The Ritual: A Dark College Romance

B EEP … BEEP … BEEP …

I groan, my hands coming up to my head and pressing on it, trying to stop the headache that pounds behind my eyes.

Beep … beep …. beep …

“Will someone turn that fucking sound off?” I ask, my voice scratchy, and my throat feels like I’ve swallowed sandpaper.

“Ryat?” A voice gasps.

“Yeah.” I open my eyes to see a blurry shape in front of me. “Blake?” I reach out for it, but my hand misses touching nothing but air.

Beep … beep … beep …

“Turn it off!” I snap, the sound of my own voice making me flinch as it echoes in my head.

“We can’t. It’s the only thing telling us you’re alive,” I recognize as Gunner say.

“I’m talking, aren’t I?” I growl.

“You haven’t spoken in a week,” he states.

Pressing my palms into my eyes, I rub them once again. They’re a little more focused now. I see Gunner on a couch, Prickett standing by a window, and then Sarah sitting on the side of my bed.

“Where’s Blake?” I ask, looking around.

The room falls silent.

Beep … beep … beep …

The sound of the machine picks up its rhythm when I don’t see her. “Where the fuck is she?”

Sarah looks away from me, and I hear her sniff. She goes to stand, but I grip her forearm, yanking her back down to my hospital bed. “Where the fuck is she?” I shout.

“She’s … gone.”

“Sarah!” Gunner snaps at her.

She covers her face with her hands and begins to sob.

“What the hell do you mean, she’s gone? Where did she go?”

“Matt …” Sarah cries. “He took her.”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

I release her, and she runs out of the room bawling. Sitting up, I ignore the head rush and blurry vision. I start yanking wires off my body and arms.

“Ryat,” Gunner begins. “You can’t leave. You were shot four times …”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” Prickett argues. “You need rest. Your body needs to recover.”

“I need Blake!” I shout. “Where is she?”

Gunner sighs while Prickett runs his hands through his hair.

“Where is she?” Panic grips my chest like a vise. This can’t be happening. Did he say I’ve been here for a week?

“We don’t know.” Prickett speaks softly. “We pulled up to the cabin just as another vehicle was leaving … we walked inside and found you lying dead in the foyer. Gunner performed CPR while Sarah called 911, and I went after the car. By then, it was too late. It was gone. After we searched the house, we realized she had to have been in the car. We figured by the smear of your blood on the floor that she was dragged away.”

Throwing my two legs off the side of my bed, I try to stand, but my knees give out. I fall but catch myself on the side of the bed.

“Ryat …” Gunner runs over to me and grips my arms to help me stand.

I shove him away. Well, I try but he doesn’t budge. “I need my phone. I have to go get it…”

“No.”

“Yes. I can’t be here.” Not while she’s out there. Somewhere alone. Lost. Terrified. I should be with her. I should be protecting her. “My phone …”

“Ryat!” Gunner snaps as Prickett runs out of the room.

I yank the IV out of my arm, and blood squirts onto the bed.

“Ryat, get back in bed!” Gunner demands.

“No. I need my goddamn phone.” Why aren’t they listening to me? “It was in my jeans …”

The door bangs open, hitting the interior wall, and Prickett enters with a couple of nurses. They don’t even give me the chance to explain.

Prickett shoves his elbow into my back, forcing me to bend over the side of the bed when I feel a pop in my hip. Then my eyes close with her name on my lips.

_______________

“WHAT …?” MY HEAD is foggy once again. The light blinding. I blink, tilting my head to the side. I go to rub my eyes but realize my wrists are restrained to the hospital bed.

Sighing, I mumble, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“I’m afraid it’s the only option you left them.”

Opening my eyes, I see my dad standing next to the bed.

“I need to leave,” I say, feeling my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth.

“You need to recover,” he argues.

“Why does everyone keep saying that. Blakely …”

“We’ll find her.”

I open my eyes to see my father-in-law entering my room with two cups of coffee. He’s the last person I want to see, but he might be the only one who will want to find her as bad as me. “I know where she’s at,” I growl. “If anyone would let me get my goddamn phone.”

“I have it.” My dad pulls it from his back pocket. “After they sedated you, Gunner ran back to the cabin and pulled it from your jeans. I guess when the paramedics arrived, they had to cut them off you. It was still in your pocket.”

I go to reach for it, but the damn restraints stop my actions. I throw my head into the flat pillow and grind my teeth to keep from screaming. I don’t want them to sedate me again.

