by J, Bella
Tears prickled the corners of my eyes, but I clenched my jaw in a bid to push them back. “It wasn’t my intention, Tanit. Everything is just so messed up, and—”
Without warning, she slapped me across the cheek, and my skin instantly lit on fire. This time, a tear did slip down my cheek.
“You should have stayed in your million-dollar mansion, Alyx. You should have enjoyed your own life instead of fucking with mine.”
“This isn’t about you!” My voice sliced through the room, anger slowly starting to smother my fear. “It was never about you. I didn’t even know you existed until last night.”
Tanit’s face screwed up in a pretty mess of hate and resentment before she spat in my face, slimy mucous dripping from my eye and onto my cheek. “Well, now I’m making it about me by wiping your miserable existence from this motherfucking story.”
I glared her way while trying to blink the spit out of my eye, my cheek still stinging from her open palm slap. It was clear by the expression on her face that she hated me with every ounce of passion she had in her. At first, I thought I might be able to talk her down, make her see reason. But not with the kind of animosity radiating from her, all because she thought I had stolen Granite from her.
I turned my head, trying to observe my surroundings, to see if I could figure out where we were. But there was nothing that gave me a clue. It was an empty room with a beat-up old desk on the other side, and blue wallpaper that had started to tear and pull away from the wall. It smelled like mold and dust, the floors covered in dirt, and I could practically feel the filth cling to my skin.
“You’ll never figure it out, pretty.”
I looked her way, and she shrugged.
“You’ll never figure out where we are.”
The hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach gnawed at my insides. “What’s the plan, Tanit? You have me all tied up. What are you going to do with me now? Kill me?”
Holding her hand up, she admired her freshly painted nails. “I don’t plan on doing anything with you. But just in case you have thoughts about misbehaving…” She pulled a gun from her back and placed it on the desk, the blood in my veins running cold.
Her dark eyes were glowing with menace, staring at me like I was the one thing she needed to sacrifice on the goddamn altar in order to have world fucking peace.
She winked. “If you behave, I won’t need to use it, and my job will be done.”
I didn’t like the creepy feeling tingling across my skin. The look on her face was calm, relaxed, like the fact that she had kidnapped and tied me up didn’t bother her in the least. Like it was just another day in the life and times of Tanit, the local fucking psychopath. I tried to shift in my seat, my body starting to ache all over. “What do you mean, your job is done?”
The roar of engines came from outside, and hope immediately rushed through my chest like a breath of fresh air. It was motorcycles, a sound I clearly recognized. A sound that managed to dull the panic that currently pulsed up and down my spine.
“Oh, don’t get excited.” Tanit paced in front of me, arms crossed and hips swaying. “It’s not him. I might not have any further plans for you, but someone else sure does.”
“Who is out there?” I flattened my lips, biting the inside of my mouth, fearing the answer I was about to get.
She walked to the door and opened it. “Don’t worry, princess. You’ll like him a lot. I think.”
My palms started to sweat, my legs cold and numb. A part of me still hoped the motorcycles I heard outside was him. But judging by the evil grin on her face and the satisfied gleam in her eyes, I was sure that whoever was out there didn’t intend to help me.
The sound of footsteps walking up metal stairs echoed from outside the door. And with every clank of steel, fear vibrated through my bones—all the way from my skull right down to my toes. Whoever it was coming up those stairs brought a whole lot of malevolence with them since I could hardly swallow or take a breath.
“Just in time.” Tanit smirked. “Our princess is ready and waiting.”
Oh, God. My stomach was about to tear out of my body, and the sudden urge to pee was overwhelming.
Tanit stepped aside, and I wished like hell I could have closed my eyes. I wasn’t ready to see what or who was about to walk through that door. But no matter how much I wanted to close my eyes and wish it all away, I couldn’t. This was really fucking happening.
A man stepped inside. At first, I couldn’t quite see him as he leaned in, placing a kiss on Tanit’s cheek while wrapping an arm around her waist and cupping her ass. “Hmmm, Tanit. You look as fuckable as ever.”
She plastered a smile on her face. “I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment.”
“As it is intended,” he replied, nodding at her before finally turning toward me.
I gasped when I saw his face, a snake inked all the way down on the side and on his neck, disappearing beneath the collar of his cut. Large, black disc earrings stretched his earlobes with big holes, and the scales tattooed on his shaved head just added the finishing touches to make him look like a demon from hell. It was incredibly hard to keep looking at him, as the sight alone made my skin crawl.
He twitched a brow pierced with a stud. “Pretty face, isn’t it?”
His tongue darted out of his mouth, and when I saw the two pieces of tentacled flesh twisting and slithering together, I shuddered, my stomach starting to crawl all the way up my throat.
“Who are you?” My voice was barely audible, because I was sure I already knew who he was.
“The name’s Slither.”
“Oh, God.” I choked, and my throat closed, making it impossible to take a breath.
“Ah. So, you know who I am?”
“Neon.” I forced my eyes closed, a tear finally falling down my cheek. This was the man who abused Neon. This was the man who tortured her within an inch of her life. This was the man the Kings were at war with…and he was here. For me.
