Page 64 of Death Raiser

He reached down and hauled me to my feet by my upper arm. His fingers dug into my skin with bruising pressure. With one hand holding my arm, he drew back the other and slammed his fist into my face. Pain shot through my head. I reeled to the side. My head swam and an instant headache bloomed behind my eyes.

“You’re not playing by the rules,” Steve hissed. “Next time, think about that before trying to defy me.”

I straightened and licked my bleeding lip. What was he going to do? Kill me? He already planned to do that. I didn’t owe this fucker one single civil word let alone obedience. “Please. I’ve had dicks slap my face harder than that.”

His gaze flashed and he clenched his teeth together, baring them like a wild animal. “You won’t be making jokes for long.”

“Hardly necessary when you’re already the biggest joke here.” I clamped my mouth shut. Maybe antagonizing my captor wasn’t the best idea, but I couldn’t stand here and be nice. I couldn’t passively watch some random guy from a coffee shop gut me with a pathetic pocket knife and not insult him.

But I also wanted to escape and not anger him to the point of killing me right away.

Fuck.

I pressed my lips together tighter.

He narrowed his eyes, but instead of hitting me again, he dug his fingers into my arm even harder and hauled me toward the truck.

I could’ve dragged my feet or tried to kick him. I could’ve twisted to escape his painful grasp. But what was the point? I wouldn’t get far, and he’d probably hit me again. I needed a fully functioning brain to escape this place and despite my bold statement earlier, that punch had hurt.

I pushed my magic out, desperately searching for bones, human bones, but nothing pinged back. If he’d left any bodies in the woods, they were too far away for me to detect. I pulled my magic in and studied my surroundings, flicking my gaze around, trying to gather as much information as possible.

The truck was parked a few feet away, angled in such a way I couldn't see the licence plate number. Not that it mattered. I already knew who the bad guy was. I didn’t need to have the cops run his plates.

A small log cabin sat on the other side of the truck. A forest of tall evergreen trees surrounded the entire clearing and spanned endlessly in all directions. It looked like an older forest, with big, well-established trees and little undergrowth. A dirt road led away from the cabin, presumably to the same dirt road we came in on. The air smelled like dry moss, firewood, and pine needles.

Steve had abducted me to the middle of nowhere. How would Kang or Logan find me here?

The answer hit me like a ton of bricks. Air whooshed out of my lungs and left me dizzy.

They wouldn’t find me.

No one would.

“We’re on an island,” Steve spoke in a conversational tone like we gossiped over coffee in his cafe. “I chartered a boat to get here. I like to be alone with my girls. It’s a shame you slept through most of the trip.”

Girls. Plural. I wasn’t the first person he’d brought here. His words confirmed the horrid truth circulating in my mind ever since he mentioned cutting off my tongue.

My stomach twisted.

“There’s nothing else on the entire island and the nearest land is at least twenty kilometres away. You’ll drown from exhaustion before your feet touch soil again.”

Lovely. “You killed those other girls.”

“Other girls?”

“We found the remains of two women. Both died of gunshot wounds and the detectives think they’re connected. I know the world is fucked up, but the chances of running into two separate killers who like to cut out tongues seems less likely.”

He smirked. “Were you helping the police with that? Did you get anything? Learn anything?” He leaned forward, a glint in his gaze. “Were Amelia, Elizabeth and Jessica not super chatty?”

“Elizabeth? Jessica?”

“Oops.” He shrugged. “Did I choose wrong? Who did you find?”

I swallowed. “Amy.”

“Ah yes…Amy.” His smile was slow and gross, and I wanted to punch it off his face. I reached out with my magic again.

Still nothing. No human bones answered my call.

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