Bitter Sweet Hell (Hell Night Book 2) Read online

  Eden moans sleepily, her ass rubbing against me, causing me to harden further. “You should probably answer that,” she says through a yawn.

  With a grunt, I roll to my back and snatch the phone up from the nightstand. It stops ringing as soon as my hand touches it. I check the missed calls. Emo. Three of them. I must have not heard the first call.

  I’m just about to hit his name to call him back, when it starts ringing again.

  “This had better be really fuckin’ important,” I snarl.

  “I need you to come over,” Emo states, his voice impassive.

  “Why? This couldn’t wait until later?”

  “No. It’s something you’ll want to see.”

  I sit up in bed and swing my feet to the floor. “What is it?”

  “Just get here and I’ll show you,” he answers evasively.

  “Fine,” I sigh. “Give me thirty.”

  I feel Eden moving behind me as I toss the phone on the nightstand. A moment later, her naked tits are plastered to my back, her arms go around my torso, and her hands flatten on my pecs. Her sweet lips press against the center of my back.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Hmm… I don’t know. Emo wants to see me.”

  “Sounds serious,” she remarks, pressing a kiss to my shoulder blade.

  “Yeah.”

  I twist, forcing her to lean back, grab her waist, and haul her into my lap. She sits sideways across my thighs and her arms slide loosely around my neck. Her smile is sleepy and entirely way too pretty.

  “Hi.”

  When I lean down for a kiss, she shakes her head, scrunches her nose, and covers her mouth. I cock a brow at her.

  “I need to brush my teeth,” she mumbles behind her hand.

  Chuckling, I grab her wrist and yank it down. “Give me that mouth woman. I don’t care about fuckin’ morning breath.”

  Before she can protest further, I swoop down and give her a kiss that makes us both delirious with need. She’s panting by the time I pull away, and it’s apparent morning breath is no longer on her mind. Even my own breathing is labored.

  “Legs around my waist, Gypsy. We’re killing two birds since I don’t have much time; a shower and sex.”

  Once she’s situated with her legs tightly gripping my waist, I get us both up from the bed and haul her to the bathroom, where I eat her pussy, then fuck her against the shower wall.

  FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, because you just can’t rush shower sex, Eden and I are walking through Emo’s front door. Grace is in the kitchen. With a wave to Grace and a kiss to Eden, I leave the women and go to Emo’s office. He’s at his desk, reading over something on the monitor in front of him. He looks like shit, but I’m glad to see it’s not as bad as the last time I saw him.

  “What’s going on?”

  He gestures to the computer with his chin. “Come take a look.”

  I walk over and stop behind his chair. At first, I don’t know what I’m looking at. It’s just a bunch of jumbled medical terms. When I notice the name at the top of the screen though, I take a closer look. It’s a medical record. On my father.

  I read over the record. Then read over it again. My gaze slides to the doctor’s name and address. It’s a doctor’s office in San Antonio. When I glance at the date, it confuses me.

  “Where did you get this?” I ask Emo, reading the record for a third time. “This can’t be right.”

  “There was a floppy disk shoved in between a couple of the tapes. It’s all legit.” He closes the record and pulls up another one. The name on this one is someone I’ve never heard of before. “The clinic and the doctor are real. And the signature is spot on.” He points to the signature at the bottom on the screen. He’s right, it matches perfectly with the one on my father’s record.

  “But it says my father had a testicular rupture due to an injury. One that couldn’t be repaired through surgery. It made him infertile.”

  “Yes.”

  I grit my teeth impatiently. “Emo, this has to be a fake. The date on that is eleven months before I was born. I’m here, so apparently, my father could have children.”

  “Unless your father isn’t really your father,” he states quietly.

  I’ve already thought of that, but it was so crazy the thought left my mind the moment it entered. I mean, yes, my parents were some twisted individuals because of their roles in Hell Night, but they appeared to genuinely love each other. Always affectionate, always declaring their love. They had stars in their eyes when they looked at each other, for fuck’s sake. I can’t imagine my mother ever cheating on my father. I also can’t imagine my father being okay with her cheating and raising another man’s child.

