Page 79 of Kill Me Sweetly

A redheaded boy had a pipe. I looked right at him, but it was as if he didn’t see me. No way was he going to…pain shot up my leg when he slammed the pipe against my knee, causing me to shout.

“Stop! You all know I’m alive, right? I’m not a dummy. Don’t listen to him.”

The redhead’s eyes widened, and he stepped away.

“Capricorn, return to your place. Sometimes targets beg, lie, and cheat to get out of their judgments. You mustn’t listen to their treachery. Scorpio, next.”

This kid was closer to Four’s age.

“Don’t do this,” I begged. But either he wasn’t listening or was so conditioned he couldn’t. He flipped open his balisong knife and slashed across my chest so fast, it took a second to register the pain.

“Fuck!”

“Shep and Gabe are in the house. Hang in there, JJ.” Nick’s voice was a beacon of motherfucking hope. They’d be here soon.

“Aquarius!” the tall man shouted and the brunet boy holding a bat didn’t even hesitate; he swung and nailed me right in the side.

They weren’t listening, and with each one that came forward, my shouts got louder. Until the last boy.

“Taurus, go.”

He had a crowbar in his hands, and he was regarding me. At this point blood was flowing from my chest, arms, and legs. My shoulder had to be dislocated, and I didn’t want to think of internally.

“JJ,” Nick’s voice was a whisper. “Stay with me.”

I wanted to stay with him very much, but Taurus was the last. What happened after the last boy?

Taurus nodded as if he’d made up his mind, and his amber eyes locked with mine the moment his crowbar slammed into the side of my head.

I dangled. I tried opening my eyes but only my right eye cooperated. My head was down, and all I could see were my shackled ankles. I didn’t hear anything, and I was afraid if I looked up they’d know I was alive and start again.

“Good job, boys.” The voice was muffled as if I were underwater. Which explained why I couldn’t hear well.

“Break for lunch and…what’s that?”

Whatever he was talking about, I had no idea. There was a pulsating whooshing noise in my ears.

“Leo, Cancer, Taurus, at the door!” That was when I heard a crashing sound.

My head swayed from side to side, and I tried desperately to lift it but I couldn’t.

“JJ, it’s Nick, please say something.” He sounded desperate and I could hear him better than anything. “Shit. JJ, can you hear me?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out except a wheeze.

“JJ!” Nick must have heard it. “Thank God! Shep and Gabe are there, can you hear them? I can see them on your camera.”

The camera was on a button on my shirt; I guess it had survived the beating.

“JJ!” Shep roared so loudly, it jolted me.

With everything I had in me I forced my head up and there he was. My sexy Viking. His hair tied in a braid, blood splattered across his face and clothes. He had a gun in one hand and a hunting knife in the other. Gabe was at his back, and I watched as the two of them decimated the room.

I couldn’t let my heart hurt for the boys. I knew I would—I’d grieve what they’d been forced to become and how they hadn’t escaped it.

Gabe and Shep would have it harder. They would have wanted to save them, but they had no choice. It was kill or be killed right now.

“JJ, baby, look at me.” Shep jammed his hunting knife into the head of one of the guards and ran to me. “See me, I’m here!”

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