Hope Restrained (Estate Series) (23 page)

When they moved to the car, Aaron also instructed, “Jason,
once they’ve left, I want the victim’s bodies removed for proper burial, but
leave the rest inside. The entire fucking house needs to be burned to the
ground. Once that’s done, barricade the men into the houses of the other two
units and burn them alive. This ends tonight.”

“Is there any part of your body they didn’t touch?” Maddy
worked over Xander’s skin, cleaning away the blood and surveying the damage
inflicted when he’d been interrogated by Patrick’s men.

Hope sat back in a shadowed corner, her eyes locked to his,
refusing to let him out of her sight now that they’d escaped the horror of
Patrick’s house. His heart melted for her, his mind replaying the images of her
face when she’d ripped Patrick apart, when the look in her eyes was that of a
demon instead of the woman he’d known.

When they’d returned to the mansion, they’d worked together
to carry Honor inside. Completely passed out and oblivious, they’d placed her
on a bed in Aaron’s suite before leaving the room in search of Maddy. They
found her in the bedroom she shared with Aaron, silently staring out a window,
watching the fire rise in the horizon mimicking dawn in its intensity. Maddy
turned when she heard them, the expression on her face revealing the depth of
her relief to see them both standing in her doorway, beaten but alive.

Maddy moved instantly to them, her hands reaching up to run
over their skin, exploring and surveying the injuries on their bodies before
she dragged them both into the bathroom and into the shower. “The water is
going to hurt, but we need to clean you quickly.” Maddy turned on the water and
Hope and Xander clung to each other; their bodies shuddering against the liquid
washing away the blood and dirt from their skin. Hope had helped Xander remove
his clothes and he stripped his shirt from her body in return. The water
gathered brown and pink in puddles around them and they both had sunk to the
floor, exhaustion overtaking them. They held on to each other, refusing to let
go, to risk being once again torn from the other’s arms.

And now that Maddy had forced them apart in order to tend to
them, they still clung to each other from across the room; their eyes remaining
locked to the other.

Maddy pushed against the flesh around his broken bones as
she searched for signs of internal bleeding. Finally satisfied that his
injuries weren’t life threatening, she stitched up the open wounds and wrapped
gauze tight around his abdomen to keep the ribs from moving where they’d been
broken beneath his skin.

“There, that’s the best I can do with you. I think some of
your fingers are broken, but if you’re able to move them, I’ll leave them
alone. If they get worse, we can make a splint.” Her voice was shaking, the
memory of the night Joseph died was obviously on her thoughts — the hours
spent in Aaron’s suite stitching and cleaning the wounds on Aaron’s body, on
Xander’s and on hers.

Her blue eyes looked up from his hand, a haze apparent from
the mist of tears. “Will it ever end?”

Hope frowned in the background at Maddy’s words. Xander
looked away from the gold of her eyes finally to answer, “It takes time.” He
reached up, cupping her chin and kissing her on the forehead. “But yes, Maddy,
it will end.”

She nodded, her next works spoken weakly. “Go get dressed. I’ll
tend to Hope.”

He looked back at the girl hidden amongst the shadows. “No. I’ll
wait if you don’t mind, I’ve been separated from her enough for one night. I’m
not letting her out of my sight again.”

Hope’s eyes widened.

Maddy turned around to look at her. “You’re up.”

She shook her head in response. “Not me — not yet. I
want you to look at my sister. She’s in another room.”

Maddy opened her mouth to object, but Xander interrupted
knowing that Hope would fight against being cared for until she knew her sister
was okay. “She’s in the spare room, Maddy. I’ll go with you.”

They all stood, Hope holding a towel around her body,
hobbling past them, leading them down the corridor. They entered the room and
she moved to the side of Honor’s bed, reaching out immediately to run her palm
over her sister’s cheek.

“Honor.” Gently, Hope patted her sister’s cheek. “Wake up,
beautiful. You’re safe.”

Maddy approached the bed, looking to Hope for approval
before touching Honor. Hope moved just enough to let Maddy close. Xander watched
Maddy place her hand on Honor’s head, only to run her hands across her face and
down her body looking for any sign of injury or illness. Honor’s eyes blinked
open, confusion sitting heavy in the gold of her eyes. She opened her mouth and
she screamed.

Maddy jumped away and Hope picked Honor up from the bed,
desperate to calm her sister’s nightmare. Xander’s heart fractured and he
stepped forward, anxious to help, but not knowing if his presence would do more
harm than good.

“Get out!” Hope screamed out her command.

