The Hunter (Mistress & Master of Restraint) (13 page)

Aaron’s big eyes are filled with tears that threaten to fa
ll, but don’t. He looks like a Precious Moments freaky-ass doll. His bottom lip trembles and he keeps sucking in sob-like hiccups. I open my free arm for Aaron to crawl on the bed beside me as I hold Divina. Divina is barely awake. My chanting had soothed her to sleep. Aaron settles down next to me and wipes his eyes on the shoulder of my shirt. I tighten my arm around Aaron, solidifying the promise I gave Marc. I will protect Aaron and comfort Divina. I might as well protect and comfort them both at the same time.

Marcus strides over to me like he made
up his mind about something. Marc leans down and kisses Divina and then Aaron on their foreheads. Marc kisses me on the forehead and allows his lips to linger for a moment too long.

“You are no longer my
naughty boy. I need you to be the cunning young man that I know you can be.” Marcus whispers so quietly in my ear that I can barely hear him and it guarantees that no one else can. “Make sure they take the pill. I don’t want you to. I need you to have your wits about you.”
 

I look up to Marcus
in confusion. He looks ashamed and scared. I’ve never known him to feel either.

“You’ll be okay. I know it. No one
loves Ezra as much as you do. You’ll bring him home to all of us.” Marcus tries to convey something to me and I don’t understand. He kisses the shell of my ear, and then draws in a loud breath. He lets it out on a sigh that tickles my throat. I try not to shiver and alert Aaron that something I don’t understand is going on.

Marc
’s amber eyes stares me down again, freezing me into compliance. His slender fingers come up and grasp Aaron’s chin. He turns the boy’s face away and presses it into my chest. It’s a weird thing to do. Marcus holds the kid’s face so he can’t see us.

“I’m so fucking sorry. It was a horrible choice to make: Sacrifice two to get one back and possibly
lose all three. The reward justifies the means. Trust me. I love you, Cort,” Marc sobs out.

“What’s happening?” I quickly demand, but Marcus
doesn’t answer me. Instead, he presses his lips to mine and kisses me deeply- stealing the breath from my lungs. I’ve only ever kissed two people: Ezra and Faith. Shocked, awed, and confused in wonder as Marcus flutters his lips against mine in the tenderest kiss of my entire life, but it’s equally as painful as it is sweet. Just as I begin to react to Marc’s kiss, he draws away and removes his hand from Aaron’s head. My eyes widen as I realize Marc didn’t want Aaron to see our exchange.

“Be safe. Make sure they take the pills, Cortez. Slee
p well, my children.” Marcus hurries from the room, and then I hear the telltale snick of the lock engaging.

I open the pill bottle and smile when I see
that there are only two tablets. I hand one to each of them, and watch to make sure they swallow their pill. I protectively curl my body around the two small people, one eighteen and one fifteen. Divina is a year older than me, but I guess size and age weren’t the deciding factors. Marcus said I needed to be cunning. I close my eyes and pretend to sleep as the two fall into a deep slumber.

Movement wakes me from half-sleep
. My eyes bug out when I see a tall man staring down at me. Do you ever wake from a dream, a nightmare, or just regular sleep, and startle when you see an apparition? After the terror sets in, you blink and it dissolves before your eyes. I blink now, and he doesn’t go away, nor does he dissolve.

Standing next to the bed is a man that looks just as my mother did, just as I do, just as Ezra does. If I hadn’t believed the genetic claim
before, I do now. Ray Hunter stares down at me in confusion, squinting his eyes, trying to figure me out. In an instant, I know he doesn’t realize I am his nephew, and I hope he never does.

Ray
taps a wicked looking blade to the side of Aaron’s throat, inches from Divina. I startle, and then freeze.

