Burning Truths (Consume Me #2)

9. Kenna

Chapter Nine

KENNA

One Month Later

Faded grey flashes in and out of view with each blink. From field to reality. Painted blue walls surround me in an updated room. The loss of Kenna Kingston is too strong. Smearing dark burgundy lipstick over my chapped lips, I offer up a broken smile to the woman in the mirror. A thin white spring dress hangs off my form like a poorly cut sheet that’s two sizes too big. A forbidden name swallowed down by compliance and fear. The thoughts in my head fighting against the cage I’ve shoved them into.

You’re giving up.

Shaking off the accusation I suck in a deep breath.

Thirty days is like a lifetime when your stomach aches from lack of real nutrition. Four seven day periods back to back. Four weeks. 730 hours. One meal a day. I scoff out a dry laugh at the thought of sandwiches and scraps being a fucking meal. Behind my eyelids the field is slowly fading into something I don’t recognize. The beating organ in my chest pinches with the realization. Rubbing my lips together, I blow her a kiss and turn to face the door that’s due to open any minute. He’s never late for his lessons. The ones where he teaches me how to be the prize toy he’s always dreamed of. The ways of Old and Elite ones I turned away, instead choosing torture, has now become my everyday. It’s a new kind of painful, but today I plan on collecting what he’s promised me.

The distant sound of footsteps heading my way alerts me to his pending arrival. One second. One minute. Three minutes. The handle twists, the green painted door swings open and Hank steps over the threshold..

His once salt and pepper hair now dark as night. His beard is long gone with nothing but stubble left on his cheeks. Hank comes to stand in front of me, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Rolling his shoulders back, he stands there silently, waiting to see what my next move will be.

With a weary smile plastered on my boney face, I reach out and place my pale hand on his arm. Flashes of grey come back, but I shove them back down. Ry- my entire body locks when I start to think of his name. No. No, I can’t let myself go there.

Why not? He wouldn’t even recognize the person you’ve become. It’s a good thing he’s abandoned you.

My mouth fills with bile at the reminder that I’m truly alone for the first time in my life. Swallowing down the feeling of self hatred my eyes meet his.

“Hank.” I say, my words are velvet soft.

He nods with approval. His empty eyes assess me with care, yet something about the way he glides over my chest has my skin itching. Can he see it? Can he see that his name almost crossed my mind? Is my smile faltering? My heart hammers in my chest with unease, the need to please the man before me unlike any other I’ve ever felt. My mouth dries at the realization of my situation, but still I wait for his command. Need it. Crave the freedom of the collar that’s pressed against my throat. Drinking down the words I want to speak, I ask the one thing that I fear I may never get.

“I want to show you something. You deserve to know the truth.” Hank says.

The hair on the back of my neck raises with the tender tone of his words. Like he’s about to tell me some long lost family member died.

“Okay.” I breathe out.

Pulling his phone from his pocket he slides his thumb over the screen a few times and turns it towards me. My hand trembles but I place it palm up anyway. His eyes never leave mine as he gently drops the phone inside my hand. My muscles tense when our skin touches but when no pain comes, I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

Lifting the phone to my face I scan the photo trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. The background comes into focus first, my mind fighting the scene in front of me, showing the campgrounds at school. The wide shoulders of West is hoisting Ally over his shoulder but her face is hidden in his back yet the laugh falling from his lips shows their happiness. To the left Oakley and Ryker stand with two faces I don’t know in a small circle talking. Ryker has his usual broody mask on but it’s the hand on his shoulder that has ice running through my veins.

My throat closes. Small, green painted, dainty hands grip his shoulder. The unknown woman to his right looks up at him with bright eyes.

Her hand. It’s all I can see. Ryker looking down at her in a heated conversation. West, Ally, Oakley. They all fade until all I can focus on is Ryker and this new woman. She’s beautiful. Her thick stature and long braided hair pulling my attention from the contact she has on him.

“Princessa, they’ve forgotten about you. You’re place is here with me where we can build our own empire.” Hank slips his hand around my wrist tugging the phone out of my face.