He felt Maddy’s hand on his arm and forced himself to turn
away from Hope. Maddy nodded her head in the direction of the door, silent
tears sliding down her cheeks to see Honor’s reaction to the touch of another
person. Xander looked back, every instinct in him demanding he go to Hope, that
he shelter her from the ugly truth of what had become of her sister.

He didn’t move for a few seconds; but, eventually he
followed Maddy, leaving Hope to tend to her twin.

Closing the door behind him, he shut his eyes against the
sad reality of Honor’s fate; her body freed of captivity, but her mind still
lost to the men who’d held her. The screaming didn’t end and he heard Hope
quickly speaking over the screams, her voice torn and frantic as she pled with
her sister to calm down, to recognize that Hope wasn’t one of the monsters.

An hour passed, then two, and it went quiet. Xander sat on
the floor, his body pressed up against the wall where Hope sat with her sister
on the other side. The door opened, Hope stepped out.

She fell on her knees and Xander was immediately by her
side.

“She didn’t make it …”

His heart felt like it stopped.

“She’s still trapped there, in that fucking house with those
bastards. She won’t see me, she doesn’t know me!” Her voice finally broke from
the tears that flooded from her eyes.

Xander breathed deeply. “She’ll improve. She has to. We won’t
give her any other option.”

Hope looked at him, her eyes red from crying. “She sees the
demons inside me, Xander; she always has. She used to look past them, love me
despite the beast that hides inside me — but now — I’m the same as
the men who destroyed her.”

A door slammed in the front room followed by the hurried
fall of boots across the floors. Their heads turned in unison to find Aaron and
Jason standing in the entryway of the corridor. Maddy rushed out from their
bedroom, running quickly down the hall to wrap her arms around Aaron. He
stepped back when she reached him, Jason stepping forward to keep her from
approaching.

Xander pushed up and moved quickly down the hall, angry at how
Jason had stepped into Maddy; but Aaron stopped him in his tracks when he
demanded, “Ballroom. Now.”

Tension, anxiety and fear exploded over Xander’s body to
hear those words.

Aaron looked at Maddy. “This is not for you to witness. I
want you to stay here in the suite until I return. Do NOT disobey me.”

Her tiny body shook and she backed up into Xander where he
stood behind her.

He knew he had to diffuse the situation, sensing the
executioner running in Aaron’s veins, he knew that no emotion was contained in
Aaron except for the need to feed the darkness inside.

Bending down, he spoke softly to Maddy. “I’ll go with him. Please
stay here and watch over Honor while we’re gone.”

She looked up at him, fear heavy in her eyes, but she nodded
and turned to walk back to her room.

Hope stood up and he watched her approach. She took his hand
and turned towards Aaron. “Let us get dressed and we’ll go.”

~
   
~
   
~

After exiting the suite and walking to the ballroom, Xander
saw the procession of Estate members flooding in between the large doors. Releasing
a shuddered breath, he willed his legs to move, tightening his grip on Hope’s
hand when they crossed the threshold into the large room.

The Estate members took their seats amongst the tables
arranged on the side of the room, their voices murmuring out, each individual
voice adding to the tension of the sudden meeting. Pulling Hope behind him,
Xander climbed the stairs to the stage, memories washing over him, his stomach
twisting at the familiarity of the proceedings.

Aaron stood at the front of the stage, his stance
reminiscent of the man who’d raised him. The iridescent light of the crystal
chandelier sparkled against his blood soaked skin; his expression indifferent
as Jason led in two unit leaders, locked in chains.

Blood pounded through Xander’s veins, his head swimming in
white noise and pain. His eyes shot to Hope. She was fixated on what played out
before them.

“Thank you for joining us on such late notice gentlemen.” Aaron’s
voice boomed out over the large space; the building tension from just moments
before becoming a suffocating blanket over the room. “We are here tonight
because three men believed they would attack The Estate by attacking me.”

Spinning a blade in his hand, he began to pace the stage. “Tonight,
I personally executed and burned each and every member of this network who
thought they could outwit me. At this very moment, they are becoming nothing
but ash, the houses they were given on the compound burning around them.” He
stopped and looked up into the bright lights of the room, crimson trails
dripping along his skin. Looking back down he said, “I’ve brought you here
tonight, gentlemen, to remind you what happens to a person who attacks The
Estate!”

Whispers burst throughout the audience, followed by laughter
and sudden applause. It had been years since executions had played out inside
these walls and Xander fought to restrain himself from stepping forward and
stopping what was about to occur.

“These men took innocent women, bound them, raped them and
left them for dead in direct disobedience of my orders as leader of this
network. I could have ended their lives quickly, allowed them a death free of
the pain and torment they caused. But, I decided other methods would be more
appropriate.”

