Page 81 of Entombed In Sin

My heart seizes in my chest.Knox!

“I said, get off him!” My Little Viper screeches with rage as she gives chase.

Fuck, they’re in trouble. Gritting my teeth, I try to reach for the buckle to release my seatbelt. The pain in my abdomen causes me to see spots, but I blink them away. I press the release and there’s a soft click as the seatbelt disengages. I crash onto the ceiling of the car and I can’t stop the hiss as pain radiates through me.

“Sagan?”

Thatcher’s voice, laced with pain, almost steals my attention away. But I keep my eyes pinned to the three people moving further away from the wreckage we’re trapped in. Beatrix bends at the waist. Her hand snatches a piece of metal off the ground and she straightens, barely missing a step in the process.

With a battle cry, Beatrix leaps forward with the metal shard raised over her head. My breath catches as I watch my Little Viper strike. The man drops Knox as he cries out. Beatrix manages to pull the glass back out and up over her head before he whirls around to face her. She doesn’t see his fist coming. He uppercuts her in the jaw with enough force that she’s literally lifted off her feet. Her small frame crumples into a heap on the ground, unmoving.

“Fuck!” I snarl as I try to scramble to get my bearings. “No, fuck!”

“W-what…” Thatcher croaks.

“They’re in trouble!” I snap as an urgency to get moving rides me hard.

I push aside the pain and the spinning of my head to focus on the problem at hand. We can lick our wounds later. Right now, my pet and Pretty Boy are being stolen right out from beneath my nose.

The ceiling of the car is crunched inward. The frame of the passenger window is so contorted I can’t slip through it, leaving me to try to slip out through the opening in the front of the car. The remaining shards of glass prove hazardous. Each time I lift an arm or a leg, I end up scraping against the glass. It’s pure agony. Breathing is more difficult than it’s ever been. Sweat burns in my eyes as I finally make it out of the car.

Panting hard, I use my forearms to army crawl onto the street. I pause a second to catch my breath as the world begins to spin too fast. The sound of a car door slamming shut spurs me tolift my head. I watch as the black silhouette of a man heads back my way. Behind him, I see no signs of Knox or Beatrix.

Where the fuck are they?

Rather than head straight toward me, the man turns and veers to the left.

“Hey, man. We did what you wanted. We good now, bro?” The voice belongs to a teenager, that much is clear. “Jakob said this is the last time we’re helpin’ you, so you better fuck off after this.”

“Yeah, we’re good now,” the dark-silhouetted man agrees. His voice carries over to me. “Can I borrow your gun for just a moment?”

“Sure, but if this traces back to us?—”

The sound of a gun firing cuts off the kid who’s talking. Screams of fear from others in the car that chased us erupt. But the gun goes off three more times, and each time it does, there’s one less scream until there’s no more.

“Take your gun back, you cowards,” a deep, male voice says.

I pull my knees beneath me and push myself upright so that I’m kneeling. Before I can gain my bearings, the stranger, shrouded in shadow, stops before me. I squint up into their face, but I can’t see into his hood. It could be anyone under there.

“I’ve watched you play house for long enough,Hunt,” the man drawls coldly. “If you had stuck outside city limits, we never would’ve crossed paths. But you couldn’t help yourselves, could you? You disrespected my territory by coming in and trying to make it yours. Chicago ismine. It always has been and always will be. My name is whispered in fear even after all these years because that’s how damn good I was at my job. You’re not going to steal my clout. Iearnedit!”

My body trembles as pain and anger mix.

“Give them back,” I snarl through clenched teeth.

The stranger sniffs in disdain, then takes a long, deep breath. When he lets it out, it’s a chuckle. “Don’t worry, you’ll see your family again soon enough. I’ll send them back in little pieces so that way, they fit into your mailbox. How’s that sound? Where are you located again? Oh right, I’ll just look up Bright Starr Funeral Home over there in the lovely state of Indiana.”

For the first time in my entire life, fear creeps into my body. The cold settles in my veins. My heart plummets, falling fast and deep into the vast emptiness of my chest.

“I usually steal the eyes of my victims, but I’ll let you keep yours since I’m planning on letting you live. I want you to see the devastation arealkiller can cause. You might spill blood, maim people, but me? I like to go deeper than that. I like to steal the soul, hope, and light from every person I come across. Expect a package from me real soon, Hunt. Until then…”

The toe of Angel Eyes’ boot makes contact with my face. The pain is explosive and excruciating, and my head snaps back. It’s followed by the rest of my body. As I hit the ground, the world closes in around me.

The last thing I remember as I’m pulled down into the recesses of my own mind is the endless, muted scream of fear for Beatrix and Knox that rings in my ears.

27

KNOX

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