by Cali MacKay
It felt like a long shot—but there was one more option. “Hey…do you still have that connection of yours over at the FBI? Time’s ticking, and since the Feds had Ray under surveillance, I’m thinking that might be the fastest way to track Skylar down.”
“If that’s what you think, then I’ll make the call.” Dane’s tone was serious, because he knew that if I was actually asking to get the Feds involved, then it meant I was desperate—which was exactly what I was at the moment. “Hey…we’ll find her, Finn. She’ll be okay.”
Except that I knew that was nothing but wishful thinking, and Skylar’s reality held little hope.
Every second that ticked by felt like an eternity as I waited for Dane or the Feds to get back to me, and it must have been at least a good fifteen minutes before my phone rang from an unidentified number. “Hello?”
The smug voice wasn’t what I’d been expecting. “Thought you might answer your phone, now that I have Skylar.”
That fucker. “Ray…I swear, I’ll fucking kill you if you so much as touch a hair on her head. Do you fucking hear me? I’ll tear you to fucking pieces, you fucking bastard.”
He just laughed as I heard Skylar let out a blood-curdling scream in the background, my anger turning into a white-hot rage as I pictured that sick twisted fuck hurting her. “I’ve already done so much more than that—and you have no one but yourself to blame. You never should have taken what wasn’t yours, Blackthorn. And now, my poor girl is the one who’ll be stuck paying the price—unless of course, you’d rather come here and take her place…man up for what you’ve done, since someone has to pay after you took what was mine.”
“Just tell me where to find you, and we’ll fucking settle this between the two of us—once and for all. Because she was never fucking yours, you asshole.” I slammed my fist against the steering wheel, wanting to murder the fucker.
He rattled off an address—even as I heard Skylar trying to warn me that it was a trap. “Tick-tock, Blackthorn…hope you make it here while she’s still alive.”
And then the line went dead as Ray hung up on me.
My curses filled the car as I dialed Dane’s number. “Ray just called. I have an address where he’s holding her, and I don’t think I’m too far away. I need to get her, but I have a feeling I’m going to need backup. Let the Feds know. I want this asshole behind bars—if I don’t murder him first.”
“We’ll be on our way—and if you want the Feds there, I’ll let them know.” Dane paused on the line before finally continuing. “Don’t suppose I can convince you to wait for backup before you go in after her?”
“I wish I could—but time’s the one thing she doesn’t have.” I’d just have to try to figure out a way to stall Ray and get him away from Skylar.
I pulled out into traffic, my mind racing as I tried to wipe Skylar’s screams from my thoughts so I could focus on getting her to safety. And yet I couldn’t shake the sounds of her heart-wrenching screams.
What the hell was that fucking bastard doing to her? Because I knew Skylar, and she was tough—which meant that Ray was pushing her even beyond her limits.
There was a good chance I was walking into a trap—and the address he gave me may not even be where he was keeping her. Except that I knew Ray hated me enough to want to get his hands on me, especially after I’d stolen her away from him.
Not that she’d ever truly been his, no matter what he thought.
Instead of trying to ignore the pain that racked my body, I tried to focus on it, knowing that it might be the only thing capable of distracting me from Ray’s touch, from his naked body, as he worked through the sick and twisted fantasies in his head. Fantasies that were nothing but nightmares I was forced to endure once more.
Yet the smell of blood and sex in the air…the feel of his body on mine…made it impossible for me to ignore what he was doing to me, and all that was to come.
I knew I should just give in…let him do what he wanted to me. Because in the end, the results would be the same—the only difference being that if I fought him, I’d suffer all the more for it, and he’d still have his way with me.
But this time around…now that Finn had reminded me of what it was like to be loved, to be cared for…I just couldn’t lay there and not fight back. Except that he had his ways of knocking the fight out of me in a hurry, so that I found myself escaping from my reality and what he was doing to me, knowing I had no choice but to endure it.
