I push her back against the couch, and she lets me. There’s not even a sliver of fear in her eyes—just hopeless abandon.
Do your worst, Zachary.
Snuff out my life like the others. Why not? What else could I possibly tell you that you don’t already know?
But then it hits me.
It’s not what I need from her.
It’s what she needs from us.
If she honestly thinks this friend of hers is the pure, innocent priest from her past, then we need to set her straight. It’s a pity, having to break something so pretty…but at least the four of us will be there to pick up the pieces.
“How do you want him to fuck you?” My voice comes from far away as I start to disassociate from the moment, from what I’m about to do.
Her pulse quickens under my thumb.
“Like in the drawing,” she says. Her lips curl up into a faint smile. “The one Cass—Cass’s—ius drew.”
“You can call him Cass,” I murmur, leaning close, applying a little more pressure on her throat. She squirms a little, her eyelids flickering. But she’s been numbed to everything—panic included.
It’s better this way.
I know from experience.
Rube’s hand enters my view. He fixes the rosary around Trinity’s neck, positioning the crucifix just-so between her heaving breasts. Then he trails his fingertips down the center of her body.
Her stomach convulses at his touch, fluttering like a butterfly’s wing.
She giggles.
I flinch at that innocent, happy sound as it wrenches me back into the here and now.
My hand tightens. I shove her back hard enough to dislodge Rube’s hand and to recapture her attention.
“Did he ever touch you?” I ask again.
“No,” she gasps. “Never.”
“Good.” I sit back, releasing her throat and flexing my fingers.
Rube lays a hand on her stomach, and it nearly covers her belly. “You should be thankful,” he says.
Trinity rests her head back, slowly bringing a hand to her throat. She strokes the faint marks I left behind as her eyes move to Reuben. “Why?”
Her voice is thick now, her tongue sluggish as it forms the word. I guess she wasn’t lying when she said she doesn’t drink. She’s minutes—perhaps even seconds—from passing out.
“He would have defiled you,” Rube tells her mournfully. “Just like the others.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Trinity
“…take it to…drinks it all.”
I open my eyes to orange-tinted darkness. It feels like someone’s standing on my head. They may, possibly, be the same culprit who rubbed grit in my eyes. I push onto my hands and glance around.
I’m in their bedroom. This should alarm me. Terrify me, in fact, but I can barely think straight through the sullen thud-thud-thud of my head.
Orange light slices a line across the myriad blankets and pillows scattered about. I blink at the silhouette a few times before I recognize it.
Apollo comes over to me, stepping in and around the mattresses like he’s walking a minefield. He crouches beside me and holds out a steaming cup. “Coffee,” he explains. “Cream, two sugars. That right, pretty thing?”
I can’t even.
I nod at him and accept the cup. Thankfully, my ass barely hurts anymore, so I can sit up in a cross-legged seat as soon as he disappears out of the room.
After a quick check to make sure there are in fact no snakes around, I drag a blanket over my shoulders. It’s absolutely freezing in this place, and no surprise—it’s not as if the library has heat.
The guys talk in hushed voices for a few seconds, and then there’s utter quiet.
I spill coffee into my lap when Zachary calls out my name.
“Trinity? Join us.”
I consider ignoring him.
Then I remember his warning. I don’t need another hiding, thank you very fucking much. Juggling the coffee cup, I somehow manage to drag a blanket over my shoulders without spilling a drop. Then I make my way to the other side of the man cave.
They’re all seated, Reuben and Cassius on the same couch I was on, Zachary still in his chair—although it’s been pushed back closer to the bookshelf now—and Apollo on a badly worn armchair on the other side.
They all look up when I enter, making me freeze.
“Are you hungry?” Reuben asks.
Am I—?
I glare at him.
Do these freaks think they hit some kind of reset button when I went to sleep? What the hell is wrong with them? They’ve assaulted me, kidnapped me, and interrogated me, all in a matter of hours.
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
I still don’t even know why. It has something to do with Gabriel, but Lord knows what.