novelxo King of the Cage: Chapter 27
They took us to the atrium, where the altar with the raised dais was.
People were already gathering inside the large room, taking their seats, an air of excitement hanging in the air. I stopped on the threshold, frozen with disgust. These people couldn’t wait to get their seats for the show.
Bran tugged me forward. “I’ve always wanted to perform in the round. Just call me Shakespeare.” His tone was dry and amused.
“Bran, getting in trouble already due to your terrible taste in women.” Aldo Sepriano slimed up out of nowhere and smirked at us. He had tissues stuffed up his nose.
“Nice tissues, really manly. Didn’t you have a tampon on you to stuff up there?” Bran remarked, his voice full of wry delight.
Aldo looked pissed for a second and then raised an eyebrow at me. “I hear we’re not getting to see the real culprit stripped and flogged, which is a shame. I’d rather see your chest turn bloody than O’Connor’s.”
Flogged? I might throw up.
Bran slapped a hand on Aldo’s chest, the black anger billowing from him in stark contrast with his jovial attitude from moments before.
“Christ, Aldo, you’re proving yourself to be as fucking annoying as your brother, and you know what happened to him,” Bran growled.
Aldo narrowed his eyes at Bran. “Is that a confession?”
“Confession to what? That I find your younger brother an annoying little fuck? Guilty. Now, let’s get on with this show. You don’t want this B-movie setup to go to waste, do you? I’m sure it’s exciting for you all to use it.”
Aldo blew out an irritated breath and shrugged off Bran’s hand. “Fine. Let’s get started. Archibald asked for someone with a strong arm, and I volunteered.” He smiled at Bran. “Let’s see how deep that tough guy goes.”
He turned and stormed away. I tugged at Bran’s arm.
“He said something about flogging,” I worried.
“Yeah, he did, so good thing it’s happening to me and not you,” Bran muttered and squeezed my hand.
Two security guards appeared at his side and motioned him forward. He went with them, twisting back to say to me:
“You don’t have to watch, selkie. You wait for me outside.”
I shook my head mulishly. “I’m not leaving you alone with these people. Someone should bear witness.”
Archibald swept into the room, seeming irritated by the interruption to his evening.
“Let’s get started,” he called out.
People went to their seats.
Regina hovered at my side. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head. “This is barbaric and has no place in modern society.”
Regina nodded. “You’re right, but The Enclave isn’t modern society. Believe me, no one is immune from this treatment, not Archibald, or me neither.”
There was something about the way she said it that caught my attention.
I glanced at her. “Did they do this to you?”
Regina’s cheeks colored. “It was a long time ago.”
“So, yes, then. They’re no better than animals, every single one.” I turned back and watched my husband take his shirt off at the bottom of the dais.
“What did you see downstairs?” Regina asked, sounding curious and scared at the same time.
I ignored her and focused on Bran. I didn’t have to explain. Bran was being punished for my crime regardless.
Bran threw his shirt aside and climbed up on the dais. Regina pulled me down into a seat. I sank down, my eyes never leaving Bran’s.
A low flurry of feminine murmurs floated around the room. These sadistic, uptight bitches were lusting after my husband.
Your husband? I pushed the unexpected jealousy from my head. Bran’s eyes caught mine. His green gaze was steady, grounding me.
“Brandon O’Connor, your wife has broken the rules of this society. You have offered to take her punishment for her. How do you plead?” Archibald asked from the sidelines.
“Guilty. I’m guilty as sin,” he murmured, still holding my gaze.
“Very well, the committee has decided that you will be punished, as is our tradition, by flogging. Twenty lashes.”
I tightened my hands into fists, barely managing to keep my seat. Twenty lashes? Calling these people animals was too generous. Animals would never do this for fun. I considered at that moment standing and announcing that we didn’t care about getting further into this shit show. We could just leave. Sure, we didn’t know enough yet to take down Z Juice or find out what was happening with those branded girls, but we’d survive, intact.
Bran seemed to sense my thoughts. Gently, he shook his head at me.
A man’s life should mean something. This mission wasn’t a game for him. He wanted to do something good, after a lifetime of bad. I couldn’t stop him. It was his choice.
“Kneel if you are ready to receive your punishment. Physical punishment washes your soul clean and forgives your error in judgment. It will never be mentioned again after we leave this room.”
Holding my gaze, Bran lowered himself to his knees. His dark-blond hair glowed under the lights like a burnished crown.