I lick my dry lips trying to swallow around the thickness in my throat. No words form on my tongue. My eyes drift closed, rolling back, only to spring back open. The faint smell of lilies wafting through my nose makes my eyes water but I refuse to let them fall.

Clearing my throat I look at Hank and nod.

“I’d like to be taken to my gift today.” Straightening my spine, I allow my gaze to connect with his.

Two heartbeats later his mouth falls open, but then snaps back closed.

“I’ll take you to him, but you need to see the others first.”

More? There can’t be. How long has he been following them?

Walking past and turning to face me his ass meets the edges of the bed when he flips the phone screen to face me and a photo is left face up. This one is different from the first. With shaky hands I take the device.

“When was this?” I ask myself more than Hank.

On the screen is a photo taken outside the diner I’ve eaten at several times. Smiling faces shine through the glass window. A booth full of people sit and smile with food, drinks, and laughs. Dark hair and dark eyes sit closest to the window with a small little thing next to him. A short girl with beautiful rosy cheeks and caramel hair, but it’s the blue hair across from her that pulls me away from them. Oakley Savage sits across from him with West at the end of the table in a chair that’s been pulled up to the table. My next breath catches in my throat at the face I see next to his. Faded purple hair and a wide smile captured on camera.

“They’ve moved on.” Hank says.

I squeeze the phone to hide the way my hands shake. It’s almost impossible to blink away the tears that want to fall, but I manage. Barely.

Large hands wrap around the back of my thighs to tug me forward until I’m pressed between his legs.

“I’d find you at the edge of the world. The Stone family threw you away, Princessa. You’re nothing to them. A means to an end. A bargaining chip. A sold pound of flesh. Here’s your proof.” He speaks of the betrayal as if he’s describing the weather to the blind. With astonishing beauty.

My muscles scream for me to lash out, scream, throw things. My nerve endings are on fire with the stillness that I force myself to hold. The field of lilies are gray, the tips of petals burning, changing to black. Shifting my safe haven into midnight hell. Thumbs dig into the soft flesh under the crease of my ass. Almost bruising, but then they move, shift, rubbing the bite of pain they caused. Ebbs and flows of biting pain mixed with soothing touches.

I can’t stomach to see anymore. I won’t.

“My beautiful Princessa, who do you think sold you to me?” One single brow raises in question, “Who allows moves to be made in Del Mar without question or punishment?” He coos.

My eyes trace every inch of his, looking for the lie. A lie that I fear won’t be found. His words coat my skin in acid, the taste of hatred filling my mouth, spilling out until all I want is to rip my pound of flesh.

Is this true Ryker? Have you all played me this entire time?

“Now, let’s take my beautiful girl to her gift. Maybe then you’ll have something to rid yourself of this pent up rage.”

My throat bobs with his acknowledgement of my repressed anger. How easy he can read the lines of my face.

“Of course.” I grin.

Stepping back to allow him space to stand, the blue walls seem more dull now. The bed in the center of the room growing larger with what I know is coming. With each gift comes a price and I’m sure this one is great. Caging my face with his warm hands, he tips my head back and for once his eyes seem soft, kind, and understanding. Leaning down, his lips gently press against mine for only a moment, my eyes never closing, my lips never returning the touch, yet my soul felt everything. Hank is slowly reshaping everything I once knew and the lilies are turning into poison ivy that climbs my legs and wraps around me like a shield.

Rubbing his thumb across the bottom of my lip he says, “Let’s go see if we can release some of the pain you’ve carried for far too long. Don’t worry, Princessa. For those who betrayed you also betrayed me. Together we’ll cut them down at the knees. Vengeance will be ours.”

“Vengeance will be ours.” I repeat. My tone is hard.

Leading me from the room that has become my home, I’m thankful for the comfort it’s provided me in these last few weeks. The dim hallway houses several doors, none of which we go through. Instead we walk out into an open space with little sunlight. Two small windows to the left are open with the curtains pulled back. The room itself is empty other than two couches, a T.V, and the two windows. Hank must feel my feet hesitate at the sight of the outside world, but he allows me to lead us to the windows anyway.

He’s starting to trust us.

