Page 9 of Caged

His thick wrist waves the lit cigar in my face. “I don’t give a fuck about asking. I’m telling you what you’re going to do. And, you’re going to do it.”

Can I say no?

I try it out, mouthing the word.

Yeah, it fits.

“No.”

The furrow in his forehead deepens before a wide smile cracks across his face. “I thought you’d say that.”

He takes a long draw from his Cuban and snaps his fingers.

A pair of double doors at the far side of the hall opens, and a man in a suit pushes a wheelchair into the room.

Whoever is in the chair is bound and hooded, probably the same way I looked.

Wait. The fuzzy memories before I was attacked snap into clarity.

I was on the phone with Tyler.

Daniil was taken, and he was just about to tell me who.

The heavy black cover is lifted.

My brother’s bright blue eyes blink rapidly as he looks around the room.

“No!” This time I scream it at the laughing bearded man in front of me.

“I knew you’d change your tune.” Ivan motions for the wheelchair to be rolled closer. “You see, I know how you work. You play both sides, and think we don’t notice. I’m making you choose.” He takes a final puff and then embeds the glowing ember into the back of my brother’s bound hand.

His high pitched cry fills the marbled hall.

My stomach clenches into a tight knot.

I might puke.

“Please! Stop!” Tugging at my wrists, I try to pull my arms free, but they’re fastened tightly.

I’ll kill them all.

“See, it’s very important to me that you complete your task. You’re the best in your field, and the only one I know who can get close enough to get what I want.” Ivan drops the extinguished cigar into a crystal tray near his elbow.

“I’ll keep your baby sibling until you are done. Fail me, and I’ll send him back to you, one piece at a time.” Ivan nods to the man behind my brother.

With a neutral expression, the towering man leans over with a heavy pair of shears and snips off Daniil’s pinky finger like he’s snipping an errant stem.

“I’ll do it! Just don’t hurt him!” I want to punch and flail watching my brother’s blood sprinkling across the white floor.

Daniil’s voice goes hoarse as he continues to howl.

He’s too young for this life. I’ve tried to keep him insulated from it.

Just last week he was wanting to do more, to help Tyler plan out my mission.

But, I told him, he’s barely eighteen, he has plenty of time to fuck his life up like I did.

I wouldn’t let him start now.

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