Sin of Fury

Chapter 4





The car ride was long and tense. A blizzard soon started, blocking her sight from anything past the men beside her. Snow melted against the car windows, the soft flakes dissolving into liquid drops that slid down the pane, just as tears were sliding down her cheeks. The need to escape had quickly turned to despair.

They had stopped briefly to clean up the mess that she had made. A new bruise was showing up on her jaw, the fist that had connected with her face a deadly reminder of how ruthless these men were. Unlike Chris, they packed heavy muscles and it had felt like a hammer connecting with her cheek. Eyes downcast, trying to get past the sickness in her stomach, she watched from the corner of her eye as men piled out of the car.

The bald one, the one she had puked on, grabbed her shoulder in a tight grip. She gasped, pain coiling in her shoulder and neck. His look of appeasement had her hands curling with the urge to tear his face off. Jamie held back from making another sound, and as he let go, the final squeeze he gave her made her shoulder throb worse.

“Come, dear one. I shall introduce you to your new cohort after a short meal and a meeting with my brother,” the thin man said, his voice a rasp. His crimson eyes burned into her, bidding her to follow. She did just that, the panic draining from her body.

A sigh whispered past her lips as her mind filled with soft praises. Everything seemed to swirl around her, a type of delirium filling her mind. The floating voice that held her blank, held her silent, captured her. With a new sadistic beauty, the man held his hand out for her. Jamie obediently put her hand in his.

Serenity filled her. Nothing would happen to her, she thought as she followed him. The coldness of his hand tingles up her arm, perceived as the touch of an angel. Jamie wished to reach out, to place her hand on his neck, to feel the heartbeat of purity. As he pulled her to the house, a grand estate that was suited for a king, she felt boneless.

This ethereal creature would let no harm come to her, she was certain of it. A smile graced her full lips, and she followed closer behind. She didn’t want to displease him, she thought, gazing up at him with adoration.

Lyne smiled down at her, the glowing happiness of her face a pleasant sight—and only because he knew she wanted to please him. The entrancement she was under would last for as long as he wished, and he planned to use it to his fullest abilities. Lyne felt revulsion slide down his spine as her delicate hand held even tighter on to his.

He almost pulled away, but decided against it. So soon was the glamor placed, it would surely break if he stopped guiding her now. The threads between them bound tighter, sturdier. Invisible hands wove between them, tying them together as surely as a knot. Her warmth, the feel of her soul, poured into his body.

Like the woman, his men were bound to him the same way. It was a pleasure, to have such doubtless loyalty. If only he could place it on Talon, too, he thought with bitterness. At the frown covering his face, Jamie made a plaintive sound, pressing her forehead against his arm.

He stared at her, shocked. Then he started to chuckle. He took his hand from hers, the binding complete. The utter look of devastation that covered her features made him smile mentally. It was a cruel, salacious smile, one that his men were wearing openly on their faces.

Lyne pulled her behind him, the muted crunch of the newly falling snow echoing around them along with the soft sounds of distress that Jamie was making as she caught up to him. He should have done this earlier, he thought as he dodged her reaching hands, nodding toward the man closest to her. As his huge arms wrapped around her to keep her back, Lyne recalled why he hadn’t with a shudder.

A high keen emitted from her throat, the sound grating on his nerves. Silencing her, he turned on his heel and strode hurriedly to the large house. His brother was waiting inside, he thought with pleasure. Maybe, after the meal, Auro would like to spend some time in his room, alone…

The thought had him smiling even wider, his sharp teeth yellow as they flashed. He could hear Jamie struggling behind him, but chose to ignore it. Soon enough, she would be pleading for Talon and that, too, in a whole other way, ultimately bringing him power.

A surprising thought occurred to him, and he turned to look at Jamie curiously. Since Talon was immune to his enthrallment, could it be that once Jamie touched him, or kissed him or took him into her body that the lure for Lyne would be gone? The thought left him bereft, brooding. He prayed not—with the power of the lure that he held over her, he could tell her to take Talon and she would, no if, ands, or buts about it.

