? Are you pretending to be crazy now to get away with murder?”

Olivia doesn’t seem to hear him as she tries to help Camila, but she is beyond any help, as the bullet tore her heart, killing her almost on the spot. “You ran like a coward the moment you saw them, and you are trying to pin this on me like I’m crazy?”

“The only reason I came in here was because I heard you and Camila fighting and wanted to make sure that things didn’t get out of hand. Especially since she accused you of cheating on your boyfriend.”

What the fuck did Jason smoke? Whatever happened is not Olivia’s fault. It was an accident.

Olivia shakes her head. “I didn’t. The only reason why I gave your friends blowjobs was so that you wouldn’t rape Camila.”

Jason folds his arms against his chest. “Are you high or something? I’d never rape someone.” He looks around the room. “If I look around here, I bet I’ll find drugs. You sucked cock because you like it, and to cover your ass in front of your boyfriend, who no doubt thinks you are a little saint, you killed Camila.”

“That’s not what happened, and you know it!” Olivia screams.

Rueben stops pacing around. Even with my bad sight, I can still see his anger. I can feel it. He is trembling with rage.

Jason goes over to Olivia’s desk and starts opening drawers while Olivia cradles Camila’s head and repeats, “I’m so sorry.”

It doesn’t take long for Jason to find something in one of the drawers. “You’ve been smoking shroom cigarettes.” Olivia is as confused as me. I never heard of that type of cigarettes. “I bet you took them from father’s office. They are part of an experiment Azael is doing; he wants to see if he can mix all types of drugs with tobacco and how it will affect people. Don’t tell me you have been smoking these.”

Jason is trying to gaslight Olivia into making her think she was drugged when his friends assaulted her or when she shot Camila.

Olivia looks horrified. “I didn’t know they contained shrooms. Camila and I were only curious.”

Jason runs one of the cigarettes along his nose, smelling it. “Whatever you claim you saw was not real. The truth, dear sister, is that you killed your friend because she threatened to expose your secret. Mother was right; you are just like Grandma Khloe—a whore.”

Olivia rocks back and forth. “No. It was an accident. The box fell, the lid came off, and shadows came out of it. They attacked Camila and me. I only used the gun because I wanted to save Camila.”

“And you have some proof of this?”

“The wounds both Camila and I suffered.”

Jason narrows his eyes. “What wounds?”

Olivia looks at her hands. A look of shock appears on her face when she realizes there’s no trace of her lacerations. Except for some blood stains on her dark-colored clothes, but they can be easily mistaken for other things. “I know what I saw. I’m not lying. The creature with eight wings tried to strangle Camila.”

Jason sits on the desk and claps his hands. “Some hero you are. Sucking dick and killing innocent people while hallucinating about weird shit. Did Camila find out you were on your knees in front of Sean, Roy, and Leo today as well? That’s why you fought?”

Olivia’s face turns red. “I had no choice as Sean threatened to show the video Roy took to the entire school. Camila and I didn’t fight.”

Jason clicks his tongue. “No choice. Right. You like sucking cock and getting high. There’s no shame in it. But Father will have to learn of what you did.”

“Father will kill me,” Olivia starts to panic.

I hate seeing her so scared with no one beside her for support, telling her everything will be alright.

Jason shrugs. “He won’t, but Camila’s brother will. Roman was it?”

“Rueben,” Olivia says.

“Yes, that. Imagine what Camila’s parents will say when they learn their daughter died protecting her brother from getting heartbroken. Imagine how much they will suffer. Maybe they’ll die of a broken heart. Rueben will despise you. He will want to kill you. Slowly. Painfully.” Jason planned for Rueben to hate her.

More tears fall down Olivia’s face. “What do I do?”

A vicious smile appears on Jason’s face, but it vanishes quickly. “I could help you,” his lazy voice makes Olivia focus only on him, “but you’ll have to tell me where the daggers are.”

Olivia shakes her head. “I promised Camila that I’d never breathe a word about them.”

“I tried, dear sister, but whores like you don’t deserve a chance to rectify their mistakes. Starting right now, you’ll learn what a living hell is.” Jason sighs before taking out his phone from the pocket of his jeans. “Father, we have a problem. Olivia just killed Priest Carr’s daughter.” The video ends with Olivia covering her face with her palms and crying.