“Open it up,” I growl. “I have an app on there that tracks her.”

My father looks across the bed to my father-in-law, who stands on my left. “Uh,” my father starts. “Ryat, her cell was left behind. You can’t track it.”

I close my eyes, hating having to explain what I did, but also glad that I did it.

Gavin sighs. “I have to ask Ryat. Are these injuries from you?”

“No,” I snap. I’m rough with Blake during sex, but I’ve never physically beaten her. Matt slammed her face into the steering wheel, not me.

He arches a brow.

“Why would I lie about that?” It’s not like I’d be in trouble if I did do this. The Lords specifically place members into the legal system. Unfortunately, beating your wife isn’t a criminal offense. They don’t want a Lord in prison for assault or domestic violence cases when he’s needed for an assignment.

“During my initial exam,” he goes on at my silence. “I noticed the writings on her body—in Sharpie. I figured maybe things got out of hand.”

I’m not even mad about the fact that he thinks I did this, but the thought of him seeing her naked makes my fists clench. “No,” I repeat. “I didn’t beat my wife.”

“You know how it is with the Lords and their chosen’s,” he adds. “I’ve seen my fair share in here over the past twenty years since I graduated from Barrington.” He then places her X-rays up on the wall and flips the switch to the light behind it, lighting the film. I can see all of her bones from her chest up. And Gavin takes the end of a pen and points at the spot between her right shoulder and neck. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Yes.” I growl and add. “Leave it there.”

He nods once. “I just wanted to also let you know that we ran a pregnancy test. It was negative.”

I didn’t expect it to happen that fast, but I’m definitely going to keep trying.

“It’s standard procedure,” he adds.

“When I got her back after she ran, I implanted a tracker between her neck and shoulder.” I look up at her father. “So, unless Matt found out about it and cut it out, it’s still there.” No one knew.

Phil runs his hand through his hair and nods to himself. Probably fighting the fact that I did something so morally wrong, but also, it’s the only thing that might save her life now. I was never going to let her get away again.

“Okay. Yeah, okay,” he finally agrees. “Let’s track it, and I’ll go get her.”

“Hell no,” I sit up, pulling on the restraints. “I’m going with you.”

“You’re not leaving this hospital until they release you,” my father snaps.

“He’s not going without me!” I argue. I want to hold her, pick her up in my arms, and know that at that moment, she’s safe. I don’t want a fucking phone call that she was found and have to talk to her over the phone. Or worse, what if they find her body? No. I won’t believe that. She’s not dead. She’s alive, and I’m going to make sure of it with my own two eyes.

“You’re wasting time! Take these off, and let’s go.” Who knows what Matt is doing to her? But I have a hundred ideas of what I’m going to do to him. He won’t like any of them.

My father places his hand on my shoulder. “Not until your body is healed.”

“She’s pregnant,” I state.

Silence falls over the room.

“She told you?” my father asks.

“No.”

“Then you’re not sure …”

“I fucking know, okay!” I snap. I first realized it a couple of weeks ago. I think it happened Halloween night. We had sex three times that night by the time we finally went to sleep. There have been signs. I’m not even sure she’s seen them, but they’ve been there. I know my wife’s body better than herself.

My father sighs, running a hand down his face. “Did you tamper with her birth control?”

My wife straddles me while I lay on my back in our master suite at the cabin, my hands propping up my head. She runs her finger over the Lords crest that was burned into my chest, lightly tracing it. “We should get divorced in six months. My mother would flip.”

I snort at that thought. “That won’t be happening.”

Her finger pauses, and her eyes trail up over my chest and face to meet mine. “I understand why we did this, Ryat.”

“Oh, yeah? Enlighten me.” I want to hear her thoughts on why I made her mine forever.

“You don’t love me.” She shrugs. “I don’t love you. You wanted to marry me to rub it in Matt’s face. I said yes because I didn’t want him and bonus it will piss off my mom. I understand neither one of us meant forever in city hall earlier today.” Yawning, she lays her head on my bare chest.

I’m still hard. I could fuck her all night, but I’ll let her rest. After all, I have the rest of my life to fuck my wife. Because no matter what she thinks, when I took my vow today, it was forever. After several minutes of silence, her hands fall off the side of my body, and her breathing evens out.

She’s passed out.

