Page 61 of Ruined

"You wouldn't fucking dare," he snarled, but there wasn't much force behind his words.

"No, I wouldn't, because I wouldn't want to touch you," I said. Unless it was to open a vein or two.

I moved towards him, my knife still in my hand. There was always the possibility he was faking.

If he was, he was doing a good job of it, especially when he toppled to the side and hit the floor with a painful thud. His head rolled back and he lay still.

Clarissa stepped into the doorway that led to the kitchen. "Oops. I might have accidentally-on-purpose slipped something into that coffee. My bad." She grinned.

I managed a small smile back and slipped my knife away. "I had a feeling you were a badass."

"Through and through," she agreed. "If there's people coming for you, we better get him out of here quickly."

She stepped around him and locked the front door. "That'll slow them down," she said before grabbing his feet and dragging him towards what looked like a bedroom.

"What are you—" I started.

"There's more than one way out of here," she said. "Give a girl a hand?"

I leaned over to grab Leon's wrists and heft him up off the ground. Together, we carried him into the bedroom and over to a wardrobe.

"Wild guess what my favourite books were when I was a kid." She opened the wardrobe door and pushed the clothes aside to reveal a trapdoor in the floor. She pulled a key out of her pocket to unlock it and tugged the door up and out of the way.

Under the trapdoor was another set of stairs leading down.

"Motherfucker is gonna have some bruises when he wakes up." Her smile suggested she was pleased by the idea. She grabbed his feet again and started to drag him down the stairs, his head bumping on each as they went.

"I'm struggling to feel bad about that," I said. If all he got was bruises, he was getting off lightly. "Where does this end up?"

Wild guess it wasn't Narnia. Although, I could use some Turkish Delight right about then.

"Down to a tunnel that goes under the street," she said. "Up some more stairs to the back of the next block. I may keep a spare car there."

"I want to be you when I grow up," I told her.

She laughed and waited until I was at the bottom of the stairs, and could grab up Leon's wrists again. We carried him through a dimly lit tunnel that smelled of moisture and disuse, and strained to lug him back up another set of stairs.

We set him down beside a door and I pulled out my phone.

"We could use some help." I sent off a quick text to Daze and Gianni to meet us outside, if they could.

A few moments later, Daze texted back that she was on her way.

I frowned at the lack of response from Gianni, but he might be busy dealing with Kurt's minions. There was no way in the world he could be dead. He was too smart for that.

I rubbed my forehead with my fingers. I was starting to get a headache. I was also starting to wish I told Reuben of my plan.

I hadn't wanted to put any of my men in danger, but that was exactly what I'd done. I knew Kurt had something like this planned and I'd walked into it anyway. If it wasn't for Clarissa, I might be well and truly fucked.

I startled as a knock sounded on the door right beside Leon's unconscious body.

"I'll get it," Clarissa said. "In case it's not anyone friendly, I can pretend I'm working with them. I'm just trying to help Leon escape from the clutches of the enemy." She pressed the back of her hand dramatically to her forehead and grinned.

I nodded and stepped back out of sight.

She must use these tunnels more than I thought, because the bolts slid free easily and the door opened on almost silent hinges.

"Hey." Daze's voice echoed through the space. "I see you brought a friend."

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