“What the hell did you do, Hollywood?” Freeman shouted. His voice sounded faint over the constant pound of my dwindling heartbeat.
“I … I didn’t … mean to,” he stammered.
“You saved me,” Reese said. Her voice was so soft, just loud enough for only me to hear. I wanted to answer, but I was too weak. A shock of frost wracked my body and everything started to turn numb as I was enveloped in haze. I fell toward her, unable to hold myself up any longer. Her arms felt like scolding flames against my skin. “You can’t die. Not this time. I can’t lose you,” she whimpered as she cradled me against her body. The last thing I heard before I closed my eyes was the sound of three werewolves howling in agonizing pain.
Chapter Seventeen
Shayla
A plate of runny eggs skimmed across the bar, stopping in front of me. As if the sight of them wasn’t enough to turn my already uneasy insides, the smell hit like a grenade to the face. My lips pulled down in disgust. Raven’s gaze wandered over to me before throwing the hand towel she had sitting on her shoulder into the sink. I flinched as it caused a pot to slam into the bottom.
“You think you can do better?” she asked. She was kidding? An eight-year-old could do better than this. Eight year olds, dude. I chuckled slightly as John Goodman’s voice from The Big Lebowski sounded off in my head. She took my laugh as a response to her question as her cheeks held a hint of heat. The longer I sat in silence, not touching the food, the deeper crimson they became. “I’m done trying to cook breakfast for everyone. Someone else can take over the job.” She dropped back into the counter, a little puff of anger expelling.
“What’s the problem over here?” Savannah said, running a comb through her still damp hair. Brown tendrils stuck to her forehead as she maneuvered them back with her hand, leaving beads of water. She took one look at my plate and at Raven sulking in the corner, and I knew she regretted her decision to interfere. “Something wrong with the eggs?” I could feel Raven’s eyes wander to me as if waiting for verbal confirmation.
“I’m just not hungry. I was saving these for you.” I pushed the plate toward her, putting the ball in her court. Raven’s eyes darted to Savannah. She wasn’t going to make me out to be the bad guy alone. We both knew these eggs looked like shit.
“Well as much as I want to, you know I don’t eat eggs. They always upset my stomach. I should really save these for Lance. He gets sick if he doesn’t eat breakfast.” As if on cue Lance appeared and shoved Savannah to the side. We watched as he devoured the half cooked eggs.
“At least someone likes my cooking,” Raven said, sending an icy glare in our direction. Lance would eat anything. And I mean anything. I once saw him eat pizza that had been out for over a week. He said it was a little stale but still delectable. It was a wonder Savannah hadn’t broke him of that, the way she worried over getting any type of illness.
I glanced back, stopping to stare at Masey curled up on the couch. She wasn’t alone. Lyric had her body securely tucked to his, holding her with one arm at the midsection. A slight pang of jealousy gripped my heart. I didn’t want anything to do with Lyric, not that he wasn’t cute, but he was a Snake Demon. I had enough of those last year. The sight of them like that made me miss Jace. I loved it when he cuddled into me like that, whispering things in my ear. With matted hair, crusty eyes, and bad morning breath, he could always make me feel beautiful. It was something I really needed right now.
“I take it Masey is staying here today?” Savannah asked, following my eyes with a slight disapproving frown. Who was she to judge love? Lance stayed by her side when shit hit the fan. If anything Masey needed Lyric. The loss of Casey was a devastating blow for her, and it didn’t help that I was the one who’d killed her. Bitch had it coming though. But somehow Masey didn’t blame me for what needed to be done like I thought she would. We talked through it after that night, and she realized that wasn’t her sister anymore. No, Lyric would be good for her. He seemed like a descent guy and if not I would kill him no questions asked. We all needed something like that to make us feel normal or we would become hollow. Much like I was already starting to feel.
“She didn’t get much sleep last night. Stayed up working on analyzing those samples,” I said. I knew that was part of her night because the two of them were the ones who stopped my meltdown, but after that I had no idea what happened when they went outside. No one else needed to know that.
“I don’t like this,” Abby said, surveying them while pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Of course she didn’t. Somewhere deep down I was sure Abby had a thing for Masey. I could have been wrong, but it was the impression I got. Poor Masey probably had no clue. Obviously, she was strictly dickly.