Unlinking my fingers from behind my head, I run them through her curled hair a few times. Then gently, I roll over, placing her down next to me. I get up from the bed and make my way into the bathroom. I remove her birth control pills and then the pack that I’ve kept stashed in my bag at the back of the closet. I punch the dates she’s already used and place the placebos ones back in the drawer. Blakely isn’t going anywhere. If I have to keep her knocked up every day of our lives, I will.

“Yes—no,” I spit out. Sighing I add, “She ran and didn’t take it with her.” That very next night was the ceremony at the house of Lords where she left me. When I brought her back, I didn’t even bother with giving her the fake shit. My wife wasn’t going to be taking it anymore.

Mr. Anderson places his cup of coffee on a tray next to my bed and undoes my left wrist.

“What are you doing?” my father barks when he undoes the other.

“Didn’t you hear him? My daughter is pregnant. We need to find her now. The tracking device will lead us right to her.”

“He needs medical attention,” my father argues.

“I’ll hire a doctor. Gavin. I’ll pay for him to travel with us.”

Finally! Someone gets it!

“Hand me my cell,” I order my dad while my father-in-law exits the room, leaving us alone.

He pulls it back. “Ryat …”

“Don’t give me some bullshit!” I snap and flinch. My free hand now pushing into my side to try relieving the burning pressure I feel. It doesn’t work.

“How in the fuck are you going to save her?” he demands. “Ryat, you’re injured. I know you love her, but risking your life to save hers just puts you both in danger. Again.”

Baring my teeth, I glare up at him. “Hand me my goddamn phone.”

The door swings open, and my father-in-law returns along with Gavin. “I must advise against—”

“I’m fucking going,” I interrupt the doctor. My heavy breathing fills the room, and I bite my inner cheek to keep from whimpering at the pain in my side. Fuck me, I can’t breathe.

“I’ll send you with pain pills, but Ryat … I can’t go with you,” Gavin informs me.

“That’s … fine.” I manage to get out, I’ll eat them like candy. Enough drugs can make you feel invincible.

My father runs his hand through his hair aggressively and hisses in a curse. “Goddammit, Ryat. You don’t even know she’s alive!”

There it is. The reason he doesn’t want me to risk my life for hers—because he thinks it’s not going to be worth it. “I’ve risked my life for the Lords over and over,” I say, taking a deep breath. “I will do no less for my wife. She deserves that!” This is all because of me. I put her in this life, this situation. I will be the one to save her from it.

After a long second, he holds out my cell, and I take it. Letting out a long breath, I pray Matt hasn’t found the tracker. It’s not common for the Lords to use them. It should be mandatory if you ask me. But then again, I actually love my wife.

Then without another word, he turns away from the bed and picks up his jacket off the couch and exits the room.

“Ryat—”

“Give me a hundred,” I interrupt Gavin. After a long second, he concedes.

“I’ll need an hour.”

“You’ve got twenty minutes!” I snap. I lie back on the bed, and he too turns and storms out of the room, and my father-in-law follows him.

I unlock my phone and go to the app. “Please, please, please,” I chant. When I see the red dot, my eyes start to sting, and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Laying my head on my pillow, I sniff. “I’ve got you, Blake. I’m coming.” Then I pull up a contact and press call.

BLAKELY

SITTING IN THE middle of the bed, I rock back and forth. I’m pretty sure I’m starting to go insane. I’ve cried until I made myself sick to my stomach. Multiple times. Over Ryat jumping in front of me and slamming me into a door to be a human shield. Now—I’m pissed at him. So, fucking angry that he allowed Matt to win and left me behind.

Getting up from the bed, I walk to the adjoining bathroom to use the restroom. This is my life. Loneliness and boredom.

It makes me wonder if this is what Ryat felt like those days he was in jail. But only he knew he’d be released when his job was done.

Me? I’m in for life. And my mother plans on ripping my baby not only from my arms but my actual body. I can’t allow that. I won’t. I have a plan, but I’m not sure how I’m going to execute it. And if I try and fail? What will they do to me then?

Finishing going to the bathroom, I go to the sink and wash my hands. Drying them off, I go back to the bedroom for another long afternoon of staring at the wall. I don’t even have a TV. I’m guessing that’s so I have no idea what is going on with the outside world.

Exiting the bathroom, I yelp when I see Matt standing by the side of the bed, inspecting my breakfast. I had to pretty much shove it down my throat. I’m not hungry, but I won’t starve my child.

He turns to face me, and I take a step back into the bathroom. Chuckling, he walks over to stand in the doorway, his large frame now blocking my only exit.

Great, Blake! Real smart. “What do you want?” I demand.

