Page 71 of Serpent & Saviors

“Oh, fucking spare me. You are no mother.” His lip twitched in disgust, then he turned away and walked to the other side of the room.

I pressed a fist against my mouth. The reality of his words crushed me. It didn’t matter that I wanted to do all those things. It didn’t matter that I would have happily, if he’d let me. Because the truth was. I wasn’t a mother. Jenny was more his mother than me. The walls officially closed in, and I couldn’t think.

“Summer,” he drawled.

My head jerked up, and I froze. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision. It didn’t work. A sour rush burned up my throat as he moved closer. My fingers went numb, and my body trembled uncontrollably. By the time he reached me, I wasn’t breathing. I finally broke.

“Now, now, don’t cry.”

He set the box he was holding down. I knew what was inside—instruments of torture.

“Earlier this morning, before picking you up and taking the pictures. I spent hours with Jenny and this box. I wore gloves and a hazmat suit. My DNA won’t be on her body at all. But can you guess whose will?”

“Cameron, please don’t do this. I’m sorry. I can do better, be better. I promise.”

“You brought this on yourself. Her death is your fault. Should have kept your big mouth shut. I hope betraying your family was worth it.”

“Please—”

“Shut the fuck up!” he screamed, silencing my pleas.

A snap of a glove sounded, echoing through the space. I shook my head in denial, horrified, as he worked the other one on. He slowly dialed the combination—our son’s birthday—into the small locking mechanism, and I heard it disengage. He set the box down in front of me.

“Now to keep this fun, I think I’ll gag you…one last time.”

He reached into his pocket for what I knew was a simple gag. It wouldn’t be the one from the box because that one had sharp metal pieces. The fact that he hadn’t flown into a rage and inflicted any marks thus far wasn’t lost on me. He quickly went about the task of securing it around my head.

“And let’s ratch it up a notch and tie your hands in front of you, of course. You’ll need them,” he hummed as he pulled out a scarf. A blindfold emerged as well.

Once he had completed the two tasks, he guided my hands to the box. I jerked them back. All my senses were heightened now.

“Open the fucking box or I’ll call for Declan now and you can watch me use the contents on him,” he seethed.

Unwilling to take that chance, I flipped it open. He forced my tied hands into the box. My hands landed on one of the biggest items in the box. I gulped as I felt the sharp edges of a spiked paddle. It was wet, and I heaved, realizing why. I shook my head and yanked my hand back, but he gripped my wrist and wouldn’t let go.

“Don’t make me do it. Comply, this is your last warning.”

And so, one-by-one, he forced me to handle the horrific contents of the box. The scissors, pliers, a hammer, a badine, the Gorean slave whip. I sobbed as I imagined him using it on her.

“A few more to go. You’re almost there. In case you’re wondering how they could possibly be wet still, while you were being the dutiful good girl—”

I sobbed hearing him use those words, mocking me.

He continued, “And writing down your confession, I had Nigel visit Jenny once more. How much fun do you think he had dipping these items in the various pools around her? Hmm, I guess you’ll never know. Now let’s see, where were we? Yes, you’ll remember this one.”

I shuddered as he wrapped my hands around something he’d only ever threatened me with, but had never used. Inside my head, I screamed the words the gag wouldn’t allow me to speak. I wretched my hands away.

God, please, no. He couldn’t have.

Let this be a ploy to horrify me. If he used this on her—I couldn’t complete the thought. My fingers were slippery by now. Blood coated everything he pulled from the box.

“Oh, let’s wipe your hands so you can properly grip it.”

He laughed as he wiped my hands down the front of my jeans. I sobbed helplessly, and my mind tried to distance itself from this entire shitshow.

“Don’t worry. When I get you downstairs, we’ll really coat you up. But this one item—” He paused and then shoved my hands back into the box.

My fingers were forced around the custom-made dildo. The spikes on it were different. Some were more pointed than others. Several small pricks later, he ensured that not only was my DNA all over it, but hers mixed with mine.