Again, I screamed, teeth gnashing against the agony I was feeling. Blinded, weakened, and now one toe less, I really didn’t think I was about to survive this night. I’m sorry, Jordan. Takahashi got even more creative and began undoing my pants as he threatened to remove my cock and balls. He was upping the ante of the torture because they were losing time. That much, I knew. I was healing faster. My eyes were starting to heal, but I still couldn’t see what he was doing. However, I did feel my zipper go down just as the telephone rang in the background.
I heard Richard answer it and he became agitated over whatever was said on the other end. “Shit. I’ll send Takahashi down.” He ended the call. “The police were called. Go down and take care of it.”
“All right,” Takahashi said. I was grateful for the reprieve. It gave me time to get myself together and a few seconds to think up my escape. I heard Takahashi washing up, I guessed he was cleaning my blood from his hands. A few minutes later, I heard the door open and then close.
“I told you he had it in for you. You better hope your dick can grow back, but then again, that won’t matter. He’ll just cut it off again, and since you’re never leaving here alive, you won’t be using it anymore,” Richard said.
Well, that was a depressing thought.
“What do you really look like, I wonder? Are you handsome, or just as ugly as Mr. Foster was?”
“You’re… You’re not my type,” I managed to say through the pain. My eyes were healed enough that I was starting to see the room, but only through a bloody, blurry, red film.
“Don’t worry, you’re not my type either. But now, I’m wondering how much you’d go for on the Killing Game? I bet I could make a lot of money off you. The betting that would go down for a chance to kill an Enhanced Human? You’d be a big fish,” Richard said.
I had one chance to make this work while Takahashi was away and Richard still thought I was vulnerable. I forced myself to transform. If I could make my limbs smaller, I’d be able to slip out of the bindings they’d put me in. It was hard as hell to do, because I was still under the effects of that drug, but I could feel the tingles coming to the surface. My muscles began to twitch, which meant it might work. Again, I focused hard, willing my change over and over. Sweat dripped from my body like I’d been rained on, which was good. I was pushing the drug out of my system and feeling stronger with each passing second.
“Oh no, we can’t have any of that,” Richard said, then he picked up the canister with the “solution.” He tried to force the mask over my mouth, but he didn’t have Takahashi’s strength, so he couldn’t get it to stay on my face. Also, I was holding my breath as I willed my transformation. Finally, it was starting to take. My bones began to shrink as my flesh followed suit. It was horrible, but it was worth every ounce of pain to get out of this situation.
“Shit!” Richard yelped and went for his gun, pulling it out from behind his back. “I’ll find your partner one way or another. I don’t need you,” he stated, but I seriously doubted that. He aimed his gun, firing off six rounds into my torso, which bounced off, to my utter delight. It was still horrible, as it was extremely painful to take every bullet head on. But at least I was feeling more like myself again. I groaned from the pain of the bullets, but kept willing on my transformation.
“Oh shit!” Richard was terrified now, especially since he was about to become my bitch as soon as I was out of these fucking bindings.
He ran out of the apartment, which I wished he hadn’t done. How was I going to torture the ever loving shit out of him if he got away? Fuck! I had to focus on breaking free myself, then track his ass back down. My wrists grew smaller, to that of a ten-year-old boy, which was what I’d transformed into. Now with smaller limbs, I was able to free myself of the handcuffs and ropes easily by slipping out of them. The worse part was having to remove the fucking sword from both of my thighs. I growled as I pulled the blade free and tossed that fucker to the floor in disgust. I really wanted to shove that shit up Takahashi’s ass, but that would have to wait.
I still didn’t have my full strength yet. I hoped it would return like the rest of my abilities. My cover was blown here and it would always be now that I knew Takahashi had my scent locked down, no doubt. As soon as I’d walked through the door, they knew I wasn’t Mr. Foster. Clever bitches. I rose from the chair and blazing pain shot through my body as my legs nearly buckled. The damage my muscles had taken from the sword was ever present, but I could feel myself healing. At least my toe was coming back, even though it looked horrendous. Completely skinless with the bone showing, it was fucking gross and painful.
As much as I wanted to settle comfortably on that nice-looking sofa and rest up, I knew I didn’t have the time. So, I pushed through the pain and grabbed Richard’s computer that he had left, as well as his cell phone. Naked, I hobbled quickly to his room, snatched one of his expensive suits from his closet, and made my way out the back door. Halfway down the stairs, I stopped to transform into my favorite average American guy.
Rushing the change had brought on the nausea, and I puked in the pants I’d been wearing that belonged to Alexander. Disgusting, but thank goodness it was just a little. It’d been a while since I’d eaten. Next, I changed clothes as quickly as I could. Picked up the messy puke pants, computer, and cell, then finished making my way down too many fucking flights of stairs. Why didn’t I just go for the elevator? Oh right, I was making an escape. With every flight of stairs I descended, I felt stronger and stronger, so I took a chance and leaped over the edge, jumping fourteen stories to the bottom level.