“Oh leave them alone. Neither of you sat out there with him for hours. He’s harmless,” I said, defending him. I wasn’t really sure why. Maybe because I needed to believe there were still descent guys out there. Ones that weren’t scared to stick by someone they loved during some of the hardest times. I took a sip of coffee. It was already cold, but I didn’t care. I needed something to wash the bitterness down.
“Yeah. I guess we’ll see,” Abby said. She pulled her arms through a sweater, trying to keep from looking at them again.
“Everyone ready to go?” Lance said. He still had a small blob of shaving cream just under his chin. Savannah smiled, her eyes crinkling in the corners, as she wiped it off. I rolled my eyes at him trying to get all GQ fine to go to Devil’s Den. If there was something in there, it wouldn’t care if his face was hairy. Everyone mumbled in response, crowding the side door.
I cast one last look at Masey before shutting it. “Lucky bitch.”
We parked the jeep in a parking lot behind a building so it couldn’t be seen from the road. Being that it was our only mode of transportation, we were crammed tight. I seriously thought about shooting someone at least twice on the drive over, but I didn’t want to waste my bullets. Bodies rolled out as soon as the door opened. “Oh, to have those freakin’ SUVs back!” Raven said as Abby kneed her out the door. I released the clip on my gun, checking to make sure it was loaded. It was my only gun. If only I had a secret stash like Reese had in her apartment. I should have made her put me one in there since I was her best friend. After all, I did let her and Steele fornicate in my loft. It was a fair trade.
Lance ran along the back of the building, looking for cars. I wasn’t sure why we were being so secret ops. I mean, we were out in daylight. “Clear.” We flanked him as he skirted across the road and into the woods. No one said a word. Of course the leaves crunching beneath our feet was a dead giveaway if anything was down there. It was as if saying, “Hey! Here we are!”
We split into two groups, each taking a side of the building to go around. I stopped at a window, letting Raven climb on my shoulders to peek inside. “You’re killing me. Hurry up,” I said.
She jumped down. “Empty.” That one word was like music to my ears. By the time we made it around to the front the other group was already inside. I followed them up the steps, bringing up the rear. At the top, they scattered searching for anything that could help us. I stood, staring. I glanced over at the bathroom I’d hid in. The door was torn to pieces from Zane kicking it in. The couch I’d sat on, trying to get Ferish to talk to me. The furniture still lined the walls as if waiting on them to return. Everything was how I remembered it, even the gapping hole in the ceiling those other guys caused.
“Oh wow. This is sick,” Savannah screamed. “Don’t touch it, Lance. You don’t know what it is. It might give you something.” I knew what they were referring to without even seeing it. Around that corner was the table. I was filled with a primitive fear. There were so many horrors in this building the others knew nothing of. Hell, there were probably others I didn’t know about. I reached for Jace’s necklace, gripping it tight.
“Anyone got anything?” Dax called. He held a small device pieced together with duct tape. Every few seconds it emitted an annoying beeping so
und. “It stinks in here.”
“Wonder why? Could it be there’s decaying human body parts over there?” Lance said, coming around the corner, holding his nose. “Is there another layer to this place?” He looked to me as if I were a human GPS for the building. I shrugged, still too shaken up to even talk. He opened a door near the battered bathroom. “There’s more stairs. Let’s split up. Half go up. The rest of you check downstairs.” Dax, Abby, and I headed down the creaky steps. I was glad to leave that room, even though I didn’t make it past the doorframe. That was an accomplishment for me.
I walked around the room, eyeing the artwork across the walls. Symbols, people expressing love for each other, and perverted drawings covered the cinder blocks.
“Over here,” Dax called. “The floor is loose here.” He jumped, the floor was hollow under his feet. We dropped to our knees, shoving trash out of the way. His fingers slid over the floor until they hooked under a notch and pulled. A rusty ladder descended into darkness below us. “Who wants to go first?”
Abby and I exchanged looks before firing hostility in his direction. “Shouldn’t the man go first?” I asked.
