Untold Pain (Book 5)

“We’ve encountered a serious problem with the eight of you,” Abaddon said like he was talking to children.

The eight Orchem brothers knelt on the floor in a loose semicircle. Being treated like children rather than the men they were was degrading. However the demon walking in front of them didn’t see them as anything but slaves to control, and do what they were meant for. A second demon stood watching them with darkness in her gaze and the same greed.

They each knelt on what looked like burn marks on the floor, but each had his own symbol, and each symbol held them in place until Abaddon wished to let them go. It had taken a lot of strength to get the eight of them here when they refused to come. They refused because they knew what was coming and it wasn’t something that any of them wanted.

Plus there were things they didn’t want the demons to find out about and several were trying to formulate a plan fast in their minds. Most looked to Tristan, the one who held the ability of knowledge, for the final details that would work. They gave nothing away that they were communicating silently simply looking at the floor in front of them.

“I know that one of you has found a way to block certain things from me. You didn't think I would notice the blank spots? That you would not be reprimanded? Anything that is part of your life should be in my control. You were given the rules! I may not control you directly, but you are still my property! You come when I call as I hold your contract, a sacrifice to me and that makes you my pets.” Abaddon nearly shouted at them.

The demon was furious that these eight once again were doing things he was too late to notice. Or nearly so, a mistake he was going to correct right now.

Abaddon was a very powerful demon. He had gained the brothers in a ritual long ago that their own father had helped set up and put them through. They hadn’t died, but they had become more and were bound to punish and kill those who stepped outside of Abaddon’s rules. His subjects had chosen their executioners in a sense. The brothers also knew that wasn’t the end game for Abaddon, those they policed were just a smoke screen for the bigger picture yet to unfold.

“We aren’t hiding anything.” This came from Xavier, he was third from the left with dark black hair and ice-blue eyes that held an anger that was close to erupting. This was bullshit, the fact they had to keep enduring this shit.

“Then why can’t we see the women that you have decided to take as mates, wives, or lovers?” This came from the blonde-haired woman in a red business-like suit, her name was Bael. She stopped in front of him and then her eyes moved over to Tristan.

He was a light brown-haired male, one of the thinner men before her but not lacking muscles of any kind. He couldn’t with the job that he was required to do, yet she knew that he had started it. Started it because of the woman he found so precious and now their son.

Both Abaddon and Bael were sure it was Tristan who was the root cause, but the brothers refused to speak. So they would try and pit them against each other. Nothing like attempting to sew hate in their hearts for each other. Thing was the eight men were very used to their antics.

None of them said anything more as they knelt there. None of them were going to throw Tristan under the bus. Abaddon didn’t like not seeing everything with these men, he needed them. They were the final act in a lifetime of work and manipulation. He was still annoyed that he could not pin down their father, just like them he had manipulated his rules very well.

The way that these men were heading they’d soon find a way to loosen the hold he had on them. That was why he needed to figure out why he could never seem to find the women at will. What were they doing? Why was this happening? The ritual should bring their soulmate forward. Abaddon needed that to use against them when the time came. Now things were a bit muddy. Someone in this fucking group had done something to cause an alteration that Abaddon did not like.

“I want each of you to remove your clothing,” Abaddon said and he noted a slight shift in half of those sitting before him. It was ever so slight but it betrayed a nervousness, it wasn’t from modesty or fear of undressing.

They had something that they were hiding and he wanted to know what it was. He had a hunch that it was a mark of some kind. Something that they gave in order to hide what they held dear, he could sense it. He’d seen markings on a couple of them when fighting and now he wanted to know. What bullshit had these brothers been up to?

Two removed their shirts first, but they weren’t the ones that he was most interested in. However he made sure to look over their skin anyway. He was angered that he could not see into their heads, each of them had a natural barrier that was stronger than ever, and their eldest brother aided them.

While the one named Loren provided a shield that kept their minds from overloading. These bastards kept getting stronger and their talents were melding together better. It wasn’t that he didn’t want them strong, because in the end that power would be his, he just didn’t want them strong enough to thwart him.

'What are we going to say?' Zoren said in his mind to his brothers. This was the day that they dreaded most, revealing what they had done. They had to lie and they had to think of one quick. One that was close to the truth but definitely not it. They had spoken a lot about it, but never fully agreed on a story.

Five of them had marks on their bodies that showed they had given their souls to their match. The one that loved them and they loved back completely. The one that they would do anything for, it was part of the ritual yet not.

It forced them to truly find the one who would complete them. Even if it was cliché and didn’t happen in normal real life. It seemed to be happening to them one by one.

'We’ll just tell them it is a mating mark, a sign of our devotion. Something like that, they’d expect us to be weak like that with emotions.' Tristan said mentally.

'You start talking first or feed the person the line. Make sure every detail is correct. Everyone says the same thing if they take us separately to speak.' Valarius demanded of his brothers. He kept their minds tight so they could hear each other well.

“Clothes!” Abaddon shouted and the rest moved to remove their shirts. To remove their pants they would have to stand and they hadn’t been allowed to yet. The marks would make sure they wouldn’t move until they were allowed to.

They’d been dragged here and forced onto them today, even if they tried to fight the call. It was an inescapable truth that Abaddon held their freedom with the cursed stones created as their contract. Perhaps they could not be fully controlled, but control them he did.

