Badlands: Next Generation Collection, page 49
“Hey.” Bella’s soft voice came from behind me.
I turned my head and offered her a small smile. She must have gone to take a shower, because her hair was damp.
She pulled out the chair beside me and sat, helping herself to a few of the grapes I hadn’t eaten.
“I’m sorry how I reacted about Amo. That wasn’t cool.”
“There isn’t anything to apologize for.” I’d seen her face. Something had to have happened between them. I didn’t want to think my brother a monster, but it took monstrous men to survive the Badlands.
I swallowed and took a breath, remembering small details of our childhood. We weren’t born killers. It was our father that turned us into what we were.
He was the reason I found bloodshed entrancing and the sound of pain exhilarating. I could decide in a split second who would live and who would die.
If Amo was anything like I was, leading the Stags was as natural for him as it was for the sky to be blue. When I thought of it in those terms, this whole queen thing didn’t sound that bad.
We were raised to be the way we were for a reason. But that didn’t mean I condoned the things he’d done, if they were true. I simply couldn’t believe the rumors about the Stags if I didn’t believe the ones regarding the Savages. That would be hypocritical and wrong.
“Did he hurt you?” I dredged up the courage to ask.
She froze with a grape halfway to her mouth. “Directly? No. He sat back and watched as others did, made me kill three people in a fight to the death just to prove I was worth trading back to my family. Gave Butcher Cam to use as his initiation.”
I didn’t have words to make any of that better, or excuses to explain why he would have done any of that.
She popped the grape in her mouth and kicked her legs up on the seat across from hers. “You’re going to be one of us soon, but no matter how much I hate him he is your brother. I adore mine, and he’s done more than his fair share of screwed-up stuff.”
I placed my chin in my hand, toying with the rim of my glass. Knowing this, I had to wonder that if he had Claire, was she safe? I didn’t believe she was dead. Seeing her barcode tattoo earlier had disgusted me and led me to think so at first, but her death wouldn’t be a gift.
The removal of that damned mark would be. It meant she was free.
“How did you get kidnapped?”
I’d heard rumors about this, but by now it was apparent how I felt about words that came from loose lips.
It’d seemed rude to ask before, but now I felt the need to know. The sadness that came across her face made me regret asking. Of all the Savages I’d met so far, Bella didn’t hide her emotions. On the contrary, it seemed as if she wore her heart on her sleeve.
“Samael knew how to manipulate and strategize at a disturbing level, and well, that’s a different story. Anyways, he had this obsession with my best friend. So, we did everything together. Long story short, he was smart enough to pull off getting in with the Stags and masterminding our kidnapping. I got let go, she didn’t. He has her hidden.”
“Could Samael be the brains behind Amo, then?”
She sat all the way up, looking at me as if I’d just solved a long, drawn-out mystery.
“Why has no one ever thought of that?”
“I only pointed it out to Luce an hour or so ago.”
“Hmm.” She crossed her arms and settled back in her chair, the burst of excitement fizzling out. “He’s probably all over that right now. Give my brother a seed of information and he’ll return with a harvest.”
“It’s probably best not to go off too much of what I say. I was really isolated at A.R.C.”
“You gave us an actual angle we haven’t thought of. We didn’t know how to link Samael and the Stags or pin down why he’d join them. You have an outsider’s perspective, no offense.”
I wasn’t offended, but that wasn’t where I’d been going with my theory. There were a few things not connecting or making sense. If the gossip I’d heard had a kernel of truth in it, this situation was more twisted than any of us thought.
“Do you know anything about the Lazarus?”
“No. I don’t think anyone knows much about that group. They stay off the radar for the most part,” she replied flippantly. “What do they have to do with anything?”
She looked at me skeptically, awaiting an answer, but I wasn’t sure if I should tell her this before telling Luce, or at least not giving him the chance to figure it out on his own. I remembered what Addy had said about Bella getting her hopes us.
“I was just wondering,” I replied, my mask of indifference in place.
Someone had come in and changed the sheets. Freshly showered and sprawled across Luce’s bed, I ran down the list of things I knew for sure in my head. It was a relatively short list.
I closed my eyes for a few minutes, opening them when I felt Luce touching me. I knew it was him by the feel of his hands and the presence I felt every time he entered a room. His aura was always dark with a touch of sinister, too large for any four walls to contain it.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“You were sleeping.” He ran his hands up my sides, lifting the shirt of his that I had on.
“No underwear?” He cupped my ass and gently kneaded the flesh, parting my legs with his knee. When he pressed his lips to the nape of my neck, I sighed, breathing in the scent of his body wash.
“I need to talk to you.”
“It can wait.”
He pressed two fingers into me, slowly. I winced at the initial discomfort, tucking my lower lip between my teeth.
“It’s important.”
He twisted his digits so that his palm was facing upward, applying pressure against my clit.
“Nothing is more important than me being inside you right now.”
Something in his tone had all my meager resistance falling away.
He continued to rock his fingers inside me, creating friction against my clit.
“Luce,” I moaned.