“Yeah, in any normal circumstances. These aren’t normal though.” He pointed at my gun and gripped Abby’s arm, feeling her muscles. “You bitches can fight way better than me. What am I gonna do? Throw a computer at something?” He had a point. Abby and I rock-paper-scissored, scoring her the job of going first. I went next. The ladder was damp from dew. Beads of water ran down the walls, ending in small puddles on the dirt below. The beam from my flashlight highlighted metal walls stretching down a hallway.
“This isn’t creepy at all,” Abby said.
“Not like we haven’t dealt with creepy before,” I muttered. We started down the hallway in a single file line, passing doors made of bars. The rooms were empty, but filthy. Torn clothes, stained floors, and a hair-raising uneasiness lingered there.
“What could they have been keeping down here?” Dax asked.
“Girls to feed on?” Abby suggested.
“They kept the girls to feed on sedated with their venom. If girls were kept down here, they were for something else.” A chain rattled in front of us. I jerked the flashlight toward the sound. “Did you hear that?” They didn’t have to answer. Their paled vacant expressions gave me confirmation they had.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” Abby said, still staring ahead.
“Good idea. I’m not getting anything on this,” Dax said, looking down at his homemade device. Before we could turn back in the direction we came, Abby was jerked to the floor. Feet first, she was dragged in the direction of a room on the end by something invisible. She shrieked in terror, trying to grab at anything on the walls to stop her. We ran after her, coming to a heart-dropping stop as we turned into the room. She was suspended in the air. Her eyes were closed while hair floated about her face like popped threads from an old shirt.
“Abby?” I asked, too terrified to move. Like a pop of lightening something flashed in front of her. A figure stood with its hand around her throat. It looked in our direction. Bushy white hair cascaded down its shoulders draped in a brown rope. Two glowing eyes hit my light and reflected like an animal.
“Banshee,” Dax mumbled under his breath. Its lined face pulled back, and exerted a scream that sounded both human and animal at the same time. Sharp teeth glistened with saliva. “We have to get out of here.” He took a few steps back before I grabbed the collar of his shirt, stopping him.
“We can’t just leave her.”
He shook his head. “A banshee means someone is going to die. I don’t want to die …” His words disgusted me. None of us wanted to die, but that didn’t mean his life was so much more precious than Abby’s. More chains sounded. Their movement seemed to bounce off the metal walls, making them sound as if they were coming from all directions. I turned back toward the banshee and Abby, but they were gone.
“Where did they go?” I asked frantically, stepping farther into the room. Dax didn’t answer. He was too preoccupied by something. I came out coming face to face with a creature that was half human half bull.
“Guys, what’s taking so long?” Lance asked, coming down the ladder. “The energy level on the top floor is off the charts.” I heard his feet hit the ground and I wanted to scream at them to turn back, but I couldn’t look away from this thing in front of me. A grunt sounded from behind me, and something hit the ground.
“Put them in the cells,” it said to something behind me. It jerked Dax and I by the arms, dragging us toward two of the barred rooms. Everything in me wanted to fight, kick, and scream, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. My arms felt as though they were glued to my sides and my legs felt like they had the weight of the world on them. My throat constricted every time I tried to scream. Although I had no idea who I was going to call because everyone was down here with me, trapped like a caged animal now.
Chapter Eighteen
Shayla
My head rolled to the side, making me feel like I was falling. I jerked up, waking from an uneasy sleep to find myself immobilized. At least I was alive, even if it was an extremely shitty situation. I surveyed my predicament. Strapped across the chest, pinning my arms to the sides, and across my midsection and legs. Pulling against them, I tested the strength of the leather bonds. A scream bounced off the metal walls, coming from down the hall. It was deep, meaning it either had to be Dax or Lance. Panic sliced through me like a knife. What were they doing to them? I pulled against the straps harder this time, using all my strength. I dropped back down, red-faced, and defeated. Wiggling, I searched for my gun, praying the hard piece of metal was still there. It wasn’t. I rolled my eyes, silently groaning. If only I wasn’t scared shitless when I saw them, maybe I could have popped one in the head. Another scream sounded, more pained this time.
