Raising an eyebrow, I held up my gun, letting it dangle from my finger. “All good. Just finishing up our little chat, then we’ll go.”
No one moved as I placed the gun on a side table and inched forward.
Gerald glared, but didn’t order the men to kill me.
I stopped within grabbing distance and gave him a thin smile. “So, you mean to take your secret to your grave, Dubolazov?”
One chance.
One last chance to give me Tess’s location. Then I’d grant mercy. I would walk away. I would cage the demon inside me and not fucking maim him.
He leaned forward, sending a whiff of vodka into my face. “I’ll never tell a fucking prick like you. You pretend to be one of us, but you free merchandise. Slaves we’ve dedicated time to break, women who, by right, belong to us until their godforsaken little pussies wear out. Fuck you, Mercer. We’re done here.” He lowered his voice to a hiss. “I hope she’s dead already.”
The switch inside sprung permanently free, and I moved.
Time slowed as I reached for the knife in my trousers. I existed in slow motion as the blade came free, my arm swung forward, and the obstruction of gristle and windpipe gave way under the sharp metal.
The thrill, the rush, the heady fucking pleasure rippled through me and I smiled. I fucking smiled as I watched Gerald blink in shock, wondering what the hell happened.
I moved so fast, it took a moment for blood to well and cascade down his throat.
“No!” Gerald’s son threw himself off the wall, colliding with me.
Gunshots rang out and something hot nicked my arm. Franco called out, and Frederick yelled. Gerald’s son punched me in the ribs, but his meaty hands were no match for my blade.
I stabbed him deep in the kidney and twisted.
I waited for horror, for self-hatred of loving the hot splash of blood and the dying gurgle of my victim, but for once I was free.
The rush and fire and righteousness doused my veins; I shuddered with black delight.
Murder.
It was fast becoming a new hobby of mine.
I stood, pushing the convulsing body off me, drenched in hot blood. I honoured Tess’s wish to bring down the bastards involved with trafficking.
I killed a father and son.
I killed…
And the beast inside fucking loved it.
The memory of taking my father’s life filled my nostrils. The stench of his bowels loosening, the sharp tang of blood and brain. It all mixed in some sort of morbid perfume, resonating with the feral part of me, making me proud to be a killer of evil.
Slowly sensation came back into my body. My arm burned. Twisting my neck, I fingered the hole in my blazer, poking the slippery wound beneath. Fucking fantastic.
I’d been shot.
Frederick appeared, reaching for my jacket. “Oh, shit. How bad is it?” He ripped off my jacket before I had a chance to push him away.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.” The bullet had gone right through my bicep. Fairly clean and tidy considering. It didn’t even hurt.
I looked toward the entrance where a mound of corpses lay. Puddles of blood dotted the white tiles.
Franco met my eyes. “Five dead. Four shots and one stabbing.” He motioned for us to leave. “We have to go. Who knows how many more guards are on their way.”
I shook my head, feeling strangely lightheaded. “We’re not leaving until we search the place.” Scooping up the gun and clenching my jaw against the sudden flash of pain in my arm, I took off in direction of the bedrooms. “Fan out. Meet back in here in ten minutes.”
Picking up my pace, I jogged quickly down the long expanse of corridor, trying to ignore the chills of eerie silence and mound of bodies behind us.
Gerald normally only had three to five guards in his private residence. He said they cramped his style when I asked a few years back why he didn’t surround himself in security. We were alone. For now. I just hoped we’d stay alone for a bit longer.
Keeping my finger tight on the trigger, I swept room after room. Strode through decadent parlours and bedrooms fit for a prim aristocrat, not a raping, murdering mobster.
But I only found emptiness. No women. No Tess.
I opened cupboards, searched under beds, even smashed a few floorboards to see if a secret room had been added since the original blueprints. But nowhere did I find a bound and frightened woman. No evidence of a struggle. No trace of Tess at all.
After a full circuit of the apartment, I met Franco and Frederick by the elevator. “Anything?” Three pairs of eyes were better than one. Especially seeing as I’d been fucking shot. Please let them have found something.