But without the lure… He growled, angered. Auro would be displeased by the delay, but not more so than Lyne. He could only imagine the disappointment Auro would show him if the lure failed to stay. He had studied the humans, had once been one, and knew that it took time for a coupling—no matter the circumstance. And after witnessing what Jamie had been through, he could only imagine how vehement she would be about coupling with the aggressive monster that stayed below their house.

An irritated sigh escaped his thin lips as he opened the door of the house. Auro was waiting beside the door, arms crossed over his chest, eyes looking over him and his men as they entered. Lyne took his coat off and hung it on the rack, gesturing behind him.

“I’ve brought her to you, brother,” he said, facing his brother. Auro knew, though. He always knew. His heeled shoes clicked on the linoleum as he came forward, twining his arm around Lyne’s. He cast no judgment, simply looked disparagingly over his shoulder at the now limp woman and nodded, eyes cool and unreadable.

“Take her to the left wing chamber so she may prepare herself. Lyne, remove the enchantment so she may think enough to cleanse herself without the assistance of our men. The goods may not be spoiled,” he said, the chuckle that came from him forced.

Lyne nodded, retracting the small haze that was filling her mind even now. The man holding her set her down, and they watched with disinterest as she swayed on her feet. Lyne turned from her carelessly, waving a hand. “Take her, before she comes out of the haze and makes a scene in front of my brother.”

Ivan, a name that Lyne found most repulsive, nodded and turned abruptly. Lyne smiled at Auro and led him down the hall, inquiring, “Do you believe that the coupling will go sooner if Talon is groomed?”

Auro considered his brother’s question, grimacing over his thoughts. “Do you plan to keep a trance on the woman?”

“I believe that the moment Talon touches her, it will be dropped. I would not be worried, for it is only a minor fear. It would be only a precaution to make him as becoming as possible,” he said, lip curling with distaste as Ivan’s thumping footsteps faded. The hall was quiet, except for the soft sound of a breeze rustling the curtains next to them. Lyne stopped near the open window, pushing the thick velvet material aside.

“It would be too much of a reward for him,” Auro hissed, eyes following Lyne’s movement. Lyne nodded slowly, giving a sharp smile to his brother.

“Agreed.”

“What is with that smile, brother?” Auro asked, a knowing look entering his crimson eyes. “Have you got some plans for our pets?”

Lyne nodded slowly, letting the curtain fall back into place as the chill of the air settled on his pale skin. “It would bring us much pleasure,” he murmured, mind racing with thoughts of what he could do to Talon.

His smile turned malicious.





Jamie fell limply to the bed, arms too shaky to hold herself up. The door slammed behind the tall bald man as he left, the jarring sound making her tremble even more.

A cloud seemed to have lifted from her mind. Disoriented and confused, she struggled to push away the thick presence within her mind. The bed was soft, puffy, under her hands. She grasped the edge, dragging herself fully into it with shuddering arms.

Jamie curled into a ball. Sniffled. Hiccupped. Then burst into tears as helplessness overwhelmed her. What had they done? She was as weak as a kitten, the smallest exertion of strength making her tremble from the effort. The fog was lifting more rapidly, her mind comprehending more, but it didn’t help that everything was blurry.

She sobbed, hands curling into fists over the thick duvet as she looked over the room they were keeping her in. It was pleasant in itself, but with the windows barred it seemed like a prison more than anything. A chilling breeze wafted into the room, sliding down her spine. Jamie attempted to reach for a pillow, something, anything to give her warmth.

It was too heavy.

She cried out in helpless frustration, eyes closing against another round of tears.

The room around her was immaculate, elegant, completely the opposite of what she could remember of the outside of the house. A royal blue carpet met with creamy walls, the duvet an intricate design of the same colors. A large vanity was on the other side of the bed, a plush chair placed regally in front of it. Staring at the large pieces of furniture around her, she felt like she had been brought back in time, Victorian era or something close to it.

