Chapter 108: Chapter Fifty-Three

Alice

My clothes were soaked with blood.

My teeth were chattering from shock.

And all I wanted to do was run back into the room of nightmares and hold him close.

Chase pulled off his shirt and handed it to me. “Put this on, yours looks like you survived an animal sacrifice only to get lost at a vampire fair.”

How could he joke at a time like this?

“I prefer my shirt to yours,” I spat.

He grinned. “You know I could have broken your jaw.”

It’s like he read my mind. I shifted on my feet. “Regretting that you didn’t?”

He very gently reached forward and cupped my face.

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“He warned her away from me. He did exactly what I would have done in his position. She didn’t listen. And his presence alone made me want to act.

Next to me, Nixon cleared his throat. “He’s not comparing himself to God, because that would be idiotic. What he’s saying is we could have been harder on him.”

“He could die.” I said it slowly so they would understand.

Nixon winked. “He won’t die. He’ll be pissed, and he’ll probably need a lot of blood but we have Nikolai here. He’ll stay the night.”

“If he’s staying, I’m staying too.” Without thinking, I relented, and peeled off my shirt and put on Chase’s.

Chase jerked his attention to the wall while Nixon looked down, grinning, Nikolai turned completely around while Ax examined his nails.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “But Chase was right, I was gross.”

“At least it’s lucky blood,” Chase said loud enough for the other family to laugh and shake their heads, just as Nikolai walked over and started assessing the damage to my skin.

How was this normal?

It wasn’t.

And yet… it was.

“Can we watch him through one of the private rooms?” I asked no one in general as the door once again opened.

I heard nothing.

No screaming.

Just silence.

I preferred his screaming and cursing.

“Little slugger just tuckered right out.” Tex laughed while Dante was wiping his knives on his shirt like it was the best day of his life.

Phoenix just rolled his eyes while Sergio crooked his finger to me.

I walked over.

“Security card for the place.” He put a black card in my hands. “I figured you’d want to stay, shower, get some rest. Then you can watch him sleep.

Great.

“Okay.” I took the card as all the guys watched me, maybe waiting to see if I was going to burst into tears or start yelling.

With a sigh, I confessed.

“I was locked in a room for one year without going outside, my brother was an asshole, and Andrei literally referred to me as a number for three straight days and chopped off my brother’s tongue and gave it to me like you would give a girl flowers.

“Well…” Nixon chuckled. “When she puts it that way.”

“A tongue.” Dante nodded. “Huh, no wonder he never got any action.”

I could see a few of the men glance up at him with knowing smirks.

And it was Phoenix’s turn to shrug and say, “Figured you guys probably already knew he wasn’t a manwhore like he made himself out to be.”

“Not a manwhore and also not a virgin anymore,” I snapped and then wanted to crawl underneath a dark surface and put my hands over my eyes.

My face was hot as each of the guys grinned at me like they had some ammo they could use against him.

And then the strangest thing happened.

The Capo, the man I’d been told to fear more than God, lifted his hand for a high five.

I hit it.

Just as he whispered, “Way ta get your man, tiger.”

The moment firmly sealed my place among the monsters.

As bodies of the men were collected, the floor cleaned.

“Come on,” Nikolai jerked his head to the door as we both made our way into one of the private viewing rooms. “I’ll sit with you.”

I sat down in one of the cushy chairs and pressed the button that opened the curtains.

I gasped in horror at what I saw.

Dangling from the ceiling in an array of chains, with blood dripping from his body.

Was Andrei.

And all I could utter was one word. “Why?”

“Some things are worse than death,” Nikolai mumbled. “He does this so you don’t have to, he hangs there with purpose, with pride.

“As long as I’ve known Andrei and his father, I’ve never seen him willing to die in order to save another human life. I didn’t even think him capable of love. Most days he tolerates people.

Tears welled in my eyes. “I deserve to be out there.”

“Andrei would of course argue that point.” Nikolai leaned forward in his chair and watched; his cold dark eyes were hard to read.

In all actuality, everything about him seemed dark, just like Andrei, like he had something in him that fed off the light or would if he let it.

“What? How?”

Nikolai crossed his arms and leaned right back in his chair. “I’ll tell them to cauterize the wounds.”

My eyes widened. “With what?”

“Fire.”

I started shivering.

He didn’t look at me, just said, “You should go shower, get comfortable clothes on and then grab wine or whiskey, and enough food to last you the night.

“Praying?”

“It’s best he’s blacked out. I would pray he stays that way. Because you won’t be able to handle the screams if he wakes up.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“I highly doubt that.” He jerked his head to the door. “Go. He’ll still be here when you get back.”