Page 156 of Hate Me

My gun at the ready, I kicked the first one open, clearing the room quickly.

A mammoth circular bed covered in rumpled red sheets was the focal point of the room. A dresser littered with dildos, butt plugs, clamps, whips, and chains sat off to the left side.

A set of ankle chains were bolted into the floor directly below a set hanging down from the ceiling. Blood stained the concrete all over. I screwed up my face. He’d definitely done some serious damage to those he’d dominated. Dominated? No, that wasn’t the word for it. It was beyond that, not even on the same level. It was sadistic abuse.

After tonight there’d be no more of that.

He’d never cause harm to anybody ever again.

Determining there was nothing of note within this particular room—namely, him—I headed back on out.

Just as I pushed back out into the corridor, a caught of flicker of motion a fraction of a second before two hostiles rounded the corner.

I fired off a shot through the heart of the closest one.

His accomplice roared as the guy went down, spluttering.

As he ran at me, I put a bullet through his right kneecap.

He shrieked and hit the ground on his still good knee.

And then he was abruptly silenced by a bullet to the brain.

I looked out to see Luke emerging then, tossing me a wink. He rushed up to me, informing me, “Second floor and first floor have been cleared. The teams will be down here any second to do the same here.”

“I told you to let me go it alone down here.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t do that, can I?”

A look passed between us, and I grasped his shoulder. “All right, my friend.”

He smiled, then we continued down the corridor, guns drawn, him flanking me. Definitely a metaphor for our years-long relationship dynamic.

I kicked open the door to another room and he brushed past me, clearing it before I could even step inside. I frowned. He was worried about me, my state of mind, my desperation to get to Elijah and finally end this thing bleeding out and making me more reckless than I’d ever normally be. The fact I’d come down here without waiting for the teams was a definite testament to that.

As he strode back out into the corridor, while I kept watch back the way we’d come, we carefully continued further down. One last door to go.

I caught sight of a trail of fresh blood just a few feet out.

I nudged Luke and he gave a nod, then silently signaled that he was going to enter first, while I threw open the door, then rushed in on his six.

It’s a go, I signaled back.

Taking position at the door, I waited until he was in position too, then I turned the handle and kicked it wide open with my boot. It smacked against the wall, the harsh sound echoing loudly in the silence of the space.

That silence came to an end a moment later as a gasp was heard.

Luke barreled in, but pulled up short barely inside, his finger hot on the trigger. “Fuck.”

I followed him inside, the blindingly-red walls making me squint for a few moments.

A BDSM dungeon was what we’d walked into.

A St. Andrew’s cross was positioned on the far left wall, the floors and walls were black and padded. Suspension ropes and bars hung throughout the space. Cages were stationed off to the side interspersed with torture racks.

There was a bed in the far corner, this one smaller, but with the same red sheets.

And it wasn’t empty.

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