1. Emily

It’s been months since I was kidnapped and locked in a cold basement by a man who not only hurt me, but also sewed my lips shut, stitch after agonizing stitch, so I won’t scream for help.

I’m not sure if anyone will be able to help me. I burned bridges with my family years ago, and I’ve never really had friends. This man, despite locking me in here, has been kinder to me than many others have been in years. I don’t know his name, but like me, he has been an experiment for Azael, the leader of the outcast angels and the Dukes.

It was during my time in the facility run by Azael that I first met him. Our first encounter was horrific—he’d been ordered to sew my lips and my pussy shut. And he did. When I tried to plead with him, he struck me. He hurt me and left damage that took more than one surgery to repair. I was lucky to even get that much.

The only reason I made it out of that facility was because of Stefan, the man who means everything to me.

Stefan.

The only man who has truly loved me. I lost him because of my stupidity. I lost him and his two blood-brothers, Alekos and Reyes. If I were smarter or braver, I’d not be here, locked in this dark and forsaken basement, withering away while I fantasize about the life I could have had alongside three amazing men who genuinely cared about me—the years spent with them slowly made me realize what true love really is.

I could have had everything if not for Jason.

Jayson Deymar. The son of one of the most influential senators in the US. A rich boy. A mama’s boy. A narcissist. An angel of destruction. The man that I naively allowed to ruin my life. I even helped him destroy my last ounce of happiness. He was the first to want me for who I was, not for my mother’s money or my good looks. He asked me out because I reminded him of a princess, and he wanted to turn me into his queen.

What a stupid fool I’d been. I fell for his charms and sweet smile. I believed him when he told me how much he loved me. For the first time in my life, someone wanted me. Me!

Emily Lisette Morin.

And not the money I would one day inherit from my parents.

For the first time, I felt like I belonged to someone.

I belonged to Jason. I was so head over heels in love with him that I did everything he asked me without question because I thought that’s what love was. But I was wrong. That wasn’t love, that was manipulation.

Not even when Jason suggested I sleep with one of his friends did I realize something was wrong. It never occurred to me that a Duke would never share his girlfriend, who he swore he loved, with others. As a Lady, I thought it was normal to be fucked by his friends. After all, many blood-brother Lords have one woman they bond with and marry. In my mind, it was a similar situation.

I was the top student in my class and yet I failed to see who Jason actually was until it was too late. By the time I wanted to break up with him, I was neck-deep in his shit. And so in love with Stefan, Alekos, and Reyes and the life we’d planned, I made the mistake of mentioning it to Jason when he wanted me to entertain at one of his parties, which always meant that I had to sleep with any man who wanted me. I didn’t want to do that anymore because it meant cheating on Stefan, and it was breaking me apart.

Each time I had to see Jason, I was forced to add another thread to my intricate web of lies that I trapped Stefan and his blood-brothers in. Slowly, I was getting caught up in them. That’s when my entire life imploded, and I became Jason’s captive. When he got bored of me, he sold me to Azael.

My entire body shudders as I remember what Azael did to me.

The upstairs floor creaks under his heavy footsteps.

514.

The man who locked me in here. I don’t know his name so I call him by the tattoo inked on his left cheek–514.

All those who have been experimented on in Azael’s facility have received a tattoo on their left check.

I can hear 514 walking around when the house is quiet, which is most of the time. Jason loved loud music because it drowned out all the sex noises happening at his place.

An eerie silence envelopes this house. It’s been like this since I got here.

Today, it has been so quiet that I thought he was gone. Or maybe it’s one of his friends. I don’t even know how many of them are here, but I sometimes hear their voices. They pretend I don’t exist but they know I’m here. Once they even argued about me. But only 514 comes to the basement twice a day to bring me food and water.

I still wonder how I ended up in here.

One minute, I was at the train station, heading as far away from this place as possible, and the next minute, I was in an unfamiliar place, locked in the basement.

For all I know, I might be losing my mind. There have been moments when I woke up because I felt someone touching me, but no one was with me in the basement. A few times, I even saw my old dog, Goliath, a St. Bernard my father got for me when I turned eight. My mother, who absolutely hates animals inside the house, made Goliath sleep outside. She didn’t even change her mind when my sweet Goliath got sick. I had to beg her for two days before she finally agreed to take him to the hospital.

Goliath was my best friend. Each day of the five years I had him, I loved and spoiled the hell out of him. I still don’t understand what made him run away. My father and I looked for him for months until my mother demanded I stop wasting my time and focus on my studies.

I keep listening to the footsteps but minutes later, silence returns to the house. I’m so alone that each day, I’m waiting eagerly for the moment 514 comes down here. He doesn’t speak to me, which is fine, because seeing him makes everything better.

Time passes slowly until I finally hear the wooden stairs leading to the basement squeak as 514 climbs down them.