Tacet a Mortuis (The Elite King's Club 3)

“These tunnels have areas that curve off to not only all four factions of Perdita but every section too.”

“Every section of this area of Perdita?” Bishop wanted to clarify.

Tillie shook her head, hiking the baby higher. “No. I mean, everywhere on the island.”

“That’s messed up. What the fuck is going on here.”

We continued our trek deeper into the tunnels. Twenty minutes later, the air was tight and sweat was falling off my flesh with every step.

“Tillie,” I called out, wiping away some fallen dirt that had dropped onto my face. It smudged into my sweat and turned it to soft clay. “Is the baby ok?”

Tillie gave me a small smile over her shoulder. “She will be fine once this is over.” Then her legs picked up. “There it is!” We all jogged to an opening archway to the left of the trail. I looked up above, seeing a small metal plate that had “Airport” engraved into it. I let out a sigh of relief just as Tillie pushed open a door and walked through. The space was small, so small that we couldn’t all fit inside at once. Tillie banged on the manhole above her head, and then banged another three times. A lock slid open and daylight slammed into the small enclosure.

“You’re all ok?” Tinker asked, worry evident on her face. “Come on, you’re running low on time.” She reached down and pulled Tillie out, and then Daemon, again, they both switched who was holding the baby—who hadn’t made a sound through the whole way. I was impressed, she obviously got that side from her mother. I grabbed Tillie’s hand and she pulled me up until I was out of the hold and sucking in crisp air again. My chest loosened and relaxed. I turned back to pull Tatum out and then we both grabbed Nate. While the guys were coming out, I took this moment to turn to Tinker.

“What’s your deal?”

“My deal?” Tinker smiled. “Not all of us get to choose our path, Madison, so” —her eyes went over my shoulder before coming back to me— “choose yours wisely.”

I turned my head over my shoulder to see who was there. Bishop.

“Thank you for the advice, but it seems, I can’t choose mine either.”

“You can’t.” Bishop shoulder barged past me. “But I can.”

I swallowed past the hurt that crept up from my chest and into my throat. Sadness gripped to my bones. He cannot be serious.

I hung toward the back on the way home. My hands sunk into the pockets of my hoodie and my eyes squeezed shut. I think over the day. I was stuck between two fucking walls in my life. One was the path I knew I should take, and the other was the selfish part of me. I couldn’t say I was battling with either side, because the truth was I wasn’t. I loved Madison, which meant I wanted to be with her at all costs, but when the equation was made up of eighty percent being the risk her life, I wasn’t with it. My mouth felt dry and my palms were sweaty. My shirt clung to my flesh, the residue of blood acting as glue.

Fuck. I hit my playlist. I was being unsociable, considering I really should be asking Tillie how she was holding up. I needed a moment to gather my thoughts. The Weeknd “I Was Never There” started playing and my fingers tapped to the beat. My hoodie remained low, above my eyebrows. I continued to chew my gum as thoughts flashed through my head with the song. Madison. Without her, none of this would fucking matter. I shuffled in my seat. Gripping her ankles, I tugged her body down the bed, flipped her onto her stomach and grasped her hips. Her ass perched in the air, her legs spread wide. “This sweet little cunt is mine, Madison.” She rubbed her bare ass into my dick and I grunted, biting down on my bottom lip before dropping to my knees and turning. I began slowly running my nose up the back of her thigh and felt as her muscles twitched with uncertainty. I would too. She was getting used to being blindfolded under my command, but there was always a small part of her that would never fully let go. Was probably her survival instincts. They were, after all, always right. I smirked at that thought. I rode her ass so hard about her instincts being shit with me when all along, I was just throwing her off. The tip of my nose came to the curve of her ass and I inhaled, the sweet scent of her pussy igniting every dominant strand I had hanging inside of my body. My eyes flew open and I drew my tongue out, licking the split of her pussy from her clit, all the way to the skin that separated her ass. I growled out when the tang of her arousal assaulted my taste buds, licked my lips and then dove back in. I stretched her legs wide, laying onto my back and then wrapped her thighs with my arms. My hands came to her ass cheeks as I pushed her weight down onto my face.