Page 358 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

Marcus lets out a low chuckle that makes my hackles rise. “That’s ‘cos you drank out the wrong cup, man.”

“I…what?” My brow furrows.

Marcus shakes his head, looking up as if he’s trying to deal with a difficult kid or something. “Man, I was so fucking careful to keep track, but you got Jess’s cup.”

I think back to the video, but that couldn’t be it.

“Since eleven, I was trying to roofie her.” Marcus is grinning openly now. “She either left her drink and fucked off somewhere else, or spilled it. Then you drank it. I was about to give up before I finally got some of that shit in her.”

“Well thank God you were there,” I say, desperately trying to reign in the conversation. Hoping Indi has the patience and foresight to see what I’m trying to accomplish here. High hopes indeed—I don’t think she has a single patient bone in her body.

Marcus cocks his head at me, a calculating twinkle in his eye. “Aren’t you mad I set you up?”

“She had it coming, no two ways about it.”

Marcus lets out another laugh, but I can see I’m far from convincing him that I’m on his side.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Marcus snaps, and the gun lifts so fast I’m already tensing for the impact of the bullet.

But he’s not aiming at me. He’s talking to Indi, who’s snuck out behind me.

“Put it down, Marcus,” she snaps. “We both know you’re not going to shoot us.”

Damn it, Indi!

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I?” Marcus growls.

“Because someone will hear and then they’ll call the cops. Which means you can’t have your fun.”

There’s no mistaking the venom in Indi’s voice. I don’t dare look back at her in case she thinks I’m encouraging this stupidity, but I’m a hundred percent positive she’s glaring at Marcus.

“Indi,” I murmur as quietly as possible, barely moving my lips. “Shut the fuck up.”

“What, so you two can go on reminiscing about how you raped Jessica?” Her voice rises into a yell at the end. “I’d rather you shoot me now and get it over with.”

“Shut up!” Marcus yells. “Shut! Up!”

Instead, Indi screams at the top of her lungs.

I don’t know where my mind is at. I guess I still think my idiotic plan is working. Being chummy with Marcus, at least, had the gun pointed at the floor, not at Indi. Then she intervened.

Stubborn, stubborn!

I slap my hand over her mouth, wrench her around, and throw her to the mattress. I stare for a second as she bounces, and she stares right back at me, shock writ large in her wide eyes and over her trembling mouth.

“Wh-?” is all she gets out before I’m on top of her.

She must have been gagged or blindfolded at some stage, because the cloth used to do it is still hanging around her neck. I rip it off and shove it between her lips. She slaps at my hands and tugs at my wrists, but it’s easy enough to tie off the gag since she’s obviously not trying that hard to injure me.

In the silence that follows, my breath sounds like that of a wild animal caught in a trap.

“There,” I say, leaning back. I widen my eyes at Indi, but she doesn’t seem to notice. Her hands go up to the gag, but I grab her wrists and pin them to her stomach. “Now you can’t go running off your mouth again.”

Chapter Forty-Six

Indi

If this is part of Briar’s plan, then it sucks. Yeah, it kinda looks like the psycho’s letting his guard down, but that doesn’t explain Briar’s need to shove a gag in my mouth.

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