Yet it wasn’t enough for Ray to make me suffer, to take me repeatedly, and use me any way he wanted. No. He wanted Finn to suffer too…wanted him to see what he was doing to me. And then, he’d kill Finn, so that I’d know that there’d be no escape…there’d be no one to come and save me.
I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let Ray kill the only man I’d ever loved. And yet, what the hell was I supposed to do? I had no doubt that Ray would kill Finn the moment he showed up.
With my hands still cuffed to the bedframe, I couldn’t get myself free, even if Ray had left his knife and gun mere feet away on the far corner of the nightstand, having abandoned them there so he could focus on tormenting me and reminding me that I belonged to him. But maybe if I could get him to free me, I might be able to figure something out. “Can I go to the bathroom…get myself cleaned up? Please, Ray.”
His hand closed around my throat and squeezed, until my vision went spotty and I fought to stay conscious. “If you try anything, babe…I’ll make sure you pay for it. Am I making myself clear? And you better be quick. That asshole ex of yours will be here soon, and I don’t want any distractions.”
And then he uncuffed me.
Ignoring the pain that shot through my body with every move, I shuffled off the bed, trying to block Ray’s view of the knife and gun. I just needed to get to them before he realized what I was doing, my heart hammering against my ribs as I tried to push away my fears of what Ray might do to Finn. Yet, before I could make a grab for the weapons, Ray was grabbing at me. “Fucking bitch.”
I shoved at him, hoping to knock him out of the way as I lunged for the nightstand, even as Ray cursed me and landed a bone-shattering blow to the middle of my back, knocking the air out of my lungs. Yet it was now or never, and I couldn’t let him win.
I couldn’t let him kill Finn.
Ignoring the pain that racked my body from my injuries, I lunged toward the weapons, even as Ray dove after me, wrestling as we fought to get our hands on any of the weapons. My fingers closed around the knife, but as I swung it around, trying to stick it in Ray, he grabbed my wrist and bent my hand back until I screamed, and he was finally able to pry the knife out of my hand.
He held the knife to my throat, just as I heard the door smash in and knew it was Finn coming to save me. Except that all I was doing was endangering his life.
Finn burst into the room, his gun already drawn as Ray pulled my naked body to his with a strong arm across my chest as he held his long, sharp blade against my throat and turned me toward Finn. The horror on Finn’s face as he took me in was enough to have my eyes burning with tears, because I knew it’d be impossible for him to ever look at me again and not see the horror of what Ray had done to me.
“Easy there, Blackthorn. Wouldn’t want my knife to slip and cut her pretty little throat. As I’m sure you can see, the blade’s sharp.” The humor in his voice proved just how sick and twisted Ray was, since he’d spent the last hour running his blade over my skin or holding it to my neck as he fucked me.
“Let her go, Ray. I’m the one you want to hurt. She had nothing to do with leaving you. It was me—I took her by force.”
I was going to fucking murder the bastard. The horror of what Skylar had been forced to endure was evident and impossible to ignore as she and Ray stood there completely naked, with blood smeared over her skin from a dozen cuts. My hand tensed around the grip on my gun as I resisted the urge to squeeze the trigger and put a bullet between Ray’s eyes—and I was a good enough shot to do it.
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br /> Except that I couldn’t risk something happening to Skylar.
Ray’s blade was pressing into her skin, and if he jerked when I shot him, he’d slice her throat open and I’d lose her. Yet I knew that after taking Skylar away from him, it was me he truly wanted to hurt. “Just let her go, and you can have me instead. Do whatever the fuck you want with me. Let her go and you can have your revenge on me.”
“Or maybe I’ll get my revenge by hurting Skylar and making you watch while she suffers—since this is all your fucking fault.” Ray glared at me, his eyes crazed with jealousy. And based on all the things he’d already done to her, I had no doubt he’d follow through on his threats.