For a while, no one says anything. What the fuck can we say anyway? That we hated Olivia for years for something that was an accident? All she wanted to do was save Camila from whatever was locked in that box. We lost not only Camila but our parents as well because of Jason. If that fucking coward could have actually helped Olivia and Camila, my little sister and parents would still be alive today. Everything that had happened to Olivia could have been prevented if I had only trusted her.

Rueben grabs his glass from the coffee table and throws it across the room. It hits the wall and falls to the floor, exploding into tiny shards, making Diva bark.

“That fucking bastard!” he yells. “He let my sister die. My mother shot herself in front of me because of him. My father drank himself to death.”

Rin and Steven appear in the doorframe. They are quiet as they listen to Rueben yelling and cursing out Jason and his family.

“I hated Olivia so much that I blamed her for what happened to Levi, Isak, and Gavin. I wanted her to hurt as much as I was hurting. After years of resentment, all I could do was yell in her face to die already. It wasn’t the first time I’ve said it to her. She never argued back even though she knew she never meant for any of this to happen.”

My palms curl into fists, and the urge to punch Rueben right in the mouth knocks the air out of me. But I wait to hear what else he has to say because if I’m going to beat him, I want to know what else he did to Olivia.

Rueben’s voice quivers as he says, “She let Jason’s friends assault her to keep them away from Camila while I was at university, upset that she got engaged to my little brother while she never gave me a chance.”

I don’t feel bad for him. I hope he suffers as much as I do and loses sleep over what he did to Olivia. Because I know I do. Even if I sleep, it’s usually nightmares of me being in a strange place, tied to a chair, while I’m shown videos of Olivia being fucked by man after man, while a voice tells me she’s a whore and she is not to be trusted. That she should be punished for breaking my heart. On and on, the videos keep going as the voice keeps repeating the same words.

Jasper lowers his left leg from the coffee table, his jaw set hard. “You said what to Olivia?” He rarely gets angry, but when it happens, it’s best to stay away from him. I understand how he feels; the only reason I’m not pulverizing Rueben’s face right this instant is because I made Olivia suffer more than he did. I still need to know if he did more shit to her than I already know about.

“You have no fucking clue how many nights I heard her cry in her sleep about Camila, and you think she wanted her father to come here and make us kill each other? Don’t you understand she already tried to take her own life while in my care? Do you have any fucking clue how it made me feel? The thought of not finding her in time still haunts me. You have no clue how much she’s suffering. From the scars on her arms, she tried to end herself more than once. Yet you tell her that she should take her own life? If anything happens to Olivia, I’m holding you responsible. Blood-brother or not, I’m going to scatter your remains right alongside Roy’s.” Jasper turns his attention to me. “The same goes for you.”

Rueben goes to where we keep the keys, but Ansel stops him before he can grab his car keys. “Give me the keys before I let Diva tear you apart,” Rueben snarls in Ansel’s face. Diva starts growling.

“You can do whatever the fuck you want after we’ve seen all the videos,” Ansel calmly says.

“Why the fucking obsession with the videos?” Rueben yells.

I don’t get why he’s the angry one. Is he suddenly feeling guilty for what he’s done?

“Because you need to understand what we’re dealing with. Azael already did a number on us,” Ansel explains to Rueben while pointing at me, “and we need to learn from past mistakes if we want to get Olivia back.”

My stomach drops and I start to sweat. What does he mean by that?

“Down, girl,” Rueben says before going to the couch and dropping onto it. Diva puts her head on his lap and he strokes it, calming enough for Ansel to put on another video.

Olivia is in her father’s office. From Olivia’s clothes and the blood on her hands it’s from the same night Camila died. Senator Deymar is sitting at his desk, watching something on his laptop, while Jason stands next to his father, his hands in his pockets, a mocking grin on his stupid face as Olivia is quietly sobbing. The volume on the laptop is low, so I can’t pinpoint what the Senator is watching.

Ansel fast-forwards to the point when the Senator slams shut his laptop. “Not only did you steal from me, but now you are fucking a Lord’s son? Who? The bastard or the orphan?” he yells at Olivia, making her flinch.

Jason snorts. “You know that the Lords like to share the same woman, and I bet she was fucking all of the Carr sons. Maybe the dad, too.”

