Hers To Keep (Servite Academy #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

SCARLETT

P resent

I was at the start of my life, and the challenges I went through were only the beginning. I now have learned to see it all as a warning, but who would have thought then, that this was even possible. That the world could be so cruel to those who once believed in the good it would bring. To those who trusted that there was more to the world than people gave it credit for. It could again sustain such various life forms and undergo the worst possible conditions that swore to tear it apart. However, there it stood full of life. Full of hope. I guess that’s what makes the world the master of us all. The nerve to make us the happiest and strongest we could ever dream to be and yet tear us to shreds and make us vulnerable to its power.

To be wise, we need not live a simple life, for those who live a simple life are not guaranteed wisdom. Not even that could prepare me enough for the future events I was going to face, for all the evil I had to learn to overcome. All I could do was pray that the Lord would not fail me.

Although, I doubted he even existed.

I’d only been privy to the effects of The Devil’s Kiss once. The night I followed Ace to The Gallows and Macallan drugged me. The ecstasy, the high, the feeling of invincibility, followed by the agonizing body aches, the cold sweat and chills, the numbness around my tongue. I’d recognize this feeling anywhere, and I’m currently trembling in fear.

I open my eyes slowly, not because I’m afraid of what I’ll see, but it’s almost as if my eyelashes are glued together. That can only mean one thing, I’ve been out for quite some time. My vision’s blurred, all I can make out are colorless shadows and a dull gleam of light coming from a window at the far end of the room. I turn to my right and see the flame of candles blazing. I try to sit up but fail miserably.

God, my head is pounding, a loud ringing in my ear, a suffocating dryness in my throat. I hear voices coming from close by and it terrifies me. I close my eyes again and try to remember the events that led to this.

Servite Manor. The red dress. Wesley Servite and his guest of honor. Standing on the balcony of the room they locked me in. My mother looking up at me, a look of sheer satisfaction on her face. Agent Servite smirking devilishly with a lit cigarette in his mouth. Chaz kneeled before them, beaten to a bloody pulp. An unknown figure with a face painted like a skeleton wearing a red, hooded cloak. The same skeleton face Ace and the Horsemen had painted on the night of the Saints and Sinners party. And Ace with a gun pointed at Chaz right before the sound of a gunshot went off. My body trembled as I stared at the scene before me. A deafening shriek erupted from somewhere deep within me. Chaz’s lifeless body laid on the perfectly manicured lawn. A bullet to the head and he was gone. A bullet out of the barrel in Ace’s hand. I looked at them all once more .

The angel of death stood next to the devil and his mistress, and the head horseman. Death himself, stood above the disciple’s lifeless body.

But that wasn’t the worst part. Strong arms gripped me tightly trying to keep me still as the remaining Horsemen wrestled me. Alek’s smug grin as he pierced my arm with something sharp. It's the last thing I remember before everything went dark.

I must have passed out again after the flashbacks I had of last night, because once again I’m waking up in an unfamiliar bed. The candles continue flickering brightly, but this time the ringing is minimal, the dryness almost completely gone, and my vision is slowly focusing on the sights before me.

I take a better look at my surroundings and notice the room I’m in is large, dark, and nearly vacant. Burgundy walls surround me, flickering candles casting disturbing shadows against the barren walls, the wind blowing through the open balcony window allowing the glistening rays of sunrise to flow inside. The bed I lie in is plush and wrapped in black silk sheets. I am about to sit up when the bedroom door gradually opens, creaking quietly. I close my eyes, hoping whoever it is will leave if they think I’m asleep. But once again, I’m wrong.

Heavy footsteps approach me, and the anticipation is nerve-racking. My heart rate quickens, my palms sweat as I try my hardest to calm my ragged breath. The bed shifts slightly, a body beside me now weighing it down, and I feel a cold, calloused hand caress my cheek. It takes everything in me not to flinch at its sinful touch. Ace. I know it’s him.

“Why must you be so curious, my angel? They say curiosity killed the cat, but in this case, it’s going to be your defiance that will put your life in danger, my love.” I hear Ace’s deep, raspy voice speak to me as he continues to caress my cheek. The gesture is tender and caring, but his words heed a warning. My life is in danger. It has been since the moment I set foot in Hillcrest Hills. Since my first day at Servite Academy. Since I met him .

I’m about to open my eyes and respond when I once again remember what I saw the night before. Ace killed a man. He shot Chaz. He had to have done it. I saw the gun in his hand before the gunshot rang. I fear what’s in store for me, so I keep my eyes closed and continue to play my part.

Suddenly the door creaks open again causing Ace to shift on the bed beside me.

“Are you crazy, Ace? What are you doing here? If he sees you, man, he’s going to be pissed,” I recognize Bass’s voice scolding him in a hushed whisper, as his footsteps approach us.

