Page 3 of Devil's Riches

2

Alexis

Coldness struckat my core as I stared at the man in shock. “But… you’re dead,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “You died in an accident ten years ago.”

“Yet here I am,” he said, letting out a snort of amusement. “Though not for much longer, thanks to the two of you.”

He leaned down and stuck one hand in Nate’s jacket pocket to fish out his car keys. Then he slipped them into his own pocket and stepped back over to me. “Get up,” he said, snapping his fingers. “You’re coming with me.”

It wasn’t easy to climb to my feet with my hands tied behind my back, but I did it as quickly as I could, fueled by the fearful adrenaline streaming through my veins.

Nate leaned against the bunk and pressed his hand down harder on his bleeding head. “Don’t hurt her,” he muttered, lips twisting into an agonized grimace. “Take me instead.”

“Hm.” Greg rubbed his chin. “Let me think about that for a minute.”

He crouched down in front of Nate, grabbed his face on either side, and smashed the back of his head into the metal edge of the bunk, knocking him out again. Then he turned back to me.

“Doesn’t look like he can go anywhere now, does it?” he said with a broad grin, gesturing to the blood seeping down the side of Nate’s face as his head lolled over his chest. “Guess I’ll have to stick to the original plan and take you.”

My skin prickled with terror. I had no idea what the hell this man was doing here or what he intended to do with me, but I knew one thing for sure. He was completely psychotic.

“Walk,” he said, prodding me in the back.

My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself to do as he commanded. “Where are we going?” I asked as I shuffled up the passageway.

“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure we can figure it out together,” he said with a nasty chuckle. “Right, sweetheart?”

He shoved me again, making me stumble on the dusty ground.

I kept my mouth shut until we stepped outside into the freezing night air. Then I finally spoke up again, too morbidly curious to stay silent any longer. “Why are you doing this?” I asked in a hollow voice, turning my head over my shoulder. “And why were you locked down there?”

“Don’t ask so many questions,” Greg growled, jabbing me between the shoulder blades. “I need to think.”

I pressed my lips into a tight line and fell silent.

Ten minutes later, we stepped out of the woods and headed over a sprawling expanse of lawn that stretched between the trees and the Lockwood mansion. Above us, the stars and moon shone brightly, making the patches of frost on the grass glimmer like tiny crystals.

Greg suddenly stopped and pulled me around to face him. He took a deep breath and tilted his chin toward the sky above us. “Do you know how fucking good this feels?” he said, throwing his hands up in an exuberant gesture. “I haven’t breathed fresh air like this in ten years.”

“I’d ask why, but you told me not to,” I muttered.

He grinned and kept his gaze trained on the night sky. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this,” he said. “No idea how long I’ve thought about getting out of there and getting back on the game. I honestly thought it would never happen. But now…”

He trailed off and looked back at me, eyes lit with devilish amusement as they raked over my body. I gulped and took a step backward as a chill shot through me. “What do you want from me?” I asked, trying and failing to keep the tremor out of my voice.

“I don’t think you want to know the answer to that, sweetheart,” he replied, arching a brow.

“I do.”

“No. You think you do, but you really don’t.” He pushed me back around. “Keep walking.”

Terror flushed through my veins as I considered his ominous words. I fell silent again, trying to concentrate on my breathing and my steps. They were the only things I could control right now. I knew it wouldn’t help me in the end, but it still made me feel slightly better for a few seconds.

When we were halfway across the lawn, Greg spoke up again. “You know something, sweetheart?” he said, hot breath spidering over my neck as he moved his face closer to me. “At first I was fucking pissed that my nephew didn’t recognize me. I mean, can you believe that? His own fucking blood, and he looks me straight in the face and says he has no idea who I am.”

I let out a vague grunt of acknowledgement and kept walking.

“I know we didn’t spend any time together when he was a kid, but I thought he might’ve looked at a fucking photo album at least once in his life. So yeah, I was pissed. But then I realized who he thought I was, and I figured I could use it to make him think he needed to let me go. That’s where you came in. You were the perfect distraction.” Greg let out a dark chuckle and slapped me on the ass. “I still can’t believe it worked.”

---