Chapter 20: Chapter 20

A few minutes before, Nadia was in the dining room, taking her ample time to eat her dinner while pondering on the excuse she could use to wander close in the direction where she heard her uncle kept the Weres.

She was dying to see Angel again to find out why her uncle had summoned him earlier. And of course, there was also the issue of wanting to see him alone again. The thought of going back up the stairs to her room without seeing him and finding out what was happening was putting her on edge.

She looked to the entrance to the dining table for the umpteenth time, expecting her uncle or either of her cousins to walk in. She had brought a book, thinking after dinner she could use the excuse to prolong her stay downstairs. She could hardly say she wanted to go and read in the garden since it was freezing outside, and neither could she use the excuse of going for a walk. The grounds were covered with snow now and that would not do. She could not think of any reason to linger after dinner and she didn't like it one bit. She lowered her gaze to her half-empty plate and sighed. Then she heard the door push open and she jerked her gaze in the direction, planting a fake smile. The smile died when she saw it was neither of her cousins nor was it her uncle. A maid walked in and she tried to curtail her disappointment. ‘If none of them showed there would be no reason for her to prolong her stay,’ she thought.

"Good evening, Miss, Mr. Antonio Rufus said to let you know he will be dining alone tonight," the petite woman announced.

"Oh, okay, thank you," she replied. The other lady curtsied and left. Nadia mentally groaned. ‘There goes the chance of finding out what was happening from the blabbermouth, Daniel,’ she thought. She figured whatever the issue was, her uncle must have found a solution. Because, oftentimes, when he excused himself from sharing dinner with the rest of the family, it was either he had visitors or had found an unfortunate slave girl to force his attention upon. And since she knew none of her uncle’s visitors was still around at the time, she knew then it must be the latter.

She had seen him urging a quite pretty, but placid-faced girl, up to his deck more than once and wondered why he would need to resort to force to get a girl. He wasn’t bad looking and insanely loaded too but then there was the part of him being a mean son-of-a-bitch and a mafia boss. That might definitely be the deal breaker for some decent girls. And yet again the thought of the woman who bore him children gnawed at her and she pondered at the probability of her once being in the shoes of the placid-faced girl.

After spending another three minutes alone in the dining room, Nadia pushed her seat back and rose. A loud howl made her pause her action and her heart hammered hard against the wall of her chest. She hurried outside, heading out of the house to the front porch.

She met Mathew already there and just when she was about to ask what was going on, her uncle showed up wearing dark brown matching Pyjamas. His brown hair was roughened and he looked livid.

"Go upstairs to your room, Nadia," he said and marched past her. Mathew gave her an apologetic glance.

"Listen to him. It's dangerous out here, especially for a female," Mathew said and followed his father.

Nadia waited for them to give her enough gap before hurrying after them. A few minutes later, she stopped short as she saw about a dozen half-men, half-beasts, tackling Angel who was in full human form. She gasped, then quickly used her hand to cover her mouth. She thought Angel looked quite a mess! He was covered in blood and scratches. His clothes were torn but yet he stood strong. She waited with bated breath praying her uncle put a stop to the madness before the creatures seriously hurt Angel.

Her eyes darted, following his every move and then they settled on a familiar figure standing by a large tree to the far right of the shrouded grounds. She clenched her teeth, thinking she would know that fucking figure anywhere. She could tell it was Daniel. A strong emotion that was pretty close to hatred surged inside her heart for the fucker. She had no idea what was going on but it was obvious he was the cause of it. She figured he must have seen his father and brother approaching and rushed to his truck. She may be wrong but she thought she saw Angel follow his truck. Nadia wished she could smack the bastard silly.

"Just what the hell is going on here?!" her uncle thundered. His guards marched forward, forming a wall around him and Mathew, shielding them both from the raucous creatures. Nadia grew scared, feeling exposed and alone unprotected in the thick shrub.

Shortly after a resounding screech came from the creatures, and then loud whimpering. Nadia felt her heart constricted, watching the creatures in evident anguish as they slowly regressed to human form.

Nadia then noticed they were all wearing a contraption around their necks and it was blinking red. The device, whatever it was, caused the Weres to fall to their knees, cradling their heads in their hands in evident pain. They were all as naked as the day they were born. Some of them looked pale – almost alabaster white, and malnourished. Nadia’s eyes cloud with tears.

Uniform guards hurried to them to take off the contraction around their necks. And one by one they all collapsed to the floor. ‘That bastard!’ Nadia thought, silently cursing Daniel. But then it was her uncle – her father’s brother, her blood who had these poor creatures kidnapped and enslaved in the first place. She felt a shame so profound.

Angel strode back with torn clothes, carrying Daniel over one shoulder. He dropped him when he was about twelve feet away from Antonio Rufus, Mathew and about fifty armed guards.

Nadia’s heart lunged hard when the guards descended on him. Even though he had slowly dropped to his knees with his hands held up in the air in obvious surrender. They started to beat him with all sorts of torture instruments. Nadia found she couldn’t look away. Her eyes welled with tears, overflowed and streamed down her face. She held an open palm to her mouth, muffling her sobs. The pain in her heart was overwhelming.

Angel suffered conflicting emotions about having Nadia witness his humiliation. He hated that she was seeing him reduced to exactly what he was – nothing. But was also pleased that she got to witness the cruelty they suffer at the hands of her family, hoping that would make her help them escape the hell hole. But then he hated that she was suffering, from watching him suffer and it took everything in him to contain himself from unleashing mayhem on the guards.

“Enough!” Antonio Rufus thundered. “I say stop!” he yelled angrily.

The guards stopped their actions. Nadia anxiously searched for Angel. Her shoulders shook as she cried silently.

"Who is responsible for this madness?!" Antonio Rufus yelled.

"It's a mere drill, father …." Daniel said and then groaned. His father let out a loud growl.

"Did I tell you to do this?"

"No, father, but…" the other man started to explain but was cut short by Antonio Rufus.

"Have you gone mad?! Why am I cursed with moronic sons – Imbeciles?! I clearly told you to let the guards give them a break, and what do you do? You are trying to get them to kill each other!"

Daniel tried to get up, succeeded and then slumped. Mathew let out a low curse. The grounds went deathly quiet, even Antonio Rufus paused his ranting and then he asked through gritted teeth, "Is he dead?"

One of the guards quickly went to check his pulse at the base of his neck and replied, "No, boss. He passed out…"

"Too bad," Antonio Rufus growled and turned to Mathew. "Can I at least trust you to sort out this mess?"

"Yes, father," Mathew replied.

"Have the doctor check them all out, and I hope I don't need to tell you I need Angel alert and fit!" he yelled, turned and stalked away, mumbling angrily to himself. About thirty guards immediately flanked him, following him back to the house. The others stayed to clean up dead bodies and led the disoriented Weres back down a path she figured must lead to where they were kept.

Nadia stayed in the freezing cold, watching Angel stay unmoving on the ground while Mathew barked out orders. His voice sounded so far away in Nadia’s ears. All her attention was on Angel.

Shortly after, six men came with a stretcher to carry Angel.

“Take him to the house, the doctor will come and see him there,” Mathew instructed. Nadia waited for the guards carrying Angel to move along before she skittered after them, ensuring she had them in sight.