She suffered a chill as another gust of wind blew over her. Shivering, Jamie rose to her feet unsteadily. She was momentarily glad she had dressed for comfort. As a daring thought occurred to her, she knew that scaling the side of the building would be so much harder in slacks.

Her feet were bare, only a thick pair of Jordan socks that would serve for grip. Panic was forcing her to do this, making her think irrational things. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that the situation was irrational and closed her eyes, using the hair band around her wrist to tie her hair behind her head.

Jamie forced the fog completely out of her mind, pure desperation the only way that she accomplished the feat. She looked at the long curtains, billowing in the wind. The soft rasp, the howling of the wind, the possibility of freedom; Jamie shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.

Her mother had often taken her rock climbing, skiing, running, hiking. It had been an accomplishing past time, had never left her bored. One thing that her mother had prided herself was keeping them both fit and healthy. Being active with her daughter had been the only way that they had gotten an ounce of peace from her father. The fighting, the arguing... Jamie averted her eyes from the window.

When Chris had come along, she had thought it would be over.

She made a small sound in the back of her throat, shaking her head at her stupidity.

Jamie made her way to the window, unsure. The bars were thick, but so was the spacing between them. Feeling her gut rise to her throat, bile rose in her throat at her lack of strength and what she had to do to get free. Fear pumped through her, but with the knowledge that she had a chance, Jamie began to ready herself.

The bars were about a third of a foot apart. Rusted iron, clearly old and rough from weather, they were an inch thick. She bit her lip, peering out of the window in estimation. The harsh wind slapped her in the face, tendrils of hair that had fallen out of the pony tail whipping at her reddening cheeks.

Jamie paled when she looked down. Climbing a mountain had been easy, fun, enjoyable to both her and her mother. They hadn’t been afraid that they could fall, because there had always been some type of slope. But now, as she stared down the side of the building, Jamie felt her stomach roil.

Jamie straightened her shoulders. Looking at the door would make her lose her courage, so she barely spared it a glance and began praying instead.

Sliding through the bars wasn’t as hard as she had thought it would be. She was fit, thin, and very flexible. When she was just on the side, the very edge, her heart plummeted to her stomach. A strong gust of wind almost pushed her back inside of the room, but her hands clenched tightly around the bar as her foot slowly lowered, praying that she found a ledge within the stone wall. The large stones were not placed perfectly together, some protruding from the wall and others not.

Like some sort of horrible vampire movie, the windows all around the house had ledges, lit with candles from the other rooms or torches on the outside. The sun was starting to set. Through her panic, she realized just how late it was getting. Her stomach churned, hands turning numb from the tight grip she had on the bar.

It would be horrifying, the climb down the building. Nothing would be around her waist, she wouldn’t have a harness on, and the walls would be cold and slick. The closer she got to escaping, to actually scaling the imposing wall, the more she realized that she would rather die than stay in the castle. The memory of the crimson eyes, their ruthless smile, the horrid remarks... Her head shook, forcing the thoughts from her brain as she slid completely through the bars and started down.

Her hand was just on the ledge, a soft cry emerging from her throat when another thrust of wind had her body slamming against the frozen wall of the building. Her fingers, already numb, felt like they were breaking.

“No, you bitch!”

She looked up.

Froze.

And started screeching as furious red eyes melted with hers, thin manacled hands grasping her own. Jamie tried to pull away, tried to get her foot on a solid ledge. The demented man — creature — pulled her up, despite her struggles. Her heart was pounding, panic resonating through her, his nails stabbing into her wrists. The soft trickle of blood registered in her mind before she was yanked half-way into the room.

Her screams rang within the high-walled room, and she yanked, shoving with her feet against the wall. Jamie forgot about the high drop, the fact that she could die if she fell, about everything except escaping. Her mind went blank, desperation coursing through her.

The hands loosened. Jamie gasped, the furious roar of the man that had been clutching her arms so tightly penetrating her mind. The world seemed to freeze, her heart stopping in her chest.

Her foot slipped from the ledge, losing the desperate grip that she had held on with. Her hands, so cold and numb, were not quick enough to grab for the ledge or even one of the bars.