Aaron laughed and Xander’s stomach turned — the sound
eerily familiar against his thoughts.

“Adair and Charles …” He looked down at the unit leaders,
his eyes slowly traveling over them as he spoke their condemnation. “Since you
found so much pleasure in the suffering of the women you killed, I think it’s
only fair the same is done to you.” Aaron looked up at the audience. “Wouldn’t
you agree?”

The men cheered, boisterous laughter punctuating the
approval in the air.

The men were led to the center of the room and tossed to the
floor, still bound in chains.

Aaron stepped back. “It’s time to teach these men what
happens when you FUCK WITH THE ESTATE!” Holding his hands out to his sides, he
smiled. “Gentlemen, do your worst!”

Screams punctured the air when the estate members fell on
the men, ripping their clothes from their bodies, violating them in ways no
person should have to endure. Xander fell back into his seat, his eyes closed
against the carnage that played out before him and his mind reeling against the
realization that Joseph’s insanity was still alive in his son. He attempted to
pull Hope closer, but she stepped away trying to approach the front of the
stage. Looking up at her, he noticed how her eyes were locked to the men, her
hands fisting and her shoulders straightening. Her hand slipped from his, their
fingers sliding along each other, resting at the tips until separating from him
entirely.

She walked forward, stopping when she reached the front. Xander
grew still, looking between Aaron and Hope, noticing how they both were lost to
a madness from which he could not pull them away. They stood still, the lights
of the room playing across their bodies and their expressions completely
indifferent to the rape and death of the unit leaders. They were two monsters
bred by crime, by violence, and by torment. Two people, born with demons, who
were trapped in nightmares for so long that eventually, they became lost within
the very thing they fought against.

When the men’s bodies were torn apart and when their screams
dissipated from the room, the men slowly exited, leaving Aaron, Xander, Jason
and Hope standing on the stage looking down at the strewn body parts across the
floor.

No person spoke. The promise of redemption lost instantly within
the blood that now ran in rivulets across the floor.

She was the epitome of grace, the way her body twisted and
spun, the muscles straightening when she moved, only to curl skillfully and
strong when she dodged in a different direction. Xander reached out for her,
smiling to watch her dance artfully around him. Her instinct was razor sharp,
almost as if she knew exactly what he would do next.

Her eyes were focused on his, the gold swirling with playful
opposition. He lunged, and she volleyed, springing back, her body arching away,
weaving around his arms like she was liquid and impossible to hold.

“Oh, come on, you’re not even trying,” she teased.

Xander smirked. “I’m a little tired. You’ve been keeping me
up late.” He winked.

Her cheeks blushed red. “I’ve been staying up with you, so
that’s not an excuse.”

Lunging forward again, he caught her and pulled her quickly
into his body, sweeping his foot beneath hers and dropping her heavily to
floor. The wind was knocked from her chest on a loud huff when she went down,
and he fell over her, pinning her arms to her sides and pressing his body tight
against hers.

She moaned, her breath catching again when he leaned down,
nipped at her ear and growled, “Do I need an excuse now, Sunshine?” He pressed
into her again and her lips parted, her eyes closing in reaction to the feel of
his body against hers. A growl shook his chest, quickly losing patience with
their game.

Bringing his face to hers, he rubbed the tip of his nose
along her jaw. “I believe I win this round.”

She struggled against him, her body falling limp beneath him
once she realized he wouldn’t budge. He chuckled in response before stripping
her of her clothes, forcing her submission even when the light of rebellion
still shown in her eyes.

It had been a year since Patrick was killed. Following the
events of the ballroom, Hope and Xander had returned to Aaron’s suite long
enough to allow Maddy to tend to Hope’s wounds. Aaron had paced the living room
while Maddy worked and her eyes would flick over to him every few seconds, her
fear of what he was becoming evident in her eyes. Once Maddy had finished,
Xander grabbed Hope up from her chair, leading her immediately to the front
door to leave. He felt guilty for leaving Maddy alone with Aaron when he was so
enraged, but Xander feared what he’d seen on the stage that night: Hope and
Aaron lost to the madness, both becoming part of the thing they hated their
entire lives.

He’d taken Hope back to his room, laid her down on his bed
and crawled beside her. They must have slept for days, only waking up to drink
water or use the bathroom.; their minds struggling to process what they’d seen
and survived. Only when Maddy arrived and insisted that they get up did they
finally leave his suite.

Within weeks, their bodies had healed, but Xander lived with
the knowledge that The Estate was infectious, that it had somehow buried itself
so far inside Hope that she didn’t notice when she’d become lost to it.

He wouldn’t give up on her, however, because he wouldn’t
allow himself to believe that she couldn’t be brought back from the dark depth
to which she’d fallen.

