Adrik dropped to his knees on the other side of West. “Keys, find them,” he demanded from me with a wave of his hand. I didn’t move right away, so I saw the tears welling in his eyes.
“I’m clean. I am,” West rasped.
I covered my mouth to stop the sob. Shaking my head over and over.
“Moya lyubov’, ty prekrasnyy, dragotsennyy i n iodin nikto budut prikosnut’sya k tebe snova. Ya obeshchayu eto.”
If my Russian was correct, he told West, “My love, you are precious, beautiful, and no one will touch you again. I promise this.”
“Adrik?” West whispered.
“Da, Moya lyubov’. Rest, I am here.”
West hummed, and his body lolled.
Adrik stood. After removing his jacket, he gently covered West’s lower half. He couldn’t touch West’s back because… because…. I had never seen anything like it. His back had been sliced open, and a cross was burned into his skin. A fucking cross.
“Keys, Lucas. Now.”
Wiping my eyes, I nodded. I got to my feet and went to the bench where a bloody knife, jugs with what smelled like vinegar and alcohol in them, and a cross on a long metal rod all sat.
“Keys, Lucas.” Adrik demanded again.
I grabbed them and turned, seeing Adrik bent, whispering into West’s ear while gently running his hand over his hair.
“Adrik,” I called, and tossed the keys to him. He easily caught them. “I’ll tell Kylo and search for some supplies to help.”
Adrik nodded, and I could see how grateful he was I didn’t try and get him away from West. “Da.”
I made my way up the stairs. At the door to the basement, I stopped. Leaning my hands on each side of the doorway, I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes. How could someone do that? How could his own parents torture him like that? Bile rose. I swallowed it down.
“Lucas?” Kylo called.
Clenching my jaw, I looked up through watery eyes.
Kylo shook his head. “Lucas?”
“He needed to be cleansed” came a voice.
My anger erupted. I launched myself across the floor and wrapped my hands around her neck. “How could you? How fucking could you do that to him?” I shook her, heard her choking, but I didn’t care. She deserved it. She deserved to die.
Hands gripped my shoulders. “Lucas, stop. She’ll pay. She’ll fuckin’ pay, but tell me what she did. Tell me where West is.”
I dropped back to my butt and scooted away from the monster. I swiped at my face. “They tortured him, Kylo. His back….” I shook my head, a sob catching in my throat. “They sliced him, burned him, branded him with a cross.”
“Motherfuckin’ cunt!” Kylo screamed. He aimed and fired. Blood pooled over her shoulder, the monster cried and cried, but I didn’t care.
I stood and watched as Kylo pocketed his gun, picked up a side table, and smashed it onto the floor. It shattered. He took one of the broken leg pieces over to her and stabbed her in the thigh. She bellowed, but it tapered off into praying, then asking where her husband was.
Kylo turned to me. “She won’t go anywhere.”
“I need supplies. I’m going into the bathroom—” The front door burst open, Wade filling it. Others were behind him. He started for me, but I took a step back. My bottom lip trembled. “No, don’t. I… I have to hold on. I have to be strong for West.”
“Babe,” Wade said gently.
“No!” I shook my head over and over. “I need supplies. We have to get him out of here.”
“What the fuck happened?” Country, the president of the Diamond MC, demanded.
“Adrik?” another man asked.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and opened them again. “Adrik’s in the basement with West. We can’t call the police because he killed the father and that… that is the mother.” I bit my trembling lip and took another breath. “She deserves pain. So much of it.”
“Fuck,” Saint uttered, going close to Kylo.
“I need supplies,” I told them and walked away. I knew Wade would follow, but I needed him at a distance because I would crack. I would fall and let the sorrow fill me.
Still, I heard Kylo tell them what those bastards did to West, then something else got smashed into the ground.
I found a bathroom and opened the cupboards under the sink. My hands trembled as I searched for supplies. Inside, I found ibuprofen, antiseptic ointment, bandages, and gauze pads. It would have to do until I could get some more. Turning, I jumped when I spotted Wade standing in the doorway. How could he be so silent for such a big guy?
“Babe, are you okay?”
“It doesn’t matter about me. Only West does right now.” A sob caught in my throat. He took a step until I shook my head. “Hold me later, please.” I bit down on my bottom lip.
Wade nodded. “I will.”
“How did you get here so fast?” I asked to keep my mind on other things.
“Adrik’s guy woke. Told us an older lady had come up to him asking for directions when he stepped out of his car for a smoke. Didn’t think to expect anything suspicious about an innocent woman looking for the right building. But also, Tech hacked into West’s parents’ phone records, finally. There was one text we didn’t like so we were on our way to check these fuckers out.”
Nodding, I sucked in another breath and straightened my shoulders. “All right.” Wade moved out of the way, and I strode by, heading right for the basement.
On the stairs, I heard West cry out and then Adrik, “Moya lyubov’, I have you. It’s okay.”
I quickly walked down to see Kylo, Saint, Country, a man I didn’t know but presumed was Dimitri, and State. Saint’s hands were on Kylo’s shoulders.
“Adrik?” West whispered in the quiet room as he leaned his side into the man who held him.
“Da, Moya lyubov’.”
“Are my sins gone?”
Kylo dropped his head and gripped his hair. Country turned away, closing his eyes. It was State who swore, spitting, “Fuckin’ hell.”
“Moya lyubov’, you never had sins. You are perfect the way you are.”
I ground my teeth together and kept breathing deeply in and out of my nose as I placed the supplies on the floor beside us.
“She said I was evil. I’m not evil.”
“Nyet, you are not.”
State shook his head and made his way out of the room. We all heard the monster upstairs scream out in pain.
I moved the water bottle aside; someone must have gotten him a drink. “West, it’s Lucas. I’m going to put some cream on your back and wrap it up. I’ll take a better look when we get you home.”
He hummed under his breath. First, I checked his vitals. He had a steady heartbeat, but I could see he was dehydrated. Gently, I opened his mouth and paused. I let go of his jaw and asked, “West, did they pour something in your mouth?” It was red, so fucking red in there.
“Vinegar.”
Adrik tensed, and our gazes met.
“Purge the sins away,” West whispered.
Tears filled my eyes, but I blinked them away. Someone groaned. I glanced to see Kylo turned into Saint, with his head buried into Saint’s chest. His body shook, crying silently. Saint’s own eyes were wet. As was everyone’s.