Chapter Four

Valentin

Ican't hear her screams, but I feel them. They reverberate underneath my skin, seeping into my bones and blood. They're torturing her… our firecracker. And I can't do a fucking thing. It's ritual. Tradition. An oath that we all pledged, including her. But someday, when we have more power than Holden Graves, I will seek retribution for this night.

Riot is locked away in a cell down below. He went mad after they took her down the stairs. He wanted his father to punish him, not Maureen. And so that's exactly what Holden did. There is no pain you can inflict on Riot Graves that will make him break. But hurt his firecracker, and it will send him into the deepest depths of hell and despair.

"We should have fought harder to keep her out of this," I grumble.

Atlas sprawls across the bed next to me. "You heard him. If we pushed, he'd enforce the rule of Hekate. Holden is stronger than us here. With all his initiates around him… they would be doing much worse to our girl right now."

What a dumb fucking rule. I want to set this entire house on fire.

The rule of Hekate is as old as Nocturnus itself. A clause put in our bylaws to keep initiates from running off for love. We don't have many women in our order, but this rule exists for the ones who manage to slip through.

Fall in love with a female initiate, and you will be forced to watch every other initiate fuck her. If you have any ounce of decency in your bones, Nocturnus will make sure to flay it out of you. We're taught that love is weakness. Marriage is for duty and carrying on our bloodlines. And female initiates are not fit to be wives. Only playthings.

So we can't fucking show how much we care about Maureen while we're in this house.

"Your pupils are the size of golf balls, Val. She's going to be fine. You need to relax before you have an aneurysm." Atlas hands me a vial of nightshade. "Drink."

I gulp it down in one sip. I've always hated this house. Even more so than my own. The energy here… it pulls at my darkness. "Why are you so fucking cheery right now?"

Atlas sits up. A blue glow flashes through his eyes, his pupils dilated. His smile fades, a snarl replacing it. "I can feel her pain. Her sadness. But I'm trying not to betray my oath."

I nod. "Why are we letting him do this to her?"

He sighs. "The ravens can't control us anymore, but Holden still has more power than we do. If we try to go up against him now, we'll lose. We need to wait until we're stronger."

He's right, but it still makes me want to stab people. "She's going to need extra care after this. I'm… afraid of what this will do to her."

Atlas swills another vial of poison, taking it back, his gaze hardening on the ceiling as he lies back down. "She'll be fine. It's just an initiation ritual."

The door bursts open just before Riot stalks through. A fire blazes in his eyes. "She's back in her room. Resting."

Atlas and I shuffle off the bed and go to him, each grabbing one of his hands. I feel his anger surge through me. "Have you seen her?"

He shakes his head. "Not yet. I don't want to face her alone."

Atlas grabs the back of his head and pulls him close. "Let's get our girl and get the fuck out of here."

Romulus unlocks Maureen's door for us and for a second I contemplate bashing his head in. But he's not the one keeping her caged like an animal. He's a pawn like the rest of us.

My breath catches in my throat when I see her. She's curled up in the fetal position on the bed, naked. The flesh on her ass is bruised and swollen. A dark energy passes through us collectively. A rage that's about to spill over.

"Ah, look how innocent she looks while she sleeps," Holden snickers from behind us.

The three of us whip around and block her from his view.

Riot clenches his fists. "What the actual fuck did you do to her?"

Holden stalks toward his son, his gaze hardening with each step. "I marked her. Broke her. And then I punished her for her treachery. We all did. You didn't really think I was going to let her get away with murdering Zeke, did you? Bastard or not, he was my flesh and blood. And he was Nocturnus. Your little temptress is lucky I didn't snap her fucking neck."

"Don't call her that," Atlas growls. I glance over to see him practically foaming at the mouth, the first show of anger he's displayed since we arrived here.

Riot takes another step toward his father. "I will never forget this."

He chuckles. "No, you won't. And neither will she. Every time you lick her cunt, you'll see my sigil on her creamy white thigh."

Bile rises up in my throat. I almost choke on it. There will be a time and a place for us to mend Maureen's scars, but we can't do that here. "So we're square then," I say in the most monotone voice I can muster. "We're free to leave." I'm not asking.

He smirks, satisfied that he's fucked us all up for life. "You can go if you like. But don't ever defy me again. If you had killed this slut when I told you to, your brother would still be alive."

What the actual fuck?I look over at Atlas to see he's just as startled as I am. Riot never told us Holden wanted Maureen dead. Fucking hell. It's going to be a long fucking night.

Riot starts forward, and I place my hand on his chest, preventing him from knocking into his father. "That slut is with us now. She took your mark and did everything you asked. You will not touch her ever again."

Holden laughs. "Relax, son. I'm not going to take away your toy. I just wanted to play with it for a while."

One more word out of this asshole's mouth, and it will be the end of us. I am shaking so hard that I'm nearing convulsions. "Let's go," I growl.

Without hesitating, Atlas throws a blanket over her and gently scoops her off the bed, cradling her to his muscled chest. She looks like a tiny doll in his big arms.

I grab her bag and nudge Riot toward the door.

As we make it into the foyer, Holden's sick laughter echoes from behind us. I keep pushing Riot forward. We can't fight his father. Not like this. Not with our strongest link broken and unconscious in Atlas's arms.

And he knows this. He taunts us with it. But what he doesn't know is that there's a deadly storm brewing in each of us. We are all breaking tonight. But when we heal, there will be fucking hell to pay.

The second Holden Graves touched our girl; he made the worst mistake of his life.

I swallow back my anger and keep walking toward the front door. Clover Graves waits for us.

"Leaving so soon?" She leans heavier on her cane tonight.

Riot shakes his head and sighs. "I will protect Maureen in all the ways that you couldn't protect me, Mother."

She raises her chin, her eyes cold and glassy. "You were always different, Riot. I'm not sure if that's to your benefit or detriment. I guess we'll see what you're made of sooner or later."

He leans in and lays a soft peck on her cheek right before he snarls in her ear, "Plan for sooner."