I landed hard, twisting my ankle something fierce, but I didn’t let that stop me… for too long. Shit was painful as hell, so there was some limping involved. I took a few deep breaths and made for the garage exit, where I tossed the nasty clothes in the garbage dumpster. I used the suit jacket I’d stolen to wipe my face as clean as I could of my blood, but took that with me as I left Tate Towers defeated… for now.
Chapter Nine
“Oh my God, are you okay?” Jordan blurted out in my ear as soon as I established communication with him once I had reached my car.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m on my way home now,” I said quickly, as to not have him worrying about me. I was completely healed up by this point, and pissed the fuck off like it was nobody’s motherfucking business. I wanted vengeance like a son of a bitch on steroids, and I was planning on getting it. Sure, they knew some shit about me, but I now knew a lot more about them, too. Like, for instance, his bodyguard/lover was also an Enhanced Human who at least had super strength and senses. I did wonder if that was all he had in his bag of goodies, or was I in store for more surprises? Whatever the case, I was going to be ready for the next battle.
“I’ve been sitting here worried fucking sick about you,” Jordan said as I started the engine of my sweet ride.
“How much did you catch?” I asked.
“All communications went down the moment I think you lost consciousness. It was like they had some sort of electronic disrupter and everything on my end went dark, including the visuals. I had no idea what was going on with you, or how to help you,” he said. I could still hear the panic in his voice as every word he spoken had that specific timbre. I was so angry that this night had gone fucking south and J was made to worry about me. He took a deep breath, then continued. “The only thing I could think of was to make an anonymous call to the police and report a lot of screaming noises coming from the penthouse.”
Ahhh, so that was why the cops had come. Shit, Jordan really hooked me up back there with that ruse. Well, thinking about it, it wasn’t really a ruse because my ass had been screaming. But I had been getting stronger and stronger, and eventually, I was going to break free. And if I had to, jump out of the fucking window, which looked to be my option, given the opportunity. But getting Takahashi out of the room, leaving me with Richard, gave me a better opportunity to escape. That had been great thinking on J’s part.
“Th
at was fucking brilliant, J. You saved my ass back there by doing that,” I praised.
“What… what happened?” he asked, his voice soft. Apprehensive, like he really didn’t want to know just how bad things had gotten for me in there.
“I’m a big boy, baby. Plus, I’m all healed up now,” I reassured him.
“That’s not what I asked,” he shot back.
Okay, so maybe he didn’t really want to know, but he really wanted to know. Fine. Here it goes.
“We underestimated those motherfuckers. But honestly, I’m not sure how we could have known about Takahashi. Not in any of our observations did he do anything superhuman, but now I know why. As soon as he caught a whiff of my scent and recognized that I wasn’t Tanner, they were on to us. They kept up the charade as business as usual. Meanwhile, we were working under the assumption shit was playing into our hands. I’m starting to wonder if Alexander Foster was really someone interested in the Killing Game or just a ploy to get us to make a move.”
“Perhaps he was both. Someone Richard was willing to sacrifice if it made you act on him. I’m surprised they didn’t act first and try to figure out what you were up to,” Jordan pointed out.
“That’s because the ball was in their court. I’ll give it to them, those motherfuckers play the long game. The deep con. They didn’t have to make a move, because they already knew most of the players in the game. All but you. That’s what he wanted from me. Information on my partner, and he tortured me to try to get it,” I said.
“Oh god, they tortured you!? Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. Remember, I heal fast as fuck. At the time I was being tortured, yeah, I was feeling real pain, but I’m good now. Don’t worry,” I said. I could tell he was about to rile himself up all over again.
“How did they even torture you? Your body is pretty much fucking indestructible.”
Good question. “They drugged me to knock me out, but then they made me inhale some kind of experimental drug created to weaken EHs. Temporarily, I was susceptible to their interrogation,” I said.
“Did they pull your fingernails off?”
“Jesus, J, really?” I asked. Where in the fuck had that come from? Did he really want to know every fucking detail of my torture?
“I want to know what those bastards did to you. I want them to pay for every offense,” he replied, giving me my answer.
“They will pay, but the details are gruesome. I know you don’t like shit like that,” I said as my last attempt to spare him my humiliation.
There was a long pause, but then he finally broke the silence. “If it’s too hard for you to tell me, I won’t press.”
“Thank you, J.” Yeah, I didn’t have to admit failure often, especially not where the punchline was me getting my ass handed to me on a dirty platter. But I just wanted to get past this night and move forward to repaying the torture to two motherfuckers who really had it coming. “Listen, J, I’m going to be home in like fifteen minutes. Are you hungry, I can pick something up?”
“Just come home. Make sure you’re not being followed, and I’ll have food ready for you when you get here,” he said.
I already knew I wasn’t being followed. That was one thing that had gone right. Richard and Takahashi couldn’t trace me, even with their nifty GPS, which I knew was in the company car. I never took that car to my car. I always dropped it off somewhere, then went someplace public, switched forms, then went to my car. I was a different person every time, too. That due diligence was what had kept Jordan safe because I was impossible to track. Had I been careless about that, J would have been tortured as well. This, as painful as it was, had been a learning experience for me. I’d say that I was lucky Takahashi had never caught my scent at any time I had been switching cars. That must have frustrated the shit out of him. Good. Fucker.