“Oh, yes,” I heard him start, but I refused to open my eyes. “I remember Neon. Or rather, her screams, that is. I have to say, that is one tough cookie. Bitch refused to die.”
“Stop,” I whimpered. I didn’t want to hear about Neon and what he did to her. Fear was already suffocating me.
“How is she doing, by the way?”
I opened my eyes and swallowed hard. Everything about him was repulsive and disgusting.
“She okay? You know,” he motioned with his hand around his crotch, “down there? My guys really pulled a number on her. I’ve never seen a woman’s asshole bleed so much.”
“Jesus,” I cried. It was no longer fear that ran amok in me. It was cold, hard, numbing trepidation that possessed every corner of my body.
Tanit snickered in the background, and Slither stalked closer to me, little by little. “You know, I was actually thinking about keeping her. I was really tempted to see how much she could take before she died.” His face displayed sheer wonder as he spoke about Neon. “You know, if I remember correctly, she passed out, like, seven times during those few hours she spent with us.”
“Stop, please,” I began to plead.
Tears streamed down my face, mixing with snot as it ran down my mouth. Slither crouched in front of me, his eyes level to mine. He placed a hand underneath my chin. “Something tells me you wouldn’t last half the time she did. My men would chew you up and spit you out like a fucking chicken bone.” I sobbed while he forced my face to turn side to side, like he was studying me. “But you are pretty. I can see why he’s so fascinated by you.”
Tanit cleared her throat, and he let go of my face, glancing at her over his shoulder. “And I can see what has our girl here so jealous.”
“Cut the crap, Slither.” Tanit sneered. “I did what you asked, so take the bitch and go.”
He looked back at me and shot me a half-grin. “It’s always the people we love the most who destroy us.”
“Wha…what does that mean?”
&nb
sp; “Oh, nothing.” He slapped his knees and stood, a smile still stuck on his ugly face. “Man, now I can’t stop thinking of that feisty pixie girl with the blue hair. Or as my crew likes to call her, the girl with the screams of an angel.”
“You’re a monster.” Somehow, deep down, there was a tiny speck of courage that seemed to grow every time he mentioned Neon.
His eyes flared like I had just given him a compliment. “Aren’t we all monsters, Miss Green? Some are just,” he shrugged, “better at it than others.” The chains that hung down his side clanked as he circled me. “Tanit did me one hell of a favor when she offered to bring you to me. I was thrilled when she told me this was something she could do.”
I glared straight at her while focusing on keeping the bile down.
A violent shudder wracked through my body when he placed his cold hands on my shoulders, leaning down, letting me feel his vile breath against my skin. I heard him inhale, slow and deep. “I must admit, Miss Green, you smell as good as you look.” When I felt the two tips of his split tongue against my neck, I cringed. My body went rigid, and my lips trembled. It was the most disgusting, revolting thing I ever experienced in my life, and I couldn’t move. My skin stung, and I was sure I would piss myself at any second. His lips brushed along my earlobe. “It’s a pity we couldn’t meet under different circumstances, Alyxandria. I would have loved to taste you, to make you bleed.”
When the two pieces of his tongue flicked into my ear, I squirmed and started to shake violently with the urge to get away.
“Oh, yes,” he whispered against my ear. “You might not last as long as Neon did, but you’d still be a lot of fun. They say ballerinas can bend their bodies in ways that make for some adventurous fucking. I’d love to see how far we can bend this body of yours while filled with cock in each…and every…hole.”
“Please stop.” I wept, distraught and afraid. Knowing what he did to Neon was enough to make me die of fear right here, right now.
“Remember those words, sweetheart.” He stood and patted me on my shoulder. “Those are two words you’ll be repeating a lot once you and I get started. But first,” he walked over to Tanit, “I have someone I need to see before we can get this show on the road.”
“What?”
Through teary eyes, I saw Tanit’s face scrunch up in disapproval.
“Slither, I can’t stay here for much longer. They will get suspicious.”
“Don’t worry, pretty.” He cupped her face. “I’ll be a half hour, tops. Then we’ll come get the girl, and you can go back and suck Granite’s cock all you like.” He let go of her face and turned to me. “Now, be good. I’ll see you two in a little bit.”
He winked, and I swore the goddamn snake on his face moved as well.
“Oh, and Tanit,” he scratched the side of his face, “don’t hurt her. I’d like to be the one doing all the hurting when I get back.”
All I could do was sit there, bound and terrified out of my mind. I had survived a lot during the past few weeks. But this…him…I didn’t think I stood a chance that I’d ever survive what he had in store for me.
19
Granite
I couldn’t stop pacing. The PC didn’t say whether he was letting us go or not, and I had no idea how long it had been. It felt like fucking years while I stared at these walls, wondering where she was, whether she was okay. Whether whoever had her was hurting her. It was the worst fucking torture I had ever experienced in my life. Not knowing. God. The not knowing was the worst part.
My mind reeled, and my stomach felt like it had been filled with concrete. The fact that I was stuck behind these bars unable to do shit was tearing me the fuck apart.
“You think he has her?”
I cut my gaze to Onyx still leaning his head against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.
