Shackled (The Lord Series) by Amy T

155. Jasper

In normal circumstances, | world have thought the same, but there had been a glowing from Olivia's hand when she touched

Rueben. Her back was to Ansel, so he couldn't see it, but | did.

“Normal humans don’t have any kind of powers, but we are hot normal humans, are we?” | say while Ansel stands there biood

gushing out from a billet wound while he keeps smoking. “Our bond with the demons goes deeper than we allow ourselves to

think. What if the women born to Lords are special because of the ties we have with our

demons?

“Olivia is a Duc h e s s,” Ansel points out.

“Her father is the vessel for an angel,” | remind him. “Her grandfather as well. And so on.”

Ansel keeps smoking while he thinks. “I need a drink. It's too early for this shi t.”

He disappears in the kitchen, and | take Olivia to our room. | put Olivia on the bed next to Miss Teapot, who glares atwith

displeased eyes. She doesn't like to be disturbed from her nap.

When | first built this house, | did so with the idea of possibly finding a woman who would accept that she wouldn't be worshiped

by a group of blood-brothers, but only by me. Olivia likes this house, but her place is in the main house, in the Lair, while my blood-

brothers and | fu c k her, filling her with cu m until she is pregnant with our first child. It will take a while until | get all my blood-

brothers to see Olivia as | do.

At least Ansel is on my side.

Olivia whimpers and | try to soothe her. “Olly?” She doesn’t reply nor open her eyes, makingthink she is in a deep sleep and is

having a nightmare. She has bad dreams every night, makingwonder what kind of life she had before we found her. Rueben

and Tyson might claim she is a whor e, that she likes di c k s. Well, if that is true, there are five of us to keep her more than

satisfied. She mumbles Spencer a few times, tears falling down her cheeks. Whoever this Spencer is, | am certain he had hurt her.

“You are safe now, Little Love.”

1 kiss her gently and she relaxes. Then | cover her with the quilt and watch her for a few moments.

Content that she is sleeping peacefully, | go to check on Rueben.

The bandage is soaked with blood, and | change it. The bleeding is not as strong as before, but | am still worried. He is cold to

touch. How long until there is no more blood in his body?

Where the fu c k is Maddox?

| get Rueben in a morefortable position before | take a blanket out of the closet, toss it over him and take the duvet to the

laundry room.

Blood stained the white duvet, and | have seen how Olivia reacts when she sees anything red. The other day, | put on a scarlet

sweater, or whatever the f u c k that color is called, and Olivia's eyes immediately filled with tears, her chin trembled. She only

calmed down when | changed the sweater for a black hoodie. It wasn’t the only instance she acted like that, but never so strongly.

Something about that color brings bad memories to her.

1/3

After | throw the duvet in the washing machine and turn it on, | return to the bedroom to check on Olivia. She is sleeping, and | give

her a peck on the lips. Miss Teapot is curled up on Olivia's stomach, purring softly. | stroke her head a few times before | go to the

living room.

Ansel is in the kitchen, pressing his tank top against his wounds while rummaging through the cabs. | sit on the couch and try

to kill tby channel surfing until Maddox gets here.

Knowing what Ansel is looking for, | say, “The one above the fridge.”

Oveing an addiction as strong as Olivia has will take years if not her entire lifetime. Not wanting her to be tempted by alcohol,

| hid it in a place she wouldn't reach. Ansel takes the whiskey bottle and joins me.

“What happened?” | want to know.

Bounty hunting is a dangerous job, but Rueben and Ansel have been doing this for years and never did they get hurt like this. They

were supposed to be professionals.

Ansel takes a sip from the bottle before he passes it to me. Then, he takes another cigarette from his pack.

“Jason,” Ansel says as he lights his cigarette and takes a few puffs from it. “We stopped next to the forest to talk when the motherf

u c k e r shot Rueben. He took us by surprise.”

From the sour expression on his face it is safe to assJason got away.

| drink from the bottle. “He knows we have Olivia.”

Did Malaky tell him?

“He can’t have her,” Ansel says. “Not anymore.” He takes the bottle from me. “Not when she will finally be mine.”

| wasn’t wrong to think Ansel is obsessed with Olivia.

“Ours,” | correct him, and he nods in approval. “She is safe on the farm with us.”

Or as safe as she can be. It will take tto make Mose, Tyson, and Rueben see how special Olivia is. When they learn of how she

saved Rueben, they will for sure accept her. Her killing Camila will always be a tragedy, but my mama always thought people could

change. Whatever made Ovilia pull that trigger is something | am determined to find out.

Rueben and Tyson might hate her now but | am sure Olivia will win their hearts as well. She has to! Because | don’t want to be

forced to choose between Olivia and my blood-brothers. Losing Tyson is not an option. Not when.... | stop the thought right there.

Things are not supposed to be like that between blood-brothers.

The sound of a h o n k letsknow Maddox is here.

“1 will go open the gate for him,” | say.

| grab my coat and rush outside.

Tyson gets out of the main house and leans against the railing. “You shouldn't waste Maddox's tlike that. That bitc h is for sure