Chapter 211: Cursed
*Yeh can be cursed and not know it. But when yeh do know, it’s ten times worse. – Pappa Dean*
“Husband?” The Russian whispered as he turned to look at the officers.
“Yeh should have listened to yer own witch.” Nessie warned as she and Knuckles slipped outside.
The group watched the silhouettes through the glass. Knuckles raised their linked hands and pressed his lips to Nessie's hand before placing his arm around her shoulders, keeping their hands together.
“Did he buy her wedding rings?” Shtunska asked quietly.
“No.” Toad replied.
“The marked mate of the white witch, bound by gold of the dead.” The Russian muttered as Dom brought Petros through. He looked at the woman covered in tattoos with a blood red braided Mohawk. Cursing in Russian, he watched his son flinch. “You’ve damned us all! I told you to leave her alone!”
The other men followed them out. Toad was surprised to see Nessie speaking with Pagan’s sister, Ciara, the owner of the Wiccan bookstore. There were about a dozen other women that he did not recognize. They all wore black dresses and were barefoot.
Placing his arm around Siobhan’s waist, he quietly asked his wife who the women were.
“The local Coven.” Siobhan answered. “I called them. They are a dark Coven and will do what Nessie can not.”
“Exile him from the light?” the Mick asked quietly and she gave a soft laugh.
“She can do that.” Siobhan explained. “Once she exiles him, she cannot touch him. They will forbid him from passing on. He will forever be stuck between realms. Unable to look into the light, forbidden from leaving the dark.”
“Purgatory.” The Don suggested.
“Comparable. Christians believe you can be released from Purgatory. We believe when you’ve been exiled to the darkness, there is no escape.” Siobhan explained.
The women made a circle around Petros and made Dom leave. To ensure that he could not do anything, Dom had his hands bound behind him, tied to the opposing sides of a collar. Before leaving him, she kicked out both of his knees from the side.
“Whip better be prepared to fuck the hell out of her later.” Buck chuckled.
“She’s going to go negotiate with Knuckles.” Spider said as Dom stood next to the angry man. “She wants to play in his blood.”
“Seriously?” the Russian asked and all the men and Siobhan nodded. Then cold eyes met his as Dom pulled out a knife from a sheath on her leg and began to play with it. “Fuck. She’s scary.”
“And like a good sadistic predator, she enjoys playing with her food.” Toad warned. “Or at least her prey.”
“Is she a cannibal?” the Mick asked quietly concerned.
“She enjoys blood.” Werewolf stated. “Rumor is that she drained a man’s blood and bathed in it.”
“I heard she cut herself and told Cora to match her hair that color.” Spider said.
“Her hair wasn’t that color yesterday, was it?” Brute asked.
“No.” Whip said with a smile. “That’s actually blood in her hair. It’s mixed with an anticoagulant so it won’t clump. And something else to keep it from flaking.”
Shtunska gulped audibly. “She died her hair with blood?”
“Oh, yeah.” Whip said excitedly. “She has an obsession with blood.”
Nessie knew about the prediction made years ago by the Russian witch. The marked mate of the white witch would kill Petros. The blade bathed in blood would kill his brothers and father. Before the new year rang in, their line would be extinguished. When she told her aunt about it, Siobhan told Dom.
Dom had looked at her friend and asked the question that Siobhan had heard for most of her life. “Do you believe all this…” she smirked, “hocus-pocus?”
“I’ve seen those blessed do amazing things. And I’ve seen charlatans appear to do the same. A lot of it depends on if you believe. And the Russian Bear, he believes. Use it to our advantage.”
Dom did use it to her advantage. It took a while to find the best combination to make her hair look like it was died in blood. Knuckles could have Petros. But she was going to kill the others.
Once the rituals were complete, Petros was returned to the black room in the basement. As Nessie and Knuckles were walking back into the clubhouse, the Russian stopped them.
“What of the other men that were-.”
“Dead.” Nessie replied. “Or wishing they were. Even among criminals, yeh don’t abuse and kill children.”
“After our men left, the police found three girls tied to beds. The oldest was sixteen.” Knuckles replied angrily. “We made sure that Gen pop knew.”
Shortly after sundown, Knuckles went downstairs to the black room. Dom let him in and waited patiently as he took his anger out on the man.
For the second time in his life, Knuckles beat a man to death with his bare hands.
After he walked out, the body was removed and disposed of as Nessie tended to her husband’s busted knuckles.
