Tyrant (Kings of Carnage MC: Alabama #1)

Chapter 5

Blair

T he thought hits me as soon as I close my eyes and succumb to the darkness waiting in my subconscious. I think of him … Of them . It’s the worst recipe right before drifting off into a deep sleep filled with nightmares.

“They’ve been found guilty of grievous crimes against the community, against our people. They must be punished; there’s no other path to absolution as they’ll be damned, their souls lost in the hellfire forever.”

The congregation nods, praising him. All I can think of is how I might be sick with his implication. His words are absolute to the people, as he’s their link to God. Oh, how they’ve been led astray, and it was all set into place by his father. Once we were married and I was living in their family home, things became abundantly clear. There was no holiness, no purity in the space, only evil.

He gestures to the couple restrained on the raised platform. Their heads are bowed, knees already bloody from where they’ve been forced to kneel several times. I have no doubt they’ve been forcefully shoved down on the rocks outside, in Josef’s office, and now here. Silent tears track down their cheeks, and how I wish I could set them free. Freedom’s not an option here. I thought I was gaining true love and acceptance when I was welcomed into this civilization, but I’ve discovered it was a mere fa?ade. A trick to lure more people into the darkness of full submission.

Josef begins preaching again. “They claim they’ve broken their vows for love, but they were already promised to others! Such a despicable sin to break, to seek the warmth outside of your shelter, of your promised home. YOU WILL BE JUDGED!” He ends by screaming the words, spittle flying from his lips. The congregation glares at the couple on the platform, hissing at them to show their combined disapproval.

We all know what truly happened behind the scenes, though. The guilty woman’s husband beats her relentlessly. The guilty man’s wife had three children from different men, while married to him. Do I believe two wrongs make a right? No, but I believe they should’ve been offered compassion when they each brought the problems to Josef for counsel. He made me sit in the next room to listen to him counsel couples. He said it’d teach me valuable lessons being the Profit’s wife. Then, at night, he’d punish me, asking me if I was guilty of the same sins his congregation committed. The only thing his meetings taught me was how to suffer at the hands of a man full of internalized rage and paranoia.

In the beginning, I’d been na?ve enough to think it wasn’t his fault, that the stress and possibilities of anything like he’d heard of coming true drove him mad with the thought. That it was HIM working through Josef to extend his presence. But love doesn’t hurt.

Not true love. I was taught that at a young age and it’s something ingrained so deeply in me, to the point I was able to break out of the clouded darkness forcing me under. I took the abuse for too long, was beat down both physically and emotionally. I didn’t have a choice…I stayed for her .

The hissing from the people is all Josef needs to spur him on, and I can feel it in my soul he’s going to make a gross example of the grief-stricken people on display. Storming over to the couple, he holds his hand out. Lawrence, his closest disciple, is there in an instant, handing him a gold-plated knife. Josef holds it up for the crowd to see, “We shall cleanse them, brothers and sisters. The path to absolution and forgiveness is to be bared in front of all. The penance to be paid shall be to display the mark of sin, a day of reflection in the prayer tomb, and a rebirth bath. HE commands it!”

They cheer, and my gut churns, my skin prickling with unease. I’ve come to understand what those words truly mean. He’ll carve their foreheads to leave a scar forever. Next, they’ll be forced into solitude with no food or water for twenty-four hours. Lastly, they’ll hold them under blessed water until they struggle and nearly drown, then claim them to once more be clean.

I can’t stand the thought, having witnessed it before and knowing the immense cruelty of it. “J-Josef,” I stutter, keeping my head lowered demurely. “Our great Profit, our link to HIM.” I address my husband as I’ve been taught to the point of being whipped for in the past. He stares at me, waiting for me to continue. It takes everything inside me to speak the next words. “M-may we pray for their souls and seek a new path? P-perhaps the light will shine t-through them with enlightenment?”

His expression darkens, and I know I’ve made a grave mistake. “Their poison hastens to spread in abundance!” he screams suddenly, and before I have the time to realize what’s happening, Lawrence has my arms clasped behind me, dragging me to the platform.

“F-forgive me!” I immediately start pleading, weeping as I know I’m about to be punished. Having been on the receiving side in the past, I’m aware I’ll suffer. My tears automatically come with my panic, soaking my cheeks.

“Sinner!” everyone chants, but I’m smart enough to not raise my head and look at them. The knowledge that my parents are in the pews, and not doing anything to stop this madness only serves to kill my soul more. I’m not safe here. I haven’t been for some time now. I can’t leave, though, not when I have someone else depending on my presence.

My muffled, broken sobs won’t stop as I’m forced to my knees beside the couple. Not close enough to touch, but near enough to have too good of a view of the madness happening. Josef’s lower disciples, Trent and Charles, hold the screaming man down as our profit carves the star with initials IF as big as possible on his forehead. The sin of Infidelity. He’s left choking on his cries as they move for sister Mary. She pleads with them, but it’s no use as my husband carves the same into her forehead.

