Surrender To Me

Hawk stayed quiet as he walked me through the storage facility and out into the warm night air. I felt the humidity settle over my sensitive skin, the slight pressure making me moan. His unsteady footsteps and the faint rush of traffic were the only sounds I could hear. A van door slid open, and I was placed on the hard metal in the back. I sucked in a hiss as gravity took effect, making my aching bones groan in protest. The door was shut, and I was left in silence for a moment.

I breathed through the pain savagely attacking my body, breathed through my wish to just end it all.

No! I couldn’t think like that.

Bane needed me alive.

He needed me breathing, so when he came to decimate these fuckers, he would have a reason to stop. If I died, there was no doubt in my mind he would lose his soul to avenge me. A tear leaked from the corner of my swollen eye. I’d finally found someone who could love me unconditionally, and it turned out to be the one person I least suspected.

The engine rumbled to life beneath me, and one door slammed shut. I moaned with every bump out of that storage facility, breathing easier once we were on the smooth road of the highway. The drone of the engine and the hum of the wheels over asphalt lulled me into a fitful sleep, one where I dreamed I was wrapped in Bane’s arms instead of being sucked into this living nightmare.

WHEN I WOKE UP AGAIN, I lifted my heavy head and tried to gain my bearings, even with how blind I was. We weren’t in the van anymore. The air was cooler here, and I turned my face into a current that seemed to swirl above my head. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of sea birds fought with the clanging sounds of shipping containers. I knew their cadence because Hawk and I had to sleep rough a few nights in winter one year, and we’d found an old shipping container to stay in.

I tilted my head to the side when I heard muffled voices.

“He’ll come,” Hawk said. “He won’t leave her here to die.”

“He fucking better come, Hawk, or you won’t be leaving this place at all.”

A heavy door opened in front of me. I lifted my head. “Ah, she’s awake.”

I sat up a little straighter in my chair, lifting my chin in defiance. If they thought they could break me, Hawk hadn’t told them about my stubborn streak.

“Hello there, Sleeping Beauty,” Sanderson cooed, then laughed. “Although a beauty, you aren’t anymore.”

I turned my face toward Hawk who was shuffling closer, getting a better look at what he’d done. I bared my teeth at him, making Sanderson chuckle.

“Looks like you’ve pissed off your sister,” he said, then ran his finger across my mouth. I tried to bite him, but he jerked his hand away in time. This made him laugh again, the sound of it grating on my ears. “I can see why Bane likes her in his bed. The bitch has spirit.”

“I have plenty of other things, too,” I snarled, hoping my bravado would work. Deep down, I was terrified. I was terrified of not walking away from this, or if I did, living with the knowledge that my brother-the only person who shared blood with me on this earth-had done this to me. And for what? Because he didn’t like who I had to get in bed with to save his fucking life?

“It’s almost nine,” Hawk said softly.

Sanderson replied, “Let’s get in position. I want that motherfucker to give me what I want, and if he doesn’t, then he’ll be joining your sister at the bottom of the bay.”

My heart slammed against my ribs, beating at the bone cage and demanding to be let out. Bane would never give them what they wanted. He was like a dragon guarding his gold. He was relentless in his efforts. Nobody would be allowed to swoop in and take what was his, and I was his.

As they walked away, I listened as the door slammed shut behind them.

I waited, my back ramrod straight, my breathing hoarse and labored. Outside, the world continued, ignorant of what was happening in here to me. The minutes dripped by, feeling like hours to me.

Eventually, I heard the sound of sirens, nearly drowning out the distinct noise of cars pulling up outside, the tires crunching on the gravel right before the engines cut off.

I lifted my head and looked in the direction of the door when it opened, letting out a sigh of relief when I heard a man say, “LAPD, you’re safe.”

Tears leaked from my eyes as the officer came closer. He hadn’t touched me yet, and the wait was driving me insane.

“We’ve got EMTs on the way,” he eventually said from right beside me. Something cold pressed against my wrists, where they were bound behind my back. “I’m going to cut these ties off you, okay?”

I nodded, the movement sending more tears down my beaten and bloody face. “Do you know who did this to you?” Another nod, this time a wary one.

Did I want to push my brother under the bus for his role in this?

Could I?

“Who was it?” the officer asked gently. The knife sliced through the ties, and I brought my arms forward, massaging my wrists gently. The cop began working on the ties on my ankles. “Who was it, ma’am?”

I opened my mouth, and a moan escaped me. Although I couldn’t see them, I knew there were at least a few other people in the space with us now. I heard the scrape of their shoes, and the distinctive rattle of their weapon belts as they walked around.

“Cox, come and see this,” someone called.

The sound of heels clicking over concrete grew louder as she walked into the room. There was a sound like a knife cutting through plastic, then, “Motherfucker. That cock-sucking motherfucker!”

“Is it pure?”

“As a virgin Colombian. Fuck!”

“Who does it belong to?”

“I need to get the paperwork on this warehouse. Find out who the fuck owns it!” Cox screamed, her voice ricocheting like a stray bullet. She marched from the room, leaving a couple of the officers muttering about how many pounds they estimated were there and who it could belong to.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

I tuned them out when the constriction around my ankles was suddenly gone, the blood flowing back into my feet with an almost painful rush. I moaned again, but this time it was in relief. The officer helping me didn’t know that, though, and he shouted, “Where’s the goddamn EMT?” “Two minutes out, Ward,” someone said.

“Do you think you’ve broken any bones?”

I took a moment to listen to my body. Besides the throbbing in my wrists and ankles, the sharp pain in my face from the beating, and my fear yanking on my self-control, I didn’t think Hawk had broken anything.

I shook my head.

The officer, Ward, helped me stand, wrapping an arm around my waist and holding me up. “Okay, the door is about thirty feet in front of us. Once we step through that, I’m going to sit you down in one of the squad cars, and we’ll wait there.”

A small whimper threatened to come out of my mouth as we began to move, but I pressed my lips tightly together, refusing to let it out. It was a shuffled pace as we made our way outside. “The car is another sixty feet away,” he told me. “Can you make it?” I gave him a curt nod.

The sun already had a bite to it, making me sweat immediately. When Hawk had said it was nine, I assumed at night, but clearly, I’d been wrong. Ward opened a car door and then eased me inside. The interior was still cool from the air conditioning that had been running, and then a moment later, cold air was blowing over my face.

“This should keep you comfortable while we wait,” he said. Touching my hand, he placed a bottle of water into it. “I’m just going to go and speak to the detective, then be right back. The EMTs shouldn’t be long.”

I opened the bottle and took a shallow sip just as an explosion threw me back into my seat.