  “It was obviously something they didn’t want people to know,” Emo continues. “That’s why he saw a doctor outside of Sweet Haven.”

  “But why? And more importantly, who in the hell is my father?”

  “I don’t know, but I figured this was something you needed to know.”

  I drag my hands through my hair, frustrated with this new development. It doesn’t really matter who my father was. Ninety-five percent of Sweet Haven’s adult population participated in Hell Night, so the chances of one of the other sick fucks being my father is pretty high. I just want to know who it is so I can make sure he’s dead.

  “See what you can find out and get back with me.” He nods and turns back to the screen. “How’re the tapes going?”

  His hands freeze on the keyboard, and I see the muscle in his jaw twitch. “I’m almost done.” He types something then swivels in his chair to face me. “Do you remember Jenny’s parents?”

  I think back and vaguely remember the young couple. I don’t remember their names, but their faces come to mind.

  “I don’t remember much about them, but yes, I remember them. Why?”

  “So, you don’t know what happened to them?”

  “No.”

  He turns his back to me. “I don’t remember them much either. But I do remember all of a sudden Jenny living with her aunt and uncle. I don’t recall ever seeing them again after that.” He pulls a video up on the screen. “Look at this.”

  He presses play and it takes the video a moment to focus. It’s the hall, crowded with adults and children. I ignore the cries and wails and force my attention where Emo is pointing.

  “That’s Mick and Deanna, Jenny’s parents. Watch them.”

  I lean down, because the quality is shit, and take a closer look, recognizing the two people at the coffee table-sized table. The angle isn’t very good with them off to the side, but good enough to tell what’s going on. Mick is at the end with his pants around his knees standing between Jenny’s thighs. Deanna is at the head of the table, her face to the side of Jenny’s, her hand running down Jenny’s stomach. The sight makes my stomach twist in disgust, and I force back the urge to hurl.

  Looking past the depraved behavior, I look at Deanna’s face, which is turned to the camera. I lean closer and notice something. Deanna looks like she’s… crying. There’s a sheen on her cheeks, and it’s not from sweat. Her expression is drawn tight and pained. Glancing at her hands, it looks like they’re barely touching Jenny.

  “Do you see it?” Emo asks.

  Ignoring him, my eyes move to Mick. For all intents and purposes, he looks like he’s having sex with his daughter. He has his hands on her thighs and his hips move back and forth, mimicking sex. There’s just one small problem.

  I look to Emo and he pauses the video. “He doesn’t have an erection.” It’s not very noticeable because of the shadows and the grainy quality of the video, but if you look closely enough when he pulls back, you can tell the man is softer than a marshmallow. “Neither one of them wanted to be there doing what they were doing.”

  “Exactly,” he puts in. “According to the date on this video and Jenny’s birthdate, she had just turned the right age to fully take part in Hell Night almost a week prior. This would have been the final stage to comp
lete her initiation. You’d think they would be foaming at the mouth to get to her after waiting so long. They aren’t. They look like they’re barely holding onto their stomachs.”

  “You said they disappeared and she moved in with her aunt and uncle. So, what happened to them.”

  It’s more of a statement than a question. Emo and I were both twelve at the time Sweet Haven was raided, and according to the date on the video, this took place about a month before the town was taken down. Unless we were directly involved or overheard something, there’s no reason why we would know what happened to Jenny’s parents.

  “People aren’t allowed to leave Malus, so that only leaves one choice.”

  “They had to have been murdered,” I voice our grim thought. “Question is, was it because of their less than enthusiastic participation or did they do something The Council didn’t like. Regardless, they must have been murdered not long after this video, because the raid wasn’t long after this happened.”

  “She was only five, but it might be a good idea to ask Jenny if she remembers anything.”

