TWISTED FATES BOOK 2: EVEN MORE TWISTED

Devon

I’ve been spending the last few days at Sammie’s. To say she’s in bad shape is an understatement. She’s barely eating and has been held up in her room most of the time. She won’t tell me everything that happened, but I know it’s terrible. Really terrible. She’s closed off, and it’s killing me. I want to be there and help, but I don’t exactly know how I can. I can’t even fathom a speck of the enormous pain she must be going through. Slade and I are aching to know how we can lessen the anguish she is succumbing to. If only she would be willing to let us help.

I have had Michael and Aiden scouring every lead to track down the sick fuck that hurt her, and so far, all we’ve come up with is a dead-end at every turn. I know Dasha’s magic must be keeping him hidden, but I’m very persistent. Sooner or later, he will be found.

Shay and Astrid came back from their trip and spent the entire day with her. She seemed to be a little more responsive, which I am grateful for.

I was thinking about going for a run when I ran into Shay and Astrid in the kitchen.

“Hey, Dev.”

“Hey.”

“How are you holding up, buddy?”

“Trying … how’s Sammie doing?”

“Same. She’s barely talking, Dev. I think she’s blaming herself.”

“What … why? There’s no way in hell; this isn’t her fault!”

“We know that. We think Sammie has this notion that because she is supposed to be some badass vampire, that she should have been able to prevent what happened.”

I sighed and ran my fingers through my messy hair. “She was fucking drugged and incapacitated! Not to mention that her attacker is definitely a supe, Shay! How the hell could she have stopped this?”

“I don’t know, Dev. None of us do. What Justin did, it broke her, and we don’t know what to do to help put her back together.” Shay shook her head, trying to hold back her tears.

“Yeah, well, neither do I. All I want to do is take my mate in my fucking arms and hold her till she feels safe again.”

“We know, but it’s not that simple. Maybe- “

“What?” I interjected.

Astrid and Shay looked at each other solemnly before Shay continued. “We may have a way to help Sammie, but we aren’t sure if she would go for it.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“It involves erasing her memories of what happened to her that day … completely.”

“Ahh … magic… of course. Why wouldn’t it be?” I let out a humorless laugh as I rubbed my face.

“Yeah, but we wouldn’t just do something willy nilly Dev. Astrid and I would only make sure to eliminate that specific memory and nothing else. We know she’s already had the whole memory issue with magic because of Dasha and Maleyna before, but this time it wouldn’t be like that.”

“I don’t know, girls…”

“We get it, Dev, but- “

The loud chime of the doorbell cut off Astrid’s words.

I ran over to see who it could be, and to say I was shocked would be the understatement of the millennium.

Shay and Astrid reached the doorway and gasped when they caught a glimpse of what, or rather who lay battered and bound on the doorstep.

Justin.

Before we could react, we heard the shrill scream of Sammie behind us.

Dammit, she came downstairs at the sound of the doorbell without any of us realizing it.

Well, shit.

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Sammie’s eyes focused only on her attacker as she began trembling in fear. Astrid and Shay immediately took her in their embrace, averting her eyes from Justin’s unconscious body, holding Sammie’s trembling form close in hopes of soothing their panicked friend.

“Dev - Sammie’s freaking out; you need to get that piece of shit the hell out of here!” Shay yelled.

“Yeah, I was planning on it. But he’s still alive, and I want him someplace secure until Michael and I can take him to the pack dungeons for questioning.”

“There’s actually a secure room where you can take him for the time being; a hidden room attached to the library.”

“Well, how do I get to it?”

“Go to the first bookshelf on the left and pull out the Don Quixote book. There is a switch hidden behind it. That will open up the entrance, which leads to Jareth’s old interrogation room.”

I arched my eyebrow questioningly. “Interrogation room?”

“Dude, seriously, this is not the time to question the concept of a vampire having an interrogation room. It’s not like werewolves don’t have the same thing, only you guys call them cells. Just get that piece of shit away from Sammie’s field of vision.” Astrid snapped back.

“Fine. I’ll be back in a few. You guys take Sammie back to her room, and I’ll bring her up a couple of blood packs after he’s strongly detained.”

Shay and Astrid gave a brief nod recited their incantation. Within seconds the three women were instantly transported back into Sammie’s room.

Devon heard a weak groan coming from Justin’s gagged mouth as he stirred. Quickly, Devon yanked Justin inside Sammie’s home and shut the front door. Not wanting to allow Justin to wake up until he was securely imprisoned, he lifted his combat boot-clad foot and kicked the side of Justin’s head, once again, rendering him unconscious.

He then carried Justin’s bulky body inside Jareth’s interrogation room. Upon further inspection, the room contained several useful objects. There was a small silver barred cell with a little cot in it, a table with several torturous items that were useable against many types of supernaturals. In the center of the small room was a metal chair bolted to the floor, which had silver wrist, ankle, and neck restraints.

