Chapter 6 - Bring Him Justice

ELLIE

The dress Noir brought was a size larger, but it had tiny sashes on both sides that helped me hide that. It was black, almost as dark as the feelings that clawed their way up my throat.

I didn't even have a say in my own brother's burial. I wasn't even given enough time to mentally prepare myself.

To see him that way again...to say goodbye for good.

I wasn't sure I had it in me.

All of my anger and eagerness to escape was replaced by a heavy feeling I couldn't shake. It settled on my chest, making it hard to breathe, making it hard to focus on anything else but the weight.

There was a sharp knock on the door, one that startled me from my thoughts and made me avert my gaze from my reflection in the vanity mirror, back to the door.

I found the door open, Noir standing by the doorway, filling every inch of it with his large body.

The man should be seven feet tall, if not more.

His fervid gaze was trained on me, stealing the breath from my lungs as his eyes held mine.

There was something about him, something about the way he looked at me that made me feel different.

It was foolish of me to get distracted, considering the current situation but...

I watched as his broad chest rose and fell steadily as he stood.

He'd changed into a different outfit, a black dress shirt tucked into black plain pants. He leaned against the door-frame, arms crossed over his chest casually as he eyed me.

The dress, I realized.

"The dress is bigger."

"It'll suffice," came his immediate reply. Unfurling his arms, he pulled out a simple strip of white cloth.

My brows pulled together in confusion as I met his gaze, "What's that for?"

"You," Noir gestured at my face, pushing off the door-frame and taking a few steps forward, the sound of his feet touching the floor kept me on high alert, my muscles tightening the closer he got.

I didn't move.

I didn't breathe.

He stopped moving once he was behind me, so close I could feel his hot breath against the small hairs on the back of my neck.

Part of me began to rethink the messy bun I'd put my hair in.

I leaned down. I couldn't see it but I could feel it, the proximity of his breath, the slight brush of his chest against my back.

It made my skin tingle from both anticipation and dread.

I shouldn't have let him get so close, but I did.

I shuddered when I felt his finger against my skin, gentle, careful, like he feared I would break from sudden movement. Then my vision descended into darkness.

I gasped as I felt the silk blindfold cover my eyes, my hand immediately going up to stop his from moving any further.

"What are you doing?" My voice took on an edge, the strange feelings he'd invited forgotten. All that was left was the clear reminder of what I was.

A prisoner.

"This is for your safety," He brought my protesting hand down and deftly fastened a knot behind my head, keeping the blindfold in place over my restless eyes.

"And ours," he finished. His voice was all I could feel now, hear, see. I was in complete darkness and his voice was the only thing keeping me from descending into madness.

"How am I a threat to your gang?"

He took a step back, I heard it. I chewed on my bottom lip anxiously, frustration building up again from just how much control over myself I kept losing the longer I stayed here.

"Family," he corrected with a tone that sounded rather amused, "And you're not a threat, not yet at least," he cryptically added and then took my hand in his.

The warmth of his fingers slipping into mine came with a feeling I wasn't prepared for. My stomach lurched and flipped a few times before I managed a shaky breath.

"Come, Goldie," he ordered, it was an order but the softness with which he relayed it...

Foolishly a thought came to mind. I preferred him to the other men.

"My name is Ellie," I ground out in annoyance. The nickname sounding condescending the more he said it.

We weren't on nickname basis. He was my kidnapper, a criminal!

A murderer.

"Okay, Goldie," I felt a tug at my arm, he was moving and taking me along with him.

I gritted my teeth and remained silent. I needed to control my emotions, not show as much as I was feeling.

After burying Elijah, I'll think up a proper plan.

I followed him. Walking slowly as we left the bedroom and weaved through what I knew to be a long hallway with two right turns.

Then we reached a flight of stairs and we walked a moment longer until I heard the sound of a keypad, the front door I realized.

It was password protected.

I have to do everything to make sure I won't be returning here, or else leaving might prove impossible.

Noir never let go of me, not even when we got into a car. He was seated beside me and I could sense the presence of someone on the other side.