He withdrew his fingers, leaving a trail of arousal on my inner thigh. The bed dipped as he moved around, grabbing one of his pillows and placing it beneath me.
There was a faint rustling sound and then a flash of fabric as he tossed aside his towel. My top came off next, dragged over my head without a trace of gentleness.
“Try not to scream to loud.”
That sounded like a taunt. My stomach dipped, another trickle of arousal coming from between my legs.
He lined himself up, pushing inside me without any further preamble.
His metal piercings heightened the sensation. I sucked in a breath, feeling myself stretch around him.
He slowly eased out and thrust back in, grabbing one of my hips, planting himself so deep his balls pressed against the groove of my ass. I didn’t want to move, feeling as if there were too much of him inside me.
“Luce. I can’t,” I half-moaned, half-whimpered.
“You will.” He tangled a hand in my hair and pinned me down by the back of my neck. My entire body shuddered as he began to thrust in and out of me, his cock growing slicker as my arousal grew.
“There you go, good girl,” he goaded, thrusting harder.
I arched my back to lessen the pressure and fullness of his cock.
The louder I moaned, the harder he fucked me. The mattress began to groan from beneath us, skin smacking against skin. His grip grew tighter around my neck and tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.
“Who’s fucking you right now?”
The question didn’t immediately register in my brain.
“Answer me.” He fisted my hair and tugged my head back.
“You,” I whimpered.
He readjusted, hitting the sweet spot inside me. My body burned with pain and pleasure. I clawed at the sheets, bundling them in my hands My pussy flooded with arousal, growing wetter than it already was. I felt his muscles tense and knew he was close.
“Come for me, dove,” he rasped in a low voice, tightening his grip even more.
My chest heaved as pressure built.
He lurched down, smashing his chest to my back, causing his piercings to bump against the one spot that had my pussy soaking his cock.
“Come baby,” he demanded, biting down on the lower lobe of my ear.
Something rapidly built in my core. I came apart around him, a wave of moans spilling from my mouth as liquid lightning swam through my veins. He continued to hit my sweet spot with brutal thrusts, sending me right over another ledge.
I called for him, feeling pleasure in every part of my body as tears leaked from my eyes. I clenched around his cock, causing him to come.
When his dick finally swelled, he pushed deeper inside me, not pulling out until he was bone dry.
“Fuck,” he cursed again, softer this time.
“Don’t move, dove.” The bed shifted as he maneuvered, returning with his towel.
Still trying to breathe again, I only lifted my head when he started gently wiping between my legs. I looked down, seeing remnants of his come mixed with a bit of blood and my juices being cleaned away.
He laid beside me when he was done, entirely naked. I flattened all the way down, remaining on my stomach.
“You okay?” His fingers trailed down my spine, making me relax even more.
“Mhm. I liked it.”
“By how hard you just came, I can tell.”
I closed my eyes and snuggled further into the pillows. “Is it always like this?”
“Definitely not. But for us? I feel like that’s a firm yes. It’s inevitable.”
“I guess I should feel special.”
“You are special,” he murmured so quietly I almost thought I had imagined it.
I didn’t pounce on the declaration or cause an uproar, happily pulling it into my heart.
“What did you want to tell me?” he asked, still tracing invisible patterns into my back. “And let me see those beautiful eyes.”
My lids fluttered open and I grinned, propping my head on one of my knuckles. The smile faded as I thought about the conversation we were about to potentially have. “What did you find out earlier?”
“A few things.”
“Luce,” I huffed, exasperated. “What happened to the whole united front thing?”
“A king always protects his queen.”
“I don’t like that.”
“You don’t have to. Doesn’t change that you’ll have to fucking deal with it. I told you I’d keep all the ugly shit from touching you as best I could. That means doing the dirty work, shouldering the secrets and burdens so you never have to.”
“And if I want to?” I tested.
“You’ll already be my go-to for everything else. I know I can rely on you for that. Now I need you to trust me too.”
It wasn’t in my nature to sit by and be idle, which meant I’d have to throw myself into my new role or I’d lose my mind. Getting well acquainted with this new life of mine would only do me wonders down the road.
“Okay, I can do that,” I affirmed.
“Good. Now tell me what you had to say.”
“I think Samael is part of the Lazarus.”
He stared at me with no reaction.
“You already knew that, didn’t you?”
“We may have figured that out a few days ago.”
“Anything else?” I asked dryly.
He grinned and pulled me closer. “Don’t pout. If it makes you feel any better, your brains and brawn theory helped me figure something else out.”
“Are you going to tell me what?”
“News about Lilith.”
I reached back inside my head, trying to place who she was. There were so many of them to consider it was a miracle I’d gotten any of this right at all.
“Is that Bella’s friend?”
“And Cam’s baby sister,” he tacked on slowly, like I should have known this.
I shook my head, thinking over what was always carried on whispers. I couldn’t recall ever hearing that name before. Maybe I missed it when being locked away. It wasn’t as if I had the same liberties the other girls did.