I’ve never hated someone like I hate Jason. I thought Senator Deymar was scum, but Jason lives up to the name. No wonder he couldn’t stand Olivia; she was a sweetheart, and he wanted her to be just as miserable as he was. For a long time, Jason succeeded in that, but I’ll make sure Olivia smiles every day for the rest of her life. After everything she’s been through, she deserves to be treated like a queen.

“From the moment you were born, looking like my mother-in-law, I knew you would be a problem. I tried to correct you, but even so, you turned out to be just like her. She was a pornai, working in a cabaret before Jon took pity on her and took her home after he saw her making a fool of herself. Not only could you not keep your legs crossed, but now you’ve killed a Lord Priest’s daughter inside my home? Do you have any idea what you’ve started?” His palm falls on top of the desk, and Olivia starts trembling. “If we want to stand a chance against the Lords, I need the daggers. Give them to me now.”

Olivia shakes her head. “We need to help Camila. Please.”

Before she can add another thing, Jason slaps her hard. “She is too stupid to understand the consequences of her actions, but we could show her. I bet Azael will know how to make her talk.”

Senator Deymar stands and unbuckles his belt. “There’s no need to call Azael.” He gives the belt to Jason. “You said you’ll make Olivia talk. It’s been several weeks since then, and she still hasn’t returned the daggers. As her big brother, it’s your responsibility to show her the right path.” Senator Deymar bends Olivia over the desk and yanks down her jeans. “If you want to prove you are worthy to be my successor, make your sister tell you where the daggers are,” he says before leaving the office.

Jason hovers over Olivia, and she looks up at him with empty eyes, “I lost everything because of you. If you think you can live happily while I drown in misery, then you are wrong. No matter what you do to me, I won’t reveal the location of the daggers. I've already lost everything.”

Jason lifts up his hand and brings down the belt fast, whipping Olivia’s bare legs. She bites her bottom lip, refusing to scream. My demon snarls and growls, wanting to protect Olivia from what’s about to happen to her.

“You have no idea the things I’m capable of. I know the way you think, dear sister, I have watched you for months. Why do you think I installed a camera in your room? Beatings won’t do it, as you’ve gotten used to them, but it still feels good to see you covered in bruises and blood. Your blood,” Jason emphasizes. “But I have other ideas. Like hurting the Carr brothers.”

“Then it’s a good thing they are studying in another state.”

Jason keeps hitting Olivia. “Not for long. They’ll return when they learn about Camila’s death. What do you think will happen when they learn that you killed Camila because you were too much of a coward to admit that you were cheating on your boyfriend?”

“I didn’t mean to kill her,” Olivia whimpers as Jason covers her in bruises and blood.

My eyes start to hurt, but I’ll be damned if I take another break, even if it means I’ll remain blind. I need to understand what really happened so I can punish everyone who got between Olivia and me. And why the obsession with the daggers? And what is a Nephilim?

Jason keeps whipping Olivia, who doesn’t take long to start screaming. He places a hand on her back, preventing her from moving, and keeps bringing the belt down on her legs. When she starts begging and pleading with him to stop, Jasper flips over the coffee table. “I’m going to whip him until all the flesh from his bones is gone.”

“We should make his father do it while we watch,” Rin suggests.

Remembering what Roy said, about how he, along with Jason’s other friends, liked to fuck Olivia until she whimpered in pain, I add, “And make his friends fuck each others asses until they bleed to death.”

When Jason is done with Olivia, her legs are covered in cuts and blood. He leaves, and she remains there, bent over the desk, crying, unable to move because of the brutal beating she received. So viciously she was whipped, that even now, she has scars on her legs from that night.

Jason returns minutes later. “The Carrs just finished watching the footage of what happened between you and Camila.” He opens the laptop and puts on an altered version of what transpired in Olivia’s bedroom moments before Camila died. “Deny it now if you can.” He makes Olivia watch it for hours, not caring that she has a panic attack. Only when Olivia passes out from exhaustion does he stop torturing her.

“Jason had someone quickly edit the video to make it look like Olivia intentionally killed Camila. It’s the same video his father and our parents watched. After this, Olivia was taken to Azael’s medical facility to have her wounds treated,” Ansel says as he puts on another video.