“Yo
u must be my son’s boyfriend,” Ray silently says to me. I close my eyes as tears flow down my cheeks. No one understands how voice affects me. It’s the sound that connects to memories. I no longer hear my mother’s voice, so I no longer have access to most of my early memories of her. It’s why I fear losing Ezra, losing my recollection of his voice. This man, my mother’s twin- the voice. I hate him, but I’m thankful for the thread that reminds me of my mother’s cadence. It’s a gift from a nightmare.

“Did you bring Ezra
home?” I ask in excited hope, realizing a second too late that no one would bring someone back and place a knife at another’s throat.

“I can see by the look on your face you know that isn’t happening. I need you to c
ome with me. You want to see Ezra, don’t you? And this is the only way. Behave,” my uncle breathes, sounding just like my dead mother. I squeeze my eyes shut. Is this a special Hell created and reserved just for me? The man torturing my partner sounds and looks just like my dead mother.

“I will
go freely, just leave them here.” I negotiate to save the two I swore to protect.

“Nah- I think I wo
uld like this one’s company.” Ray picks up a lock of Divina’s chestnut hair and I see red. I don’t move, but my mind furiously works to come up with a solution.

“I said I’d go freely. Leave the girl
alone. Divina has a disease that needs constant monitoring.”

“
Is this Pearl’s daughter?” Ray asks as if he’s more than an acquaintance to Ezra’s aunt. “With what my plans are for this beauty, time really wouldn’t be an issue.” He sneers down at Divina, and it makes my stomach roil.

“I’ll
do anything you want without question if you leave Divina here. I promise.” Ray arches a brow in a gesture so similar to Ezra that my heart breaks.

“Anything?
You willing to make that a promise?” The look Ray gives me leads me to believe I’m signing my soul away to the devil. I will gladly do so in the hopes of saving Ezra.

“I
give you my word,” I solemnly vow.

“Fair enough, I believe you. The girl can stay, but the boy
is coming. I need to man him up,” Ray snarls at Aaron. The look of pure malice on Raymonds face as he gazes down at Aaron makes my blood run cold.

I look to Aaron
’s sleeping form. He is still a boy, but he isn’t fragile. I know I can protect Aaron easier than Divina. Aaron can take whatever Ray throws at us while one hit would break Divina. It’s a difficult choice, but one I make without regret. Aaron may hate me when he finds out.

“Deal,” I whisper, realizing I
said it too soon when regret slams into me, rendering me breathless with pain.

“Ha!” Ray huffs a laugh. “I wasn’t going to take the girl. Ezra is my son, and Cortez, you are mine, too. I know exactly who you are, nephew. You think I wouldn’t recognize my
own blood?” he challenges me.

“I believe you would recognize me, sir. I had just hoped you wouldn’t,” I honestly admit, and it seems to pride my uncle. Ray smiles down at me like a fallen angel- he radiates warmth just as my mother had. It twists my heart and painfully squeezes.

“As for Divina, Pearl wouldn’t kill me, she’d torture me.
I
.
ME
. I have the claim on my boys. Ezra and you are mine by blood, by name, and by rights. It’s time I collected what’s mine… Aaron Frost,” Ray twists Aaron’s name as if he knows exactly who the boy is. “Let’s just say that Patrick owes me something from a long time ago, and I’m going to collect from his son.”

Finding an inner-confidence and bravery that belies my usual insecure cowardice, I announce as I rise from the bed, “I’m ready.”

T
he window is wide-open and the curtain is billowing in the wind. Divina’s room is on the first floor in case she gets sick and has to have an ambulance. Ezra and my room is on the second floor, as is Aaron’s. Marcus put us here because of the access. Marcus made an impossible decision, too. I won’t let him down. I will bring Ezra home or die trying.

I silently apologize to Aaron as I lift the boy in
to my arms. He barely weighs more than Divina. I step through the open window and my awaiting fate, and I do it gladly in hopes to see my Ezra again.

The Hunter
: Past
-Chapter Thirteen-

The ride is bumpy as we lie on the
cold metal floor of my uncle’s conversion van. Ray shoved a pillowcase over my head after I crawled in, and then he gently placed Aaron in my arms. I protectively cradle Aaron to my chest, my hand supporting his head. I don’t know how long or how far we’ve driven, but Aaron hasn’t woke yet. How long do sleeping pills last?

