Without limits ssion and.., p.105
Without Limits: A BWWM Collection of Passion and Desire, page 105
A mate who had wanted him for him, not because of his family’s money or connections. He’d been ready to spend his life with her. Then everything just fell apart. He needed for her to understand why he’d done the things he did.
“I…I had to Dreya. The curse. And then you tried to destroy my family.” He knew he was rambling. There was so much to say. He didn’t know where to begin. “I thought we could beat the curse. I was young and dumb for thinking love was all it took to beat it. There’s no way of getting around it. You are…my ruination.”
Dreya blinked again. The glossy look over her eyes slowly faded away. Her eyes widened in surprise as she stared from Duncan to him. She turned to stare at her sister then turned back to him as if she was seeing him for the first time.
She opened her mouth to speak. No sound came out. She took a deep breath then licked her lips and opened her mouth again. Her whispered words washed over him, caressing him, punishing him.
“I was never your ruination, Luca. I was your mate, your other half, the female who was made for you and only you.”
Lucas tried to hold back the tears forming in his eyes. He lost the battle. Tears trickled down his cheeks.
“You never came to check on me,” she told him. “For ten years, you never came to me. You never told them to stop hurting me.”
“No one hurt you,” his voice was strained. “I would never order them to hurt you, no matter what you’ve done.”
“How would you know what they were doing to me?” She spoke a fraction louder. “You weren’t there for me. You never made sure I was okay. You haven’t checked on me in ten years. Ten years! Your workers hurt me, every day, all day. They did things to my body…” Tears coursed down her cheeks. Arya hugged her tighter.
“Are you saying they raped you?”
“They didn’t rape me. They stole from me, pieces of my body, because they knew I would regenerate over time. It was a game to them. A way to pass the time.”
Luca shook his head in disbelief. “They couldn’t have. They wouldn’t. My guards are loyal. They were only there to guard your cell. That’s it.”
Dreya smiled sadly. “I cannot lie Lucas. But your oracle did. Don’t worry, she won’t be lying to you ever again.”
“That’s my girl,” Arya praised her sister. “I hope you made that bitch suffer. Let’s go. His brothers have gotten word that I’m here and their coming to help him. I can feel his youngest brother, Lyken, getting closer to the building. Oh, and Lucas, tell your brothers their security system and response time sucks. We could’ve killed you all, robbed you blind and burned this place down before they arrived. Anyway, bye for now.”
Lucas roared as loud as he could. But he could do nothing to stop Arya from taking his mate. He was still held immobile by whatever it was Arya had done with that wand. With a heavy heart, he watched as his mate disappeared before his eyes.
As she disappeared, tears streamed down her face, washing away blood for her cheeks. She was gone. His mate was gone. She’d been hurt by his guards. She’d etched his name all over her body. His female had suffered so much and it was probably all for nothing.
Lucas could hear voices talking to him, calling his name. He couldn’t address them. The only thing he could think about was Dreya and the look of betrayal in her eyes. Could it be true? Could his parents still be alive?
Could Jenna’s version of the curse, told to him years ago, be a lie? Lucas fell forward. His face slammed into the floor. Pain reverberated through his skull. He didn’t care. He’d hurt her. He’d hurt Dreya, for nothing. Pain sliced through his head and his heart.
He’d placed his trust in the wrong female. Now the one he dreamed of every night was lost to him. He could hear his brothers’ voices but they sounded muffled. Darkness pulled him under. Guilt attacked him. And he deserved it all. He deserved far worse.
Would she ever forgive him?
Chapter Three
When Luca opened his eyes, he was no longer in the hallway. He was in one of the recovery rooms, in bed. His brothers surrounded him. The three of them were staring down at him with concerned expressions on their faces.
“What happened?” Lucas groaned as he tried to sit up.
“Lie back down. You’re not ready to get up yet,” Laurent said.
“Why not? I feel fine. My chest aches a little.”
Actually, his chest ached a lot. Lucas lay back against the pillows. He tried to rub his hand against his chest but couldn’t. He couldn’t move his hands at all. Lucas looked down. His hands were tied to the bed and the flesh over his heart was covered with gauze.