Frederick hung his head. “Nothing.” He sighed, adding, “But it doesn’t mean she isn’t in the building.”
I had a better idea. Pulling out my phone, I entered the same website that tracked Tess the first time and waited for the little red dot to appear on the map.
Nothing.
Heart racing, I tapped the device against my thigh. “Viendra sur, toi merde.” Come on, you piece of shit.
I looked again, wishing, praying for the little red dot to show me where Tess was. It was the only connection I had to her. It had to work. It had to.
Franco looked over my shoulder as the screen flashed and came up with an error message. The tracking device you have requested is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again.
“Fuck!” I threw the phone across the room, trembling with rage. My eyes fell to the bodies, and I wanted nothing more than to stab and stab and stab, take out retribution and funnel my rage.
Frederick put his hand on my uninjured arm. “We’ll find her, man. Don’t worry. With or without a beacon.”
Franco nodded. “He’s right. We’ll find her, sir. We’ll just have to mow down some bastards to do it.”
Chapter Ten
Tess
Tie me, tease me, let your pleasure please me. Hurt me, love me, but please don’t ever leave me…
My employment began immediately.
Trapped in a world of drugs and insipid fog, White Man plucked me from my bed and threw me at Leather Jacket.
I cried out as I collided with his creaky leather and stench. I cringed as he smirked, holding me tight against him. “Hello again, puta. Time for some fun.” He spun me around, trapping my wrists.
His dirty fingers wrapped around my skin, hoisting my arm back till my shoulder bellowed. Even the foggy stupor couldn’t save me from the pain of a dislocated limb.
“What the—” he muttered.
“Let her go, Ignacio. I need her to be able to use her arms.”
“But look at what the little bitch did. Stupid slave.” He ran a thumb over my modified barcode, no doubt seeing the sparrow and the number fifty-eight. He chuckled and shook me, breathing hard against my ear. “You idiot bitch. You fell for the bastard who bought you.” His chuckle morphed into a laugh, shaking both our frames. “This is too good. I’ve heard of slaves becoming attached to their masters, but you went to a whole other level.”
He grabbed my chin, digging his fingers into the hollow of my cheeks. “You were like a fucking queen in that bathtub, thinking you’d landed on your pretty little feet. Well, live it up, princess, ’cause you’re in servitude now.”
His head cocked to the side, and he kissed my cheek with dry lips. “Then again, if you fell in love with one asshole, you can fall for another. Maybe you’ll want to fuck me before the week is out. Huh?”
I flinched as he stroked my hair, then sighed in relief as White Man pulled me from Leather Jacket’s embrace. “You’ll have plenty of time to mind-fuck the poor creature. But first I want to see just how strong she is.”
He held out his hand as if he’d asked me out on a date; blue eyes twinkled as I gawked at his palm. I couldn’t remember what I should do. I couldn’t remember anything. The alchemy of chemicals in my bloodstream slowly stole everything I knew.
“Come al
ong, little one. No time like the present to start your initiation.”
I tried to step back toward the pallet. I ordered my limbs to move, to run, but nothing obeyed. I just stood there swaying until White Man grabbed my elbow and guided me from the room.
His perfectly ironed clothing contrasted against the sinister grime as we made our way down a long musty corridor. I wanted to scream and punch him in the eyes, but all I could do was coast along like a good belonging. The fog imprisoned my mind—turning me into the worst sort of captive—the one who obeyed without duress, who didn’t even need shackles to keep her down.
They’d taken my will, and soon, they’d take my mind.
White Man spoke to Leather Jacket as we stopped outside a door and pushed me inside. “Don’t go too far, Ignacio. Remember…little is key. They become more pliant that way.”
I stumbled like a brain-dead zombie, screaming silently for my body to do anything but fumble. Everything was so heavy and soupy and unresponsive.
Please. This is your last chance! Obey!
I managed to twitch enough to inch backward, shuffling toward the exit.