I’ll never forget the way she sounds for the rest of my life. Bad enough, all of them haunt me each time I close my eyes. To add more to the list only makes me sick. I turn to the side, puke falling from my lips, even though I fight to hold it in.

“She purges the evil from her soul already. This is the path, my fellow servants!” Josef exclaims and the followers clap, breaking out in a song of worship. They praise him, yet all I see is evil in his depths. I’m held down, but my husband shakes his head. “She is to be humiliated in front of the masses. She will wear no sins on her forehead this day,” He announces, and everyone rushes outside.

I’m forcefully stripped of my clothing, along with the other two. They’ll be led to the tombs, while I’ll be forced to inflict the congregation’s torment. I’m forced outside and then to my knees. We wait, them silent, while I quietly cry. If I’m too loud, it’ll only make it worse, I’ve learned.

The community returns. They create a path lined with my so-called brethren. Love doesn’t hurt. I chant to myself, keeping the words in my mind. I’m already broken, but still persist in reminding myself that if these people truly loved me, they’d cause me no harm.

“Stand, sinner, and pay your penance,” Josef orders, his voice laced with fury. He’s angry I spoke up against him, and to go against your spouse in any way is forbidden here. To speak for yourself is not welcome either. You are to be unselfish, to devote your mind and flesh to the congregation. All details I’ve learned after it was too late for me to turn back.

I’m drug to my feet, followed by a harsh whip across my back, and the sensitive skin on my biceps is all the warning I get to begin my trek. The first piece of rotten food hits me on the side of my face, and I gasp with the shock. I don’t have time to process the stench or the texture as something else hits me from the opposite side. Rotten corn. As it’s hard enough to create a weeping cut from the side of my head. A rock is thrown, and the sharp jolt of pain from it on my hip nearly brings me to my knees. I’m yanked back up by Lawrence as I continue my walk.

“Sinner!” is shouted in my face. I’m spit on.

Slapped. More food hits me. I notice my parent’s faces, their gazes laced with disapproval. I’ve embarrassed them.

Love doesn’t hurt. I repeat to myself, then check out.

I’m shaken and wake with a start. Gasps escape me as I attempt to suck in air and fill my lungs. My chest is tight and heavy, like a boulder is on top of it, suffocating me. I can’t see anything; why is it so dark? Is this it? Have I finally succumbed to temptation and am going to be damned for eternity?

“Wake up, Sugar. Open your eyes, Blair, you’re okay. I promised, remember?” The deep timbre and another shake are enough to get me to part my lids, the full moon above bright enough to tell me I’m still alive. I’m not in hell. The dream was too real, and I thought I was back there again, but I already lived that hell.

“Jesus, woman, you’re a tough one to wake up. Fuck, thought you were never gonna’ open those pretty eyes. Shitty dream? I have ‘em too. Sucks.”

It’s the most I’ve heard him speak at once, and I find myself meeting his concerned stare. He leans over me, brow wrinkled, his lip in this adorable pout that is so unlike the big, broody biker I took him for. “I was asleep,” I manage to mumble and he nods, confirming it was all a dream this time.

“You’re alright, I’m here with you.”

“Was I-was I talking?” I jumble my words, still disoriented. Sweat dots my brow, my back, and under my boobs. I’m not actually hot; it must’ve been from the nightmare and the heart-racing panic clawing away at me.

I was there again, watching .

Feeling.

Hurting.

“Love doesn’t hurt,” I whisper.

Tyrant catches it, his head cocking to the side. He’s no doubt confused by my quiet rambling. But I have to remind myself, again and again. “Yeah, Sugar. You said some things. As soon as you started crying, I tried to wake you up.”

My hands go to my cheeks, finding them still damp from my drying tears. How embarrassing. I’m sure this guy wasn’t expecting to pick up a broken woman when he saw me on the side of the road. Remembering the manners that have been ingrained in me, I apologize. “Sorry for the fuss and thank you. I don’t mean to be a bother. I’ll be better.”

“Don’t apologize to me; you have nothing to be sorry for. I told you I’d make sure you were safe, and I meant it, even if it’s from your dreams.” He says the words quietly, almost as if he’s trying to be gentle with me but doesn’t quite know how to do so.

A cool breeze hits my sweaty skin and then I’m shivering for an entirely different reason. “Did it get colder?”

He hands me a water, and I drink greedily, clearing the croak from my throat in the process. It helps bring me to the present and I glance around, taking in the open field. It’s kind of beautiful here. To be in the abundance of HIS land and the purity of it. This is what life should be like. Freedom with the clean air surrounding me and a person who doesn’t know me from Adam, yet shows his kindness in his actions. To think the community would shun someone like him, banish him for being a sinful man. Yet he’s already proven to be better than they are.

Everything would be perfect, if my heart wasn’t forced to leave the most important person to me behind with that congregation of evil. I have to get her back . She’s the one who gave me the courage to leave so I could find a way to save her too.