Every night Hope woke with nightmares, her voice screaming
into the stillness of his room and every morning he brought her in the gym. They
fought daily — her against the threat of losing her mind and him out of
refusal of letting her fall. Much like Maddy and Aaron, Hope and Xander needed
each other to survive — but the tables were turned and it was Xander who
dragged Hope into the light each time her heart and mind were covered in
shadow.

When she found her release and when he body fell against the
floor sated and spent, he joined her. They lay with each other on the floor of
the gym, their bodies loose from the fight, their minds lost to the connection
that held them together.

When it had grown quiet between them, Hope spoke, and her
voice was nothing more than a whisper across his skin.

“Thank you.”

He leaned up, placing his weight on his elbows so he could
hold himself while looking down at her face. “For what?”

“For taking care of me. I’ve been a terror these past few
months with the nightmares and my mood swings. “I just …” Her voice was
frustrated and strained. “I feel so lost sometimes, so helpless without her.”

He sighed and rested his forehead against hers. Locking his
eyes to her stare, he smiled, “Don’t worry. We’ll get her back.”

Hope’s smile was hesitant, but she nodded. “I know.”

~
   
~
   
~

Hope sat on the edge of Honor’s bed. Reaching over to a
table, she poured a glass of water and brought it to her sister’s lips
encouraging her to drink. Honor’s eyes were blank, her mind trapped in
nightmares that Hope worried would never let her go.

“There you are little sister. Are you hungry.”

Honor looked back, her face a perfect mirror of Hope’s. She
nodded, still not speaking even though it had been a year since she’d been
freed of Patrick’s hold. Hope turned to grab a plate of food from the bedside
table. Taking Honor’s hand in her own, she assisted her as she ate, encouraged
her to continue living despite the events of the past.

Her heart split apart when she looked in Honor’s eyes. Every
day she walked in this room hoping to see her sister’s spirit healed, hoping to
find that the monsters had released her, finally letting her out of that house
and away from the torture and abuse they committed against her.

And every day it was the same disappointment when she walked
in to discover that Honor was lost to something she couldn’t fight against. She
was trapped by something intangible and cruel, evil that Hope couldn’t destroy,
memories gathered like cobwebs in her mind, keeping her buried and tangled
inside.

After Honor had eaten, Hope sat with her for several hours,
telling her stories of their youth, reminding her of the days before their
mother had died. Honor would smile sometimes and Hope’s eyes filled with tears
in those moments, relishing the light inside her twin if even for a brief
second that she got to see it. There were moments when Hope swore her sister
recognized her — moments when the life she’d always seen in her sister’s
eyes returned to let her know that Honor still existed within the cage of her
body.

Standing up, Hope pulled the blanket up to tuck her sister
into bed, to make sure she felt safe. She knew it was pointless, that Honor
comprehend what was going on around her. “Okay, baby sister, I’m going to leave
you to get some sleep, I’ll be back tomorrow to see you. Maybe tomorrow will be
the day you finally come back to me.” A tear slowly traveled down her Hope’s
cheek

“Hope?”

Hope’s head swiveled and her eyes locked on her twin. “Honor?”
The question was spoken in a whisper, disbelief stealing away the strength of
her voice.

Honor blinked a thick fall of mahogany lashes over the
metallic gold, and looked around the room. Confusion settled over her brow and
she pushed herself up into a sitting position, allowing the blanket that Hope
had just used to cover her to bundle at her waist. She went to speak again, but
her words caught in her throat, coming out scratched and broken. She cleared
her throat.

“Hope, where are we?”

Hope stood dumbfounded and her heart pounded against the
walls of her chest. Realization settled in that her sister had just spoken and,
quickly, her palms were against Honor’s cheeks and she looked into life behind
the eyes that of the woman she’d missed for so long. Tears poured faster from
down her cheeks and she pulled her sister into a warm embrace — strong,
protective, and relieved. “Oh, baby … we’re at The Estate mansion, we’ve been
here for a year.”

Honor’s body tensed and shook with quiet fear. “Oh God! They
took you? How … .How did they get you too?! We need to get out of here!” The
words flew out of her mouth, her body struggling to be freed from Hope’s grasp.
“Hope, we need to get out of here!”

Letting go so she could look in Honor’s eyes, she gripped
her sister’s arms and attempted to calm the terror of her sister’s words, “Honor,
baby, we’re not being held here. They don’t have us anymore baby girl, I got
you out! You’re safe. Please, please calm down, please believe me, Honor, we’re
safe — I promise you that no one will hurt you again.”