I had a list of things I wanted to get, such as the drug they had used to incapacitate me. I was pissed I forgot to grab the canister before I bolted. But I was trying to get out of there as fast as possible. Had Takahashi come back, I wouldn’t have been ready to fight him. Plus, I wanted the cell and laptop more importantly. However, that drug was on my must have list right now. If it worked on me, maybe it would also work on Takahashi. I wanted to have it in both gas form and liquid.
I had Richard’s laptop and cell phone, so I was sure J was about to work wonders with them. In the meantime, I wanted to see if I could get my hands on some kind of device that could alert me if and when I was dealing with another EH. Something like that might not exist, and it would be good news for me if it didn’t. But if it did, I wanted it.
I was already thinking of plan B, but I knew I needed to see what information Jordan could gather off the technical contraband I’d collected before I could really make my next move. For now, I wanted to eat my weight in whatever Jordan was going to cook, take a nice bath, and maybe fuck my brains out. I really wanted to see J’s “O” face and know I was the one giving him that pleasure. This night had to end on a good note, for fuck’s sake.
***
I pulled into our secret lair, killed the engine, and climbed out of the car. I was immediately embraced by Jordan, who came bounding at me at top speed. He slammed his body into mine and I hugged him as tightly as I could without causing him harm.
“I’m so happy you’re home,” he said, then gave me another sturdy squeeze before finally releasing me and backing up to take in my appearance. “You look like shit.”
“I feel like it.”
“I thought you said you were completely healed?”
I nodded. “Healed doesn’t mean I’m not fucking exhausted. My body isn’t aching, but I could use some R and R.”
“Okay, yeah… you need to unwind, I get it.” He took a few steps back and gestured to the dining table, where I could see two place settings and food waiting. “Food is ready when you are.”
“Hell, I’m ready now, but I’ll shower first,” I said, then leaned over, taking him by the back of his neck, and pulled him in closer to plant a soft kiss on his forehead. I released him and straightened. “Oh, here. I know you’re going to love this.” I handed him Richard’s cell and laptop, which he damn near snatched from my hand.
He looked up at me, brown eyes beaming. “Is this what I think it is?”
I nodded. “That asshole ran when he saw me regain my strength. In his haste to flee, he left those two gems. I didn’t.”
“Yes!” Jordan cheered. “Oh, I got that motherfucker’s ass now!”
“I hope so.”
“Oh, I do, trust me. Their days are limited.”
“I knew you’d love that. Listen, let me get cleaned up.”
He was already walking away from me. “Yeah… sure,” was all he said as he was walking toward his computer station to get set up.
I decided to leave him to his own devices. That long bath was going to have to wait because I wanted to eat like my life depended on it. Jordan had made spaghetti, garlic bread, and a salad. I was about to tear that shit up. I made my way to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Before I climbed into the shower, I took a good look at myself in the mirror.
My clothes were wrinkled and there was a little bit of blood on them, but not much. I looked a bit worse for wear, but nothing some hot water and soap wasn’t going to fix. My eyes, thank god, looked the same. Too bad the new ones didn’t come back with twenty/twenty vision. I still needed my eyeglasses, which I was just about to take off. When on a mission, I was rocking contacts, but those got destroyed the moment Takahashi—that motherfucker—stabbed my gorgeous orbs out. Ooooh, I couldn’t wait to return the favor. I swore he was going to feel my wrath. I wished I knew what they were doing now. Probably panicking because we had his laptop and cell. All of his contacts, easier accesses to his finances… everything. That bit of knowledge gave me some satisfaction.
The look on Jordan’s face when I handed him those two beauties was priceless. I knew he was about to work his magic, too. Probably had already started o
n it. I stripped and climbed into the shower. The water pelting down on me was just what I needed to catch my second wind. That, and the growling in my stomach, was another incentive for me to rush the bathing. I may or may not be able to pry Jordan from the computer for a quickie. But then again, I couldn’t blame him if he was about to be all business. We finally had what we needed to take Richard out, and satisfying my lust wasn’t high on the priority list.
I finished bathing, threw on a pair of sweat pants, and made my way to the table where the food was still warm, but the piping hot steam I saw when I first walked through the door was gone. Didn’t matter, I was about to eat like a starved man. I piled the food on my plate and watched Jordan in his element. His eyes were glued to the screens as codes and shit I knew nothing about scrolled about, this way and that.
I finished my meal and walked up behind him. “Did you get anything off the laptop or cell?”
“I’m running some algorithms now in order to break down his security. He’s got some nice firewalls up, but nothing I haven’t seen before. Now that I have the source and aren’t trying to hack him remotely, this shit is about to be a piece of fucking cake.”
Maybe I could get a little something-something from him after all. Might as well ask, all he could tell me was no. “So… ummm, since this is all going well, think you want to… you know…”
He turned to look at me, which was the first time his eyes had left the screen since I’d stepped out of the shower. “Are you seriously asking me to fuck you right now?”
Cobra- The Vigilante Box Set 2 Page 12