The Isle Of Sin And Shadows - Keri Lake Page 0,181
things?”
The long pause that follows tells me he’s second guessing himself. I need to up his distraction.
“They call this the Ritual of Sire and Sacrifice. He intends to fuck and impregnate Verònica.”
“You need to shut your mouth before I put a bullet in your ass.”
“This is your chance, Luc. We can get the hell out of here. The four of us, together. We’re family.”
“I mean it, Thierry. Don’ make me shoot you dead. I don’ want to, but I will.”
The chanting intensifies with the same urgency I imagine is pummeling him right now.
“Why’d they make us stand outside the circle, Luc? Both of us? Why aren’t you in there, chanting with them? Why keep both of us removed?”
“I have to keep an eye on you.”
“Why not someone else? Why you, when that’s your woman in there?”
The chants grow louder. More frenzied. Through the crowd, I watch the first figure remove only his cloak, his face still hidden behind the goat skull, to reveal a pale white body adorned with all variety of tattoos. The unnatural curve of his back brings to mind the deformity Jude spoke about in her son on the drive here. I’ve no doubt he’s the man I saw back at Julio’s. The one Castellano seemed to fear.
The same one who raped my mother, and I’ll be sure to savor his kill last.
My thoughts shift back to the video I watched, of the girl in the woods. Raped and murdered on camera. The contraption worn to carry out the task.
There isn’t a chance in hell I’ll stand by and watch that happen to Céleste. I’ll blow a hole through the head of everyone in this room, including my cousin and a cartel princess, before I let that happen.
Verónica circles the tattooed man, then falls to her knees before him. The moment he tips his head back, it’s obvious what’s happening, even if I can’t see clearly through the crowd.
“Da fuck?” Luc lurches forward, finally catching on.
Over the chanting, the man’s pleasured grunts can be heard.
He seems to urge her back to her feet, hand fisted in her hair, and he spins her around. Given the hard jerk of her body, he’s fucking her from behind, and it’s her moans that now echo through the chamber.
“Da fuck are you doin’! Stop!” Luc steps past me, and I swipe the gun out of his hands with ease. Given the unsurprised look in his eyes when he glances back at me, it was intentional.
I spin around and fire a dead-on shot into the man behind me before he can so much as tap the trigger. The second he drops his gun and falls to the ground, I snatch up his weapon.
Verónica’s moans escalate.
The chants grow louder.
The tattooed man yanks the woman’s head back and, before anyone can stop him, slices her throat open.
“No!” Luc’s outcry bounces off the wall, and he charges toward the circle. “I’ll fuckin’ kill you!”
The sound of a gun goes off. Another shot. A third.
It isn’t my gun, though.
I search the crowd and find Jude standing with what I presume is my fallen gun from earlier, aimed at my cousin who now lies gasping for breath on the floor. Someone steps in front of her, blocking my shot.
Instead, I take out the two big men in the crowd, popping a shot into one man’s spine, and the other his throat, beneath his mask. My aim is impeccable. Years of practice, with a gun held to my temple in case I missed a shot, have made me something of a showy bastard. Both men drop like flies, and screams bounce off the walls as the group disperses. I circle the room, hobbling on my good leg toward the only exit, corralling the scattered group back toward the archway.
My gun is trained on Jude, who stands alongside the now-robed man.
Still too close to Céleste, but I have the opportunity to herd them back if I can disarm her.
One of the members rushes toward me on a growl, and I fire a fatal shot to his gut that drops him. The rest of the crowd backs away, unwittingly huddling exactly where I need them to be.
The tattooed man removes the goat skull, and a vague familiarity hits me like a crack to the senses. Visuals of him slightly younger, with fewer tattoos, rutting against my mother. White blond hair and eyebrows with unnerving black sclera tattoos. Bastard looks like a demon.