  I stuff my hands in my pockets. “I’ve got to drop Eden off at Judge’s place for a couple hours so I can take care of a few things, but when I pick her up, I’ll have a talk with Jenny. I’ll also check the death records my parents kept. See if any of them are Mick and Deanna’s.”

  Emo gives me a stiff nod before turning back to the computer monitor and closing out the paused video. After, we leave his office in search of the women, finding them where I left them in the kitchen. Eden has her hands wrapped around a coffee mug held close to her mouth.

  “You ready to go?” I ask, walking up and lightly tugging on the end of her braid.

  She moves toward the sink to dump the rest of her coffee, but I grab the cup before she can. “I’ll finish it.”

  “It’s hot,” she warns, but I’ve already got it to my lips, tipping it back and swallowing the hot liquid.

  She snorts and rolls her eyes, but they sparkle with laughter. “Men,” she mutters. “They think they’re so tough.”

  “Ain’t that the truth,” Grace adds, her own eyes dancing lightheartedly.

  “That’s because we are,” I interject. “Right, Emo?”

  His answer is a grunt as he walks to the coffee pot and pours his own cup.

  “Besides,” I set the cup in the sink and turn to snag Eden around her waist, “You women like us men being tough.”

  She shrugs. “Eh. Sometimes.” She looks at Grace and winks before bringing her eyes back to me. “When it’s convenient for us.”

  I chuckle and playfully smack her fine ass. “Hop to it, woman. I’ve got shit to do.”

  She sticks out her tongue, and I lean down to bite it, but she pulls away from before I can. With a giggle, she bids Grace and Emo goodbye.

  “See ya later, Grace,” I offer. My eyes slide to Emo, and we share a dark look before Eden and I leave.

  What Emo showed me today may end up being nothing of importance. Both about my father not being my father and what happened to Jenny’s parents. But some internal voice tells me otherwise.

  I just need to find out what it is.

  EDEN

  WHEN WE PULL UP TO JENNY and Judge’s house after leaving Grace and Emo, I turn in my seat and face JW. I feel incredibly happy right now, so I give him a silly grin. “I miss you already.”

  His laugh is light as he shakes his head. I’m glad to see the euphoria on his face. It’s a big difference from the expression I saw when he first walked in Emo’s kitchen after talking to him.

  “Pretty corny, huh?”

  He lifts his hand and separates his thumb and pointer finger by a fraction of an inch. “Just a bit. But I still like the meaning behind the words.”

  I jerk my chin down once. “Good, because they were true.”

  Still smiling, he pulls me to him by my braid until our lips meet. The kiss is heated and leaves me wanting so much more, but we’re in a car in someone else’s driveway.

  “How long will you be?” I ask once we pull away.

  “Couple of hours maybe. I’ve got paperwork I’ve been putting off.”

  “Okay.” I hesitate for a moment. “Is everything okay with Emo?”

  He turns his face away from me to stare out of the windshield. His expression changes from light and flirty to something dim and bitter.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure.”

  I reach over and grab his hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  He looks back at me and forces a smile. “I’ll tell you later.”

  Picking up the hand I place on his, he brings it to his lips. Goose bumps form on my arm when his scruff rubs against the tender skin on the back of my hand. He hasn’t shaved in a couple of days. The prickly hair on his face looks hot as hell on him, and I bet it would feel even better against my thighs.

  Down girl, now’s not the time.

  “Pack your stuff. I want you to stay with me from now on while I’m home,” he tells me.

  “Are you sure?”

  I really fucking badly want to stay with him, but only if he truly wants me there.

  “I’m sure. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

  “Alright.”

  I get tugged to him for another scorching kiss, and this one leaves both of us breathless when we separate.

  “You better go now before I put off that paperwork even longer.”

  Laughing blissfully, because that’s exactly the way I feel, I get out of the car. At first, I stand there, wanting to watch him drive away, when I realize he’s waiting on me to go inside. Such a gentleman sometimes. With a wave, I spin on my heel, practically bound up the steps, and hear JW pull away as I walk inside.

