Page 125 of Dash

Thena’s wide eyes flew from him to me.

“Yes, I know about him.” Arthur said. “Don’t worry. It’s for their own good.”

Like hell it was.

The plastic cuffs remained around Thena’s wrists, but at least her hands were no longer bound to the chair. She’d foughtthose cuffs so fiercely that bruises had already formed on her skin and small cuts littered her wrists. Arthur pulled her roughly to her feet. When Thena resisted, he shook her violently.

“Leave her alone, you fucking bully,” I bit out. “She can’t help you. She doesn’t have command codes. I’m the only one who has them. The team will only take orders from me.”

I planted a foot on the floor, and with a grunt, pushed up to stand, defying not only my stiff body, my aching muscles, and my screaming thigh, but also Shaw’s Beretta.

“I’ll do it.” I braced my iffy legs. “They’ll listen to me.”

“Is this true?” Arthur asked Shaw.

“Yeah,” Shaw admitted, albeit reluctantly. “He’s got the command codes. It’s protocol.”

“Sit down.” Arthur slammed Thena down on the chair, where she landed with a wince. “No hero stuff. Remind him of that, Shaw.”

Another jolt hit me, courtesy of Arthur’s cruel practices and Shaw’s rotten soul. I crashed on the floor twitching and crackling like bacon on a skillet.

Buzzzzzz. My brain went blank.Buzzzzzz. My body turned to stone.

Arthur’s voice reached me from far away. “I think that’s enough to make my point.”

The current stopped. My limbs went from solid to liquid in the next second. The pain eased somewhat, but rogue electrical currents kept flashing through me, zapping my nerves. My pulse sped up and my muscles twitched with residual electricity. My nerves tingled and prickled like hot sparks. Short circuits flared in the grid of my central nervous system. I had trouble retrieving my brain from Fry-Fry Land.

When I next managed to focus my eyes, Thena was slumped in her chair. Half her face was buried in her hands. Tears streamed down her face.Fuck this. I fought to reclaimcommand of my body. With a grunt, I managed to roll on my back.

Arthur chuckled at my clumsy efforts. “Did he shit his pants yet?”

“Soon, I think.” Shaw chortled. “For now, it reeks of burned sausage.”

Head reeling, I commanded my core to lift me up then got to my knees, powered by my training, my will, and my inner rage.

“Take a moment, Dash.” Thena’s anguished voice made my heart ache.

“He ain’t got a moment,” Shaw sneered. “Want another electric fix, Captain America?”

It took all I had, but defying gravity, and the muscular spasms still rolling through me, I went through the slow, painful process of rising once more. I hurt everywhere, as if my body was an extension of my aching thigh. With a grunt, I made it to my feet, steadied my knees, and locked gazes with Thena. In the depths of her silver eyes, I spotted resignation, but also hope and infinite love. She gave me the strength to stand tall.

“Well?” I met Arthur’s irritating gaze. “Do you want me to deliver your message or not?”

“Sounds like you’re ‘da’ man.” Arthur snorted. “Make sure you’re persuasive. Shaw?”

Shaw gave me the detailed instructions he wanted me to rely to my crew. Now that I understood the true objective of his plan, I knew his directives were a death trap for my team. Among other things, he wanted the automatic defense system deactivated. Without it, my team would have no protection. What Shaw didn’t realize was that, as he shared the specific actions that my team was to take, he was also unwittingly giving me the exact location of the ambush.

“Your crew will have fifteen minutes to deactivate thesystem, collect all personnel, and leave,” Shaw concluded.

“It’s a big house and powering down the defense system will take longer than that.” I hedged my crew’s bets. “Fifteen minutes won’t be enough. You know that. They’ll need at least twenty.”

“Fine, give them twenty,” Shaw spat. “Don’t forget. I know the protocol. If you deviate from it—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” I made a show of shrugging. “I die, you die, we all die.”

“Get ready.” Shaw turned on the radio hooked to his tactical vest. Static was the only sound emanating from it at the moment. He cranked it up. “We’ll be listening. Don’t commit suicide, Dagger.”

Grinding my jaw, I turned my back on Arthur and Shaw and, faced one of the room’s concealed cameras, the one I knew would provide the best angle on all of us. This would give the team the best chance to identify the traitors among us. Bracing my feet apart, I steadied myself. With my hands tied behind my back, my shirt ripped open, and the collar sinched around my neck, I knew what I would look like to my crew.

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