“Shh, you’re going to wake her up. I just had to see she was okay,” Ace assures him.

“She’s out cold. Alek shot her up with a hell of a dose. Looked like he got a kick out of it too,” amusement is clear in Bass’s voice.

“Son of a bitch, I’m going to…”

“Ace, he can’t know how you feel about her. He’ll use it to destroy her,” Bass utters, raising his voice slightly.

“Not to worry, Bass, it’s all a charade, remember,” Ace pauses, and his words are like a knife straight through my chest. “I have to use her to gain information for him, getting her to fall in love with me is all part of his master plan.”

“And we follow blindly?” Bass whispers, his tone now solemn.

“As we always have,” Ace replies, and I almost feel bad for them. The tone of their voices is somber, the way they blindly follow their cruel leader. They act like gods, kings to the kids of Servite Academy but in reality, they’re just puppets on strings, and Wesley Servite is their puppet master.

“We need to leave before she wakes up. Seeing your face as soon as she awakens might not be the best thing for any of us. Besides, we need to do a cleanup before she finds out he’s here.” Bass speaks, and Ace immediately leaves his spot beside me on the bed. Who are they afraid I will find?

The door creaks open once again, and I feel more bodies in the room. “Beck, Alek, I need you to keep watch outside her door. I want to be the first to know when she wakes up.”

“But, Wes,” I hear Alek mutter.

“But nothing. I’ll deal with him. From now on anything that has to do with her goes through me first. I’ll speak to my uncle. Do you understand?” His voice is demanding, not as if he speaks to his best friends, but like a sergeant speaking to his soldiers.

“Yes, Ace,” they both respond, the door closing loudly behind them. I’m fairly sure they got scolded for letting it slam shut.

I wait a few moments to ensure they are gone before sitting up, Ace’s words ringing in my ears. It’s all a charade. I shouldn’t be angry or hurt, I am using him just the same. Well, I was. I needed to find out where Chaz was in order to lead me to Roman’s whereabouts, like Jade asked me to. Finding her brother is the only thing that matters to her. But now that Chaz is most likely six feet under in a makeshift grave, I am unsure of my next move. Things might be a bit more complicated now.

I stand and walk over to the balcony, the same one I watched last night’s events from. The sun is rising slowly, a thick layer of fog shielding the yard from my view. It’s eerily sinister. I walk over to the door the guys walked out of, finding it unlocked and opening it slowly in case I find Beck and Alek standing on the other side. However, I find the long hallway dark and empty. I slowly step out, taking the heels I am still wearing off my swollen feet. Last thing I need is for these shoes, which sound like hooves tapping against the hardwood floors, to give me away.

I tiptoe down the hall keeping my eyes peeled open in case Beck and Alek decide to show up. I guess Alek decided not to follow his king’s orders to guard my door. For once the condescending Horseman made the right decision, and I applaud him.

The hallway is strangely quiet, and I get a slightly unnerving feeling of someone lurking in the shadows. Right as I am about to reach the end of the hall, a muscular arm reaches out to me gripping me tightly. I turn startled and ready to fight back but find it’s Ace who’s holding me to his body. His eyes are dark and menacing, a look of shock mixed with confusion glimmers within them. His eyes rake over my body, still dressed in the red silk dress from last night. I must look like a mess after sleeping in it. But the lustful look in his eyes tells a different story.

“Let go of me,” I whisper, a soft plea clear in my tired voice.

“Long night, Red?” he asks mockingly, shrewdly raising a brow. “It’s not like you to seem so helpless. No smart remarks, or cold snicker coming from you today.”

A small nervous chuckle escapes me, giving light to my grave situation. “You couldn’t handle me after the shit night I’ve had,” I whisper.

“Try me,” he mutters, but before I can respond, we’re interrupted by Bass, who suddenly emerges from a door to our right.

“He wants to see her,” Bass says, as we both turn to face him. “Both of you.”

Ace grips my arm tighter, pulling me into him, my back now at his chest as he leads us toward the room Bass came out of. However, his hold on me seems more like a shield to protect me.

We slowly enter the room, which is set up like an office, and find Wesley Servite inside. The space looks oddly familiar, and I quickly realize we’re in Agent Servite’s study. The same place where I was told to lure my mother. The same place where Ace came in and found her snooping, and me hiding from her under the desk. The room somehow looks different though, with a fresh coat of navy paint and a new desk with matching armchairs. The bookcases are empty and void of the books that were present in them that night. The sensual portraits no longer adorn the walls, just a single frame hanging, inside: a painting of a flaming chalice.