Honor stop fighting, eventually relaxing her body as she
slowly comprehended what Hope was telling her.

When Honor had finally calmed to a point where Hope could
look her in the eyes, Hope asked, “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Honor blinked again, her cognition slow to return. Her eyes
kept searching the room, her own tears welling in response to Hope’s. “I
remember being taken. They …” She cried harder, her body shaking from the force
of her sobs. Hope pulled her closer, her tears joining that of her twin. “They
… I was walking to my car from an art class, my hands were full and I tried to
stop them — I did — but they were too strong. They shoved me in the
trunk and when they let me out we were at some house I’d never seen before. I
don’t know what happened after that, I …” She cried harder and struggled for
breath. Hope shushed her, stroking her hand over her sister’s hair, calming a
woman who’d just waken from a nightmare. “I don’t know what happened. All I
know is I woke up in this room. I was so scared the first time, I didn’t
recognize anything and I panicked and would wake up again.”

Hope closed her eyes against Honor’s words — angry
with herself for not staying in the room day and night in case Honor pulled
through. But it had been a year, twelve long months where Hope had allowed
herself to believe her sister wasn’t coming back. “I’m sorry. I should have
stayed in here, I shouldn’t have left you alone to wake up in a strange place. That’s
my fault, Honor.” Tears fell harder, her eyes burning from the effort. “I’m so
sorry.”

For what felt like hours, Hope hugged her sister, hushed
words of encouragement and love spoken between them as Honor slowly regained
her place in the world that, for a year, had continued on without her. Even
when Honor pulled away, and had been stricken by the details of what had become
of her life, Hope wouldn’t let her go, wouldn’t stop touching her in desperate
need to know that her sister had, in fact, recovered. She knew it would take
time, knew that trauma like her sister had endure could not easily be
forgotten. The hours ticked by until, finally, Honor had fallen back to sleep
tucked safely within Hope’s arms, the promise of a new day breaking with the
soft hint of sunlight on the horizon. Hope was surprised the see that she’d
spent the entire night holding her twin, but she didn’t feel exhausted from
having done so. Her spirit was once again alive, her mind spinning with the
pure joy that she felt. She was somehow stronger again, more determined than
ever to break down the walls of The Estate, to destroy it for all that it had
done.

Begrudgingly, she tucked Honor back under the blanket before
standing up and walking across the room. Turning back once more to look at the
beauty of her twin, she flicked off the lights, closed the door, and left Honor’s
room for the first time not feeling defeated as she always had before. A smile
tugged at the corners of her lips and she stared at the wall opposite where she
stood. She was dazed, but ecstatic — hesitant, but hopeful.

A throat cleared in the distance disturbing her reverie and
her head swung to glance down the hall. All she could see was his silhouette,
the broad width of his shoulders cutting down to a thin waist. He leaned his
shoulder against a wall, staring down at her for a few minutes before pushing
up and walking slowly in her direction.

Her feet moved below her without conscious thought, carrying
her down the hall to join him. When they approached the light from above caught
his face, the beauty of his features coming into view. Her heart felt like it
stopped for a brief second and a broad smile spread across her face. For once
in her life, she felt balanced. It was the first time that something wasn’t
missing, that there wasn’t an empty spot inside her aching to be filled. She
didn’t care that she was living inside the network she feared — didn’t
care that in the coming years they would still have to fight. As long as she
had Xander and her sister beside her, she’d fight forever if it meant that all
three would eventually banish the shadow of the evil that had always existed
within their lives.

He returned the smile, his face lit with confused elation
when he searched her eyes. “You’ve been gone all night.” He wasn’t angry. His
words were spoken in concern, but not condemnation. “I’ve been worried about
you.” His voice fell over her like satin, love spoken by a man she’d fought so
hard not to need in her life. The realization struck her that he’d told the
truth that night in the cave — he’d held on to her as much as he did
Aaron — refusing to let them sink into the hatred and rage bred by the
evil that surrounded them.

When his arms came around her, she sank into him, melting
against the heat of his body when his hands moved over her in comfort. The
smile never left her face, when she softly confessed, “She’s come back. Honor …
she …” Tears threatened her eyes again — but not ones bred of sorrow or
fear. It was relief that poured from her eyes when she spoke. “She’s talking
again. I was leaving and then she called for me. I couldn’t leave her alone
after just getting her back.”

He tightened his hold on her, his own relief coming out in a
shuddered breath that vibrated through his chest. Hope huddled close to him,
her arms locked around his body, her cheek pressed against his chest. “She
doesn’t remember anything after she was taken.”

She felt Xander’s hand beneath her chin. Lifting gently, he
brought her eyes to his, grounding her as he gazed down.