Aldo stepped up. He’d donned his thick black cloak.
He held a long leather rope with knots dotting the length at intervals.
A cat-o’-nine-tails. We’d studied them in history at school, and apparently, they hurt like a bitch. I felt sick.
“It’ll be okay,” Regina murmured, taking my hand.
I flinched away from her touch. I didn’t want her cold comfort. Instead, I held Bran’s eyes and gave him a place to look. A refuge.
“Let us begin,” Archibald said.
The first lash struck his back, and the crowd craned their necks to see.
I squeezed my hands into tight fists, my nails breaking the skin. Good. It was only right that I should bleed, too. I’d caused this, after all. The guilt was suffocating.
The first ten strikes weren’t too terrible. Bran bore them unflinchingly. He never swayed nor broke my gaze.
After that, however, Aldo seemed to realize that his chance to hurt him was slipping away, and he really needed to put his back into it.
A sickening wet sound came with every lash, and some of the women turned away. Blood dripped down Bran’s sides, but he still didn’t flinch when the lash flew toward him.
Tears dripped down my cheeks, but still I held his gaze.
I was his witness, and I wouldn’t turn away.
Finally, when I thought I couldn’t stand it anymore, the last lash was delivered, and Aldo stepped back, panting.
“Brandon O’Connor, your punishment is served, and you are washed clean of your sin. It is finished,” Archibald announced.
The crowd burst into excited murmurs.
“My God, that was something else,” Regina said. Her tone was odd. Dreamy, almost.
I glanced at her.
She stared at Bran with appreciation. “Such strength of body and mind,” she murmured and then seemed to collect herself. She blinked and looked at me. “You’re bleeding!” She pointed to my hands.
I stood abruptly and rubbed my hands together, smearing my bloody palms. “I’m fine. I have to go and take care of him,” I said, turning away.
Regina gripped my arm. “Wait, I feel terrible, we’ve gotten off to such a bad start.”
Bran was up, and a man in a white coat inspected his back. The least they could do was provide medical help if they were going to flog people.
“I swear, it isn’t always like this. I don’t get involved much in the more traditional parts of the society. I hope you don’t judge us too harshly. We’ve just gotten used to our little rituals.”
I stared at her.
“I mean, if I had enough like-minded women in my corner, maybe we could make some changes for the better.”
“Do you know anything about the drugs The Enclave deal in?” I asked her bluntly.
She wanted to show me she was a better person than her husband? Here was her chance.
“Drugs? I don’t know what you mean,” Regina said, confused.
“Zombie Juice… you ever heard of it?”
She shook her head slowly. “What is it?”
I ignored her question. She didn’t know anything, which meant she wasn’t of any use to me.
“I have to get my husband to the hospital, if you’ll excuse me,” I said harshly, scanning the room for Bran.
He was gone.
“Oh, don’t worry, the doctor has already taken him. We have medical transport. It’s waiting for you at the front. I really am very sorry.”
I walked away without answering her. I didn’t have it in me right now to be nice.
I left the building, ignoring the chatter of the women leaving the ceremony room, talking about how stoic Bran had been, how strong he was, and how hot it had been.
They knew I could hear them. Maybe it was a usual thing in The Enclave to swap husbands at parties. The ladies chattering excitedly certainly seemed to know who they’d be trying to get, after today.
Over my dead body would they touch my husband.
I finally made it to the darkly carpeted lobby and stalked past the empty reception desk. On the wall above vacant key cubbies hung black-and-white photographs. I glanced closer at one. There were hundreds of men in suits, looking sharp and smiling up at the camera. There was a label printed beneath.
Investors, The Enclave, 1973.
The photos marched across the wall. There had to have been over a hundred of them.
I pushed through the double doors and outside onto the street and took the first deep breath I’d taken in over an hour. My head pounded, and I felt like I could vomit. Instead, I staggered toward the medical transport car sitting at the curb. The driver talked on his phone, seeming worried.
He hung up when I reached him.
“What’s wrong? Where is the man you have to transport?” Bran was nowhere to be seen.
The driver rubbed his neck, agitated. “The strangest thing happened. I was loading him into the car, when a black SUV pulled up… and these guys… they took him. Pushed him into the car and took off.”
My heart dropped. “What? Who were they?”
The driver shook his head. “I don’t know, but they wore suits, and they seemed… connected, you know? The leader had the weirdest pale eyes.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I knew exactly who he was talking about.
My brother had taken Bran.