“What the hell happened to me?” His eyes darted from one brother to the next.
“You really don’t remember, do you?” Laurent asked.
Lucas glanced at Rent, who stood to the right of him. Rent had his arms folded over his chest.
“If I knew what happened, would I be asking you dicks? What happened?”
Laurent grinned. “You passed out, right after you tried to claw your heart from your chest.”
Claw my heart from my chest? “Why would I…” Wait… Dreya, she was gone. “Where’s Dreya?” Lucas tried to rise again. His brothers were there to push him down.
“Stay still,” Lyken told him. “Self-inflicted wounds take longer to heal.”
“I don’t give a damn about these wounds. I need to find Dreya.”
“Here we go again,” Laurent muttered. “I thought I’d never have to hear those words again. I’d hoped you were finally over her. Your psycho bitch is gone.”
Lucas froze. “What did you say?”
“I said your psycho bitch…”
Lucas rose up, causing the bed to shake under him. Fangs free, he gnashed his teeth at his brother and struggled to free himself from the handcuffs that bound him to the bed. The bed jerked and moved underneath him. His wolf side, that was usually dormant until the moon was full, tried to break free. Both of his monsters wanted a piece of his brother.
“Whoa, Lucas,” Lyken tried to talk him down. “He didn’t mean to say that. Tell him Rent. Tell him you didn’t mean to call his mate a bitch. Why the fuck would you call his mate a bitch?”
Still gnashing, Lucas barely heard what was going on between his brothers. Laurent took a step back from the bed and rubbed his hand over his face. His brother sighed then looked him in the eyes.
“I did mean it.”
Lucas struggled harder to break free.
“But…I apologize. I don’t want what happened last time to happen again.”
Lucas struggled less. Last time? Oh, right. Last time. Bad things had happened last time.
“You know how I feel about Dreya. She killed them,” Laurent said. “Don’t you remember, Lucas? She ripped their throats out and watched them fall from the tower. We lost our parents that night. Hell, we almost lost our lives when you tried to kill us over that bitch, I mean, female.”
Lucas closed his eyes and sank back into the comfort of his mattress. All of the fight was slowly draining out of him. He’d almost killed his brothers back then. He’d been so enraged when they’d suggested locking Dreya up that he hadn’t been able to think clearly.
He still wasn’t thinking clearly. Right now, he wanted to rip Rent’s head from his body. Lucas groaned. Why did this female have this kind of power over him? Perhaps because she was the ruination of them all. Wait…
“There was something Arya said…” Lucas began but was cut off by Lyken.
“I thought I caught whiff of her scent here. Did Arya mention me?”
The brothers turned their gazes to Lyken.
“Please tell me you’re over her.” Laurent said to their youngest brother.
“Of course,” Lyken muttered. “I was just wondering if she mentioned me. I mean, I am her mate and I have been avoiding her for over a hundred years. She’s bound to be pissed.” Lyken shrugged. “Does it matter? This isn’t about me, it’s about Luca. Forget I mentioned her.”
Laurent looked like he was about to say something else but stopped when their oldest brother cleared his throat. All eyes turned to Logan who was standing at the foot of the bed. Luca’s oldest brother always looked menacing. The others joked that he was born with a scowl on his face. Right now, he looked more pissed off than usual.
“Lucas,” Logan’s deep voice filled the room. “You need to tell us what really happened here tonight. Duncan has already told us what he saw. I need to hear it from you. What happened tonight?”
Lucas lay back against his pillows and went over in his head what happened. “Arya freed Dreya.” A look of pride flashed then disappeared in Lyken’s eyes.
“How did she find us?” Logan asked.
“She had a wand.”
“Shit,” his three brothers said in unison.
“What witch would be stupid enough to give a soul snatcher a wand?” Laurent asked.
“I don’t know. Arya said she’d found a powerful witch to help her. The witch gave her the wand. She also told her a few things about us.”
“What kind of things?” Logan raised his eyebrow.
Lucas took a deep breath. “Things, that if proved true, would make me feel like the biggest ass ever.”
“How about you share those things with us,” Logan suggested.