Sweat beaded against my temples and rolled down to the nape of my neck. Out of any situation I had been in this was the most terrifying. Why was I so naïve to think I wouldn’t get caught one day? It was stupid of me. My body felt restless, aching to move from being held in one position for so long.
“Can anyone hear me?” Savannah called out. Damn it. Why did she have to be so careless? Whatever them things were could probably hear her just like me. I held the words back by biting on my lip. Something moved, clambering down the hallway. A metal door screeched as it was pulled open. “No. Please. I’m sorry. I won’t say anything else.”
Smack!
There was a splatter against the wall. Tears brimmed at the corner of my eyes as my heart thudded at a rapid rate. I could only imagine the worst, picturing Savannah’s face becoming mush as the sounds continued. The only thing missing now were her cries. She was silent, leaving a hollow blow in the pit of my stomach. My lids pinched together as the salty tears rolled into my hair, collecting with the already matted sweat.
This was it. Our end. I knew it was coming for us the night at the boat landing, but somehow I figured it would be at Dermetheus’s hand. Not some bull mix breed creatures we’d stumbled into. This was definitely the wrong place to be. A door slammed, luring me away from my regretful thoughts. At least it was leaving her be. She was probably unconscious from the beating she’d just taken. Or worse. No. I refused to think that. But instead of hearing the split hooves fading down the hall, they seemed to be getting closer to me. I sucked in a lungful of putrid air, holding it tight when it stopped outside my door. I couldn’t force myself to look in its direction. Maybe if it thought I was still asleep it would leave me alone. The rusty hinges swiveling against each other proved me wrong.
“This one’s had enough. Bring the one with tainted skin back,” a voice called from down the hall. Tainted skin? My tattoos were a beautiful expression of who I was. Sure I regretted some of them because they were in the heat of the moment, like the No Man Is Worthy right above my crotch. I was in a dark place when I’d gotten it. Jace had just left. After I got it, I realized it gave the wron
g impression that I batted for the other team. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, but I liked men way too much for that.
Its steps moved closer until the heat of its breath beat down against my face. The straps loosened, falling off me, the metal clasp hitting the table with a clang. Begging for my life or my good looks would only pump them up. That was obvious from what it did to Savannah. Rough fingers brushed against my cheek, pushing hair away. Its touch was sticky, leaving me to believe they were covered in blood. Roughly, it slid an arm under my neck and the bend of my knees, hoisting me into the air. I lay limp against its body as we moved. What was I going to do? There were two of them against me with no weapon. I couldn’t let myself be beat, that wasn’t an option. But what else could I do?
We neared a dripping sound as we tilted to maneuver through a door. Finally, I mustered up enough courage to look around me. The other beast was unstrapping Lance from an elevated operating table. He was bloody, so bloody I couldn’t make out where it was coming from. His face was swollen to the point if I didn’t know he was here with me, I wouldn’t know who he was. His head flopped to the side as the beast walked away, replacing a stained screwdriver to a table full of other torture devices. Oh hell to the fuck nah.
I was placed on a table against the other side of the room. Just as he released my body my fight mode kicked in. I may die, but it beat the hell out of getting tortured. I wasn’t very good with hand-to-hand combat, but I did know some street moves. My knee pulled into my chest, before I drove it forward into the snout of the beast. The crunch vibrated up my calve. It took a few steps back, clearly shocked, as I rolled off the table, falling to my hands and knees. Come on body. Work! Being held on that table for so long had everything tingling and refusing to cooperate. I stole a glance over my shoulder as a huge fist barreled toward my back. I tucked and rotated under the table for protection at the last second. Its hand connected with the floor, splitting the concrete. A thunderous growl ripped through its throat before reaching under and grabbing my hair. My head yanked back as it pulled me toward him. I cupped its locked hands, digging my nails in, and pushing them away. They wouldn’t budge and continued to drag me out. I twisted and despite knowing this was the most disgusting thing I could ever do, I sunk my teeth into it. The flesh slowly tore away as I bit down harder, the vomitus taste of copper pooled in my mouth. The hand ripped away, taking a huge patch of my hair and leaving me with a chunk of skin. I spat it out. It hit the floor, like a piece of fat from a steak.
Torment Page 15