The screech of metal-on-metal from the b
rakes makes me cringe. I hope Ray doesn’t try to stop on a hill in this piece-of-shit. The back doors creak open and I gulp in a mouthful of air. It tastes metallic from the exhaust and I nearly choke. I’m pulled from the van by my ankle, dragging Aaron with me. I’m plunked on my feet and Aaron is shoved into my arms.

“We are going on a detour
,” my uncle dramatically sings. “District Attorney Zeitler thinks he’s smart, luring me out, using my nephew and my nemesis’ son. I know the FBI thinks they can follow me to wherever I take you and barge in and save the whole lot of you. It’s not happening. You belong to me.”

Ray
pushes us into a building with a cement floor. I can feel the difference beneath my feet. The hollow thud as I walk versus the dense feeling of pavement. My heart is in my throat, and the only thing centering me is the slight weight of Aaron in my arms. I have to keep a cool head to protect him. I promised Marc I would protect Aaron and get Ezra home, and nothing will stop me, even fear. Terrified or not, I will gladly walk into Hell as long as I get a glimpse of Ezra before I die. We never got to say our final goodbye, and this is my only chance.

“Don’t speak.” I think Ray
is speaking to me until I hear another set of footsteps echo on the flooring. I start to hyperventilate- breath gasping for release as lint from the pillowcase gets sucked into my lungs- burning and stinging, causing me to roughly cough.

Ezra is with me- with us.
Trembling so fiercely, I almost drop Aaron. Tears dampen the pillowcase covering my head. I breathe deeply as my mind screams that I shouldn’t hope. What if those feet don’t belong to my Ezra?

We walk for a long time. The air is cold and damp. I pull Aaron closer to me for his warmth. I’m scared shitless, but I can handle anything if Ezra is with me. And I can feel
it down to my marrow that it is Ezra’s shoulder that keeps brushing mine as we walk. I know Ezra’s body better than my own, and now it makes perfect sense why Ez’s body and mine are nearly identical. We are the same height, the same build- the gray eyes. Ezra is stronger than I am, and I’m pudgier than he is, but that is because he likes sports and I don’t. I’m not a joiner, I’d rather sit on my ass and write. Our differences are not genetic. The shoulder brushing mine is identical to mine. Hope springs eternal.

I stumble over my feet several times
, and I swear to myself that if I ever get out of this, I don’t want to be in the dark again. But then again, I don’t want to see the evil in the room, either. Sometimes it’s better to be ignorant. 

“It’s a
nother van,” is whispered near my ear and I startle from the sound. “Don’t trip,” Ezra’s smooth voice says in concern.

My heart leaps in joy
, beating out of my chest, trying to join with Ezra’s heart again. It’s the smooth, cruel voice I’ve prayed to hear just one more time for every second since his abduction. It wasn’t the most romantic words ever uttered, but Ezra has always been more practical, so concern works for me. I fractionally tilt my head to show that I understood.

The
hardness of metal meets my shins. I turn to Ezra, offering him to take Aaron from my arms. Ezra’s warm hands graze over mine, just a slight brush, and my heart beats into hyper-drive. I gasp when Ez’s fingers squeeze mine, just for a split-second of reassuring contact before he removes Aaron from my care.

I feel around with my hands and crawl into the van. I slide on my hands and knees until I meet the solid wall of the side of the vehicle. I sit with my back to the side
of the van and wait. A minute later Ezra sits next to me and Aaron is laid in my lap. The sound of the door slamming shut rings with a ricochet of finality. I startle at the sound- Ezra doesn’t. Lord knows what he has seen in the past few days.

Another door slamming
, and then the ignition turns over. A heartbeat later, we’re moving. The sound of the engine is smoother than the last vehicle. I can tell it’s newer and there isn’t a chance in hell it will breakdown and a concerned bystander will save us. It’s up to me and Ezra to get us and Aaron out of this fucked up mess.

