Unleashed (42 page)

I still my body as I think of the horror she is suggesting.
Adelaide wants me to experience the death of my children before she ultimately kills me. I can’t allow that to happen. I silently count to three. I jab my elbow back into Adelaide’s sternum, causing her to shriek. She doesn’t move far, but it’s enough to remove the blade from my belly. I turn and kick her between the legs as hard as I can. It’s more effective on a male, but it still hurts.

Something inside me snaps. I unleash. I do as I’ve dreamed for a very long time- envisi
oned over and over. I attack Adelaide with my bare hands. I ride her body to the floor, pounding, wailing, scratching, biting, and yanking, until Adelaide’s haughty face is unrecognizable. The bones in my hands break from the force of the beating, and the excruciating pain fuels my need to tear her apart. The skin on my hands burst from the force of my hits.

Strong arms lift me
, and still I scream. The sound echo around the room- a loud keening sound that makes me flinch. “Get Katya on the bed. NOW!” Marcus’ voice yells above the level of mine.

I’m laid on the bed with
arms holding me down. I follow the path of the arms and locate both Ezra and Cortez. Their facial expressions are terrified.

“I
s she dead?” A grave voice says from the doorway. “Is my sister dead?”

“Whitt, get the fuck out of here
, NOW!” Marcus commands.

“No, I
escorted Ade from the property,” Whitt cries in denial, as if Adelaide isn’t lying on the floor beaten to a bloody pulp. “It’s my fault she’s back here. Is my sister dead? Oh, God, is Kat alright?” 

“Whitt, I’m so sorry. I…
I didn’t want to hurt her. Adelaide was going to kill my babies, and then me.” I start to sob.

Whitt comes over to the bed and sits on the edge. He stares at the horror of the blood covering every
surface- most of it is his sister’s, but some of it is mine.

“Ade’
s not dead. I already called an ambulance. We need to get our stories straight. Katya cannot go down for this. Whitt, I don’t care if Ade’s your sister. I don’t even blame her because I know what your father is up to. But Ade’s behavior screams that she needs to go to WinterCrest for her own protection. You will agree to everything we say,” Marcus commands.

“Yes, s
ir.” Whitt wipes a few stray tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his suit jacket. “This is Father’s fault, and he will regret it,” young, sweet Whitt turns into a master as strong as Marcus.

“Tell them I did it,” says
a man as he walks in the door. We all freeze and stare as a nightmare solidifies from the ether. “I have to go back,” he numbly mutters. “I hurt someone last night. I couldn’t hold out anymore. I have to go back. She is the reason I’m here.” Ray Hunter points to the Rorschach test on the floor. “Just tell them I beat both women. No one will doubt it. It’s not like I’m not a monster,” he confesses.

“Why?” E
zra flatly asks. He stares at the man who helped create him and destroy him.

“I need to go back
, and by taking the fall, it will ensure that Katya is safe. She’s carrying children of my blood. I will always keep my family safe.” We all stare speechless- dumbfounded.

“Times ticking here, I need to make preparat
ions and get our story straight,” Marcus warns.

“Why are you
doing this?” Ezra asks again.

“I’m a monster, not inhuman.
I’ve been like that woman before. I’ve had people turn me into that, make me do unspeakable things. My only request is that that bitch is put away somewhere. She needs help. She shouldn’t be on the streets. I recognize something in her that’s inside me. She has been turned into evil incarnate.”

I lay on the bed in a daze. Whitt is so distr
essed that he joins me. We watch as Marcus and my Ezes negotiate with Ray. I hear the ambulance siren as it comes up the drive.

Ray kneels down and rubs his hands in Adelaide’s blood. He wipes it on his shirt, his pants, and even on his shoes. He walks over to
me and repeats the procedure.

I hold in a primal scream as Raymond
strikes the floor with his fists- over and over until I hear bones snap.

I blink
, and everything goes black. 

