Constricted: Beyond the Brothel Walls (17 page)

The demon snorted. “Flash your fangs, mate.” Both men silenced when I coughed.

Petre caressed my cheek. “How are you holding up Angel?” Veric glanced away.

I snapped, “Fine.”

A slow breath released from his tight jaw, and he glared at me. “Don’t lie to me.” Petre pressed me, and I backed into the wall. My eyes darted down and back to his eerie gaze. “You can’t save everyone.” I blinked, and his lips twitched. My hands fidgeted as he leaned closer. The intensity of his presence washed over my skin, and I had to glance away before I did something foolish. “Kor, there’s too many.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. Flashes of last night should’ve sounded a warning, but I fought them. If Petre wanted me to forgive him, then this was a fine place to start.

I licked my parched lips. “You think we asked for this life?” My head grew hot as the rage induced inferno spread. “We chose to become sex slaves?”

“Some do, luv.”

“Shut up.”

Petre’s lips tickled my forehead. “One day I may say no to you.” He marched from the room and barreled upstairs. His boots might as well have been a herd of elephants.

I winced. “Say no to what?”

“Your insane demands,” the agent whispered. Veric blinked and cocked his auburn head. In the dark, I’d assumed it was brown. The light skimmed his scar; I wondered where and how he’d gotten his. Interesting that we’d all have that in common, scarred, battered, and broken. Who’d broken the big bad demon?

A sigh fell from my lips, and a pained expression crossed Veric’s hardened face. I brushed it off and concentrated on how to pull off transporting everyone. Tomas had been successful, true, but he wasn’t here yet. The downside remained a huge hurdle. Tomas held all the documents, and it would take a few days for them to arrive. He’d deliver them himself. Until then we had to bunker down and stick together. More so, we all had to survive and evade Jules.

I fought the memories again as they reared their ugly heads. Would love ever be enough to burn through the internal demons tearing at my soul. Between my past and the blood on my hands, I was doomed and deserved no one’s love.

“Your mind’s churning.”

I shrugged and wandered outside. Petre followed. The sun rose higher, and I squinted, shielding my eyes from the new brightness burning them. He handed me a pair of glasses with dark lenses. I laughed, betting Tomas owned goggles for such occasions. Part of me hoped he owned a pair that dulled the senses. My life had changed overnight. Colors grew brighter than I’d ever witnessed before, and my head ached from their beauty.

“Two visitors came to the back door a week after you left. I’d just come inside from a walk.” I took a deep breath and explained every detail I could recall. Sometimes I blacked out and awoke in a new area. Countless times Jules had assaulted me, and my voice trembled as I retold of the abuses. I fought for as long as I could. The difference, this time, was the knowledge Petre shared. Worth more than my body even if I hadn’t believed him before. In those moments with the monster, I’d felt it in my heart.

Petre sniffed, but if I so much as glanced at him, I’d have lost my courage continue. It was why I refused to turn my back on the men inside. As long as they were human, they couldn’t fight back. My knees crumpled into the snow, and my head dropped. No matter how hard I tried, I’d always be a whore, and pieces of me forever haunted the brothel walls.

“Please, I need to be alone.” He said no and plopped beside me.

“I can get us through customs once we cross the border.” Veric paced the rear foyer and glanced over his shoulder. Even through the door, I’d heard him. “It’s this side I’m worried about.”

Petre sat there and explained how Tomas had ushered the girls across the border. I listened, grasping his hand and clinging to his comfort. My body trembled, afraid he would leave me again. He must have sensed it too and held me tighter.

“When we return, you and I are going to have a nice long talk.” The tone staggered, and I had a feeling it’d be anything but nice. The door slammed behind us as Veric left to gather supplies. His energy brushed against my skin, and I longed to ask the strange demon about the dreams.

In the dead of winter, fuel remained scarce. This block didn’t attach into the main biofuel line, but even after Petre explained the process, I had not quite understood anything he’d said. Time passed, but I didn’t have a watch. One moment it was light, and next the clouds arrived. They offered relief from the blinding light and dumped another blanket of snow over the grounds. Petre rose and tugged me up too. I could’ve wallowed in the weather, but he dragged me inside.

