Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #4)(12)

Except that was no man of God under there. As Butch absorbed the person’s vibe, he couldn’t breathe from his repulsion. Whatever was hidden by that robe was distilled evil, the kind that mobilized serial killers and rapists and murderers and people who enjoyed beating their children: hatred and malevolence in an upright, solid form.

Butch’s fear level shot through the roof. He could handle being knocked around; the pain was bitch, but there was a definable end point marked by when his heart stopped beating. But whatever was hiding under that robe held mysteries of suffering the likes of which were biblical. And how did he know? His whole body was revolting, his instincts firing off to run, save himself…pray.

Words came to him, marching through his mind. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…

The robed figure’s hood turned toward Butch with the boneless swivel of an owl’s head.

Butch slammed his lids shut and hurried through the Twenty-third Psalm. Faster…needed to get the words into his mind, faster. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters…. He restoreth my soul; Heleadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake…

“This man is the one?” The voice that reverberated through the basement tripped Butch up, making him lose his rhythm: It was resonant and carried an echo, something out of a sci-fi movie with all that eerie distortion.

“His gun had the Brotherhood’s bullets in it.”

Get back to the Psalm. And do it faster. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil—

“I know you wake, human.” The echoing voice shot right into Butch’s ear. “Look upon me and know your captor’s master.”

Butch opened his eyes, turned his head, and swallowed compulsively. The face staring down into his was condensed blackness, a shadow come to life.

The Omega.

The Evil laughed a little. “So you know what I am, do you?” It straightened. “Given you anything, has he, Fore-lesser?”

“I’m not finished.”

“Ah, so that is no. And you have worked him well, given how close to death he is. Yes, I can feel it coming to him. So close.” The Omega bent down again and inhaled the air over Butch’s body. “Yes, within the hour. Maybe less.”

“He’ll last as long as I want him to.”

“No, he won’t.” The Omega started to circle the table and Butch tracked the movement, terror getting tighter and tighter, strengthening in the centrifugal force of the Evil’s pacing. Around, around, around…Butch trembled so badly his teeth clapped together.

The shaking dried up the second the Omega came to a halt at the far end of the table. Shadowy hands lifted up, grasped the white robe’s hood, and pulled it off. Overhead, the bald lightbulb flickered as if its illumination were sucked in by the black form.

“You are letting him go,” the Omega said, that voice like a wave, filtered and enhanced by the air in turns. “You are leaving him out in the woods. You are telling the others to stay away from him.”

What? Butch thought.

“What?” the Fore-lesser said.

“The Brotherhood has among its weaknesses a paralyzing loyalty, do they not? Yes, paralyzing fidelity. They claim what is theirs. It is the animal in them.” The Omega held out its hand. “A knife, please. I am of a mind to make this human useful.”

“You just said he was going to die.”

“But I’m going to give him a little life, as it were. As well as a gift. Knife.”

Butch’s eyes cracked wide open as an eight-inch hunting number was exchanged.

The Omega placed one hand on the table, put the blade to the tip of its finger, and bore down. There was a crack, like a carrot had been cut.

The Omega leaned over Butch. “Where to hide, where to hide…”

As the knife came up and hovered over Butch’s abdomen, Butch screamed. And he was still screaming as a shallow slice was made into his belly. Then the Omega picked up the little part of itself, the black digit.

Butch fought, yanking against the binds. Horror had his eyes bulging until the pressure on his optic nerves blinded him.

The Omega inserted its fingertip into Butch’s gut, then bent low and blew over the fresh cut. The skin sealed up, the flesh knitting together. Immediately, Butch felt the rotting inside him, sensed the evil worming around, moving. He lifted his head. The skin around the cut was already turning gray.

Tears raced to his eyes. Seeped down his raw cheeks.

“Release him.”

The Fore-lesser went to work on the chains, but when they were off, Butch realized he couldn’t move. He was paralyzed.

“I will take him,” the Omega said. “And he will survive and find his way back to the Brotherhood.”

“They’ll sense you.”

“Perhaps, but they will take him.”

“He’ll tell them.”

“No, because he won’t remember me.” The Omega’s face tilted toward Butch. “You won’t remember a thing.”

As their stares met, Butch could feel the affinity between them, could sense the bond, the sameness. He wept for the violation of himself, but more for the Brotherhood. They would take him in. They would try to help him in whatever way they could.

And sure as the evil in him, he would end up betraying them.