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The cuffs holding Rob to the cross fastened with snaps. He had Rob s right arm free in a
matter of seconds. He was working frantically on the left cuff when Stefan yanked him away
by his hair and dragged him across the floor. The pain in his scalp made him see stars. Rob,
he thought. I m sorry.
Bad boy, Stefan scolded. He tightened his grip on Kyle s hair and pulled him to his
feet. Kyle dangled helplessly in front of his tormentor. I thought you were going to behave.
That we have a bit of good time. He plunged a hypodermic into Kyle s shoulder. Almost
immediately, Kyle started to feel numb. Stefan gave an evil laugh. You know, the way Mary
and I did.
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The last thing Kyle heard was Rob s cry of anguish.
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Chapter Nineteen
You bastard! You fucking sicko! I m going to cut your nuts off and stuff them down
your throat, Aries. With his free hand, Rob ripped off the other wrist cuff. He stretched
sideways and managed reach one of the knives hanging on the wall next to the cross. Before
Aries could stop him, he had sliced through the ankle cuffs. I swear, you re going to pay.
I m going to hurt you so bad, you ll beg me to kill you.
He grabbed Aries by the throat and pushed him up against the rough wall. Kyle s limp
body slumped to the floor. Rob applied the point of his blade into Stefan s cheek, just
breaking the skin. A ruby drop welled up from the tiny wound. What should I do first? Cut
out one of your eyes? Slice out your tongue? There was a noise behind him. Don t try
anything, girlie, or I swear I ll gut him like the pig that he is.
It s all right, Jez. Back off. Aries sounded remarkably calm for a man with a knife in
his face. Settle down, Rob. You don t really want to hurt me.
Rob had a sense of something foreign invading his mind. Tendrils of peace and light
twined through his angry thoughts, surrounding and smothering them. He struggled to hold
on to his rage in the face of Aries suggestions. I do want to hurt you. I want to see you
bleed. I want to make you suffer.
Frustration flickered across Aries face, followed by a brief flash of fear. Rob pricked
him again, just under his chin. A trickle of crimson ran down over Stefan s collarbone and
onto his gold-furred chest. Stefan smiled, a bit sadly.
I do suffer, Rob. Do you have any idea what it s like to be me? I grew up powerless
and despised, robbed of my birthright by some twist of fate. My family, their friends, the
whole community of the gifted, looking down at me. Pitying me. I had to do something to set
things right. To restore the balance.
Despite his fury, Rob couldn t help but understand. He could feel Aries emptiness. He
had a vivid, visceral sense of the young man s desperate need for recognition. His lost, lonely
years in Europe studying the black and the white arts, gaining knowledge but never the
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power he craved, the power he saw in all those around him, the power that he had been
denied.
Bitterness, envy, and underneath it all, the desire for love. All that Stefan Aries had ever
really wanted was to belong.
It was awful and overwhelming. Rob groped for his anger, but it had vanished, washed
away by the inexorable tide of Aries feelings.
You see, Rob. You feel it. I know you do. Gently, Stefan grasped Rob s wrist. Rob
allowed him to take the knife. I have to do this.
The sting of a needle entering his butt roused Rob from his empathic fugue, but it was
too late.
* * * *
Someone was trying to wrench Rob s arms out of their sockets. The ache in his
shoulders cut through the fog in his brain, tearing him out of drugged slumber and into
painful reality. Even before he opened his eyes, he understood that he was bound again.
Coarse rope bit into his joined wrists, then pulled upward.
He forced his heavy eyelids open to find that he suspended from the ceiling. He
stretched, reaching for the floor, but his efforts were futile. At best, his big toes brushed the
concrete. He couldn t get enough contact to offload his weight or relieve the excruciating pull
on his arms.
The scents of sandalwood and musk permeated the damp air. Aries and his girl were
huddled over some kind of altar in one corner, chanting in some foreign language and
burning things on a small hearth. Stefan poured something onto the embers and flames leapt
towards the ceiling, heightening the shadows. He tossed some dark unidentified object onto
the fire. The smell of incense was replaced by the disgusting odour of charred hair. The
woman s soprano and Stefan s baritone rose and fell together. The two seemed completely
focused on their ritual, ignoring, for now, their captives.
Kyle lay on his back, trussed and tied to steel loops embedded in the marble platform.
He did not move. Rob suspected that he was still unconscious. The boy looked beautiful in
his restraints. Rob didn t normally find BDSM imagery arousing, but he had to admit that the
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jet strands criss-crossing Kyle s chest looked incredibly erotic. On the other hand, Kyle
always looked hot. His cock stood tall, pointing at the ceiling. Perhaps this was some effect of
the drug Rob realised that despite the pain in his shoulders, he was hard too.
Despair settled over him. How were they going to escape? Aries was a madman,
brilliant and cruel, who would do anything to assuage his feelings of inadequacy. He had
slaughtered Mary Rob choked down a sob as he finally admitted this to himself. Next, he
would sacrifice Kyle. And Rob? He was simply in the way, a minor complication. Aries
wouldn t think twice about killing him, despite the fact that Rob was a cop. But Rob guessed
that Stefan Aries would want to have some fun first for instance, forcing Rob to observe the
rape and murder of his lover.
Rob groaned and fought against the rope holding him prisoner. Aries heard and turned
to smile at him.
Ah, Rob. You re awake. That s good. We re just about to begin the main part of the
ceremony. You ll get to watch as Kyle gives me his gift. That will give you some idea of what
you can expect.
Me? Rob had resolved not to give Aries the satisfaction of answering, but surprise got
the better of him. I assumed you d just shoot me or poison me or something equally
simple.
Now, that would be a waste. Stefan strolled over to confront Rob. You have your
own gift, you know. He reached down and gave Rob s cock a casual squeeze. So I m going
to fuck you too.
What are you talking about? I don t have any kind of psychic talent.
Stefan laughed in delight. Oh, but you re wrong. Talent runs in families. Mary had an
incredible talent. It would be quite surprising if you didn t have some power of your own.
You re crazy. Delusional.
Not at all. I was born with a kind of talent, too the ability to detect psychic abilities in
others. You re an empath, Rob. You have the ability to sense and experience the true
emotions of others. Perhaps not as useful as reading minds or seeing the future, but I m
certainly not going to throw it away.
An empath? Rob wanted to deny it. Then he remembered how he had nearly killed
Aries, and the tide of emotion that had stopped him. He thought back to what it was like
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making love to Kyle, how he seemed to understand exactly what the boy was feeling. He
remembered talking to Gina, how hard it was because he always felt her love and her shame.
Maybe, just maybe, it was true.
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