Our demon friend returned some time later. I’d clattered around in the kitchen searching for pots and pans. Veric brought root vegetables, loaves of bread, and something he called fish. Although from where, I didn’t ask. I laughed when he unwrapped the large-scaly beast and curled my nose at its salty scent.

“Sea bass.” Its mouth lay open, and the silvery body shimmered in the pale light. The massive fish would provide plenty when combined with the bread and vegetables.

I poked at the half frozen scales. “But how do I cook it?”

Veric chewed his lip and stormed outside. His massive frame moved as fast as a vampire did. Clinkering noises rattled my brain, and I poked my head outside to investigate. He set up a large metal box with metal slats over the top. Below it sat little black squares. Those he lit with a long match. “Before … the … this is charcoal, it burns hot, and cooks food.”

“Before the what?” Petre asked. The metal door slammed behind him, and I grasped my temples. “You’re hiding something, and I want to know what it is.”

Veric shrugged, pushed past him, and retrieved the fish from my hands. He asked me to venture inside and seek out any seasonings. My eyes darted to Petre, not for permission, but in case he wanted me to stay. He gave a curt nod, and I scurried back inside. The cabinets were bare of most items, but I managed to find salt, pepper, and a spice I couldn’t pronounce. With the items in tow, I brought them back outside.

My eyes looked up as I heard another crash. Petre and Veric were fighting. Fists slammed, knees jerked, and my eyes darted around catching their increased movements. The items had toppled from my hands and thudded into the snow.

“Stop it,” I cried out. They ignored me. Demon Spawn snorted, and trotted closer, but my eyes stayed on the men. Blood painted the snow, but each man healed from the blows. The horse’s feet crunched closer. I knew it was the wrong word, but I wasn’t an expert on animals, and I’d been around the large beasts for a month.

His nose nudged me, and I faced the horse. Red eyes stared at me, and I stepped back. Shadows, he bore the shadows. He stepped forward, the snow sizzling beneath his feet. My hands trembled, and my eyes sought out Petre. Steam rose up from the ground, and I backed against the wall. I saw nothing, but his black head and crimson eyes.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. My lungs constricted, pressing, heaving for air they didn’t require. The air grew thicker on my damp skin. Sweaty palms pressed against icy brick. My mind swam with confusion as the images of a young woman’s death flickered before my eyes. The murderer looked like my Petre until his azure eyes glanced over his shoulder. Another man shouted; his pale hands trembled with the length of his body. “What have you done, brother?”

The man didn’t flinch; his bloodied hands rose above. “It begins.”

The strange memory jumped in time. He transformed into an ebony stallion, rearing up and kicking Petre’s face. He shrieked and dropped to his knees; fangs pierced through gums, and his head flung back. The two faced off, circling one another. Every strike against his flesh burned. Pink streaks rolled down his face as the skin knitted back together, but the first scar remained.

“Kor, Angel.” Hands shook my body, and I blinked. Slowly the two men came into focus, and Demon Spawn was gone. My fingers curled around Petre, and he dragged me into his arms. The woman’s eyes, cold and lifeless, and his words echoed in my ears. Something changed that day, and it was more than the curse. A bond between brothers shattered. My body shuddered, not from the cold, but from the deed.

His lips fluttered over my cheeks, and he repeated my name. Words wouldn’t come. The girl in the vision, she might’ve been me. She even looked like me. If Petre hadn’t saved me … would I have become a lifeless corpse with cold black eyes? Jules proved himself more than capable of despicable deeds. After all, he’d snapped my … my hand rubbed my neck.

“She needs blood, mate.” Blood, the word sounded odd. I didn’t drink blood; I wasn’t a … pressure built in my gums. My eyes watered into blackness, and my head shook. I was … how had I forgotten? “For God’s sake mate, she’s going into shock again.” A slap sounded in my ears, but no one struck me. Warmth flooded my mouth, and my throat roared with hunger.

