Page 21 of Tethered Souls

“You shouldn’t have come,” I hiss at Dayne, continuing our secret conversation.

“You stopped texting me abruptly and then your heart started going a million beats a second. I thought you were being tortured for doing something stupid to save Lou. Forgive me for not realizing you were getting your insides rearranged by a fucking monster cock.”

A blush burns across my cheeks as my eyes dip to said cock, still at half-mast. My eyes widen. There is no fucking way that whole thing went in.

Suddenly aware of my body, I hug my waist in a poor attempt to feel like I’m covering myself. The most skin I’ve ever shown was by wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts. Now I’m butt naked in the woods with three men around me.And there’s cum dripping down my legs.

My cheeks flush hot, but my embarrassment is instantly killed by Khalid.

“Say another word I don’t understand,” he says between apple slices, “and I’ll cut out your tongue.”

I swallow hard as it takes everything inside me not to turn to face the monster at my back. I might be terrified of him, but I know he won’t move without a command.

Holding Varius’ gaze, I try to think about what lie I can tell him that will protect Dayne.

But there isn’t one.

“Varius, please,” I say, not above begging to save my friend. “Just let him go.”

“If he has a way to find you, he has a way to find me.”

And that’s not something he can leave out in the wild. Even if he trusted him, he wouldn’t trust him not to crack under torture. Varius has many enemies, and none of them would hesitate to kill one man to get to him. This isn’t the gorilla chest beating competition I thought it was. This is just the life of a Boss who has been hunted all his life.

“Then take him with us,” I say desperately.

“Micha!” Dayne starts, but Varius cuts in.

“Put him in the car.”

I start to spin towards Dayne, to tell him everything will be okay, but a hand on the back of my neck spins me back around. Movement behind me whispers in the wind. And then it’s gone, the world silent save for the birds, and I know we’re alone. My pulse spiking, I watch Varius like he is a snake about to strike.

“You answer my question, and he lives,” he says simply, his fingers tight on my skin.

Some things are worse than death though. Like life as a prisoner. Dayne was held in a cage and beaten his entire childhood. He won’t go back to that life. If he thinks that’s his entire future, he’ll commit suicide. It won’t be deliberate, but his attempts to escape will get more and more desperate.

“Give me a blood oath that you won’t hurt Dayne Stevie Killeen-McCarthy physically or mentally.”

His eyes narrow slightly on mine. “Tell me how he found you, Micha.”

“Blood oath first.”

“This isn’t a bargaining –”

“Please.”

“I’ll give you my word.”

“That’s not good enough.” Not for Dayne.

“That’s all you’ll get. My trust is not given on command.”

“Is it ever?” I snap, my frustration bleeding into my tone.

He doesn’t say anything, and I clench my jaw, trying to keep control of my temper. Letting it go in a place basically made of kindling would be foolish. “We’re assassins,” I say finally.

He waits for me to elaborate, and each word is pulled from me with a pair of pliers.

“As a safety precaution, we’ve tattooed a location spell on each other. If we concentrate, we can sense the other’s heart rate.”