Page 4 of Slaughter

I place the cell in my pocket and then turn to look at the man still sitting in the chair. “You have one chance to tell me where the fuck Damon is!” If I can get him, then I won’t have to save her. There’s a reason she isn’t in my life anymore, and I’d like to keep it that way.

“I don’t know …”

“Okay, let’s play it your way.” I grab a pair of pliers off the wooden table next to me and then turn back, grabbing his head. “If you’re not gonna talk, then you don’t need your tongue.”

He looks up at me wide-eyed. “I’ve heard how sick you are. They say everyone should be afraid of you.”

“Rightfully so.”

“I swear …” He thrashes in the chair, causing blood to pour from his hands secured by the nails, and he grits his teeth to keep from crying out like a baby. “I know nothing …”

“Kayn, hold his head,” I order.

He walks behind Marc and reaches down to grab his chin and yanks his head back, securing it in place.

“Open!” I demand.

He tries to shake his head, but it’s impossible with Kayn’s iron grip on him.

I grab his nose and pinch it, taking away his air. When he opens his lips to suck in a breath, I shove the pliers in, and he starts to mumble around the cold metal when I grab his tongue. Blood instantly fills his mouth from the instrument of torture.

“I think he’s trying to talk to you, sir,” Kayn observes.

I pause and look into the man’s watery brown eyes. “Are you going to give me something useful?”

He blinks rapidly and tears roll down his face. Pathetic!

Everyone dies eventually. I was taught to die with dignity.

I pull away, and Kayn releases his head. He bends forward and spits blood onto my concrete floor and some of it lands on my shoes. He heaves in breath after breath, bending over.

“You’re wasting my time.” I grunt.

“Cuba.” He gasps. “Damon’s in Cuba.”

I tap the pair of pliers against my right thigh. “I already know that. Give me something else.”

He shakes his head, still looking down at the concrete floor. Blood runs from his mouth just like his hands. “That’s all I know. He keeps us in the dark for this very reason.”

I need more than that! Her life is on the line. Just the thought of her has my heart beating faster. It’s been eleven years since I’ve seen her last. I was nineteen, her seventeen. We were just kids still.

I fist my left hand at that thought. I don’t even have to count the years. My mind just knows. My heart also remembers how she stomped on it.

“How does he contact you?” I growl.

“Burner phone. He calls us on it, and then we destroy it afterward.”

Hmm. Not helpful.

What am I gonna do? She’s in trouble.

I blink. Don’t think about her. But like an unexpected storm, she starts to flood my thoughts.

Laughter fills my ears as the prettiest blue eyes stare up at me. Her blond hair fans out over her pillow. Soft hands wrap around my neck, and she pulls me down to her. “I love you, Avery,” she whispers against my lips.

“I love you too, Bunny …”

“Avery?” Kayn snaps.

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