“Did she change her name too?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Maybe they got it wrong then. I mean, it was gossip, but the only name I’ve heard linked to Samael is Rory. I thought she was the missing sister. Guess they got it wrong.”
When he didn’t respond, I laid my head on his chest, sighing comfortably. “How can someone be part of two factions?”
“What if those factions have always been one and the same?”
I had no clue what he meant by that. He began running a hand down my hair, tucking me closer into his side.
I draped one of my legs over his thigh. “What do we do now?”
“I’ve got a few ideas.”
“Like?” I urged him to explain.
I let out a surprised laugh when he abruptly rolled me onto my back.
“What are you doing?”
“Killing time.” He kissed me, roughly stealing all the air I had in my lungs. He sucked my lower lip into his mouth, biting down until I whimpered.
Drawing back, he began skimming his lips over the column of my throat, between my breasts and down the small curves of my body. He lifted my legs, hooking each over one of his shoulders. When he stared back up at me, his eyes looked even darker than usual.
“Luce?”
“Don’t think about anything else. Concentrate on me fucking you with my tongue.”
I hoisted myself up on my elbows, keeping my gaze locked with his as he buried his face between my thighs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Luce wasn’t in bed when I woke the next morning. In fact, I didn’t see him at all until he and Cam popped up and told me it was time to go. After learning what I knew now, I hadn’t been sure about this meeting, and I still wasn’t, but they’d insisted on it happening.
I was glad my brother was alive and obviously thriving.
That confirmation gave me closure I never thought I’d have. But now I had to come face to face with Amo the man, not the protective young boy who’d had a heart too big for the world.
“Is this dress really necessary?” I asked, smoothing down the tulle skirt.
“Yes,” Cam and Luce answered in unison.
“It makes you look all vulnerable and innocent,” Cam quipped.
“Why is that a good thing?”
“It’s what we want them to believe,” Luce replied, keeping his hand wrapped around mine until we reached an SUV.
“So, we’re the bait,” Bella stated sarcastically.
Luce pulled open the rear passenger door for me, and Cam helped me in, climbing up next so that he could sit beside me.
Bella sat on the other side of him, while Ice and Luce took their respective seats up front. Three other SUVs followed ours away from the compound, each holding four acolytes.
I stared out the window for the first half of the trip, taking in all the landscape and occasional dwellings. Two or three times we passed small groups of people going about their day, all shouting something I assumed was Spanish or Latin when they spotted the fleet.
“Is that bad?” I asked no one in particular.
“It’s a phrase of worship,” Cam explained.
“Oh.” I really needed to learn about the ins and outs of this faction.
“What can you tell us about this Rory person?” Luce asked after another few minutes.
“Bella doesn’t remember hearing that name, and our leads came up with a profile definitely not matching with Lilith,” Cam expanded on Luce’s vagueness.
I pulled my attention away from what appeared to be someone’s severed head stuck on top of a stick, serving as a mile-marker. What the hell was wrong with people? Was using wood really that inconvenient?
“All I know about Lazarus is what was whispered in the halls. Samael has a woman by his side named Rory, the sister of the Savage twins. I don’t remember ever hearing anything about a Lilith.”
“In so many words, someone at A.R.C is full of shit. The old story about your dad could be true. Or some woman is claiming to be someone she isn’t,” Ice listed.
“That’s my takeaway from it,” Cam answered.
“Then Samael would still be hiding Lil,” Bella stated, “to the point that people don’t even know she exists.”
I was lost in this whole conversation. I didn’t know anything about these people, or this Lilith. I’d heard rumors about Samael, though. I knew he had gotten a nickname that translated into evil.
I found Luce’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Is he really as bad as people say?”
“He’s worse.”
“Then Lilith, your sister,” I nodded to Cam. “She’s not safe?”
The car got so quiet I could hear the wind whipping by outside.
“That’s not an easy question to answer,” Ice spoke first.
“He’s always been more when it came to Lil. More protective, more obsessive, more possessive. He wouldn’t hurt her, but she isn’t safe with him either,” Cam explained.
“Samael has always been a wolf. Lilith is a lamb. What do you think the wolf does when no one is watching?” Luce added.
Nothing I wanted to say while Cam and Bella were in such close proximity. If he was keeping this girl hidden, he’d done a good job of it for no one to ever say her name.
“What’s the story he’s talking about?” I asked Cam, referring to what Ice had just said about his dad.
“In so many words, my dad had a kid with someone before getting with my mom. It supposedly died. I don’t know the exact details of how or why.”
That sounded like a real shit-show, and sad.
“How does the Lazarus and Stag thing work?” I changed the subject, not wanting to take him to a bad place.
“Lazarus is Stag, and Stag is Lazarus. Their alliance is basically two branches of a faction weaved together,” Luce explained.
“He took the best parts of both and created his own. That’s why you thought our insignia was theirs. So far, we’ve pieced together he has two,” Cam expanded. “The move’s as genius as it is insane.”
Everything they were saying fit the basic description all the rumors painted. He was a miscreant. He followed no laws but his own and took being ruthless to a whole new level.
