Page 53 of The Silencer

“No. Not unless Anthony asks me to. Then, I’m sorry, but it’s game over for you.”

I roll my lips between my teeth and then nod. Yep. Not going to turn around now.

“Good enough for me.”

“Come on, little snack,” he says as he snakes an arm around me to keep me from getting lost. He deftly directs me down a set of stairs and through the dark tunnels without any hesitation.

“You must be down here a lot,” I say, and Bane hums. “That’s really cool, but a little creepy.”

“Never said I wasn’t,” he says, and then in the distance, I make out some low lights flickering ominously. But thank God for the illumination.

I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic.

“So, when were these created? I mean, like who dug these out? And do they go like everywhere? Is there a tunnel that leads outside the gates?” I ask, slightly breathless.

“How about a kiss for every answer I give you?”

I snort and glance up at Bane, who is still cradling the eyeballs in his arm. He looks a little more unhinged in the low lights, and that fear I experienced before walking into these tunnels with him returns.

He could kill me and no one would ever find me. I’m sure of it.

“I mean, can I bargain with you? Or is this the only way?”

Bane shrugs. “It’s the only way. I don’t bargain.”

I eye him. I really want my questions answered. And Anthony isn’t here to stop him.

“Fine.”

“Really?”

I laugh at how surprised he seems. “Yeah, it’s a deal.”

“Fuck yeah,” he says, pumping his arm up and down, the one with the jar of eyeballs. They bounce around in their container, some hitting the glass and peering at me, unseeing. “But no telling Anthony. I mean it. I like my lips. I don’t want them lopped off.”

I pretend to consider it. I mean, Anthony doesn’t really want me. He doesn’t care about me. Why not a kiss for a little truth? It won’t hurt anyone, and Bane was a very good kisser. In a creepy, I want to eat you while you’re still alive kind of way.

“Okay. Fine. You have a deal. My lips are sealed.”

Bane grins at me and then backs me into the wall, his lean, muscled body pressed against mine, the eyeballs jiggling in their confines against my side.

My eyelids flutter closed, but then pop back open again, watching as Bane lowers his lips to mine in a gentle, chaste kiss.

I was not expecting that.

I was expecting something more along the lines of earlier. Rough and rude.

This was almost…sweet.

“I mean it. You taste real nice,” he says, his eyes meeting mine. I feel my heart stutter in my chest and my breathing grow ragged. I really didn’t expect this. Not at all. Suddenly, I feel like I shouldn’t have come down here.

It’s almost like he’s courting me. Maybe the eyeballs are a wedding gift.

Before I can start to panic, Bane pushes away from me and starts moving forward once more, weaving through the narrow walkways. “These tunnels were built about twenty-five years ago, when the boss bought this land. It was the first thing he did. Not many people know about them and you sure shouldn’t be down here.”

“And yet, here I am,” I say.

“Seems you got lucky tonight. And yes, there is a tunnel that leads outside the gate. But that is top secret.”

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