His blue eyes drop to my bare legs and run up over my thighs until they reach the bottom of my shorts. Then over my shirt. “I think you know exactly what I want.”

I shake my head. “My mother …”

He reaches out, wraps a hand around my neck, and shoves my back into the wall to the right. His body presses into mine, and the fact that I can feel his hard dick inside his jeans makes me want to vomit again. “Your mother isn’t fucking here!” He smiles down at me. “Plus, I can come inside you and not have to worry about knocking you up.”

I whimper, my hands trying to pry his away that’s wrapped around my neck, but it’s not working.

Leaning down, he runs his wet tongue along my face, and I gag as tears sting my eyes.

“You know. I pretended to be repulsed by your fixation of being raped.”

“It’s called forced-sex fantasy …” I grind out through clenched teeth. “Asshole.”

“No.” He shakes his head once. “I’m talking about rape, Blakely. Because I’m going to make you cry.” His eyes narrow on mine. “You’re not going to enjoy it or get off on it. Not like you did when I watched Ryat kidnap you from your apartment and then again in the woods.” He snorts. “I’m going to fucking hurt you, beat you, and humiliate you.”

My stomach sinks at the thought of what he’ll do to me if he gets the chance. And how whatever he has planned could hurt my baby.

“But I will give you a head start.” He lets go of my throat and takes a step back.

I sag against the wall, sucking in a breath while rubbing it.

“Just because I know how much you like the chase.” His eyes drop to my chest.

“I won’t …”

“Ten minutes,” he states, lifting his arm and looking down at his watch.

“Matt!” I snap. “I’m not going to …”

He backhands me across the face, knocking my head to the side. I gasp, my hands coming up to the wall so I don’t run into it.

He grips my hair and yanks me over to the counter, shoving my hips into it, and I scream for help. Even though I know no one will be here.

Holding me in place, his free hand comes up and grips my neck again. “Why, Blakely?” He sighs as if disappointed. “You let Ryat play with you.” I tremble, trying to get away from him. “But I guess …” He yanks my head to the side and starts kissing my cheek. “If you don’t want to play, then I’ll just fuck you here and now.”

“No. No. No.” I rush out through a gasp. “I’ll play.” I try to nod my head, my watery eyes pleading for him to give me another chance in the mirror. “I’ll play.”

“Good.” He steps back and shoves me by my hair into the bedroom. “Go. The clock is ticking.”

I run out of the bedroom and slam the door shut behind me. Having to open it may give me an extra second. I’m going to need it. I have no clue where we are, but I decide to take the stairs to the lower level, hoping I can get out. When I hit the landing, I trip over the edge of a rug, falling onto my face. I quickly jump up and run to the front doors and try to open them.

Fuck! They’re locked. I twist the deadbolt and try again. Nothing. What the fuck? Looking up I see another lock that’s too tall for me to reach.

“Oh, by the way. All the doors have added padlocks. And only I have the key.”

I spin around, my hair slapping me in the face. Looking up, I see him bent over the balcony, a knife in his hand, and he slowly runs the blade down the side of his face pretending to shave. “And all windows are bulletproof.” He gives me a chilling smile. “I’ve had time to prepare your homecoming, baby.”

I shove off the door and run farther into the house. The sound of his wicked laughter bounces off the walls, carrying throughout the house. I see another set of stairs and decide maybe I should go up since he thinks I’m down here. I grip the wooden banister, to stop my momentum and fling myself around to run up when I run right into him.

The blow knocks me down. I cry out when my side hits the unforgiving floor and roll onto my stomach to crawl away from him.

“Isn’t this fun?” He laughs. His hands wrap around my ankles, and he starts dragging me backward across the tile.

I scream, trying to grab onto anything I can find, but all I do is pull a rug with me, and a table down that was up against the wall.

He drops my legs, and I scramble to get up, but his hands grip my hair, and he yanks me to my feet before slamming me face-first into a wall. His large body pins me to it from behind.

“Matt,” I sob, “Please …”

“Shh, Blakely,” he says soothingly in my ear. “It’s okay, babe. It’s just a game. We’re both going to win here.”

I try to shake my head, but he yanks it back even farther, forcing me to look up at the high ceiling. My fists hit the wall, trying to push away from it and give me some space.

“Your mother plans on doing whatever it takes to get that baby out of you.” He presses the tip of the knife to the side of my stomach, and I stiffen, my breathing stopping. “So, while she’s away, we’re going to play. That way, I still get what I want. And she gets what she wants.”