“Get off you bleedin’ fool; I’m not … oh, bloody hell, keep doing that. Yes, luv, right there.” His gruff tone flooded my body with fire. Warm and toasty, the kind that builds until I could take no more. A moan left my lips with each draw of the demon’s heat and images flashed through my mind. But all I cared about was his hot blood and the pulsing throb between my legs. Hands grabbed me and pulled me away. I shrieked and clawed my way back. Blood tasted like heaven if I’d known what such a place tasted like.

Ecstasy overruled my senses as our lips connected in the flashes. I drank and concentrated hard this time on the visions. Veric’s hands wound into my hair and dragged me closer. A uniform covered his massive frame. Another pull of blood filled my senses, and the throb increased. His knee parted my skirts, and I’d ground against his thick thigh. The demon pulled away and panted; the charming smile and swollen lips stunning me both then and now as I blinked my wide eyes.

“Angel, snap out of it. Veric get out of here.” Petre’s voice dispersed the scene. I snorted, growled, and attempted everything to break free and return to the vision. Petre refused to surrender his grasp as he spoke to me. “What happened to you?”

Good question. My body froze as my mind retraced the events. They’d fought; I’d called out to them to stop, and … “Demon Spawn.” had brought forth the visions of the past and Veric, but I kept that part to me.

Petre’s grey eyes came into focus. The shadows fully retreated, and the smile rolled over my face. His lips dropped to my forehead, and he mumbled, “Welcome back.”

My arms wrapped around his neck, and I pulled his mouth to mine. When was the last time I kissed him? He was the one I wanted to kiss, not Veric. Before we had found the boys? I hadn’t meant to go that long ever again.

His tongue dipped into my mouth and massaged mine. My body reawakened and pressed against the hard lines of his chest. I loved him, not Veric, and aimed to show him. Firm hands dropped to my waist, and I slid them to my ass. Petre groaned and squeezed my cheeks.

The back door opened, and Veric poked his head out. “Safe to cook the fish now?” He winked at me, and my cheeks heated. Petre did not pull away as he mumbled words against my mouth. My hands flexed and yanked on his hair, dragging it free from his ponytail. I liked how it tickled against my skin and the scent of his shampoo. Clean and fresh, like a spring rain. “Get a room already.”

I dragged my mouth away and giggled. My hands cupped his face, and I stroked my finger over the scar. “Your brother did this.”

He nodded and kissed my palm. “I died, and the curse resurrected me.”

“What started his?” Understanding would not change the past, but maybe it would explain how the magical curse worked. Maybe I would then understand my own. My eyes flickered to the redheaded man as he chewed his lip. Had we a past? A previous life perhaps? I did not know enough about magic, but Tomas did. My vision too, there was so much I’d wanted to learn, but these children and men needed us more. Petre sighed, and his eyes searched my face, as I searched Veric. No that would all have to wait.

“Death.”

Veric coughed, and I glanced downward at the sizzling sounds. The fish cooked over the grates he’d set. The food smelled better cooking than it had when still raw.

“Love lifts it,” Petre added. Had I not already loved him? His curse remained and the same with his brother’s. I chewed my lip and pondered his words. The contract required more than love and included marriage and consummation. My hands twisted, and I shoved them into my pockets. There was enough going on without having him fret over me.

“Tomas arrives tomorrow.”

Petre glanced at his phone, but I hadn’t heard it vibrate. The idea of leaving the girls alone churned my stomach, but I wouldn’t rest until we were all reunited again. Then I could know for sure about the dreams and visions.

V
eric’s Fblood had healed my cut; the memory of Petre’s lost moment wasn’t forgotten, but forgiven. Sleep didn’t find me; it was an upside to my new condition. The terms of vampirism bothered me, and I found feeding difficult. Thirteen pulses filled my ears, fourteen if I counted the tasty demon lawman. I’d waited too long between feedings before, but I couldn’t eat a human being. My pacing crunched the powdery snow. Shadows surrounded us, and after my run-in with Demon Spawn, both men refused to leave me alone.