Heart Recaptured (Hades Hangmen, #2)(97)

New Zion… I was at New Zion… Fire, there was fire. My flesh too hot and flames licked at my legs.

I tried to move my legs, but they were tied down, my hands restrained over my head. My father and Brother Micah were reciting scripture at my feet, their voices growing louder as their language changed to the scared one of our Lord.

I was damned, burning in the hellfire, my soul being purified from the burning temperature of my blood.

A scream built in my stomach, and unable to take the heat of the fire, I let it loose.

“Lilah!” a female voice called.

Heavy hands pinned me down as the pain from my thrashing body grew in intensity.

“No, please!” I begged. “Do not kill me like this… not by the flames! Any other way but by fire!”

“Lilah, baby, calm the f*ck down.”

That voice… that voice… centering me, grounding me.

My body froze and something rough yet gentle ran across my forehead and down my cheek. “Lilah, wake up. Open your eyes, sweet cheeks.”

Doing as commanded, my heavy eyelids opened and I blinked furiously, trying to see clearly. Dark shadows played before my eyes until they revealed a face… It was a familiar face; I knew that beautiful face.

“Lilah? You there, baby?” his deep southern drawl rasped.

I darted my attention around the room, dark walls, wooden floors… It was familiar; I knew this room. My hands felt along the linen. This linen was familiar; I knew this linen.

“Baby?” My eyes beheld a pair of blue eyes. They were familiar; I knew those beautiful eyes. I was not in the fire… I am not in the fire!

“Ky?” I rasped, the sound through my throat like razor blades. My hands covered the skin of my neck as if they could soothe the flesh inside.

“Here,” a soft female voice said beside me, a glass of water moving before my mouth.

Long black hair and a pair of strangely colored blue eyes came into view. “Mae,” I said, and she smiled down at me, though the action looked pained.

“Sister, I am sorry… I am so, so sorry…” she cried.

I could not speak. Too numb to even move my lips.

“They wanted me,” Mae cried. “They were ordered to take me… Rider—Prophet Cain—”

“Wants us all back,” a quiet voice from my left said, and I felt small fingers wrap around mine. “That is true, is it not, sister? They want all three of us back with our people.”

Maddie. My Maddie was with me in this room. I wanted to feel gladness, but I lacked emotion. Something had happened to me. Something had left me detached. Maddie took my silence for my answering ‘yes’ to her question. And she should. It was true.

Ky sat down on the bed and pushed the long strands of hair back from my forehead. “Baby…” He trailed off, and I saw a wash of pain ghost across his face. “Those perverts… what they did to you…”

Lifting my hand to meet his, I brought it down to his lips. Ky stared at me for the longest time. Then his hands fisted and pulled from mine as he jumped to his feet. “FUCK! I can’t deal!”

Maddie leapt from the chair beside me. Shaking, she fled for the door. I watched him pace, his face contort with anger, and tried to sit up. White-hot pain sliced down my back, and I gritted my teeth.

“They f*ckin’ beat you, lashed you… THEY FUCKIN’ RAPED MY BITCH! My bitch, and I weren’t there to do f*ck all about it!”

Expelling a whimper, I winced at Ky’s anger. Hearing my dismay, he stopped mid-step and his face fell. “Baby, it’s f*ckin’ ruined me! Look at you, your beautiful body… They’ve f*ckin’ scarred your perfect skin to shit!”

He took three quick steps to the side of my bed, and I watched him breaking but could not rid myself of his words. Look at you, your beautiful body… They’ve f*ckin’ scarred your perfect skin…

“I love you,” I managed to whisper, needing to say those words out loud.

Ky pressed a firm kiss to my lips and said, “Fuck, baby. I love you too.”

I watched his face for any sign of untruth. “I f*ckin’ do, baby. Shit, you’re everywhere, in my mind, in my f*ckin’ heart.” Leaning forward, he pressed kiss after kiss to my face.

Butterflies circled in my stomach with each feather-soft caress, but it all turned to ice when he said, “This f*ckin’ face, Lilah, this f*ckin’ beautiful face. I couldn’t stand it when you were gone. All I kept thinking about was those f*ckin’ blue eyes, what it was like kissing those lips, that stunning blond hair, the feel of your * choking my cock. It was driving me insane not having you around, being with me… my woman.”

My bottom lip trembled, and Ky ran his thumb across my lips. “Don’t cry, sweet cheeks. I can’t f*ckin’ stand it.”

“I… I am tired,” I croaked out, my voice sore and dry from the heat of the fire. I dropped my eyes for fear of him sensing my deception.

“Okay, baby,” he replied and stood. “I gotta go talk to Styx anyhow. I’ll be back to check on you later. Just sleep.”

I allowed myself to watch his broad muscled back bunch under his cut, his messy tied-back long blond hair hang down his back, and his thick legs beneath his denim pants. He was truly perfect, but I was not for him.