Nimble f
ingers find the edge of my pillowcase hood and pull. The first thing I see as the veil of darkness is removed are huge, gunmetal gray eyes. I suck in a breath of shock. I never thought I’d see Ezra’s gaze again, even in the mirror. I’d refused to look at myself, and if Ezra died, I’d promised to go with him. We just look at each other, neither moving, neither breathing, as we suspend in time.

“I simultaneously feel ecstatic and
then ashamed for feeling it. I never thought I’d see you again. And at the same time, I want to kick your ass for being here with me. My father is insane, be prepared to do things you never would have thought possible.” Ezra’s voice is raw, and a single tear slides down from the corner of his eye. I watch it track down his face, and then I return to gazing into his eyes.

“Marcus sent me,” I smirk at Ez, and it is Ez- he is whole
. “He thinks I can save us, and I will or die trying. I’d rather die a thousand deaths than be without you for another day. It was horrible because I didn’t know where you were or if you were alive. Anything else will be a piece of cake.”

Ezra
looks back at me as if I am delusional. I think after the past three days that maybe I am. I strike like a snake and take Ezra’s lips with mine. I cry out, tasting the sweetest flavor of my dreams- my perfect drug. Mouth parted, tongue surging, I hungrily devour Ezra’s lips with mine. My hands cup Ezra’s jaw, holding him to me, never letting him go. Three things played out in my mind over the past few days: I needed to hear Ezra’s voice, see his stormy eyes, and feel his lips pressed to mine. Those things are more important than air and water to me.

Ezra’
s fingers bruisingly bite into my neck as he holds me close. He releases a sound of pure desperation against my lips. His tears splatter on my cheeks as he kisses me as if I am the last drop of water to drink.

“Thank you for coming
for me,” Ezra breathlessly pants as he pulls away from my face. His gaze drills to my soul. “I love you. Don’t you ever fucking forget that. From this moment on, do not blame yourself for any of your actions. You will have to do things that are unforgivable, and they won’t be your fault. Repeat that as you do whatever you must to survive. It’s the only thing that has kept me sane.” Ezra’s eyes are haunted as he vehemently speaks. “And you know how difficult sanity is for me,” Ezra wryly says, causing me to bark a sharp humorless laugh.

The van jerks to a stop
, cutting off my reply. Ezra quickly lowers my pillowcase and I want to cry from being denied the view of his face.

“Welcome home, boys,” my uncle, Ezra’s father,
happily chirps as he drags the side door open. “No one yell for help or I’ll kill the kid. Son, you can unmask your
boyfriend
.” Ray twists the word boyfriend. “Your cousin,” he sneers.

I want to remove the pillowcase
myself, but I promised to obey my uncle. I won’t go back on my word no matter how badly I want to. The pillowcase is whipped from my head and I immediately seek out Ezra, who is staring at his father, watching his every move.

“Enter the room. Do
n’t move a step out of line.” Ray pulls Aaron from Ezra’s arms. He looks down at Aaron, and then back to us in a silent threat. We step out of line and Aaron takes the consequences.

I crawl out of the van and try to note our surroundings. We are at a motel
, and judging by the area, it is remote. Woods surround the motel and the restaurant that is off to the side. The parking lot is devoid of all but a few vehicles. If we are quiet, no one will suspect a damned thing. It was the perfect choice. I turn to look behind me and my breath is sucked from my lungs. The view is spectacular. We are halfway up a mountainside overlooking a crystalline blue lake. It’s the perfect setting to ruin three boys with the backdrop of nature’s beauty.

Raymond Hunter
is a sick and twisted bastard. There is nowhere to run unless you plan on swimming when you get there. I take one more look as I deeply breathe in the fresh, crisp air. I clasp Ezra’s hand. I was so taken with the view that I didn’t even feel him next to me. We walk into the motel room and our unsure future.