I was being sandwiched between two men yet again.

Noir's fingers remained intertwined with mine as the engine started up and the car began to move.

"How long do you plan on holding on to her like that? What are you, a Koala?" I heard an irritated voice ask.

Not the man in the back seat with Noir and me but someone up front.

It was Silas.

I wasn't very good with faces, but voices and names were my forte.

Dylan always said I could recognize a one-night stand from their scent alone...which was partially true.

I could memorize scents if I deemed it necessary, but, I've never had a one-night stand.

Or any kind of night with any man.

And if this shit ends up hitting the fan, it also means I'll die a virgin.

The thought momentarily crossed my mind before it was replaced by the realization that Lorenzo was the one next to me.

"Mind your fucking business!" Noir snarled. His tone was different, more sharp, more...sinister.

It made me sink deeper into my seat.

"Fucking gorilla..." I heard Silas mutter distastefully, clearly pissed off by either mine or Noir's presence.

"Now is not the time for this," Lorenzo finally said, his authoritative voice somehow lessening the growing tension.

So, he's like their leader or something?

The rest of the drive was quiet. My hand remained in Noir's while I plotted a meticulous but swift escape from these men.

I had to say goodbye to my brother then but after that, I'm headed straight to the police.

And then the embassy, because I have no clue where my passport is.

Then I'm getting the fuck out of this country.

The drive was roughly about thirty minutes, yes, I counted.

Being kept in the dark for that long only heightened the rest of my senses further.

It was why I could tell Lorenzo was tense and I could hear Silas' low sighs and huffs.

Noir was deathly silent, just holding on to my hand.

I heard the crunch of gravel beneath the car tires as the car pulled to a stop.

Lorenzo was the first to step out, his side of the car opening without wasting much time. Then Noir helped me out and I heard Silas mutter something to who I imagined would be the driver, in Italian.

He told him to keep his eyes open.

I understood every word, but I played dumb, walking as Noir led me. We stopped when the gravel path ended. That was when Noir finally let go of my hand.

He moved behind me and undid the blindfold.

I held my now free hand with the other, inhaling sharply as warm light seeped through my lids. I opened my eyes slowly, they watered as they struggled to get accustomed to the sudden light.

It was a crematorium.

A low breath left me when I saw the coffin sitting right there at the entrance, waiting to be pushed in.

They were going to cremate him?

"He always said he didn't like the idea of rotting in the ground, said he deserved to go out in flames," Lorenzo's voice was quiet as he spoke, his eyes heavy, devoid of emotion yet holding so many as he looked ahead. At the coffin.

A small smile stretched my lips as I remembered being told something similar.

"He once told me the earth didn't deserve him, and that we should all be grateful for his birth," I chuckled, "Like he's Jesus or something."

A sound left Silas, something between a snort and a chuckle.

"Yeah, that sounds like Elijah."

I didn't want to see him, not again.

Looking at the three men, I realized something that shouldn't have hurt me but it did.

While I spent the past decade being alone, navigating through life on my own, Elijah was here, having friends, being loved.

I could see it in their eyes.

They were hurt.

They looked more human, more broken than I ever imagined a person could be.

Yet.

The manner in which they carried this, the strength in their stances, it was something I coveted, something I envied.

A tear slid down my cheek, and then another.

But I remained standing.

"We'll find who did this to you," Silas began, "And when we do, they'll regret ever being born."

That chill. He meant every word. The bloodlust in his eyes was unmistakable.

It should have scared me, but it didn't.

Because these men wanted exactly what I wanted, for the men who did this to my brother to pay.

"Can you do that?" My voice was smaller than I'd intended, uncertain.

"Can you bring him justice?"

I felt their eyes on me in that moment, heavy, dark.

"We won't just bring him justice, Goldie," Noir breathed, "We'll burn this city to the ground in his honor."

And then the coffin was pushed in and flames engulfed it.

Burning what was left of Elijah Knight.

Birthing something far more dangerous.

Three men out for blood.

And a woman yet to discover just how far she'll go to get revenge.