The regal room, holding such terrifying creatures, disappeared from her view. Instead, it was replaced with the sky, then the trees, the blur of them barely dawning on her traumatized mind. And then the first branch slapped her, caught her.

Jamie would have cried out, had her breath not left her body. Instead, it was a soundless scream of pain. Her body blazed with pain, but till she reached out her hand to take hold of it. Her grip slipped and she knew she was going to fall again.

The next tree seemed to stab her. Bile rose in her throat at the high drop, at the pain. Her face was turning numb, the cold picking her ears. She helplessly grasped for the branch again, holding herself still, praying that if she didn’t move, she wouldn’t fall anymore.

But she did. The ground didn’t bother to cushion her fall. She cursed, panted, holding her shoulder. What she felt right now... A soft sob escaped her pale lips, the pain radiating through her body taking the color away. She shuddered, convulsing as the white hot pain fought with the cold numbness.

A roar sounded through the forest.

Jamie looked up, eyes wide, tears glistening in their pale blue depths. She had to get up, she had to get away, she had to...

How was she still alive?

Her chest shuddered with sobs, but she dragged herself to her feet. The forestry around her howled, screaming at her, talking to her. Wind rushed around her, the chill in her feet spreading up her legs and into her core. She shivered, the socks already getting soaked.

Jamie leaned on the tree next to her. She looked around her. She heard another shout and began to run.

Jamie ran so fast, so hard, that she thought her legs would break. She ran until her legs bled. Until her body pounded with bruises and stitches that ran up her sides. The wind, working with her, almost made her lose her footing. The snow, rising in a wintry dance, swirled around her, blinding her path. Shudders wracked her body, but she forced herself to move on. Jamie ducked under trees that wished to grab her, and jumped over fallen branches. The threat of animals was nonexistent. Wolves, let alone anything that ate flesh, would not inhabit such an active town. Men hunted, construction was going on. No animal in their right mind would stick around that long, and she was grateful.

Until she heard the pounding of feet behind her. Jamie’s heart jumped to her throat, foot slipping. “F*ck!” she cried, and then hurriedly shoved a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. Her face paled even more, the cold settling in her bones with a daunting speed.

The sound of men barging through the forest made her duck into the closest thing to hide, a fallen branch. Almost twice her size, she knew it would hide her form and possibly cover her.

Snow was the only blanket she had, the only source of protection against the men that were coming after her. The sound of ragged breathing sounded dangerously close. She trembled, fisting her hands in her lap, curling into a tighter ball. The smaller she felt, the better.

“Where did she go?” a rough voice asked, then the sound of crunching. Snow, she suspected when the sound of footsteps got closer to her ear than she would have liked.

“Swear she was here... Bitch tried to run away from our masters,” another snarled in anger. She froze, eyes wide in her small face.

A sick chuckle rang through the forest, and the first man spoke again. “Bet master wouldn’t mind if we took a small bite out of her, since we had to go through all of this trouble to get her,” he said, considering. She could just imagine the leer.

“Take turns,” the other replied. Then his voice turned soft, the subtle sadistic ring not lost on Jamie, who had tears streaming down her cheeks. She held in the sob that wanted to burst from her throat, panic rising even sharper within her. “Come out, come out, wherever you are...”

“Master is waiting for you!” the first said, trying to make light. But even Jamie, in her terror, knew that there was nothing “light” or “happy” about the situation. She turned her mouth into her shoulder, stifling a cry.

Silence.

“Did you hear that?” the second spoke, softly. A large foot slammed down near her head. Jamie froze, an unknown feeling coursing through her. If they took her, she thought, eyes wild, she would kill them, or at the very least attack them.

She refused to go down without a fight. Jamie remembered her mother enrolling her in martial art classes. She had reluctantly gone, but only for a week. The work-outs, the training, the fact that they were teaching her how to hurt someone had been gruelling.

Jamie had quit the moment she had been instructed to hit her trainer.

