"Give her to me…I will disappear. You won't ever see me again but If you force me to live my life without knowing where my daughter is resting, there is no place on earth that you would run to that can keep me from ruining you"
I bargained with him.
It was less than the son of a devil deserved but I meant it.
I moved closer with outstretched hands, demanding my daughter be handled back to me. But Lucious looked at me, he had devil in his eyes and they blazed like he wanted me to cower in a corner but I won't be intimidated.
And so, I stared right back.
But looks couldn't kill.
Unfortunately.
"Just…go. Before I change my mind, Pim pim"
Did his voice soften when he called me that blasted nickname or was I imagining things again?
It didn't matter.
Nothing else but getting my hands on my daughter mattered and so, I went after him with everything I got.
I went after him screaming murder but it was a short lived fight.
He won.
And when three of his betas came to drag me out of the house, I kicked and I screamed and I called on every God known and unknown for help but it all fell on deaf ears.
I was dropped like a sack of potatoes by the boundary of the pack.
"Our Alpha is generous, he asked me to give you ten million dollars to start a new life. Here, take it" one of my draggers said.
"Our Alpha is merciful. He bought this new Mahindra Thar Roxx car to make your journey easier" the second one said.
"Our Alpha is good. Here is a key to an apartment in Cate city to start over your life, Mrs Reign"
I blinked as everything they mentioned was either placed on my feet or drove to the road side.
"Huh" I scoffed.
That's all I get after three years of loving him unconditionally? A dead child, ten million dollars, a car and an apartment?
Really?
Is this the part where I fall on my knees in gratitude and proclaim how generous my doofus of an ex-husband is?
Really?
Is this the part where I forget the promise I made to him to come back with a sword of vengeance and avenge every little wrong done to me and my cold little daughter?!
Really?
Ten million dollars in a black card, a fugly car and a stupid apartment?
"Do you have anything to say, Mrs Reign before you part ways with our pack forever?"
One asked me.
I moved closer and I grabbed him by the collar, roughly.
"Tell your Alpha, that…" I said in my teary voice. I tried to remind myself that people making threats should not sob like an infant.
They shouldn't acknowledge the volcano-sized pit in their heart.
Apparently, what I should be now is a symbol of strength and fortitude.
The well of never-ending bravery in this time of such immeasurable loss.
And I want to be all that.
but all I am right now is…heart broken.
All I am right now is hurt and terrified and in need of…so many things.
All I am right now is a mother to a cold daughter. A daughter to two dead parents. A sister to a backstabbing bitch!
All I am right now, is an ex wife of one of the richest Alpha's in the country.
I am a nobody.
"Tell your Alpha…" I started to say again but I was caught off by the beta.
"Mrs Reign" his voice was oddly without spite. If anything it showed he was sympathetic "Take the money. Vengeance is good but he is the Alpha of the Daggerheart pack. Take the money and make a good life for yourself, Mrs Reign. Trying to go after him is death. I beg you, Mrs Reign"
He was right. I had no way of going after Lucious but something tells me I would rather die than take anything from him.
And so, threw the black card and the keys on the floor and I started staggering away from Daggerheart pack land.
I made it a few feet before it hit me, I had nowhere else to go to.
I couldn't go back home, my parents were dead and my sister inherited everything - their title, their respect, most of the money but I kept walking anyway, maybe if I walk long enough I would collapse and die from my head injury.
"Mrs Reign! Take the money!" I could hear the beta yell as I walked.
It was just as if the heavens shared my pain because it started raining.
I must have staggered for several miles before it dawned on me, there was a place I could go - the infamous Midnight Rhapsody bar in Old Jersey city.
They said there was a man there who granted wishes. They said he wasn't human.
They said what he would want in return for granting your wish was worse than your own death, it was worse than selling your soul…they said if you refuse to pay up there was no place on earth that you could hide that he wouldn't find you.
They called his deal the demon's bargain. Everyone in the supernatural world has heard of this bar, there was a reason that only the desperate of the desperate went to him.
But right now, with a slash on my head, a dead infant and a cheating husband with nowhere else to go, I think that qualifies me as desperate, don't you think?
So, when I waved down the big truck and it stopped to offer me a lift, I took it willingly.
"Jesus Christ, miss! Shouldn't you be walking to a hospital!" The trucker exclaimed but popped the door open nevertheless.
I stared at him briefly
The truck driver looked tough and mean. His face was rough and wrinkled from years of driving in the sun. He had a thick beard and a scowl that made him look angry. He was big and strong, with a rugged build from hauling heavy loads.
He wore a worn denim jacket and faded jeans, and his baseball cap made him look even tougher. His hands were thick and rough, and his voice was deep and gravelly. He looked like a man who had been through a lot and wasn't afraid of anything.
Every instinct of mine told me to say thank you and walk away but if I had any chance of making it to that bar before midnight, I needed to haul my ass in.
And so, I did.
"Where to, Miss?" He asked as he slowly went back into the road.
"A bar. The bar is in Old Jersey city, off highway 47 just before you get lost in the city madness, sir" I told him.
"What does a nice looking girl like you want with a place like that, Miss? Wouldn't it be better if I took you to a hospital?" He asked me.
The concern in his voice was oddly genuine.
I think I forgot that there was good in the world.
"What I want…a hospital can't provide, sir" I told him.
"Okay. Okay. If you insist"
For a while, we drove while listening to the music coming from the radio. I think I must have dozed off because when next I opened them, he was touching my hand.
I flinched and jerked up in fear.
"Easy" He whispered like a bull tamer "didn't mean to startle you, Miss. We are here. That's the street to the bar. My big old truck can't navigate through the narrow street"
I blinked to refocus my gaze.
I murmured a word of appreciation and opened the door and jumped down.
I didn't even know the truck driver jumped down with me until I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to find him there holding a knife.