I can’t hold back the soft laugh when my fingers clutch each side of the wall. The sun breaks through the clouds just as I step up to the window and my head falls back. The feel of it on my skin is almost orgasmic. Heat. Warmth. It takes my breath away in a way I never thought something so simple would.

To be free.

“Thank you.” I murmur on an exhale. “Thank you for giving this to me.” Looking back over my shoulder, I give him a real smile. One that stretches the thin skin over my cheekbones in a way that’s almost painful, but welcome nonetheless.

“Your gift is this way.” He motions with his free hand.

I bask in the sunlight for another second before following him around a corner, through another hallway, and stop behind him at another door. The expanse of this massive building seems to continue to get bigger. My mind wanders, how many rooms, how big, the location. All these questions bombard my thoughts the longer we stand stagnate. Spinning quickly, he looks down at me with curious eyes.

Could I find a way out?

And where would you go? You have nothing left, Kenna.

The organ in my chest pinches at the truth in that thought.

“Behind this door is your salvation. Food, clothes, comfort items. All of these things will be at your fingertips as long as you please me.” he finishes. His eyes roam over my face looking for something. My stomach aches at the temptation of what he’s offering.

He’s the only one here. No one else is coming to rescue you. Get in line or die.

“I’m ready.” I state.

He huffs, tipping my chin up with two fingers, his hold pinching me. “Then lead the way.” he steps to the right.

I’m hesitant. It’s a battle to force myself to grab the doorknob and twist it. Slowly pushing the door open I’m instantly overwhelmed by the smell of bleach, the harsh fumes choking me, and I’m suppressing a gag. The stark white walls are blinding, the fluorescent lights making it hard for my eyes to focus on what they’re showcasing. The heat radiating off Hank reaches my back, contrasting with the cool air I feel at my front. My senses are overwhelmed completely.

A long metal table sits against the wall to the far left, an array of silver instruments glistening under the light, but my mind doesn’t connect with what my eyes are seeing because I’m too busy trembling from the site ahead of me. A figure is strapped to an identical table ten feet from the first. Head covered, all I can make out are tattoos.

Hank's hands run up and down my arms, warming the chilled flesh. Ignoring the hairs raised on the back of my neck, I take a step forward. My chest rises faster the closer I get to the body lying on the table. Large metal clamps strap their wrist tightly to the table, matching ones around their ankles, and neck. My fingers instinctively touch the collar around mine before dropping my hand quickly.

“What is this?” I ask, my voice small in such a large space. My words are bouncing from the walls around us.

“This is your gift. The key to everything you want. Please me, crave me, hurt for me, and I’ll worship you.”

His lips brush over my neck, sending a shiver down my spine. One he must take as an opening to lay another on the opposite side.

“This is your pound of flesh.” Hank says.

“Kenna?” the voice rasps.

The sound is so dry, I can’t place it. He must have been here for days, maybe weeks. A black cloth bag covers his face, but his chest is broad and those tattoos are familiar. My heart skips a beat when I spot one that I know all too well.

Dear God, what am I about to do?

Any and everything to survive. Just like they taught you.

Swallowing around the rock in my throat, I move to face Hank while still keeping the man on the table in my line of vision.

Placing my hand on Hank's chest, a move I’ve yet to try, “And what would please you?” I ask. Hoping my words are buttery sweet I look up at him through my lashes.

The skin under the collar burns from memory alone and it’s then that I know I’d do anything to not feel the lighting shooting down my back. The concave of my stomach from starving. The loss of everyone I’ve ever loved. Betrayal and rage course through me. Hank sees the moment I’ve accepted my fate and together we smile a wicked grin. My teeth like fangs in the night, ready to sink into the necks of those who sold me to the devil.

“Rip him apart.” Is the only order he gives me before locking me in the room.

Alone with the man on the table, I make my way to where his head lies. Gently taking off the bag, I look into bright blue eyes with cold resolve. The field behind my eyes is dim of light. Gray spreading further and further, until all color is leached and it’s nearly coated in darkness. With a single look at me, he sees his fate.

Hank just gave me the keys to my freedom.

“Jax.”

And then nothing but screams.