“You mean Slither?”
“Yup.”
I didn’t reply. I didn’t want to, because I couldn’t stomach the thought of that being the case. But no matter how much I wanted not to think about it, the odds were pretty fucking good that Slither had her. Who else would tip off the cops, only to create a diversion while they snatched Alyx right from under my goddamn nose?
The steel door creaked open, and Onyx and I looked in that direction. Detective Harrison and the PC came rushing in, the detective unlocking the gates to the cell.
Confused as fuck, I eyed the PC. “What is going on?”
The look on his face made the hair in the back of my neck stand up.
“What the hell is going on?”
“You’re free to go.”
“What? How?” Not that I was complaining.
The PC scrubbed his chin with his thumb. “We got a situation.”
“What situation?”
The detective closed the steel door to ensure we had privacy, and the PC stepped up to me. “Someone called the station saying they know where Alyx is.”
“Where is she?” I didn’t care about the who, or the what, or the when. All I cared about was finding her.
“We don’t know that yet.” The PC started pacing, and the detective leaned against the open gate of the cell.
I threw my hands in the fucking air and was about to rip someone’s goddamn head off. “Who the fuck do I have to kill to get some answers here?”
The commissioner stopped, his face pale and eyes worried. “The person said he’ll only talk to you, and no one else.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. He said to meet him outside the aquarium in thirty minutes. If you don’t show up, he disappears, and we’ll never find Alyx.”
I was still trying to register what the fuck the PC just said when Onyx burst out laughing like a total maniac. “Oh, this has Slither written all over it.”
“What the fuck, Onyx?” I warned.
His eyes beamed with crazed hysteria. “Oh, come on, Granite. Who in his right fucking mind will insist on seeing you face to face before he tells us where Alyx is? No one is that fucking stupid,” he shrugged, “except Slither.”
I ignored my brother and focused on the detective since the commissioner was standing in the corner as pale as a fucking ghost. “Did you track the call?”
He shook his head. “We didn’t have enough time.”
“Give me your phone.”
Harrison stared at me all bug-eyed.
“Give me your fucking phone!” I growled, and Harrison didn’t hesitate this time. My hand shook as I dialed the number. Whether it was adrenaline or fear, I didn’t know. All I knew was I needed to get Alyx back.
“Manic. Listen, get Ink and meet me at the aquarium in twenty. Make sure you’re packing.” I hung up, and Onyx shot me a knowing look. There was a reason I told Manic to make sure they came armed…because I was more and more convinced all of this had Slither’s name slapped on it.
“Commissioner,” I called, “I’m going to find Alyx. The only way you can stop me is with a motherfucking bullet. Feel me?”
He straightened and nodded, his face clouded with agony and worry. I didn’t stick around to chit-chat and hauled ass to the door.
“Granite.”
I stilled and met the PC’s eyes. A silent moment passed between us. In that moment, he wasn’t the police commissioner, but a father. And me? I wasn’t a criminal or the president of the American Street Kings. I was a man in love. A man who would ransack through hell if that meant finding his heart. And that was what Alyx was. My heart.
Onyx slapped Harrison on the shoulder. “Guess you’re giving us a ride, man.”
Harrison rolled his eyes. “Don’t know why I always get caught up in this shit,” he mumbled to himself while stomping to the door.
All eyes were on us as we made our way out. I didn’t give a flying fuck what everyone else thought, and I was convinced neither did the commissioner.
We got outside, the sunset painting the sky with its pinks and yellows. If it was any other day, the sight would have been tranquil, peaceful, beautiful. But
not today.
The slight chill in the air felt good against my heated skin but did nothing to quiet the rage or calm the apprehension that had been making it fucking hard to breathe the last few hours.
I rounded the SUV, wanting to get in on the passenger side, when Onyx grabbed Harrison’s shoulder. “Hold up.”
“What?”
With a smirk on his face, Onyx held out his palm. “Gimme the keys?”
Harrison’s cocked a brow. “What? No.”
“Come on. We only have twenty minutes to get there. Driving Miss Daisy ain’t an option now.”
Harrison squared his shoulders. “I’m driving. Or you’re walking.”
Onyx opened his mouth to talk shit when I slammed my fist on the roof of the SUV. “Get in the fucking car. And Onyx, unless you want to fucking walk, get in the back. Now!”
We got in the car, and the second I closed my door, it felt all kinds of wrong. I hated being boxed in. Made me feel like I was about to jump out of my own skin at any second.
Onyx moved in between the two front seats. “So, let’s get this straight. We are about to meet someone at the aquarium, a public place. And this someone might be the one man we really, really want to disembowel before we cut his head off.”
I rubbed my palms together, staring out the window. “That’s why he chose a public place.”
“Hold up,” Harrison chimed in. “You guys are convinced this is Slither?”
Onyx leaned back. “One can only hope.” It was clear in his voice he was already readying himself for battle. Onyx wanted Slither’s blood, just like the rest of us, and was already psyched up about the prospect of that happening. But I, on the other hand, wanted Alyx back with me and safe more than I wanted to see Slither’s blood flow into a ditch.