But all it took was a hand between my shoulder blades and I was pushed forward.
I blinked, looking around. Concrete walls, concrete floor with dampness climbing the corners and puddles resting in cracks. Three chairs, white and sun-worn, faced each other in a circle.
White Man guided me by the shoulders to sit in one of the chairs. It creaked under my weight and my head flopped onto my chin. So tired. So confused.
I’m hungry. I’m tired. I’m cold. I just want to go home. Where am I?
He patted my cheek, saying, “Have fun, little girl. Happy initiation.”
I wanted to hurl myself out the door; my heart bled as he clapped his hands and looked behind me. “Great. The others are here. You’ll no longer be alone, little one. I’ll see you later.”
He slipped out the door and the lock clicked into place behind two girls who’d entered on a leash, tugged by Jagged Scar. He gave me a snide smile before jerking the girls forward and pushing them into a chair.
I couldn’t comprehend what I saw.
Both girls were naked. Both trembled and shook as if an earthquake had replaced their hearts. Their eyes were full of horror and terror, but it was their hair that terrified me.
Blonde. Both of them. The same honey straw as my own.
Oh, God.
I wriggled in the chair to stand, but the chemicals blocked the signal from my brain and I sprawled to the floor instead. My cheek pressed against slimy concrete and I groaned as a flash of pain spread through me.
Leather Jacket laughed, coming to my rescue. Grabbing a chunk of my hair, he hauled me upright and threw me onto the chair. “Clumsy bitch.”
My eyes smarted from the agony of his grip, but I swallowed back the heaviness of tears. I was foggy enough without adding grief to the mix.
The girls sniffed, trying hard to stay silent even as tears tracked their dirty faces. I refused to look at them. I hated seeing the shadows of bruises on their arms and ribs. Why were they here?
They’re here for lunch. We’re going to have lunch, and then we’re going to have a nap and dream of whimsical things.
I shook my head, snapping out of the druggie daydream.
Leather Jacket gave a sadistic smile, bending to lick me. Once again, he dragged his foul tongue up my cheek and into my hair. “Trying to figure it out, aren’t ya? You won’t be able to. Not with the mixture in your blood. You’re going to do as I say, when I say. Got it?”
A small flash of my normal self wrenched itself from the dirty puddle that was now my soul. I forced past the weakness, whispering, “You’re a fucking cocksucker and I’ll ch—chop off your balls before you die.”
He laughed and clicked his fingers. “Is that a fact?”
A guard I didn’t know appeared next to me. He looked like a sack of potatoes. Big gut, lumpy clothing, and a face only an ogre could love. He smiled, wriggling his fingers in my face. “Hello.”
I must be pleasant. Be polite. How many times did my parents tell me they could only love a polite, quiet child?
“Hello,” I repeated, wishing my head wasn’t so heavy so I could keep eye contact longer.
Leather Jacket moved forward, heading behind the two girls in front of me. He rested a hand on both their shoulders and they whimpered.
Don’t. Don’t touch them. I shook my head. Why can’t he touch them again?
“Ryan here is going to make sure you obey.” Baring his teeth, he jerked the girl’s heads back with their hair. “He is the consequence of not listening. Understand, puta?”
Should I nod? I don’t know. I don’t understand. The drugs pulled me further into their web the longer I sat there.
Leather Jacket shoved one of the girls to the floor, cocking an eyebrow in my direction. “Pick her up. Go on.”
The will to save another blazed through the fog and I fell off my chair to crawl to her. The girl moaned as I touched her wrist and our eyes connected in a brief moment of lucidity. In her green gaze I saw all my dreams and hopes shrivel to dust. We would all die here. It was just a matter of how much we had to endure before we would be free.
Grunting, I tried to help her up. But I wasn’t strong enough.
Someone smacked me out of the way and I crashed into a chair. Ryan the ogre picked up the blonde as if she was a dirty sock and hurled her into the seat.
I climbed upright, using the chair as support. Drugs swirled. I’m hot. I’m cold. A racking cough crippled me and it was a while before I could breathe again.
