Page 198 of Steel

That’s too easy, according to him.

My head hangs listlessly as my vision wavers in and out. My stomach roils, but it’s empty, no longer having anything in it after the numerous times I’ve vomited at his feet. The last time he set the torch against the skin on the inside of my thigh, I couldn’t hold my bladder and ended up pissing myself.

I can’t even be embarrassed about it.

“If you don’t tell me where those pictures are, I’ll keep you here as long as I need to then I’ll go after everyone you love.”

“You can go after them, but you’ll never touch them. Not now that I’m missing. They’ll lock it down tighter than your asshole.”

He fist connects with my stomach and he snarls at me. “I’ll send her back in.”

This time, I laugh until tears leak from my eyes. “They’ll never trust her. Not after she sent that video to Steel of you torturing me.”

I heard the ping of her phone a while ago. It’s the same notification mine makes when a message has been delivered. I can’t believe she was stupid enough to not put it on silent.

Terror fills Rachel’s face, and her body shakes as Killer twirls around to face her.

“She’s lying,” Rachel squeaks.

Killer yanks the phone from her hand. When he finds the message, he lets out a yell, throwing the phone against the concrete floor. She tries to flee, but his guy grabs her as Killer grabs a red jug from the corner. He dumps it over her head, soaking her entire body with it. Her screams fill the concrete room instead of mine, which he ignores as he lifts the blowtorch from the floor.

Oh, shit.

I squeeze my eyes shut as soon as flames engulf her. Her screams claw against my skin, sending vomit back up my throat.

When you play with the devil, your life is bound to end in devilish ways.

Chapter fifty

I’m just getting offthe phone from checking on Lyric when my phone goes off with a message. I almost ignore it when I see it’s from Rachel, but something compels me to open it.

The video is grainy at first, but it quickly clears up and the voices come through clearly.

My body tightens when I recognize Heather and Rachel’s voices. Then I focus more on the screen and what’s being recorded. Bile rushes up my throat when I see the state my woman is in. I keep my eyes on the video as I rush through the clubhouse, needing to know what hell my Hummingbird is going through at the hands of her captors.

She stands so strong and defiant even as her body hangs lethargically in the chains. The burns on her body, the cuts, the tub of water under her, and the way water drips from her body gives testament to the nightmarish hell Killer has put her through.

Rage seethes under my skin as Rachel and Heather laugh at Bailee’s screams from the torture Killer is inflicting on her.

They’re dead.

They’re all fucking dead.

Once I’m in the common room, I call out for Wraith. He must see the mess of emotions on my face because he gives his Old Lady a kiss and hurries to me.

I don’t waste any time, turning the phone toward him. “Fuckin’ Rachel and Heather are workin’ with Killer. Need to see what we can get from this.”

Bailee’s been missing for nearly sixteen hours. As soon as I learned what that stubborn woman did to protect my girl, I started to hunt for her. Killer’s clubhouse was empty when we all weaponed up and rolled to them. He’s moved them somewhere else, knowing it would be the first place we’d search for him and Bailee. Emmy Lou, Tweek, and even Em’s FBI contact, Max, have been on the hunt looking for any property belonging to him or any of his members, but so far, we’ve hit a dead end. Not knowing most of their given names has made it harder than it typically would be for them. The places they were able to come up with have led us to more dead ends, either empty and rundown or housed relatives who were terrified with no idea where anyone is. As much as I doubted them, I didn’t want to resort to harming innocents in our search. That’s not who the fuck we are.

I’ve been slowly going out of mind and blaming myself for her being in his clutches. If I wouldn’t have been a dick and let Heather fucking manipulate meagain,Bailee would be here with me right now, safe and sound.

Why the hell did I let that happen? Why did I doubt Bailee for even a second? I told her I love her, and that came with the expectation that I trusted and believed her, so questioning her meant I was questioning my feelings for her.

It gave Heather the opening she’d been aiming for to get Bailee out of the picture, and now, my goddamn woman is being tortured because of it.

Anger pours from Wraith as he puts his index and thumb in his mouth and lets out a shrill whistle. “Church,” he bellows.

My brothers read the urgency in his tone, and the officers hurry to follow us into the chapel. Wraith doesn’t waste time getting us started since time isn’t on our fucking side right now.

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