“You’re right. It’s my fault—which only makes you a fucking coward for taking out your anger on Skylar when she did nothing but beg and plead with me to take her back to you. You’re hurting her, when she remained loyal to you.” It was the only thing I could think of. And based on what Sky had said about him loving her in his own twisted way, I was hoping it’d keep him from hurting her any further. “She’s not the one you want to hurt. Just let her go, and you can have me instead. You can make me pay for stealing her away from you.”
“You never should have touched her…but you’re right…you’re the one who should pay.” Yet instead of letting Skylar go, his grip on her tightened, and the fear in her eyes made it so I could barely think straight. “Toss your gun aside.”
I carefully tossed it to the floor, knowing that if I needed a weapon, I had another strapped to my ankle. All I needed to do was get him to free her. “I’ve done as you asked. Now let Skylar go.”
Ray tilted his head toward the bed where the covers were rumpled from Skylar’s struggles and a pair of cuffs dangled from the bedframe. “Cuff yourself to the bed first.”
Fuck. With my hands bound, I’d have little chance of getting my other weapon or stopping the sick bastard from killing me. Yet it didn’t matter. I cuffed myself to the bed without a second thought, needing to do whatever it took to make sure Skylar got the hell out of here. And with luck, the Feds wouldn’t be too far behind. “I’ve done as you’ve asked, now keep your word and let her go.”
Ray turned her toward me, an evil grin on his face. “He never should have touched you…never should have put that baby in you. You were mine from the very start—no one else’s. So take one last look, princess…’cause by the time I’m through, there’ll be nothing left of him.”
Yet his threats meant nothing as my mind hitched on just a handful of his words…never should have put that baby in you… Fucking hell… Skylar was pregnant. I struggled against my cuffs, to try to get to her, to do all I could to protect her and our unborn child. “Let her go.”
“Or maybe she should watch…so she knows what happens to people who cross me.”
My eyes stung with tears as Ray told Finn about our unborn child…about the child I’d never get to hold in my arms, the child whose life was extinguished too early.
I’d never hated anyone more than I hated Ray.
With Finn cuffed to the bed, I knew our situation was dire. But if I could get Ray to move his knife away from my throat even a little, then I could try to lunge for the gun he’d forgotten about on the nightstand. “Please, Ray…you don’t have to do this. Look at me…you’re the only one who matters. But if you hurt him, then I’ll never be able to forgive you, especially after what you did to my brother.”
“I know you’re just fucking with my head, Skylar.” His grip on me tightened, a burning pain flaring at my neck as the sharp blade pressed into my skin, while Finn cursed and struggled against the cuffs. “I know you’ve never loved me. You’ve only ever loved this fucking bastard.”
“You know that’s not true. But I need you to stop this. I know you don’t want to hurt me… Please, just look at me and you’ll know I’m telling you the truth.” Because if I could get him to face me, his knife would no longer be at my neck. “I love you, Ray… You know we can be happy together.”
He was messed up in the head enough that he might actually believe it, even though I’d never loved him…never even cared about him. And how could I when he’d taken away so much from me from the very start?
“Do you really…? Because you know I’ve never thought about anyone but you…never loved anyone else.” His grip softened and the blade fell away as I slowly shifted in his arms to face him.
“Do you think I would have stayed as long as I did if I didn’t love you?” I kept my eyes focused on him, doing my best to ignore Finn, who was still struggling and cursing up a storm. “I know things haven’t always been easy, and we have our share of problems, but I know we’ll get through it.”
“And you forgive me…? For your brother? For the baby?” Ray didn’t look like he quite believed me—and for good reason, since I could never forgive him for all he’d done to me.
He’d left me shattered. Broken.
Finn looked at me in question, confused as I silently pleaded with him, my eyes dashing toward the nightstand—and I knew when Ray turned to face Finn, this might be my only chance to make Ray pay for what he’d done.
