The Butcher of the Bay Part II - J. Bree Page 0,13

car.

I can do it.

The car ride goes on and on forever.

The man in the front seat asks me if I need to relieve myself at one point when we stop for gas but I shake my head. There's no point trying to outrun the twelve men here, better to wait this out and do what I can to get one of them alone.

The sky darkens again before we arrive at the house we're traveling to. I know for sure that this is the right one because the gates are large and ornate and closed. The car ahead of us pulls up and the driver's window rolls down, the man leaning out to speak into an intercom.

The gates open automatically and the car starts moving again, the house not yet visible through the trees that line the drive.

"Lord Devareux is a very rich man. He has paid a lot of money to be able to enjoy your company, do you understand? He will give you a life you cannot have anywhere else."

There's no threat or warning in the man's voice, just a quiet explanation of who it is that has bought me. A Lord. Why an English nobleman would be in America buying women is a mystery to me but it makes no difference to me what his name or title is. Only that he wants me enough to buy me from the Jackal.

"He has saved many girls from those auctions. They all are very grateful to him and he keeps in touch with them all after he gets them home. Is there somewhere you can return to?"

I keep my mouth shut.

I would never trust this man, or any other. I only trust mon Monstre and le Loup, the people who love me and have bled for me. Those people I will do anything to return to.

The man sighs and gives me a curt nod, as if I've displeased him but he's accepting of it. "You'll change your mind when you see the house. The girls we rescue always do. You'll have your own room here, your own bathroom, all of your own things. How long has it been since you’ve had your own room?”

I wonder how this man would react knowing that the Butcher of Mounts Bay gave me everything that he is trying to offer me without ever asking for anything in return? That I know for sure that he is tearing apart the country right now to find me? That the death he will give to them all for playing a part in my kidnap… I know it will be blood-soaked and archaic, something that will send them to the underworld with eternal suffering in their souls for all of time.

I don’t speak a word.

The mansion finally comes into view and it's huge, covered in creeping ivy, and warm looking. Homely. As if someone really lives here and loves it.

I don't trust it.

Not at all.

The car parks in front of the building, pride of place, while the other two pull away. Now would be the best time to kill the men in the car, but they all start moving as one. I'm unbuckled and directed out of the car with quiet instruction.

I still only have a night shirt on, my legs bare in the cool night air, and I pull my arms around my body tightly. One of the men removes his jacket and offers it to me but I refuse it. There's no way I'll ever wear another man's clothes. I can smell his cologne on it and my stomach roils at the smell.

It's the same one Alcatron used.

My breathing starts to quicken, and I know I'm about to vomit, the memories taking over my body but I don't let them cloud my mind. I need to stay sharp.

I lurch to the garden bed and vomit there, nothing but bile coming up. The retching hurts, my stomach clenching and the waves of nausea causing a cold sweat on my brow.

"The Jackal said you were clean, was he lying? This looks like a detox."

Stupid man.

I shake my head with a frown and wipe my mouth. He looks at me properly then, at the shaking of my arms and the goosebumps on my freezing legs.

"Lord Devareux doesn't enjoy watching women detox but we have a room for it if you need. There are no drugs here, he would never permit you to stay if you are caught taking anything. If your captor got you addicted, then you need to