Chapter Twenty-One

The worst thing about revenge that it can all go wrong so easily. Sienna felt as if she failed miserably as James Shepherd stood behind her with a knife to her throat. As if he'd already cut her open, she tasted blood in her mouth, as horrid as metal. The gun in her hand was snatched quickly away by another Shepherd in the guise of death.

Syd could not believe his eyes when he stepped into the room. Sienna had gone half mad. Billy Shepherd stood and accepted the gun pointing in his direction. And Cat, his old sweetheart, looked fit to burst into tears. Things had changed and not just the beard that had grown on Billy's face.

Sienna was not the Sienna Syd had known. He finally realized that the woman was just broken. She was torn between revenge and grief. Sienna needed help, and even though he did not want to admit it, she needed to be put in an asylum. Maybe depression haunted her or madness had taken over. Syd could never feel the same way about her again.

James now shoved her against a brother of the Shepherd clan. She was bound tightly in irons that were in hand. "Take her away." James barked.

Sienna was disobedient. She did not move when her gaoler tried to make her move. She lunged forward into Syd who was just standing by the door. The chains were shoved in his face as the woman tried to untangle herself.

"Syd, my love," she said, trying to escape the man's clutch. "Please don't let them take me, I will do anything. I will be their slave, I will let them make me their prostitute. Just, don't let them kill me!" She cried hysterically.

Syd looked down at Sienna and took her chained hand. "Sienna, you need to get better. You're unwell and traumatized after your sister's death. You cannot work for them. But I promise you, that under no circumstances, that you will not die." He shot James a poisonous look who shrugged.

Sienna dutifully nodded. She gave herself up.

After hours being stuck in unconsciousness, George Daniels awoke to find two men had bound him in shackles and were holding him at knife-point. Most people would have been run through - though George was being treated rather differently. That was the expected from the Shepherd clan. What he did not expect, however, was Syd Fletcher at his side - as he was now.

He gripped his arm as he led him through the stinking sewer. They had gone through corridors, streets, and alleyways until he had no idea where they had ended up.

At least, that was his escort's intention, because he hadn't failed to notice that they passed the same sewage system within a matter of minutes. Nor had he missed the same dead rat lying on the ground. As if he could ever lose his bearings.

They entered a particularly long sewer, silent save for their footsteps and the run of the water. George took a glance at Syd Fletcher and could see no emotion on his stern face. This made George wear a grisly grin. It would be so magnificent to see the boxer's blood spilled across the floor. But the shackles went against him.

George examined the hand that Fletcher had placed on his arm. It was mattered with dirt. The colour almost matched the colour of his soul.

He adjusted his torn and filthy tunic and held in the sigh that he begged to release. In the days that he'd spent locked inside, he'd never been able to see sunlight. He was frightfully pale underneath the dirt after the beating he had endured. In the end, Gregson and Gregory Mitchell were just cowards. Though it didn't really matter now, did it?

"A long way to go just to get me dealt with, ain't it, Fletcher?" George asked, clearing his throat. He peered into the darkness and saw Syd frowning. They were coming out of the sewer and into the streets.

"Get in there and don't say another word." Syd shoved George roughly through a door. He burst in and gasped. The walls were decorated with evil looking knives and wires. He gulped and realized he misjudged the situation.

A knife in James Shepherd's twirled as he looked George down with a satisfying smirk. "Bring the man forward, Syd." He addressed Fletcher, taking another twirl of the knife. George was sat heavily in a chair in front of James and tied with more shackles and ropes. "Do you know what I do for a living, Daniels?" He hissed.

George shook his head. "No," he said through clenched teeth. "What do you do?"

He could hear the snigger as James spoke. "I am a barber - handy with a razor." And then the sound that George dreaded filled the air. There was a grating noise of metal on metal and a cold blade was pressed against his neck. "I wonder what's the best way to go about this. You almost murdered my son, and nobody gets away with that."

George shivered in terror. "No, please!" He did not want to die. "I will do anything! Please!"

A snort of laughter came out of James' mouth. "You're pretty much like your sister, ain't you? However, we've put her in the nuthouse with her gone loopy and all." George felt the hot ooze of blood as the tip of the knife pricked into skin. "Shame that you'll never see the psycho again. Fletcher," He turned towards Syd who stood by a rack of knives. "Let's get the party started."

Syd slowly - deliberately - took a couple of knives off of the rack. George struggled in his chains and screamed and cursed. He could hear the smirk in James' voice as he addressed Syd, "Ready, Fletcher?"

And within the count of three, James and Syd raised their knives. It was so very easy to slide the knives across George's throat.

They listened to the pleasuring sound of George choking on his own blood.

Cat let Billy caress her in a way he'd never done before. He made her shiver with pleasure as his hands moved down her legs. In the act of need and relief, he held her close to his body with the touch of a kiss.

"I will never let you go, not now, not ever," Billy whispered into her ear. He closed his eyes and let the sensation of delight take over as Cat kissed his neck.

"You won't have to," she replied, lifting her head up to face him. "I'm going to stay with you. I'm going to look after you and Penny. You two are the people I love most in the world and I will do anything to protect you both." She took his hand and smiled.

"What about Fletcher? What will he think of this? He'd beat me to death."

"No," Cat shook her head. "I will not let that happen, Billy. Just leave Syd to me."

And then there was silence. Billy's eyes never left Cat's when he began to drop down to his knees. Cat flew a hand to her mouth as her breath caught in her throat.

"Listen, Cat," he said. "I know I've hurt you multiple times and tried to kill you, twice, and I was an idiot. You are the one thing I want the most. And when I say, 'I love you', I mean it." Billy smiled up at her and took her hand. "Catherine Royal, will you do the honour of being my beloved wife?"

There were no words to describe how Cat felt. She felt the hot flow of her tears roll down her cheeks when she nodded in acceptance. She watched as Billy jumped up and embraced her. She nestled into him, but she could not help but have the feeling of discomfort.

This was not the end. Many questions were still unanswered. And she was going to get those answers.

A/N: So Cat and Billy are to be wed. How exciting! But Cat felt that something was wrong. I wonder what it could be?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know that I have at least two more chapters and an epilogue to go (I think), so it should be wrapping up soon. I would just like to announce that after I have finished Regrets I will be opening a Cat Royal One-Shot book thingy. This will include pairings chosen by you! You can choose actual pairings from the Cat Royal series or the characters I made up like Victoria and Sienna. Even gay pairings! Syd...Billy...*eyebrow wiggle* :^) If you'd like to see the Cat Royal One-Shot book go into action, then please place the pairings and things you'd like to see in the stories in the comments.

I hope you have a wonderful day and I will update soon!

~Sarah