“Valerie is not my mom. You killed my mother,” I growl, hating how fucking helpless I am. Hating Ryat for doing this to me. To us! He promised to protect me.

Matt laughs in my ear, making that taste of vomit rise once again, and I swallow it down. “I just wanted a taste of her. I was going to be fucking her daughter for the rest of her life. She was lying there, naked and waiting. Begging to be fucked. What man would pass up the opportunity to have both?”

“My husband would.” I growl.

His laughter grows. “He had no clue who she was. But if he had, I bet he would have changed his mind.”

“You’re sick!” I scream. “You fucking bastard!” He yanks me from the wall and shoves me forward so hard that I trip and fall to my knees.

Then I feel his hands on me. He tosses me onto my back and straddles me. He shoves my shirt up to expose my bra to him, and I slap at his face. He grips my wrists, pinning them down by my sides. “You do know that your parents had to sign you up to be a chosen, right?”

“No,” I choke out.

“Not just any woman can give herself to a Lord. We can only pick from who is on the list.” His hands tighten their grip, and I whimper. “Even they recognized the whore that you are.”

I arch my back and scream for help, but it turns into a sob.

“Don’t cry, baby. This is your fantasy. This is what you want.”

“No,” I sob, my hair sticking to my wet face.

“Yes. I saw Ryat. I watched him carrying you tied and gagged and him put you in the back of his SUV where he then hogtied you. He even lifted your shirt and played with your tit. Then the woods—now that was interesting. I wanted you to come find me, but it was him you found instead. So I watched him get what was supposed to be mine. I watched him fuck you in the woods,” he whispers. “And you know what I did? I jacked off watching you get off while he fucked and choked you. You loved every second of being treated like the whore you are. I underestimated you, baby. But it’s okay. I can admit my mistakes.”

I whimper.

“I’m going to line them up for you.” He licks across my face, and I try to turn my head but can’t how he has me pinned down. “Put my Lady to work for the Lords. You’ll be the talk of the …”

“You’re not a fucking Lord!” I shout over him. I heard someone saying that he was stripped of his title. On the run after Ryat killed Cindy and Ashley.

His face morphs into red with rage and he leans down into mine so close, his forehead rests on mine while he screams, “I AM A LORD …”

I move my head just enough to sink my teeth into his nose. As high up as I can, feeling the skin tear and bones breaking. His blood fills my mouth when he yanks back, breaking it free of my teeth, and I take the skin off in the process. Then I spit it on him.

Sitting back on his knees, he brings shaking hands to his face, screaming in agony.

“Fuck you!” I roll onto my side for better leverage, propping myself up on my left arm and slam my foot into his face, knocking him back even farther. “You motherfucker!”

He throws his head back, his arms out to his side while blood pours from his face, screaming so loud my ears ring.

I get to my feet, turn and run out of the hallway only to come to another one. It’s got door after door. I try them all, needing a place to hide. To regroup. To wash up. Now I’m covered in his blood. It’s dripping off my chin onto the floor. He’ll be able to track me. Plus, it’s making me want to puke.

A door finally opens and it’s a set of stairs. I close it behind me and run down them, skipping the last three. Landing on my feet, I trip but manage to stay standing this time. I see a door to my right and open it. Shutting it behind me, I lock it and listen to myself sucking in breath after breath.

It’s pitch black. My hand slides along the wall by the door, looking for a light switch, but when I find it, I pause. I can see the light from the hallway underneath the door. So I keep it off, not wanting to give myself away.

“BLAKELY!” I hear him shouting my name.

I throw my hands over my mouth, trying to silence my sob while walking backward from the door in the dark.

“You fucking bitch!” he goes on. “You will beg on your knees! Your fucking knees, BITCH!”

Taking another step back, I hit something hard and thankfully my hand muffles the scream I make. It’s a wall.

Panic grips my chest, and I turn around to face it. My hands frantically reach out, hoping to find a door handle of some sort or any way of an exit. But the thought of any escape vanishes when the door to the room bursts open.

Spinning around, I watch a blood-covered Matt step inside the dark room. The light from the hallway behind him makes only his outline visible.

“I found you, you little bitch.”

I try catching my breath, but I can’t. My chest is heavy, and my side hurts from running. “I knew you liked the fight.” He steps closer into the room, reaching behind him, he pulls two pairs of handcuffs from his back pocket, and a lump gets lodged in my throat. He smiles. “We’ll see how hard you fight once these are on you.”