Lucas thought back to what Arya had said. The version of the curse he’d been told all those years ago could have been a lie. It was possible that his parents were still alive. All this time it could have been Jenna who was lying to him, not Dreya.
“Arya said the version of the curse Jenna told me wasn’t real.” Lucas sighed.
“Of course, she would say that,” Logan said. “She wanted you to feel guilty for what you’d done to her sister.”
“Soul snatchers can’t lie,” Lyken voiced the words that were running through Lucas’ mind. “If she said it, it’s true. Which means Luc imprisoned his mate for no reason and I’ve avoided mine for no reason.” Lyken stumbled backward and sat down on the chaise next to Luc’s bed. “Fuck,” his brother sounded exactly how Luc felt, wounded.
“That can’t be right,” Laurent stated. “Jenna foresaw the curse unfolding years before Lucas met Dreya. She was just a child when the Goddess came to her in a dream. There’s no way she could’ve lied about it. In the vision the Goddess sent her, he saw one of our mates killing our parents. She tried to prevent it from happening. That was why she came to us. That was why she wanted to help Lucas.”
Lucas had thought the same thing. “There’s only one way to find out, we have to ask Jenna.” Silence greeted him. “What?” None of his brothers made eye contact with him. “What happened? Where’s Jenna?”
Logan spoke up. “She’s in the surgery. Dreya did a number on her. She’s in critical condition. Dreya, uh, cut out her tongue and carved her name into her chest. Deep in her chest.”
His brothers stared at him as if they expected him to react violently. He didn’t. He couldn’t. Jenna had lied to him. He’d hurt his mate because of that lie. He felt dead inside.
“You okay?” Laurent asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Did you hear what Logan said? Jenna is in surgery. The oracle lost a lot of blood. She could die.”
“She deserves to die. If she lives, I may kill her myself. Get these cuffs off me.”
The brothers stared at each other.
“Get these off me,” Lucas growled.
“I think we should leave you like this until you heal,” Logan told him.
“Logan, if you don’t get these fucking cuffs off me…”
“It took us too long to get them on you to risk taking them off again. Luca, you tried to rip out your damn heart. I can’t deal with that shit again.” Logan looked weary. All of his brothers did.
“I’m sorry,” Lucas told them. “I just… there’s too many emotions flowing through me right now. If what Jenna told me is a lie, that means I locked my mate away for nothing.”
“Not for nothing,” Laurent reminded him. “She killed mom and dad.”
“But, what if they’re alive?” Lucas asked.
“They’d be here, if they were alive.”
“They rift occurred after they died. Well, after their altercation with Dreya.”
“You had it right the first time. After they died. They’re dead. We’ve mourned them. We’ll miss them forever,” Rent told him. “But I refuse to believe in false hope. Soul snatchers can’t lie, but they can manipulate the truth. That’s what Arya is doing.”
“I don’t believe she’s doing that,” Lucas stated.
“You’re thinking with your heart. Now that Dreya’s collar is off, you’re no longer -protected from the mating pull. Your loyalty is with her, not us. And I understand. That’s how mating works. But for us Baynes, that’s a dangerous thing.”
“Jenna could’ve gotten the curse wrong. We’ve only found part of the scroll. The other three verses of the curse are still missing. Hell, part of the last sentence of the verse we do have is missing. We don’t know what the rest of that sentence says.”
Lucas looked to Lyken for help. Besides him, he was the only other brother who’d found his mate.
“Lyken, what do you think?” Lucas asked his youngest brother.
Lyken stared down at his tennis shoes. They all waited for him to speak. Minutes passed and still he hadn’t raised his head.
“Hey, Lyk,” Rent called out. “Did you fall asleep?”
He shook his head before raising it to stare at them.
“I was trying to clear my thoughts so I could think with my head instead of my heart. My heart tells me to say fuck the curse. I want my mate. I’ve only been in her presence a few times. But, I still remember the shock and awe that ran through me when my eyes first landed on her.”
Lucas could tell all this talk of emotion was making Rent and Logan feel uncomfortable.
“That was her thrall affecting you,” Rent told Lyken.