Chapter
Thirty

Beep… Beep… Beep…Beep…

“Turn that off, it’s maddening,” I croak out. My mouth is dry and pa
sty. I would kill for a drink. “Did I kill her,” I say to the room. My eyes are crusted shut, but I sense someone is in the room with me.

“No, Adelaide still lives,” Ezra replies
. “Physically, she is just as fucked up as mentally. You did a bang up job, Kitty Kat.”

“Hardy har-har, Ezra. I guess if you’re joking it can’t be too bad.”

“Here drink this,” he says as a straw is placed against my parched lips. I try to guzzle the tepid liquid, but the straw prohibits me. My sucking ability is lacking. Master will be sorely displeased.

“Give me th
e low down,” I hoarsely demand. “Can you give me a wet tissue? I need to open my eyes.”

“Sorry, no can do. You have
ointment on your eyes. They were pummeled shut. You’re covered in bruises, one broken rib, two broken bones in your left hand, one in your right, and a wicked cut on your throat. You’ll live,” I can hear the good humor and pride in Ezra’s voice.

Ezra gently settles
on the bed next to me and curls around me. His face affectionately rubs against my cheek. I can barely feel him or anything for that matter. I must be hopped up on pain-killers. I deeply breathe Ezra’s scent into me- the scent of home, Cort and Ezra.

I blink about a million times and my eyeli
ds finally break free. I can see! It’s the sweetest feeling. After years of being in the dark about my life, then Ezra blinding me when he was Master Ez, following that up with sleeping in a pitch-dark room because of Cort. I’m so damn thankful to see the light.

“How long was I out?” I mutter.

“Just a little over twenty-four hours. They called it a healing sleep. Your body wasn’t in that much trauma, it was the mental implications mixed with the pain. We’ll find out if you can go home as soon as the doctor sees you.”

“The babies
?” I croak out.

“The twins are
strong, healthy and perfect. I lay good money on Cort being their father.” I can hear the smile in Ezra’s voice.

“Oh, really, and what do you base this
theory on?” My voice is pained, but the amusement is evident.

“Hope. I hope Cortez is the little ones’
father. It would make him feel secure. Plus, I can wait. I’ve already reproduced,” Ezra says with a laugh. “We can have a baseball team full of kids.”

“The Zeitler freaks,” I
chuckle out. “So do you want a boy or girl, huh?”

“You’re having twins, maybe we’ll get lucky and it will be both.” Ezra winks.

“Maybe… I think it’s time to talk about one of the elephants in the room.”

“There’s more than one?” Ezra
looks around the room, pretending to look for elephants. I follow his gaze and notice a table full of floral arrangements. My eyes light on a toy resting on the bed near my broken hand. I broadly smile.

“Monkmee, who brought him?” I try to reach f
or him, but Ezra beats me to it. He tucks the large stuffed monkey between my arm and my body.

“Cort asked Ava if she’d share
him with you. We didn’t want you to be alone for a second. We even freshened up his scent.”

“Ple
ase tell me you didn’t wash him,” I say in horror. “He smelled like home.”

“We just reactivated the scent.” Ezra’
s eyes twinkle with happiness. “We took turns holding him so he’d smell like us- me, Ava, and Cort.”

I inhale
Monkmee’s scent and smile. “Smells like home… Okay, time for a different animal. Elephant number one: what’s going on with Adelaide?”

“Daniel
Whittenhower I, Whitt and Adelaide’s father, committed Ade. He said that the stress of the public break up, and then the assault, gave her a psychotic break. She is massively injured. She will survive, but there will be scars.”

“Adelaide
said some weird stuff. She said that he was committing her because she didn’t marry you. It made her crazy and she attacked me. Adelaide also said she failed her master, and she called the master a she.”

