Chapter2

#Chapter2

As Aiden stumbled out of the apartment building's main lobby, he didn't feel the freezing cold or the sly jabs of the wind's breath. He didn't feel the icy kiss of the pathetic January drizzle against his cheeks.

The Pandora's box he'd used to seal all his past traumas, to hide away at the soul-consuming emotions that had hounded him from early childhood, the lid had been sprung and all the evils within seeped out, lacing his body with its poison. So yeah, the cold didn't even register.

But the harsh grip on his shoulder, driving him forward? That wasn't so easy to ignore. It had him stumbling, his strides forced beyond what he could manage, but dark-and-terrifying was without sympathy. When he tripped, the hold on his shoulder kept him upright, but it wasn't without cost and the pain that slashed through his rotator cuff had his mouth parting and a silent shout sounding. If the beast of a man noticed, he sure as hell didn't care.

Brenton Way, or 'clutch-your-wallet-tighter avenue', as Aiden liked to call it, was a rundown neighbourhood. Windows were boarded up and the sewer rats travelled in packs for safety. Every shadow had eyes, and every corner had witnessed some kind of skeevy, illegal transaction. It was why he wasn't surprised to see a group of young lads, hoods up and nothing but trouble in their demeanour, eyeing them up. Or more specifically, eyeing up the stush, matte black Hummer that dark-and-terrifying shoved him against.

The only thing he did find surprising was that bricks hadn't been left as a substitute for the car wheels.

Marcus had claimed that living in such a hellhole was how he kept his true nature hidden. Aiden had believed that at first but as time went on, doubt began to take root; Marcus was a seasoned gambler. And it looked as though his debts had finally caught up with him.

/"You know,/" the man, Eric, if he'd heard the red-head correctly, said, his grip loosening, /"I could kill you right here. Right now. I'd be doing everybody a favour, Nihil./"

Nihil. There it was again. The definition of the word was lost upon him, but from the way it was sneered out, spat with distaste, the nature of it became pretty clear — it was a slur of some kind.

The thing was though, even if he had a voice, even if he could speak, he wouldn't have said a damn word to defend himself. It wasn't just the gravity of the situation, which seemed damn near barbaric, but it heavily impeded on the fact that the other man was twice the size of him. With strong, broad shoulders that had his own looking like twigs shoved in a tee-shirt, and a height that had his head steering up just to meet his eyes, to say he was intimidating was putting it lightly.

/"You might not understand this yet, but trust me, you will./" Dark-and-terrifying cast a quick glance behind him at the shoddy, weather-beaten building. The red-head, Toby, had told them he'd catch up. He'd stayed behind to give Marcus 'incentive' to have their money when they came back. Aiden didn't even want to think about what that involved. /"There is nothing we consider more unclean than half-breeds. And when my father is done with you, you'll wish you were rounded up in the Plight like all the others./"

Throat seizing up, the whole thing burning like he'd swallowed a litre of liquid nitrogen, his shoulders bashed against the paint job of the snazzy wheels. And if the glare it earned him was anything to go by, dark-and-terrifying wasn't happy about it.

The back seat door was yanked open with so much force that the wind stopped to admire the gusting force, and then the hand was back on his shoulder, nails biting in so deep Aiden swore he'd drawn blood, and he was being shoved in.

/"I don't have to tell you that running would be a bad idea, do I?/" The thug was handsome in the kind of way that had Hollywood scouts wetting their pants with anticipation. Strong bone structure. Chiselled jaw. Sharp features. But the beauty was all wrong; cruelty spliced through it like the business end of a knife. And the grin that he flashed, it had his skin crawling.

He shook his head wildly. Mouthed a 'No', just for good measure. Another sadistic grin and then the door was slamming shut, caging him in the luxury motor. And with the hunk of metal acting as a barrier between them, the smallest of pressure lifted from his chest. He almost felt like he could breathe again. Almost.

It had taken everything he had to keep from looking at Marcus as he'd been escorted out from the building. The man had called to him. Pleaded for forgiveness, like it was that damn easy. But it hadn't been easy, and as his body curled into the thick leather of the SUV's seats, the emotional toll manifested into a physical form, and his insides liquidated. Every part of him felt wrong. Every part of him felt like it was crying, like it was bleeding from a thousand different wounds in a thousand different ways.

He'd thought Marcus was different. He'd trusted him. Cared for him. Dare he even say loved him?

Don't think about it, he chided himself, squeezing his eyes shut when his vision distorted. Fresh tears prickled against them, and the heat bit against his cheek as the first one fell. Don't think about him.

But how could he not? Every time there was a relent in the dizziness, every time there was a pause between his screaming thoughts, Marcus' words were there, stuck on repeat. And whoever said exposure was a cure? Yup, they lied because each retelling hurt just as much as the first time.

/"Are they all this pathetic, or does this one excel?/" He'd been so lost in his pity party that he hadn't noticed Toby's return. Hadn't heard the door to the opening of the front seats. Hadn't noticed them getting in. But as he blinked dumbly, scrubbing at his cheeks with the tatty cuffs of his seen-better-days raglan shirt, the shift in scenery hit him with disorienting clarity.

/"This one seems to excel,/" Eric said. He'd taken up residency in the driver's seat. Their eyes met in the rear-view mirror and another nasty smile was flashed. /"But are we surprised? He was being harboured by a blood-whore. Doesn't get worse than that./"