Find the memory stick.
Kill Hollan.
Those were my plans.
Clay had climbed into the passenger seat which I’d recently vacated, and he stared out at me, our eyes meeting. I would have given anything to be back in that van, to have the guys all around me, but, for the time being, I was on my own. I hoped that simply through eye contact I could tell him I’d be okay, and that, no matter what, I wouldn’t give Hollan the code.
Chapter Twenty-one
Hollan’s men tightened their hold on me, one on each side, their hands wrapped around my upper arms, their fingers digging into my flesh. I knew there would be bruises there the following day—identical sets of fingerprints.
I could feel the eyes of the others burning into my back, and I prayed they would let me go. Isaac was smart enough to understand my plan, and he’d make sure the others went along with it, however hard it must be for them to watch me being hauled away by Hollan’s henchmen.
“Search her, Stewart,” Hollan commanded when we reached the cars.
One of the men—Stewart, I assumed, though I didn’t know if that was his first or last name—released me momentarily, while the other kept hold of my upper arms. It didn’t matter—I wasn’t planning on running. I gritted my teeth as Stewart moved to stand behind me.
“Get your hands on your head,” he snapped.
The second man who still had hold of me, and whose name I hadn’t yet learned, yanked my arms up, and I complied, lacing my fingers on the top of my skull, bringing my elbows out in a V. I was tempted to jab at one of the men with my elbow, venting my hatred toward them, but I knew it would only cause me trouble.
Stewart started at my shoulders, running his hands down one arm, and then the other. The tiny tracker I’d placed in the hairline behind my ear suddenly felt huge, as though it had grown tenfold and was flashing to be noticed. But the man didn’t check my hair. He finished checking both my arms, and then shoved his hand into my armpits, before moving to the front of my body. He slid his palms down from my collarbone, reaching my breasts. I clenched my jaw as he ran his hand over my chest, stopping to cup both of my tits, before heading further down. He kicked my feet apart and frisked my legs, running his hands down and back up to brush his palm over the juncture of my thighs, making me tense.
I pictured the expressions of the guys as they watched this happening to me, how furious they would be, and I hoped none of them would let their anger overcome them and do something rash and stupid.
“She’s clean,” Stewart said, rising back to his feet. He was lucky I hadn’t kicked him in the face.
They pushed me toward one of the cars. Two more armed men stepped in to fill the spot the men who now had hold of me had created. They kept their weapons trained on the van containing the guys. They didn’t need to, but I wasn’t going to tell them that. I needed to be taken for this to work, and the guys weren’t going to put up a fight, even though they might want to.
We passed Hollan, and I shot him a glare. “You son of a bitch!”
“You left me with no choice, Darcy. I hope you can see that.”
“What about my father? Did he not leave you with any choice either? I know what you did that night. I remember it all now.”
“Your father was a fool.”
Emotion boiled inside me. “You were supposed to have been his friend!”
“I was his friend. I tried to bring him in on something important, and, instead of running with it, he got all self-righteous on me. If he’d just left things alone, none of this would be happening now.”
“You mean if he hadn’t tried to protect the people who were trying to keep men like you out of positions of power.” I spat the words. It seemed crazy that we were having this conversation now, standing out on the road, surrounded by armed men. Over the past week, I’d played how this conversation was going to go a million times in my head—all the clever, cutting things I would say to him, to make him see what an evil bastard he was, and make him regret everything, right before I put a bullet in his head. Of course, there was no chance of me shooting him in the head right now. Even if I didn’t have two of Hollan’s men holding my arms, Devlin had never supplied me with a weapon back at the base, and I’d never had the one I’d deposited there when we’d first arrived returned to me.
The men holding me continued to push me toward the back of the car, and Hollan walked alongside us, as though he’d been waiting for this conversation for some time, too, and didn’t want to let go of it just yet.
“Ah, so you know all about them now, do you?” he said. “I wondered how much they would have told you. I’m surprised, to be honest, Darcy. They’re normally such a secretive group. It must have taken a lot for them to tell you.”
I struggled against the men holding me, though I had no intention of breaking free. “They know who they can trust. Unlike you.”
He gave a cold laugh. “Don’t you mean unlike your father? He was the one who trusted the wrong people.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s where you’re wrong. You were the one who trusted him. You were the one who mistook him for being as corrupt as your sorry ass, and when he didn’t go along with your plans, you killed him. But he had the last laugh, didn’t he? Six years later, and you still haven’t been able to access the memory stick.”
We reached the back of the car, but instead of opening the rear door, as I’d thought would happen, I found myself shoved face first against it. My chest slammed against metal, and my arms were yanked behind my back. Hollan took over, the two men stepping back to give him room. I could have fought at that moment, could have tried to run, but there would be no point. Running wouldn’t help get the memory stick back from Hollan and into the right hands.
The clink of metal came from behind me, and I stiffened as cold bracelets were placed around my wrists and squeezed together, too tight to be comfortable. The son of a bitch had handcuffed me.
He leaned in and spoke close to my ear from behind. His breath heated my skin, and I caught a whiff of stale coffee. “But all of that changes now, Darcy. You think you won’t crack, but we’ve made grown men break down within hours.”
