“Come on. You need to piss; then we need to go.” Ernst grabbed her arm and dragged her a few feet behind some bushes. “Go.”
“I can’t.”
“You can, or you can piss yourself while we walk. Your choice.”
The bastard wasn’t going to turn around. Mortified, Heather made do. She gave him her back, dropped her pants, and squatted to do her business, aware of him watching her the whole time.
“Too bad Klaus missed this. He likes humiliation,” Ernst said in a thick voice.
Like Ernst didn’t? He seemed to want to portray himself as better than his brother, but from what Heather could tell, he was just as cruel and perverted. She stood and hurried to right her clothing.
“Why won’t your brother let me heal him?” she asked, needing to fix Klaus’s wounds. Being kept from pain was in itself a kind of torment. Perhaps Klaus knew that.
Ernst shrugged. When she tried to go around him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and smashed his lips against hers. She struggled to get free, but he was too powerful. Too strong.
Tears rolled down her cheeks while he shoved his tongue into her mouth and squeezed her breast.
He pulled away from her mouth before she could bite him. “Oh yeah. You’re a hot piece. I can’t wait to fuck that ass.”
She cringed and tried to distance herself, both mentally and physically, when he dragged her close again.
“Ernst, not now.” Klaus tapped him on the shoulder. “Father is waiting, and he’s not happy.”
Ernst immediately moved away from her. “Bring her with you. I’ll see to Father.”
Klaus nodded. When Heather wiped her mouth, trembling, Klaus just stared at her, his eyes hard. He reached for her hand, and she immediately jerked back. His eyes seemed to soften, and then he glared at her.
“Come on.” He nodded in the direction from which they’d come.
She wondered if she could run into the woods before an injured Klaus could catch her, if she’d make matters better or worse if she wasn’t there for Jack to rescue. Would she be saving him or not?
“I wouldn’t,” he said in a low voice. “I’ll find you. Then Father will hurt you, and Ernst will rape you. He’ll make it hurt.”
She tried not to cry but couldn’t help it. “He’s going to rape me later anyway.”
Klaus stiffened. “Not if you promise to be mine instead. I’ll protect you.”
Oh God. Jack, where are you? He would use the situation to his advantage, wouldn’t he? Could she use one brother against the other? The possibility intrigued her enough to go with Klaus back to the others. She saw Jan’s raised brow as he looked from her to Klaus. The he saw her mouth and frowned. He said something to Ralf, who glared at Klaus.
“Not me.” Klaus nodded to Ernst, who paled. “I was bringing her back. I think she meant to escape.”
“Only because he tried to…tried to…” She couldn’t say it. “You’re an evil man, Ernst Baer.”
Ralf scowled at her. “My son is not evil. You Stallbridges are the problem. Whores and liars all. Your family tainted a pure thing, stole its essence without thought or care for our town. You’re admitted thieves, and you think you can put the blame at our feet? Ernst is just eager to apply our brand of justice.”
“Good points, Ralf.” Jan nodded. “Perhaps we can belabor them at home? My bones ache, and I know Edda’s just waiting with some hot cider to ease our troubles.”
Ralf smiled. “Cider. That’s a good thing. Let’s go, boys.”
The group started the return trip back. Heather saw Klaus watching her constantly, but when he’d notice her watching, he’d look away. Ernst glared at her but kept his distance after his father said something to him. Later that night, when they stopped again, Ernst found her before she could lie down to sleep.
“Don’t let down your guard, darling. When we get back to town, I’m going to kill your lover. And then I’ll skin him alive while you watch. You’re mine, and your punishment will be a warning to all who think to fuck with the Source.”
He grinned, and she felt ill.
“Don’t you forget it.”
Chapter Nine
Jack’s leg was throbbing. His side hurt like a bitch. But none of that made a damn bit of difference when he couldn’t stop aching for Heather. Scared, cold, and tired, the poor woman still managed to look like an angel surrounded by so much filth. He understood the Baers. Bullies came in all shapes and sizes, and these dicks thought they ruled Drei-Gewalten. From the comments Ralf and Ernst made, they regularly killed those unfortunate enough to find their way into the town.
He wondered if Ida and the others knew that the Baers killed outsiders with prejudice. Jan seemed not to be surprised by the revelations, and Jack stored that information away, guarding it wisely. Jan was the one to watch. Mikhail had disappeared, probably hunting Jack with the others. Only Ralf, Ernst, Jan, and Jack—pretending to be Klaus—remained.
Jack needed to return to town to find transportation for himself and Heather. Ida’s place would offer no refuge. She’d be under watch. He hoped the old woman wouldn’t get in trouble for helping Heather and him. But he had no idea how far the Baers’ authority stretched. The town council had the most say, from what he gathered. And Ida had a reputation in town as someone to respect.
The things Ernst had whispered of doing to Heather made Jack ill. Only his pretense and the knowledge he needed to regain his strength gave him the fortitude not to kill Ernst right away. That, and it took a lot of energy to hold himself in Klaus Baer’s form while his wounds hurt like a bitch.
He worried that if he let Heather heal him, she’d know him. And he needed her fear to be authentic. She had to be believable if they had a shot at escaping. The road he’d traveled to get into town wouldn’t help him. But Jan’s gate would. He could drag Heather with him into Grainau, and not as Klaus but as Jan.
A glance at the old man showed him watching Heather with concern. Jan had tied her up so she couldn’t escape. Ralf had already gone to sleep, and Klaus was due to keep the first watch. Before Jack could cross to question the old man, Ernst tapped him on the shoulder.
“Come with me.”
He followed his brother silently from the camp. Some distance away, Ernst relieved himself and said over his shoulder in a low voice, “Bring the bitch to me.”
“Heather, now?”
“Who else, dumb-ass? I’m tired of waiting. Father is just going to kill her. No sense in wasting that fine pussy and ass.”
“Wait. Kill her?” That put a definite kink in Jack’s plans. He’d thought to bide their escape until they drew closer to town.
“Yes. He doesn’t think the council will let him do what needs to be done. Jan seems okay with our method of safety.”
Killing people.
“But you never know with that wily bastard. And we still haven’t found Keiser yet. My neck’s itching that he’s closer than we think. I don’t want to chance Heather getting hurt or killed before I get a taste of her. Besides, if it all goes to shit, at least we’ll have had a piece of her before she tries to escape and we have to gun her down.” Ernst wiggled his brows. “Bring her to me once everyone’s asleep.”
“What about Father and what he’ll say?”
“What about him? We both know the old man’s time is running short. All that power he has is starting to drift into me. I can feel it. And he knows it too. I’ll soon run the show. Father is just biding his time. He’ll agree to whatever I want.”
Truth, or the truth as Ernst saw it? And what did he mean, that Ralf’s power was waning, shifting into Ernst?
“Fine. I’ll be right back.” Jack saw an opportunity. While Ralf lay asleep, and Ernst seemed the largest threat, he might have a shot at their escape if he moved now.