  The TV’s on, but Jenny’s not in the living room. Judge’s office door is closed, so I assume he’s locked himself inside again. Dropping my purse and phone on the small table by the door, I go in search of Jenny. The kitchen is empty, so I make my way down the hallway to her and Judge’s room, stopping by the door that leads outside and not finding her in the backyard either.

  Their bedroom door is closed. I listen closely and don’t hear any noise. Even so, I still tap on the door. I certainly don’t want to barge in on them having sex. Besides, it’s their bedroom, and you just don’t waltz right in someone’s bedroom without knocking.

  When I don’t get a response, I try again and get the same thing as the first time. Nothing.

  Hmm… maybe she’s in the shower or taking a nap. I go to Judge’s office door and tap twice, wanting to let one of them know I’m home. When I still get no answer, I begin to worry. They both could be taking a nap, but I really don’t see Judge being the take a nap kind of guy. Both his and Jenny’s car are in the driveway, but where in the hell are they?

  A creepy feeling forms in the pit of my stomach, and I walk back to the bedroom door. I press my ear against the wood and strain to listen. When I hear nothing, I grab the door handle, twist, and cautiously open the door, just in case they are having sex.

  I know something’s wrong the moment the air inside the room hits my nose. A sickenly sweet metallic scent, so strong I throw my hand up and cover my nose. Pushing the door open further, my stomach drops and my heart nearly explodes at the scene before me. Blood, so much it almost covers the entire white bed spread.

  “Oh, God,” I moan, tears blurring my vision, but not enough to miss the body sprawled out on the bed. “No, no, no.”

  A sob escapes my tight throat, then another and another, until my cries become hysterical. Her head is turned away from me, but I see the blonde hair and know that it’s Jenny. Sweet and innocent Jenny. The pain of seeing my friend, a woman I barely knew, but one I was starting to care for, torn to shreds nearly brings me to my knees. Whoever did this, was ruthless and gruesome. There’s blood everywhere. And not just blood, but parts of her, parts that are supposed to be inside her, are spread out around her decimated body.

  My knees become weak, along with my stomac
h. Bile rises in my throat, and I swallow several times to try and force back the need to throw up.

  I spin on my heel and leave the bedroom. JW. I need JW.

  This is Diego’s work. He warned me. He fucking warned me, but I ignored it, thinking JW would find him before he did anything else. He didn’t give me enough time. Even if I did have the stupid chip, which I don’t, he still didn’t give me enough time. I should have had more time to come up with a plan!

  Frantically, I look all over the place for my phone. Not on the kitchen island, not in the living room. Then I remember I put it on the table by the door with my keys. Scrubbing my hands over my eyes to clear my still watery vision, I pull up JW’s number. I slide down the wall by the door and listen to the rings. Each one that buzzes in my ear without hearing his voice, I release a sob.

  “Hey. I was just getting ready—”

  “JW,” I croak, completely breaking down. My sobs are loud and my chest rattles with them.

  “Eden? Jesus, baby, what’s wrong?” he asks, worry making his words come out fast.

  “I-I-I,” I stutter, unable to form the words, hating that I need to. “J-Jenny. She’s, uh…” I cry harder. “Oh, God, JW, th-there’s s-so much b-blood.”

  “Fuck,” he curses. “Where are you?”

  “I-in the living r-room. By the door.” I wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “You n-need to come here.”

  “I’m on my way, Gypsy,” he cajoles softly, but I don’t miss the hard edge in his tone. “I want you to get up and go outside. I’m only a couple minutes away.”

  I sniff, but my nose is so stuffy from crying that it doesn’t help. “Okay.”

  “Get up now and go outside.”

  I wobble to my feet, my stomach churning with sickness. It takes me a minute to get the door open because my hands are shaking so bad. I step outside, breathing in the fresh air, but I still smell the sick scent of blood. I swear it’s seared into my nose hairs. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get rid of that smell.

  “Are you outside, Eden?” JW’s rushed voice sounds in my ear.

  “Y-yes.”