Lyken shook his head again. “It wasn’t. I’ve been around other snatchers. I’ve never had one make me feel like that. I’ve had one try to enthrall me before. All I felt was dizzy. Since meeting Arya, I’ve done some research…”
“Of course, you have,” Rent replied in that sarcastic tone of his.
“Don’t be an ass,” Lyken told him. “According to my research, if you’re mated to a snatcher, other snatchers are unable to enthrall you. That’s why being around Dreya never affected me.”
“That’s why I’m immune to Arya,” Lucas added.
“Good for you two,” Rent drawled. “That doesn’t change the fact that Dreya killed our parents. The Goddess of Vengeance used your mate to bring harm to our family. Proving that if we find mates, if we fall in love, our family will suffer. The Goddess will use them against us. She’ll use them to carry out the curse. That’s why you both have to stay out of the way, while Logan and I hunt Dreya and Arya down.”
“Whoa,” Lyken said. “Why are we hunting Arya down?”
“She broke into our haven. She helped a prisoner escape. She’s an accomplice to murder. And Dreya destroyed property and murdered over fifteen employees. Six have quit since the incident. I’m pretty sure more will in the next few days. Plus, Jenna is in the hospital, in critical condition. Her coven is going to be pissed. They may even retaliate against us. Your mates are responsible for all of this. Both sisters are guilty. By the end of the day, I want them both in the dungeon.”
“Fuck that,” Lucas and Lyken said at the same time.
“And that’s why you two are staying out of it,” Logan spoke up. “You’re not thinking with your heads. Once we have gold collars on those twins, you two will be able to think straight again. For now, Lucas, you’ll stay in bed, until you’ve completely healed. Lyken, you’ll stay here and keep an eye on things. We need our people to feel like we are doing something to prevent this from happening again. You’re charming. Make the creatures of the island feel safe. Let them know everything will be okay. Lyken, I want you to send out an emergency broadcast on radio and television to let our people know the threat is over. Tell them those responsible have been caught and…”
“So, we’re going to lie to them?” Lucas asked.
“To keep the panic down, yes,” Logan replied. “Lyken, tell them that school is out for tomorrow.”
“The damn kids only go to school three days a week anyway,” Lyken said. “You sure we need to cancel classes?”
“I’m sure. Look, parents are going to be afraid. Creatures died here today. This shit is more serious than you two seem to think. Arya was able to bypass all of our security protocols. Most of which, I designed. Creatures are going to question our ability to keep them safe here in the Rift. Especially since it’s our curse that brought them here.”
“No,” Lucas corrected his brother. “It was Jenna’s spell.”
“A spell she used to try to defend our parents against Dreya. Come on Lucas, you were there. Dreya moves faster than all of us. None of us could reach the tower in time to save mom and dad. Jenna used that spell to try and send Dreya through a portal before she could tear into our parents.”
Lucas didn’t want to hear this shit. He didn’t want to relive the night of his parents’ death. The night he not only lost his mother and father, but his mate also. However, his brother wasn’t done talking.
“Unfortunately, Dreya had already done what she’d come to do. She’d already killed them.” Tears welled in Logan’s eyes. He blinked them back before they could fall. Logan rarely cried. He was the strongest of them all.
Logan cleared his throat before proceeding. “It was a spell Jenna had never used before. It ended up sending all of us through that damn portal. Not just us, but everyone in a thousand-mile radius.”
“Is this a history lesson?” Lucas asked. “If so, I could go to Lyken for that. He’s the history professor.”
“This isn’t a fucking history lesson,” Logan yelled. “This is a reality check. You’re lying here, ready to kill for a female who will kill you the first chance she gets. You should be worried about the female who helped you contain Dreya when we all arrived here. The female who spelled the chains around Dreya’s wrists and ankles. The witch who spelled the collar to keep you from feeling the mating pull. Jenna’s coven was transported here also. They’ve helped us a great deal. They helped calm the creatures here after we realized we couldn’t use force or magic to get back to our realm. They helped us build a life here for everyone after we realized we were stuck here. Dreya has done nothing but cause you pain and guilt. Her sister, has done nothing but rebel against us. She formed a little group of rebels.”