This is the day after my stepmom’s burial. Ansel, Rueben, and I were home while our father was gone, probably to one of the bars to drink until he blacked out. After all, he was good at it. It’s how he sired me—by being wasted.

By this point, my eyes feel like burning and I don’t pay much attention to the video. There’s no real need as I still remember what happened that day. The anger I felt. More than that. I was enraged. Olivia had destroyed not only our lives but our entire future when she murdered Camila. Then she evaded the police and wasn’t answering my phone calls. I was wondering why she did it; there was no logic to it, no reason I could fathom for Olivia to shoot Camila in cold blood. How could my sweet Olivia hurt someone, especially Camila, who was like a sister to her?

Rueben was as confused as I was, and for a moment, we all thought that Olivia was set up. Until Rueben’s phone lit up with an incoming message. His face changed totally after reading it and looking at the videos that came in moments later.

“I think I know why Olivia killed Camila,” Rueben said as he forwarded me the video of the night Jason’s friend assaulted Olivia.

I watched the video as Rueben kept talking but I barely heard a word as the sound of my heart breaking was louder than any noise around me. All I could think about was how Olivia mocked me and my feelings. That she was no better than my mother. That, while I was studying late into the night, she was on her knees sucking cock. At that moment, I hated her more than anything else. I stood there for hours, watching the video over and over again until my phone’s battery died. Then I grabbed the keys for my old Volvo with the intention of getting as wasted as my father and fucking as many bitches as possible.

“Where are you going?” Ansel yelled after me as I opened the front door.

“To repeat history,” my response followed. “Drink, party, and pound whores.” Except that I didn’t want to sire a child who would ultimately be called a mistake by his mother. Even now, the thought of having a kid of my own makes me panic because I can’t stop wondering what woman would want to get pregnant by me. What guarantee do I have that she will treat the kid right and love him enough to not see him as a mistake, like my parents saw me. Except my stepmom. She was the only real maternal figure I had ever had.

“What about Olivia?” Rueben inquired.

I shrugged. “What the fuck do you want me to do about her?”

“She needs to get punished for what she did,” Rueben snarled. “She cheated on you. Maybe it wasn’t the first time. Maybe Camila knew about it, and that’s what got her killed.”

By that point, my head was pounding.

“But are we sure Olivia killed Camila? Is there any proof apart from what Jason and her father said to us when they called?” Ansel tried to make sense of the entire mess.

I didn’t have the energy to do so. “Tomorrow we’ll find out what really happened. But tonight, I need to drink.”

The three of us went to a special club known in the area for letting people do drugs and other shit, and all I can remember about the time we spent there are bits and pieces. We might have stayed there for days, as they never kick clients out. Not until they ran out of money, at least. We drank, fucked bitches, and got high while losing track of time. Money wasn’t a problem at that time since Rueben, Ansel, and I took part in secret missions for the Elders, and the rewards were more than generous. With my share, I had planned to buy a real engagement ring for Olivia.

After that night in which I drank and fucked more throats than I could remember, since in my head Olivia had completely destroyed what we had together, I crashed on one of the couches in the VIP area in the club. Ansel and Rueben did the same. Not long after we passed out, a group of seven men, led by one of the staff members, came to where we were and started searching our pockets. Most people would think they wanted to rob us, but Cirro did a great job with the videos, clearing the footage enough for me to notice the tattoo of a snake on one of the guys’ arms. The two wings on either side of its head let me know the guy was a Duke. No doubt, the others as well.

After they injected us with something, they took us away.

“We acted just like Jason wanted us to, making us vulnerable and an easy target for the Dukes,” Ansel comments at the end of the video.

I don’t totally agree with Ansel. What happened back then clearly fucked us up really good, otherwise I don’t understand our erratic behavior that night. I’m ashamed of what I did and of using women to feel vindicated for Olivia’s ‘cheating.’

Rueben lets out a loud breath. “I don’t remember anything about this.”

“Neither do I,” I say, but the dreams I keep having pop up in my head. What if it’s related? It would explain why I keep having the sensation that someone has tampered with my memories.

Another video loads. “Azael used drugs that made us forget the days we spent in the facility. When he was done with us, he had his men take us back to the club,” Ansel reveals even more.