I couldn’t understand what just happened.
Leather Jacket said, “If you can’t do it right the first time, Ryan will do it better than you.” He came closer, leering into my face. “He’ll make sure to do it ten times better than you. Understand, puta?”
I gained enough minor motor control to nod. Just to get him out of my personal bubble.
“All right then, let’s get this party started.” He nodded at Ryan. “Go ahead.”
Everything exploded.
The girls screamed as Ryan launched himself at them. Dragging them toward the concrete wall, he pinned one with his forearm while holding the other immobile for Leather Jacket to cuff.
For the first time, I noticed iron manacles dangling by chains from the wall. Rusty and ancient, they looked like they belonged in a medieval torture chamber.
Leather Jacket worked fast and before I could move, the girl’s arms were spread wide and her ankles trapped with more iron cuffs attached to the floor.
She looked at me and my heart died for her. What the fuck was happening!
Once the first girl was secure, Leather Jacket proceeded to shackle the other. He slapped her when she tried to pull away. She squealed and thrashed, causing more abuse to rain upon her skin.
I found my voice in the fog and screamed, “Stop!”
But Leather Jacket just laughed. “We’re the ones doing the ordering. You just wait your turn.”
Once the girls were chained to the wall, bodies pressed against icy concrete, both men came toward me, sandwiching me between them.
The girls pleaded with me to help them. I wanted to. I would. But how? I could barely function, let alone save us.
One girl wailed, “Please. Don’t do this. Let us go. What did we do? We just want to go home!”
My own misfortune from the first time I’d been Leather Jacket’s captive came back to haunt me. I’d never begged. I’d fought and it landed me in more pain.
Why did I fight again? Because it isn’t right. None of this is right!
I’m hungry. I’m tired. I’m cold. I just want to go home. Where am I?
Leather Jacket roared at them in Spanish and I trembled, unable to look, but I couldn’t look away either. I wanted to imprint them to memory. Their survival was on my shoulders. I would get them free.
Leather Jacket put an arm around my neck, sticking his gruesome
tongue in my ear. “Ready for day one of training, bitch?”
I squirmed, but it was too late. A needle disappeared into my arm and another hot wave of all-consuming mental oblivion sucked me deep. Down and down I went, spiralling heavier and heavier until I existed on the bottom of a rubbish-filled ocean.
Sounds warbled. Smells twisted. My vision darted from place to place, never locking on anything, always moving, making me sick with vertigo. But it was my brain I worried most for. My sharp intelligence and fierce awareness no longer existed. It’d been suffocated into tiny clouds, floating uselessly in my skull.
Leather Jacket pushed me forward and I wobbled on uncoordinated legs. “Hit them.”
Hit them. Hit them. Of course, why didn’t I think of it? Hitting them makes total sense.
No, wait.
It doesn’t. What? Why would I hit anyone? I didn’t want to inflict pain.
No!
I swallowed thickly, licking my oversized lips. “Wh—why?”
He frowned, bouncing around in my crazy funhouse vision. “Did you just ask why, puta?” He shook his head, looking at Ryan. “Rule number one. You never ask questions. Ryan. Please show this bitch what I expected from her.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
I watched in horrifying slow motion as Ryan sucker-punched a girl in the gut. She bent over, jerked to a halt by the manacles. She screamed, crying uncontrollably.
Why did he do that?
Because she’s been naughty. A child needs discipline. Yes. A child needs discipline. I should know. I suffered enough slaps while I grew up.
No. this is different. Don’t forget. Never forget this is wrong. So wrong.
Leather Jacket pulled me forward. “Let’s try this again. Hit them.”
“Hit them?” I repeated. My voice sounded far, far away as if I lived in a dark tunnel where no light existed.
“Hit them, or I will,” he ordered.
I shrugged. Did it matter to me? Why did it matter to me?
Because he’ll kill them! At least if you do it, you’ll be as gentle as you can. Do it. Protect them by hitting them.
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