Page 76 of Resisted

He laughed, the sound deep and eerie out here on the deserted dock in the dark. “We’ve done our homework. The only one worth a real struggle is you. The other one, the one with ink, he might fight, but he follows all your commands. He’s not a freethinker. Not like you.”

Well, if they didn’t peg Vince completely wrong. Follows all of my commands? I couldn’t get him to follow one command, not one single fucking command, without resistance. Still, they could believe what they wanted about him. It would only add to the challenge when the time came. If the time came. Damnit, I wanted them to come, but a huge part, the protective part, begged them not to.

The roped pulled me forward, and I fell, smashing my face into the wooden dock as my hands were yanked behind my back, the circulation nearly cut off by the chains that were wrapped tight around my wrists. My body dragged as they pulled me along the docks, the weathered wood tearing into my shirt and scraping against my chest, leaving splinters embedded in my skin.

A chorus of laughter rang as I struggled, trying to get to my feet as they pulled. It took longer than I would have preferred, but I knew if I didn’t keep trying, they would just keep dragging me along, unphased by the bloody pulp my skin would become. When I finally pulled my foot out in front of me and pushed my body to standing, the laughter only increased.

This was all fun and games for them, and they could laugh all they want. They could watch me stumble, get joy from my pain, and I wouldn’t give a fuck. I knew it was only a matter of time before I had their blood dripping down my skin, the metallic taste of their life coating my throat. We reached the water’s edge. The turbulent waves lapped against the dock, shaking the foundation under my feet as I was pushed forward over the side, my body landing gracelessly into a small motorboat.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Doubtful. “But if you try anything, you won’t even make it to the island before you sink to the bottom for the fish to eat.” Island? Does that mean we were heading for—

Pain radiated through my scalp as a chorus of laughter filled the little boat. I struggled to stay conscious as my vision blurred and my mind tried to stay focused. “Though, you won’t get to enjoy the ride, anyway.”

Another slice of pain as a steel rod hit the back of my head, and blackness crept into my vision. I tried to fight it, tried to hang on, but it was no use. The darkness consumed me.

I woke sometime laterwith my body being dragged up rocks, dirt coating the inside of my mouth and sticking to the blood on my skin. Wasn’t there a path they could have taken me up? I was almost positive there was, but obviously, pulling me up the rocks as my body bounced painfully was more fun. I tried to open eyes, but my lids were heavy and unwilling to cooperate.

“I think he’s awake,” someone said as he walked by my feet. Shit. I was hoping they wouldn’t notice. I would’ve liked to have had a moment or two to compose a plan, to gather details, to figure out where I was so that maybe if my boys were in range, I could communicate details.

They stopped dragging me moments before fingers gripped my hair, nearly pulling it out of my scalp as my head got lifted. “Having a fun time, Sleeping Beauty?” There was a pause, one made for dramatics and dramatics alone. “Or would it be Beast?”

I spit out the dirt and blood from my mouth, my tongue feeling like sandpaper as I tried to speak. “I’m having the time of my life, Johnny.”

A man to my side snorted, which only caused the man holding my hair to become enraged. “You think you’re fucking funny?”

I licked my lips. Even that slight movement caused pain to shoot through my body. “Oh, I’ve never been the funny one. But what is funny is you thinking you’ll get away with capturing not one, but three of us.”

“You underestimate us,” the man said with a growl.

“Or you underestimate us,” I countered.

“We’ll see about that.” The fingers released my hair, but before I could utter a single reply, the man’s booted foot came down and my head and the world went black again.

Chapter 32

VINCENT

“He’s fine,”I told Bella for the hundredth time. In truth, I wasn’t sure if I believed it. He’d been gone a long time without contract, and in the past, he’d never gone more than a few hours without a simple text. I glanced at my phone, trying to be sneaky about it, but I knew Bella saw. “Silas is a big boy.”

Bella snorted. “He acts like a child sometimes.”

“I didn’t say a mature boy,” I corrected.

She snuggled into my side, pretending to watch the movie in front of us. She let a whole minute go by before saying, “It doesn’t feel the same around here without him. He can be a jerk, I’m not denying that, but…”

She let the word drift, so I offered, “Care for him?”

The snort Bella let out was anything but ladylike. “I fucking do.”

“I know.” I could feel her distress, sorrow, and longing for the missing piece of herself.

“It’s just…” She sighed. “Can you…” Another sigh. “Can you call him?”

“He won’t answer.” I knew this because even though I shouldn’t have, I’d tried multiple times. This time, it was me who let out a sigh, because I knew what she was feeling but I couldn’t fix it. He’d been gone since early yesterday morning, and I felt fucking frantic inside, even when I was outwardly calm. “Look, If he isn’t home by the morning, we’ll contact Roth. Silas wouldn’t go anywhere without giving him the information. He can be an impulsive motherfucker, but he still has a some brains.”

She wasn’t a hundred percent pacified with that solution, but she didn’t argue about it. It was better than nothing, and if I let her lead the way, she would charge forward, not giving a fuck about the consequences as long as she reaped the reward she sought. She was a bit like Boyce in that aspect, I guessed. Young, not as seasoned to the world and the awful things it offered. Still, sometimes I envied it.

“Morning then?” She wrapped the blanket that she’d refused to share with me tightly around her fists as she fidgeted nervously.

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