“I know. Marcus knows what’s going on
, and he won’t explain it to me. And I could tell that Whitt and Cort understood, too. It sounds like a joke when you hear Master of the Universe, but Marcus is our master. I’m upset that he doesn’t trust me, but I finally understand why he wouldn’t confide in me. I was too close to the situation, whatever it is, to see it clearly.” Ezra sighs and scrubs a hand over his face out of exhaustion.

Cort and I speak of Adelaide
as if she is a demon, but she was someone in Ezra’s life since they were kids. I feel disgusted with myself. I’m as much at fault as anyone else. I deserve whatever I have coming.

“Elephant number two: am I in trouble?” My v
oice wavers in fear.

“No, you’re not in
any trouble. Marcus was worried that it would look like you perpetrated it because of the slap. He didn’t want you to have to go through a trial. Ray really stepped up.” Ezra’s stormy eyes hold a well of confusion.

“They believed him?”
I gasp out in confusion.

“Yeah, the papers are g
oing crazy over it. That damned helicopter recorded everything. The videos of the slap, the arrival of the ambulances, you and Adelaide rolled out on stretchers, and Ray’s arrest have gone viral. I’m so sick of watching them. Ava is obsessed as usual. I think she has a future as a journalist, albeit a trashy gossip rag, but a journalist none the less.” Ezra fondly smiles.

“I had sex with him
again,” I quickly breathe out.

“I know. It’s fine. Marc
told me that you were worried that you were being unfaithful. It wasn’t a betrayal. I know it’s messed up, Kitty Kat. It’s just how our lives are. If it doesn’t hurt anyone then what’s the big deal?”

“I understand Marc’s
needs and that he isn’t fulfilled, but it has to drive a wedge between him and his wife. Diane will hate me for this. He said some harsh things about her that I won’t repeat, but I’m shocked.”

“We’ve talked about it. Mom is
the one that came to me. I know that makes it creepier. They really do love each other in a sick and twisted way. It was killing her to see him unfulfilled. Monogamy doesn’t equate faithfulness. We have rules and if we live by them no one gets hurt.”

I
’d heard and understood everything Marcus said. Ezra reminds me of a child right now. He sees his Mother as someone she isn’t. I’m not going to be the one who removes the last vestiges of his innocence. I’ll keep an eye on Diane myself, and protect us all. There is a vibe that she throws off that is strange.

“You can’t honestly say that it doesn’t bother you, Ezra.
It bothers me,” I admit. “I feel like the whore Adelaide called me.”

“
Katya, you’re not a whore,” Ezra pins me with his Master Ez stare. “I love to share. I love you and I love him. Watching you together does make me happy. If everyone is happy with the end result then what is the issue?”

“I f
eel like it should creep me out, the fact that I’m with so many different people, especially people so close to you.”

“Virginity does not make you a good person, actions do. I know this will be difficult, but just live your life and listen to your heart.”

I’m about to argue with Ezra, even though my heart agrees with everything he just said, when the door opens. “How’s the patient doing this evening?” A fifty-something man in scrubs enters the room carrying a clipboard.

***

“Jeez, lil monster, give your mom some breathing room.” Cort mock swats Ava’s arm away.

The past three weeks
, I have been coddled into oblivion. Most of my bruising has healed, and a few are a putrid green color. My broken rib no longer protests when I breathe, and my broken hand is halfway usable. The only issue is the three inch long cut on my throat that left a narrow scar. It will forever scream of the day I almost lost my life- the life of my unborn children.

Adelaide is safely locked behind the gothic,
WinterCrest Asylum’s high security walls. Ray Hunter is happily raping and pillaging our maximum security prison, for which I’m grateful- for both him and us.

Aaron and Kayla spent a two week honeymoon in Europe thanks to Ezra. When I asked how they enjoyed the sites
and history, they giggled and confessed that the trip was filled with clubs, hotel rooms, and dungeons. The bright light in Aaron’s baby blues and the deep dimple in his cheek fill my heart with joy. He has found the path in life he wants to take and the woman to share his dream. Watching them together is amazing. You can feel the connection when their eyes meet.