“No,” I say with an angry hiss that has nothing to do with the needle I’m pushing through my skin to finish up the third stitch.
“Simon, that was not a question,” Lucifer says with a deep sigh.
“We do not need to bring him back. Your hellhound needs to stay in his cage.”
“Get over your issues with him. Get the process started. Have Thad brought back into the city. Call Jude and Matthias as well. Get them to put out feelers for recruitment.”
“Why, Matthew? The others I fully agree with. But why?” I ask, and the fifth stitch goes into a wider part of the wound.
Pulling it shut, I tie off the knot.
“Because I feel something of a storm coming. The priest called me personally tonight, Simon. He called me. Something is going on again. I’m sending you out to see him. Tomorrow night if possible. Whatever the priest needs to say, we want to listen to it.”
“I’ll call Governor Norton in the morning. I agree with you, Lucifer, that we’ve been spread too thin. But if you’re bringing in your hellhound… I’m not going to hold his leash. The hellhound is all yours.”
“Just like my hellcat sister is all yours, Simon,” he laughs an evil sounding chuckle.
I have no clue how he knows that nickname, but he does. As much as the men call me the Spider because I can find out just about anything… Lucifer knows things that no man should be able to know.
“One thing though, Lucifer… I thought you should know she got ahold of some bleach and has changed her hair color.”
“Please tell me it’s a natural color, Simon. I can’t deal with a purpled-haired woman in my life. I already have Evelyn asking to dye her hair her school colors.”
“Oh, it’s natural alright. She looks exactly like you now.”
“Fuck me,” Lucifer says before he disconnects his phone.
Good. He deserves a tiny bit of the heartburn she’s been causing me.
What in the hell did he mean she’s all mine now though? Does he know? Has he read my inner mind? Does he know the ache she has caused inside of my chest? The deep down red ball of heat that burns through my body at the thought of her?
I stand up straight for a long moment, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly through my nose. Looking at myself in the mirror yet again, I look at the branding she has put on my body.
On my mind, on my inner self.
I don’t have a soul… or if I did, it was destroyed long ago. What inside of me has she stolen from me? What has she taken? Why does she have this hold on me? I’d pay anything to know.
Hurried thoughts of her chained to the bed rush through my head. Her eyes flaring with hatred. Her lips parted slightly, looking delicate enough to bruise when kissing. Her pantyhose with the small runs being torn by my strong hands.
A bloody bite mark on her shoulder to match the one she gave me.
A cold chill runs down my spine and it has nothing to do with the temperature of the house.
Walking over to the shower, I turn the cold water on full blast.
Stepping into the water helps me bring myself back to center. To even out my mind and body.
I’m going to need a centered sense of self if I’m going to go back into that room with Meredith.
6
Meredith
I scream and scream until my throat is raw, but eventually give up. I don’t know if Simon can even hear me, but if he can, he’s probably just getting off on it. I hate him. God, how I hate him. I despise the pencil-pushing geek with every fiber of my being.
And I will get my revenge. Somehow, someway, he’s going to pay for this.
No other man has ever had the balls or audacity to do something like this to me. Not even Ahmed.
Fuck… Ahmed. His face flashes through my mind, the image of the last time I saw him. The surprised gape of his mouth. His flailing arms. His stumbling Italian leather shoes. The horror in his eyes just before he fell over the edge…
No, no. Don’t think of that. Get your shit together and figure a way out of this.
Taking a few deep, calming breaths, I clear my mind as I stare up at the ceiling.
The handcuffs hold no matter how hard I yank on them. Of course the frame of the bed Simon cuffed me to just has to be made out of strong, black metal rods that show no sign of bending or breaking. As much as I wish my anger and adrenaline would give me a burst of superhuman strength, I’m actually pretty weak and helpless.
I spend a few minutes trying to slip my hands out of the cuffs, but he snapped them on so tight there’s absolutely no give.