And it’s then that I remember the fire. The night of the Halloween Masquerade Ball, the night I was here, when I left this office, Jade mentioned there was a fire in one of the third-floor rooms. It had to have been this one. That explains the remodel.

Agent Servite sits behind his desk, his elbows resting upon the counter. He nods toward us, and Bass quickly retreats leaving Ace and me alone in the room with him.

“My dear, it’s so good to see you up and lucid again. I hope your accommodations were to your liking?” he asks with a sly smirk upon his face. He looks slightly more rugged than last night, a five o’clock shadow appearing on his usually clean-shaven facade. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and his usual perfectly combed blond mane ruffled to one side.

“How can you just stand there, acting like nothing’s happened!” I shout at Agent Servite, letting my emotions get the best of me. His arrogance is appalling, and I’ve had enough. “I saw what happened last night, what you did.”

“Yes, of course, that minor incident,” Wesley answers calmly.

“Minor incident,” I burst out laughing nervously. “You killed someone. Not just someone, but Chaz, my mother’s boyfriend.”

“You mean another murderer. You heard what he did, murdered the mayor of Hillcrest Hills,” he adds smugly, as if that justifies his actions. Unbelievable, but exactly what I’d expect from someone like him.

“She lied to you, my mother had to have lied. Chaz was everything to her. She wouldn’t just put the blame on him so easily. It couldn’t have been all an act.”

“Your mother is quite the actress I’m afraid. Cunning, manipulative, an all-around terrible woman. However, whether or not she’s lied is not the issue at hand. It's exactly what you saw.” He stands from his spot behind his desk, moving toward the front where Ace and I stand. He leans back on it, his arms crossed on his chest. “I can’t have you running around campus spewing the awful and terrible things I can assume are going through that pretty little head of yours.” He moves forward, as I unknowingly move backward, running into Ace’s hard chest. Ace’s hand moves to grip my waist and hold me, but his touch is the last thing I want on me right now, so I push his hand off instantly.

“Of course, as expected here comes another threat,” I sneer, stepping toward Agent Servite, my forehead now at his chin as I look up at him.

“You shouldn’t have witnessed what you did. We should have been more careful, made sure you were being watched,” he says, looking from me to Ace who towers behind me. “And that was an oversight on my account. I put children in charge of a man’s job, and I’ll rectify that situation at a later time. But for now,” he steps forward, closing the space between us, the hair on the back of my neck rising as I feel his breath against me. Ace’s hand moves back to my waist pulling me back slightly, but this time I don’t push him away. Out of the two men in this room, the one standing before me frightens me most. I need Ace’s touch on me to make me feel somewhat protected from this monster.

“I’m afraid you have seen too much, know things I’m sure you shouldn’t be aware of,” he says, causing me to turn to look back at Ace. If only he knew the things Ace told me about him, by the looks of it he does. I turn back around, Agent Servite smirking deviously at me. “The question now is, how will we ensure you keep those things to yourself, my dear?”

I turn away from him, looking back at Ace. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh where do I begin, The Gallows, The Devil’s Kiss? You’re a smart girl, I’m fairly certain you’ve concluded that I’m not a good man, Miss Steele.” My body shivers as I recall the task Agent Servite put upon me. He asked me to follow Ace, knowing well enough he’d lead me to The Gallows. He planned this all, and like a puppet I fell for his trap.

“You wanted me to find out, didn’t you? You led me there, to him. Why show me if you consider me a threat?” He steps away, returning to his place behind his desk.

“A threat, no; a liability, yes. I wanted you to see for yourself what we, what I, am capable of. You shouldn’t take my threats lightly, Scarlett. You are right to believe your being here is no coincidence.” I turn to Ace who looks shamefully down at his feet. He’s the only person I talked to about my suspicions of my being here being no accident, and he shamelessly told my secrets to his uncle. What more has he told him?

I bravely, or foolishly–still haven’t decided which–move away from Ace, stepping toward Agent Servite’s desk. “I believed it was to find my mother, but by the looks of it you’ve known where she’s been all along.”

“Ah yes, I must admit in part it was to lure Lilith out. But not out of hiding, more in the sense that she needed a push, to be reminded of her place here, with me. She’d been gone for far too long.” He moves closer, resting his palms atop his desk, leaning forward to meet me, stopping just mere inches before my face.

“Threatening her with my well-being wouldn’t have affected her. So tell me, what is it you hold over my mother?” I raise my head meeting his gaze. Thankfully, I discarded my heels earlier, I now stand much shorter than I was previously with them on.

He reaches a finger out to me, running it down my cheek before gripping my chin. “The threat of you taking her place.” I’m baffled by his response, as I step back slightly. Me, take over my mother’s place? Her place in what? His business, or worse, the place at his side?