Now, she desperately wished that she had taken the class — maybe now she wouldn’t be in this situation. Her stomach convulsed, bile rising in her throat as the other man’s foot came into view, a dark boot with mud and snow caked to the bottom. She shrank away.

Snap.

The next movements were in a rush, Jamie barely knowing what was happening. A large hand clamped over her arm. A scream built in her throat. Twigs stabbed into her back as she was dragged out from under the branch.

“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” the bald one snarled, a hand curling over her mouth, thumbs digging under her cheek bones. A soundless scream emitted from her throat, back arching as she struggled to get out of his tight grip.

She stomped her foot on his boot, wishing that it had hurt him. With no heels or shoes on, the move had been painless for him. Frantically, she thought of what to do. She bit into his palm, dropped down low, dug her elbow into his groin, and watched fleetingly as he fell to his knees. Triumph ran through her, a second before shock as another thick arm wrapped around her chest. She tried to do the same thing before, but he was prepared. He took his hand from her mouth, wrapped it around her neck, and pressed his thumb into the part under her chin.

She ignored the pain, the ache settling in her shoulder and jaw. Jamie clawed at his face, glad that Chris had always complained about how inelegant her hand looked without long nails. She dragged her nails down his face, listening with mute pleasure as he grunted, dropping his hold on her neck.

Jamie twisted around, and using the momentum of the movement, drove her knee into his groin. “Whore,” he coughed with pain, his hand lashing out to grasp her pony tail. Jamie’s eyes widened. Her eyes stung as he yanked on her hair, dragging her back to his side.

She grasped his wrist, letting into his insistent pulls, a keening whimper escaping her throat. “Let go!” she cried out helplessly, adrenaline racing through her. It made her stronger, made her feel braver. Jamie looked at the man, trying to find a way to get out of his hold. For a moment, she inanely pictured doing a ninja flip, then taking his face out with her foot. She grunted, bringing up her knee. Like she was flexible enough to do that. The man holding her hair looked at her slack jawed as he realized what she was about to do.

Feeling no mercy, fearless, and completely in control now, she drove her foot into his face. She could not only hear the crunch of bone, but she felt it. Later, she knew she would regret it, feel guilty at having hurt someone, but now her mind was solely focused on escaping. She dragged in a deep breath as his hand fell from her hair. His big body fell to the ground, next to the withering man on the floor next to him.

He started to rise, his bald head gleaming with sweat. She stared at him in horror for all of two seconds before sprinting away from him.

That is, until a bony hand wrapped around her throat. The surprising strength in his grip held her immobile as she was wrenched back. Jamie saw the disapproving eyes of her captor, their crimson depths gleaming with the promise of retribution.

Of course, her mind whispered dryly, despite the dire situation, that would be the last thing she saw before her body went limp and her eyes slid closed.





“Brother, she is more of a nuisance than I thought she would be,” Auro snapped as the girl fell limply to the ground. He watched with disinterest as the thump echoed around them, the sound mixing with the groans of their men.

“Should a woman be able to fight like that?” Lyne asked curiously, peering down at the girl like she was a new creature completely. His brother’s thin hand reached out to touch her curiously, but Auro grabbed it. He thought of Amena, of his brother’s weakness that had led to their destruction and immortal lives. Anger flared deep within him as he saw a flame light his brother’s eyes.

Keeping Lyne near him, he looked down at the pale beauty on the ground. Ivan was staggering to his feet, his hands cupping himself in a disgraceful act. Ignoring the pale look of his face, he gestured to the woman and sneered. “Take her.” Auro didn’t see the man’s lips curl, and wouldn’t have cared.

The sounds of grunts came from behind Auro’s turned back. They started towards the house, their long coats floating eerily behind them. Ivan stared at them as they left, then turned to his partner, who was out cold. He almost left her there, wanting to choose his partner over the girl, but knew he couldn’t displease his master.

He carried the girl back, following behind his softly murmuring masters.

“Putting the enchantment over her would be useless. The minute she touches Talon, it will disappear and she will panic,” Lyne said, taking Auro’s arm in his own as they walked.