How the fuck did I let my guard down back then? It could have gotten me killed. All that I remember from the club is wild nights. Nights. Could it be an effect of the drugs?

The images on the TV change showing Rueben, Ansel, and me in different rooms, tied to chairs, while videos of Olivia sucking cocks or riding men—which now I can see were fakes, Olivia’s face poorly edited and warped over the original to make it look like she was the one in them—and images of Camila dead or from our mother’s funeral, are displayed on big screens in front of us. Voices coming from recording devices keep repeating the same phrases over and over again.

Olivia is a whore. She is not to be trusted —for me.

Olivia killed Camila in cold blood. Your mother killed herself because of that —said to Rueben.

Olivia is the reason why the woman who saw you as her son is no longer here —for Ansel.

People who appeared to be doctors kept entering the rooms we were in, injecting us with more drugs. Or at least that’s what I suspect was in the syringe as the looks on our faces kept changing as time passed from anger, to wrath, to wanting, to something feral.

On the third day, I was untied, made to take a shower, and given food and water before being taken to what appears to be a semi dark cell. Not long after, Rueben and Ansel are also brought in. The video changes when someone steps out from a dark corner. I don’t even have a chance to see their face. My demon gets very agitated.

“Why did you stop the video?” I demand to know.

“Because after, we were given some more drugs and taken back to the club where we would wake up with massive headaches,” Ansel chuckles, but he sounds off. Is he hiding something? I don’t have time to ask, as he keeps talking in a more serious tone, “It might have been Azael’s clinic, but Jason and the Senator clearly had a free hand in what they did to us. And us being set free with no memory of being brainwashed into hating Olivia to the point of destroying us.” Ansel might say that, but he never once had any ill feelings towards Olivia. He only stopped talking about her. Why did the drugs affect Rueben and me so much, turning us into people filled with anger, while Ansel kept being the same quiet, serene dude as ever?

Rin chimes in. “Something doesn’t add up. Azael would have never let you go like this. From what Yan told me, there’s no way out of the facility. He was lucky he got away. But the three of you,” he shakes his head, “there has to be more to the story.”

Ansel puts another video. “Olivia made a pact with Jason to protect us.”

I feel like my soul leaves my body. It was never Olivia’s job to protect anyone. It was the other way around. Me protecting her. And what a great job I did. No wonder my demon was angry at me for years. “What kind of a pact?”

The video starts.

Olivia and Jason are in a simple room with a single bed and a nightstand next to it. Olivia sits in the bed, the blanket covering her legs. Bruises are around her neck, her left eye is swollen. Another beating. How many did she have to endure for those damn daggers? Ansel said they can kill demons and angels, but are they really worth the trouble?

Jason stands with his back to the window, leaning against the sill.

“Father has great plans for your boyfriends, especially now that their hate for you consumes every thought they have. Azael wants to experiment on them with even more drugs.”

Olivia fights back tears. “Please, Jason, you need to get them out of here.” She sounds hoarse.

Jason laughs. “Why would I do that? They deserve what’s happening to them. Besides, I’m having fun seeing you suffer. And this is only the beginning.”

“Please,” Olivia keeps begging. “I can’t go through another day like yesterday. It’s killing me. I’ll do whatever you ask me.”

A satisfied look appears on Jason’s face. “Then tell me where the daggers are, and I’ll convince Father to let them go. And I might consider being more lenient with you.”

“Get them out first, then I’ll tell you where Camila hid the daggers.”

Jason folds his arms across his chest. “This is not how it works. You don’t have a say in this.”

“Please, Jason. I overheard the guards talking about how Azael would try to replace Rueben and his brothers’ demons with angels.” Jason quirks an eyebrow, clearly unfazed by Olivia's words . “Besides, I don’t trust you’ll get them out once I reveal where the daggers are. If anything happens to them, I’ll never say a word. You either get them out now, or there’s no deal.”

After a few moments of thinking, Jason agrees. “Fine, but I need something more from you. Because of you, our father cut off my allowance. If you want your boyfriends safe, you’ll have to spread your legs wide open so you can make me some money.”

Olivia doesn’t miss a heartbeat before saying, “If that’s what it takes to keep them safe and Rueben away from me, then I agree.”

What the fuck did you agree to, Olivia?