Devon slipped on the black leather gloves resting on the table and securely bound Justin’s unconscious body into the metal chair. Just before he left his incarcerated prey, Devon made sure to strike a hard blow to Justin’s nose. The loud, sickening crack brought a satisfied smirk to Devon’s lips. Once he brought Sammie something to eat and got her settled in safely, he planned on continuing his conversation from earlier with Shay and Astrid. Maybe the possibility of them helping Sammie heal wasn’t entirely out of the question after all.

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Sammie

I lay huddled in my bed, broken, trembling, and scared.

Why is he here?

Why is he here?

Is this some sort of sick joke?

I said I was strong, but I’m not.

Not strong enough for this.

Not strong enough to face him. He … did things … bad things, that should never be done to anyone … EVER!

Painful images once again reared their torturous visage within my fragile mind, replaying like a cruel continuous loop that my psyche was unable to stop. My skull pounded with a fiery intensity.

I brought my shaking hands up to my head, clasping each side as if my life depended on it, and rocked silently back and forth on the bed, trying not to alert anyone of my distress. I didn’t want any more pity. I could see it in their eyes, and it only made me feel weaker than I already was.

I just wanted to make it all stop.

I just wanted to make the pain go away.

I just wanted to make Justin go away … forever.

I can help you.

What?

I said I could help you, Sammie.

My reddened, puffy, tear-stained eyes scanned cautiously around my bedroom and, even with my extraordinarily keen eyesight, saw that no one was here.

“Where are you?” I whispered.

Here.

“I don’t see anyone here.”

But I am.

I looked around, and still no one. A creeping chill made its way up my neck when realization dawned on me; the voice sounded oddly familiar. Actually, very familiar.

“Who are you?”

A sinister laugh echoed throughout my room.

I am you.

“I’ve gone mad, haven’t I?”

Oh, Sammie, we all have a little madness in us, but no, you aren’t as crazy as you happen to be imagining at the moment. I indeed do exist and am merely here because you called for me.

“I don’t remember calling for you.”

Well, I suppose you wouldn’t per se. It wasn’t necessarily your words but rather your desires that brought me to you.

“My desires?”

Yes, the things that you want to be done but know you cannot accomplish on your own. I am here to do what you cannot.

“I still don’t understand what the hell is going on. How are you me, and how are you going to do what I want to be done?”

A sigh.

This is truly something Jareth should have explained to you, but I see your sire left out pertinent pieces of information while he was playing house –

“Don’t you dare insult Jareth!”

Relax, Sammie, it was just a statement.

“I don’t care. Me or not - do not bad mouth Jareth.” I whimpered.

Fine… As I was saying. As weird as it sounds, vampires and weres are a lot alike, in the sense that we have two halves to make up our whole, a duality, if you will. Granted, vampires are vampy 24/7, but we still have two sides of our own coin. You are my humanity, and I am the purest form of your uninhibited nature.

I shivered when she, me, whatever it was, said those words. Goddess, this was so confusing. I truly felt that if I was sitting here talking to myself, I really had to be mad as a hatter.

How many times do I have to tell you, Sammie, you are NOT crazy!

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

Really? I Am a Part of you - remember?

I shrugged my shoulders and shut my eyes. Everything was becoming too much to soak in.

“Whatever. Me or not, just go away. You can’t help me. No one can.”

That is where you are wrong, Sammie. I can help you. Help us. In ways you never even imagined. All you have to do is give me control.

“If I give you control, where does that leave me?”

An innocent bystander. I will do what needs to be done. I will do what you know you cannot because you are too afraid. I have no fear, no humanity, no conscience. I will be your wrath. Let me punish Justin.

“I don’t think I can do that.”

I tell you what. I will make a deal with you. How about we pay a little visit to lover boy, and if you think that you can take care of him on your own, then I will concede. But, if at any time you need me to take over, all you have to do is relinquish control, and I will take over. What do you say, Sammie … do we have a deal?

“Yeah … I guess so.”

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After I overheard Shay tell Dev to take Justin into Jareth’s old interrogation room, I knew what I was going to do. I heard Dev inform my friends that he had wanted to talk to them privately after checking on a few things at his pack. I waited until I was able to confirm that Devon was no longer around; it sounded like Mike and Aiden weren’t nearby either. I hadn’t heard Shay or Astrid for a while, so I knew now was the time to make my move.

Ever so silently, I rushed out of my room and made my way downstairs into the interrogation room, where Justin was found bound to a metal chair.

Perfect, this makes it that much easier for me, I thought to myself.

Justin stirred in his seat; a menacing growl escaped his gagged mouth as he realized I had entered the room. Despite my trepidations, I tried to maintain a calm demeanor as I tightened my fists and knelt down. With my jaw clenched, I glared into his bloodshot eyes and whispered next to his ear.

“Hello, lover … miss me?”