“Yes, but it will make it easier for us to get her down there. Surely you don’t want a fighting and biting female on our hands?” he asked, lips tightening.

Lyne shrugged, looking around them with mild distaste. “Whatever gives us our power and revenge, brother. Tonight, I will help her dress and get ready for Talon. I want this to go as smoothly as possible, you see. Possibly, if we can make her look enticing to even a man like Talon, we might just get our power tonight.”

His smile was sick, the sadistic pleasure showing even in his eyes. Auro smiled proudly. It slowly dimmed as a thought occurred to him. “I shall dress her and prepare her. You can cook us a lovely meal,” he said with false pleasantry. As Lyne started to deny him with a shake of his head. Auro unconsciously tightened his arm around his brothers. “I wish to taste a morsel only you could cook so well.”

The look in Lyne’s eye gave away that he hadn’t noticed the small grit to Auro’s teeth. A haughty smile covered his face, and a prompt nod was his reply. “I shall do as you wish, brother. Would you care to dine after or before the show?” he asked, his pace quickening.

Auro smiled, considering. The threat of his brother becoming attached to another female avoided, he felt lighter at heart. “Before, dear one. I will prepare her while you cook, and she will sit beside us. We must keep a close eye on her, and also make her aware of what she has to do tonight.”

“I have already led her thoughts in the right direction, but I agree that an explanation would make her more willing. I doubt that Talon will willingly take a female. Perhaps if we tell her why we need this to be done, she will be more accepting.”

Auro agreed. A simple female would not object to the wishes of her masters.





“No.”

Jamie saw the blank expressions on their faces before the shock and surprise registered. The outburst had even shocked herself, but she refrained from letting it show. The cold denial of what she had told them rang through the room.

“No?” the twin on the left asked dimly, eyes drawn over her face. The one on the right looked at her with a cool regard, the only thing that was making her fidget.

“No. I won’t go down to some hole to be a breeder for you sick f*cks,” she spat, crossing her arms over her chest. As the man on the right gave her an even colder look, she shrunk back into the seat but held her ground. Where had this inner strength come from? She almost cursed at herself, hating that she couldn’t have been this strong in front of Chris.

“Sick fu... You whore!” the one on the left screeched, and would have lunged across the table had his brother not grabbed him and held him back.

Jamie shuddered, wishing she had her Columbia. Her shoulders were bare, the corset of the low-cut dress they had shoved her into pushing her breasts almost above the thin material. She thought of the callous remarks that he had stated in front of her as he had forced her to change from the only pieces of clothing that she had called her own. The room was freezing. She could have sworn that her skin was turning blue, almost purple.

The fall of the skirt brushed against the floor when she walked, and Jamie felt a permanent revulsion for the men. What kind of sadistic bastard would force a woman into a Victorian Era harlot costume? The dress was skimpier than any of the cocktail dresses that Chris has gotten for her.

The one on the left took a shuddering breath. Out of them all, it was clear to her who was more emotionally unstable. While the man on the right had the cool demeanor, the hard eyes, and the ingrained hate that she had no idea about, the other could barely control his anger, he was shivering so bad.The air around her turned frosty — possibly from the men? She shoved her trembling hands in her arms as she tightened them across her chest, well above the swell of her breasts.

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor drew her attention back to the men. A sickly delicate whisper floated to her ears as one of the men appeared behind her suddenly. Her back tensed, face paling as his breath caressed her cheek.

She could smell the metallic smell of the bloody...thing that he had been eating. Their plates were all filled with the same disgusting creation — a still pulsing something with pieces of charred...skin? Strips of meat? Bacon? Her stomach heaved. Jamie desperately prayed it was the latter.

“You will go into that room. You will seduce the monster. You will give us our pay. If you fail to do so, I will tear you apart with my bare hands, along with your family. Everything you love, every drop of their blood, will caress your skin as I force you to watch their demise.”

Jamie shivered. He was the colder of the two and yet, it was the one who was so unstable and looked at her with eyes that said she owed him, that made her hoist her backbone.

“No.”