The steady hum of the lights seemed to grow louder the longer they waited. Rogue could feel the tension building; feel the animosity, the rage growing even though everyone of Angel’s people had stony faces.
Shifting she glanced around, noting the way Piotr kept his eye on Angel who paced the confines of the light as though trying to control herself. Each step was filled with banked violence, with a dark need that Rogue couldn’t grasp.
“They’re here.” The soft tone was at odds with the fire in the man’s face as he stepped through the shadows and into the light. “There’s seven.”
Angel nodded quickly and reached for her wrist. She played with the charms, running her nails over each one quickly to remind herself she wasn’t to do anything without thought. She paused as she caught movement and turned to face the incoming bodies.
Rogue swallowed against the bitter scald of bile in the back of her throat as she saw both girls and boys come into sight. They were dressed in scanty clothes, faces painted to hide the bruises, fear had them huddling together as they stared at the man Angel had confronted earlier.
“See? What did I tell ya? They’re all young, not too many miles on ‘em. Hell even a couple of ‘em are still untried.” He prattled on moving toward the children.
“Untainted by your filth.” Angel snarled angrily. “Not hardly. Even I can see you’re a liar, and a thief. So tell me what do you think I should do? What would you do if you were in my shoes?”
“Uh, um…” the man stuttered to stop and turned to stare at the furious blonde before him.
“Don’t tell remember,” Angel hissed walking toward him, her hips swaying a bit more than usual. “Don’t breathe a word of your dirty little secret. After all Mommies don’t understand.”
She paused right in front of him and smirked. “How many more were there, Harry? How many souls did you steal, did you kill before tonight? What’s the matter, you look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I don’t even know you.” He swallowed. “Take ‘em all. I uh, I don’t want no trouble with the locals.”
Angel shook her head slowly. “You never did, you slimy coward. Can’t steal enough from a grown woman, you have to steal from the children around you, huh? Your little shack is in ashes by now, your crimes however, still go on. I want every single house you’ve got. I want to know each and every operation you’re running and I want to know now!”
“Now see here, I ain’t about to tell you where all my operations are. Gotta have an income you know.” He blustered only to gasp as she backhanded him across the face.
“Do not tempt me.” Angel growled. “I would hate to lose my cool in front of my people. However, they’re all familiar with your brand of scum.” She smiled, “So. I’m going to do you a favor. I’m gonna tell you exactly what I think and then I’m gonna walk away. For every night that your victims have suffered, for every dime you’ve made off their bodies, their souls, I sentence you to death. Not just a nice, quick, painless death. I want you to know what it feels like to be a little girl and have a grown man forcing himself into her body. I want you to understand exactly what you’ve done to these children, and I’m going to let that happen.”
“What do you mean?” He whimpered his gaze darting around to the circle of men and women who stared at him with banked rage in their eyes.
Angel shrugged and looked at Piotr before turning back to her stepfather. “Be a good person, Harry. I promise it won’t hurt, and you’ll make me happy. You want to make me happy don’t you? If you’re really good, I’ll buy you some ice cream. But we mustn’t tell Mommy.” She whispered in his ear. “You’re so soft, so pretty. Those eyes, that face.”
Harry paled and stared at the woman who took a step back. He didn’t know what it was that clued him in suddenly but he knew that he’d opened the gates of hell. “You’re Amber’s daughter.”
Angel shrugged and stepped away from him. “Kill him.”
Piotr nodded and met her eyes. “Slow or quick?”
“No. You can’t do this! I’m a…”
“Nothing.” Angel turned to him. “Absolutely nothing. You should have stayed as far from this place, from me as possible. But you didn’t and now I get to decide what happens to you. Make him suffer as much as possible.”
A murmur of agreement swept the Enforcers as their leader and savior vanished into the shadows. They would be nice and wait until she’d slipped away into the night, then they’d play.
As soon as he was certain that Angel had gone, Piotr looked at the whimpering mass in front of him. “So, you like sodomy do you?” He asked smoothly and nodded at one of the boys. “See, I’m not that big a fan of it but then I guess I’m allowed my preference. History has a way of repeating itself.”
“You can’t touch me. You’ll go to prison, they’ll arrest all of you.”
“To do that they’d have to catch us. And we’re very good at what we do.” Piotr ground out grabbing him around the throat and squeezing. “So good that we’ve never been caught. Now then, let’s see how well you like it when you’re on the receiving end of the pain. Bulldog, bring me the chair.”
Slammed into the hard wooden chair, Harry sat there terrified as the big man circled around him. “What are you going to do to me?”
“I’m going to be generous, and follow my orders.” Piotr ground out and looked at Logan for a second. “Take the children to the house, Rogue that means you to. You don’t need to be here.”
“But…”
“It’s best if you go.” Logan agreed softly. “You don’t want to have this on your conscience. We’ll be along as soon as we’re done.”
Rogue glanced between them before nodding and following two of the other women out of the warehouse and into the night. The screams that echoed on the darkness as they crawled into the van chilled her and she glanced behind her at the darkened building.
“Never look back,” a familiar voice said and Rogue turned to face one of the girls she’d seen years before in Selkirk. “You can’t change things, and what’s behind us will give you nightmares.”
“They’re going to kill them aren’t they?”
“In time.”
Rogue shivered again, she wasn’t too sure she could deal with knowing just what happened. Leaning back in her seat she sighed, she would trust Logan this night, trust him to stop Piotr from doing something he would regret later.
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