Luckily, Finn must have realized I was going to try something, because he kicked out at Ray, distracting him as I lunged for the gun on the nightstand. Grabbing it, I spun back to face Ray, but he was already coming at me, his knife raised.
And so I did the only thing I could.
I fired off a shot—and kept on firing until he finally stopped coming for me, dropping to the ground at my feet.
I sank to my knees, my tears falling and refusing to stop, everything numb as I was filled with the horror of what I’d just done as I watched Ray take his last breath. Finn called out to me, but I didn’t move…could barely hear him through the numbness in my head as I just sat there, shock settling in.
And then we were swarmed by Feds, who came in, guns drawn as they surrounded us. I vaguely remember someone throwing a blanket over my naked body, and then there was Finn…fighting off the agents to get to me.
“It’s okay, love…I’ve got you.” Finn scooped me up into his arms and carried me out of the room, holding me tightly to him as I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him.
Yet despite the safety of Finn’s embrace, something told me my problems were far from over.
Though Finn refused to leave my side, I insisted he leave when it came time for the doctors to examine me. “Please, just go…find out how my brother’s doing. I’ll be fine.”
And I would be. My wounds would eventually heal, and I’d somehow find a way to deal with Ray repeatedly hurting me and forcing himself on me, just like I’d managed to deal with it before.
Because my nightmare—Ray—was now dead. He couldn’t hurt me or those I loved any more. Except that he was dead at my hand—and no matter how many times I’d wished him dead, the reality of taking a life left me feeling rattled to my core.
The police and doctors took pictures and gathered evidence, piecing together what happened to me, before finally treating the cuts that crisscrossed my body, though there was little to be done but clean the wounds and stitch the deeper ones.
Burton and Samuelson then came in to interview me. As usual, Burton did most of the talking, since her partner seldom said much. “Mr. Blackthorn gave us what details he could on your abduction and what happened, but we’ll need your version of events.”
“What happened is exactly what you think happened. Ray kidnapped me from this hospital at gunpoint—despite me asking the FBI to arrest him—and then he raped and tortured me until Finn showed up. From there, Finn convinced Ray to take his anger out on him instead of me. While Ray was distracted with Finn, I went for the gun Ray had abandoned on the nightstand, but he came after me with the knife he’d been using—so I did the only thing I could. I shot him.”
“Four times.” Samuelson raised his eyebrows as he stared at me.
“I kept shooting until he stopped coming at me.”
I shoved my way past
the Feds, not caring if they weren’t happy to have me barging in on their questioning. But Skylar had been through enough already, and things were only going to get worse.
Her brother didn’t pull through his surgery.
Yet, despite everything that was going on, my thoughts kept running back to what Ray had said about Skylar being pregnant. Could she really know already that she was pregnant when we’d only been back together for such a short time? Or was Ray delusional, and he’d assumed she was pregnant—or worse, she was pregnant with his child but he was assuming it was mine? None of it made sense.
Though Skylar had a rough road ahead of her, I’d be right by her side to see her through it. And now that she had lost her brother, a baby might keep her from feeling alone in the world. I’d love for us to start a family, yet after all she’d been through, and the heartache that was to come once I told her about her brother, I knew she’d be heartbroken, and it’d be tough for her to move past all that happened.
I crossed to her side and carefully took her hand in mine, turning to face the agents who were questioning her. “I think she’s had enough for tonight. If you have any more questions, she’ll come to your offices once she’s feeling up for it.”
“We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.” Burton gave Samuelson a sideways glance, but they headed for the door, finally leaving us alone.
I took her in, lying there in nothing but a hospital gown that did little to mask the aftermath of her ordeal. I should have found a way to protect her… I never should have left her side—not even for a moment. And now? I was going to have to pile onto her misery.
“Sky…I don’t know how to tell you this… But your brother…I’m so sorry.” It felt like the blows kept coming at her, and there was nothing I could do to spare her. And though I could have waited to tell her, I knew she’d want to know.