Hours. Would the guys reach me before then? They couldn’t follow too close behind, or Hollan would get suspicious. But the idea of being tortured caused ice shards to pierce through my veins. I wasn’t a fan of pain. I wasn’t the kind of girl who got everything pierced or tattooed and laughed at the idea of it hurting. Fear tasted like a blanket of iron across my tongue. Would the guys take Sarah back to the base, or somewhere else safe, before they came to get me? If so, they’d already be a couple of hours behind. I hoped they were being kind to her, and not making her feel worse than she most likely already did. I was sure Kingsley and Alex would be gentle with her, but Isaac and Clay, and maybe even Lorcan, might not be so forgiving.
I prayed I’d done the right thing by taking this action.
Hollan turned back to shout toward the occupants of the van. “If we catch so much as a glimpse of you anywhere behind us, trying to follow us, I promise you’ll start finding pieces of this little lady on the road. Got it?”
I didn’t hear any kind of response from the guys, but I was pretty sure Hollan had got his point across. Of course, Hollan didn’t know they wouldn’t need to keep sight of the cars to be able to follow us.
Yanking me back by my arms, Hollan pulled me away from the car. One of his men opened the rear door, and I found myself being shoved into the vehicle. With no use of my hands, I fell face first onto the seat, my rear in the air. The ungainliness of the position made me feel more vulnerable than ever, and I squirmed to right myself to a seated position.
I’d hoped they’d have left me alone, but to my frustration and anger, Hollan slid onto the seat beside me. He caught me glaring at him, and lifted the corner of his jacket to reveal his handgun in its holster. “I know you’re handcuffed, but just in case you get any crazy ideas ...”
I scowled at him.
I prayed that wouldn’t be the last time I’d see them.
Huddled in the back of the car, I was unable to keep the trembling from my body. My extremities felt cold and numb, and I knew my body had rerouted my blood to my vital organs, understanding that in this position of severe stress, the most important thing was to keep my heart and lungs going.
I imagined what would be happening in the van right now. The men would be fighting, for sure. Isaac would be explaining what I’d done, and what my plan was, while Clay would be filled with passionate fury, puffing himself up and gesturing in the direction Hollan had left with me, telling Isaac they needed to go now. Kingsley would be calmer, rationalizing everything, while Lorcan would most likely be joining Clay’s anger, but by internalizing it, his jaw rigid and hazel eyes hard. Alex would be taking care of Aunt Sarah, making sure she wasn’t physically hurt in any way.
The second car followed us, each vehicle as imposing as the other, as it ate away the miles. I had no idea where we were going, or how long it was going to take to get there, and I swallowed back my tears, blinking hard to keep them at bay.
I missed the guys. It felt like a piece of me was gone.
But they were coming to find me. I knew they were.
I just had to survive until they did.
THE END
LIKED WHAT YOU READ? ‘Decoding Darkness’ will be out on the 27th of December 2017! You can pre-order from Amazon now!
Acknowledgments
First of all, huge thanks to everyone who has read book one ‘Hacking Darkness’. I’ve been blown away by the success of the book, and it’s only encouraged me to write more and work harder to bring you the best possible story I can!
Thanks as always to my long time editor, Lori Whitwam, for making my words shiny, and also not minding when I message her to get me out of a plot hole I’m stuck in! I wouldn’t be able to do it without you! Thank you to my proofreaders on this book, Tammy Payne and Karey McComish, for catching those annoying typos!
Many thanks to Daqri from Covers by Combs for creating the fantastic covers for the series. You know I luuuurrrvvvve them!
Finally, thank you to you, the reader, for sticking with me on this journey.
Thanks for reading!
Marissa. XXX
About the Author
Marissa Farrar has always been in love with being in love. But since she's been married for numerous years and has three young daughters, she's conducted her love affairs with multiple gorgeous men of the fictional persuasion.
The author of thirty novels, she has been a full time author for the last six years. She predominantly writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy, but has branched into contemporary fiction as well.
If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at [email protected] and to stay updated on all her new Reverse Harem books, just sign up to her newsletter! https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/e2x3e1
Also by the Author
The Monster Trilogy
DEFACED
DENIED
DELIVERED
The Mercenary Series:
SKEWED (free first novel of the series!)
WARPED
FLAWED
JUDGED
The Blood Courtesans Vampire Romance:
Stolen
The Serenity Series:
Alone (free first novel of the series!)
Buried
Captured
Dominion
Endless
THE COMPLETE SERIES BOXED SET
The Dhampyre Chronicles:
Twisted Dreams
Twisted Magic
The Spirit Shifters Series:
Autumn’s Blood (free first novel)
Saving Autumn
Autumn Rising
Autumn’s War
Avenging Autumn
Autumn’s End
THE COMPLETE SERIES BOXED SET
Contemporary Fiction Novels
NO SECOND CHANCES
DIRTY SHOTS
CUT TOO DEEP
SURVIVOR
THE SOUND OF CRICKETS
Dark Fantasy/horror novels:
UNDERLIFE
THE DARK ROAD
UNRAVELING DARKNESS
Dark Codes
Book Two
Copyright © 2017 Marissa Farrar
Warwick House Press
Edited by Lori Whitwam
Cover art by Covers by Combs
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Publisher’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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