I shake off my unwanted thoughts, trying hard to not show any kind of fear or weakness in front of him. “Lucky for her I want nothing to do with you or this world you try so aimlessly to save.”

“Unfortunately for you, my dear, you don’t get a choice. You will keep quiet about everything you’ve discovered, and you will continue to play a part in all of this. You will follow my orders, obey my commands, and you will do it with no defiance. My nephew here is to make sure you comply. He will be your shadow, anywhere and everywhere you go. That won’t be hard seeing as you two have taken that into your own hands.” I laugh wildly at his insinuations, and misleading visions of my compliance.

“You have nothing that will ensure I comply with your demands. You tirelessly threaten my friends, my family, yet haven’t harmed them. Maybe getting kicked out of Servite Academy and being sent far away from Hillcrest Hills is in their best interest.”

Suddenly, a loud, agonizing cry echoes through the hollow walls of the room we are in. I turn back to Agent Servite, a panicked look across my face, and see a wide grin appear on his. But what frightens me the most is Ace, who looks at me with a hint of sorrow.

“And as if on cue,” Agent Servite says, smiling wickedly.

I rush out of the office, racing over toward where I heard the scream erupt from, and find a closed door next to the room I was in. I close my eyes as I shakily turn the knob and push the door open. When I open my eyes, I am rendered speechless, all my blood instantly leaving my body, my heart dropping to my feet. I don’t think I could have ever been prepared for what I see on the other side.

“No!” A loud cry erupts from deep within me as I look over and see Drake tied to a chair in the middle of the dimly lit room. My Dragon, my fierce protector. His body lays limp, his head hanging low, his chin at his chest, and those clear green eyes losing the battle to remain open.

Behind him stand the other three Horsemen, their eyes on me as I stand frozen in place, staring at Drake bloody and beaten before me. Deep crimson blood, smeared all over his white V-neck shirt, leaving a trace of violence clear in its tracks. I try to run to him, but Ace emerges from the shadows behind me, his hand quick to reach out and aggressively grab my arm. I turn furiously to him, tears once again threatening to spill, but it must be something in my gaze, a plea of sorts, which forces him to let go. He stumbles back, slightly staggered by my actions, shocked almost, as I take advantage of his loosened grip on me to run over to Drake.

I kneel before him, being careful not to hurt him as I pull his chin to me, but the guilt I feel at the sight of his bloody and bruised face nearly makes me vomit. His lip is deeply cut and swollen, his cheek a dark shade of purple, and his eyebrow marred with a deep slash. His eyes move rapidly under his lids as he painfully groans. That’s when I notice his shirt’s torn on the right side revealing a bruised abdomen under all his ink. Whatever they did to him, they got him good.

My glare flies back to Ace who looks baffled by my reaction, not understanding the adoration I have for this man in front of me. He’s not just my ex-boyfriend, he’s my best friend, my brother, and he’s here, in this situation, bleeding at the hand of these devils, because of me.

The rest of the Horsemen stand in a straight line surrounding us, but what angers me most, is the man who now stands front and center. Wesley Servite, standing irritatingly smug and proud, his arms crossed over his chest, his wicked smirk upon his face. The same smirk he’s donned since the day I met him. And his soldiers beside him are the ones who’ve done his bidding.

“Princess.” I turn my attention back to Drake as he groans quietly, but loud enough that I know Ace can hear. I know he’s heard by the way his body straightens, and his footsteps eagerly approach us. I turn and glare at him, causing him to stop in his tracks. That’s the third time today he’s looked at me with a glimmer of sorrow sheathing his eyes, almost like regret. Almost.

I once again turn back to Drake, cupping his chin in my hand and moving it to face me. “Shh, don’t force it, Dragon.” His eyes open wider, and I see two emerald jewels solemnly staring into mine. “I’m so sorry,” I mumble between soft sobs. “I never wanted to hurt you, I never wanted you to get hurt because of me. All I’ve done, the decisions I’ve made, have been to make sure you stayed safe, that you were protected, and look what I’ve done now.” My tears slowly spill upon my cheek, burning my ice-cold skin as they land.

“Baby,” he whispers softly, as he winces in pain. He looks directly into my eyes, seeing past the walls I’ve built these past few months, tearing them down one by one, with each drop of blood he shed today. “I can’t remember a time I ever saw you cry.” I move closer to him as he brings his lips to me, placing a chaste kiss upon my forehead.

“These are for you, Drake,” I whisper softly, lowering my head to his chest, murmuring against it. “They shed for you. Because I couldn’t do enough, be enough.”

“You are more than anything I’d ever wanted or needed,” he groans.

“Well, isn’t this just lovely, boys,” Wesley Servite calls out. “Our girl on her knees before Judas, the traitor.”