Once each had their chests and backs exposed, Abaddon stepped forward. He stopped in front of the twins first. Xavier and Zoren, both black hair and ice blue eyes. They had the most markings on their bodies. Being twins and having been brought into the ritual at the same time, it would seem when they shared their souls it also connected them to their brother's mate as well.

“What are these markings?” He asked, looking at the intricate design of them. The ones that these two had looked like ivy. One patch on the left part of their chest and then near their hip, Bael moved around behind those kneeling. The twins remained silent.

All of them no matter the design had the patterns going down their spines. The twins however had two spots where the markings came out of their shoulder blades and then wound down their back.

“I want an answer,” Abaddon said moving down the line and stopping to look at Loren. His tattoo was slightly different. None was on his hip, only what looked like barbed wire came from the hollow of his throat and across his collarbones before hooking over his back.

“What are these scars from?” Bael asked looking at Loren’s back, twin white scars that went from shoulder blades to dip into the line of his pants.

“Which ones?” Loren said. “I have plenty of them, they become a blur after a while,” he said staring at Abaddon, but talking to Bael.

“You don’t get a scar like that without remembering and I would remember giving those to you. You don’t scare like that,” Bael said to him.

“Clearly it wasn’t you that did it. There's more that has injured us than you,” he said, and was rewarded with a sharp blow to the back of the head. He went forward but braced himself against the floor before sitting back up on the back of his legs. He didn’t have to answer the bitch if he didn’t want to.

“Tell me what the markings are or I start cutting pieces from you,” Abaddon said with a motion of his hand he had a sword there and they all tensed. All of them had been sliced by this demon, tortured for one thing or another and it wasn’t an experience that they cared for.

“It’s a mating mark.” Orin suddenly blurted out. Abaddon turned to look at the youngest Orchem brother. He had bright green eyes and blonde hair that was a bit shaggy at the moment with a wave to it.

“How could you get a mating mark? You are human, don't lie,” Bael said moving around to look at him. Part of his marking wound around the very top of his left bicep and then around to his back, Going down his spine like the others weaving in and out, before moving around the right side of his hip. His was an odd looping and spiral scroll, unlike the ivy that most of the others had.

“We might have been human. We aren’t anymore,” Tristan said. “I did what I wanted to. I wanted to have someone that was solely mine. I made the ritual and completed it with her consent. Not that either of you know what real consent is. Or love for another. If I want a promise of vows to only one I will do it,” Tristan spoke with a factual tone and just stared ahead.

“I knew he would be the one to do this,” Bael said narrowing her eyes at him. She loathed them all, though a few more than the others. Tristan with his knowledge irritated her, and then there was Pierce their physical perfection. She would love nothing better than to attack that one with his mouth and demeanor. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a mark, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t.

“Is that all these marks are for?” Abaddon said and it appeared that he wasn’t really sure that he bought that line. He put the tip of his sword against Orin’s arm it was sharp enough that it cut instantly and a bit of blood ran down his arm.

He knew that the more damage he took to his body, so would Talia who held the same marks on her skin. He was determined to hold back any punishment that they would deal him. She’d been abused most of her life and he didn’t want her to feel more of it. This was the downside of sharing souls, they were connected physically, and it was a concentrated effort to not let it through.

'I want to be there to help you with the pain.' Orin heard her voice in his head. It was hard to block her from speaking to him, easier to block what his body felt, and harder still to control the emotions that he would send her.

There was plenty of speaking going on in the brothers’ heads, one large connection and several separate ones as they argued with those who weren’t here.

“Yes, mating and binding. It keeps a bond between the one we chose, no one else can come between it, ever,” Tristan said and a light seemed to come to Abaddon’s eyes. He very clearly saw it in Tristan’s gaze and his laugh was chilling.

“You already figured out the match part haven’t you? That she is your soulmate.” Tristan didn’t say anything, why bother they knew he had and the others knew as well. Guess he didn't have to play coy then.

“You might have done us a favor by tying them to you,” Abaddon replied and Tristan’s jaw tightened a bit. "Makes them easier to find through you if they can't leave you. Your love makes you weak.” Abaddon’s gaze seemed to go unfocused for a moment.

“Show me your hands,” Abaddon said and they did as he asked palms up.

“No mark,” Bael said and seemed relieved by that. This mark they looked for was a different type, one that would just be raised flesh.

“I’ll deal with Set soon enough,” Abaddon replied. Set was another demon just as bad if not worse than the two standing here. He had come to them to ask them to serve him instead of those that controlled them now, none of them wanted that because none of them were willing to give him anything for servitude.

Even if he promised more freedom, it was still a cage, and they didn’t need a new master. So none of them even saw a reason for him to look for a mark of another demon.

“For now Bael make it clear that I don’t want any more of these rituals behind our backs or the next time it will be worse. Any of you try and tamper with ritual magic again, you won’t even remember your name when I finish with your punishment. You want your bitch tied to you fine, but they will suffer next if you try anything like this again.” With that he was gone and Bael looked at them with a glee in her eyes.

Abaddon usually left it to her, not that he was afraid to dish out a punishment, Bael was just damn good at it. She looked at the eight before her and thought of just how much pain she wanted to give them.