Page 110 of Silver Secrets

Sloane’s stomach lurched. “You killed him too?”

“God, no. I could never do that to Ellie.” Courtney looked offended at the idea, and Sloane almost laughed at the insanity of everything that was taking place. “She’s a fantastic boss. I imagine the two of them are probably just coming around from what I injected them with. Dr. LeMott really does need to be more careful with leaving his medical bag unattended when he visits the shelter. In any case, they should be fine. But by the time anyone thinks to check on them and lets them out of their cages, we’ll be long gone.”

Their cages? Her eyes widened. “They’re at the animal shelter?”

“You think I was about to waste energy dragging them around? Fuck, if I didn’t want to give you little protector the punishment she deserve for keeping you away from me for so long, I wouldn’t have hauled her here either.”

“Courtney, please. You have to see how wild all this seems. I want to help you. We’re friends, like you said. I can talk to your parents. I can explain what happened and we can get you the help that you need. But you have to let us go. Like you did for Ellie and Elias. You can choose to let us go.”

Courtney shook her head. Her eyes drifted over to Kimi’s body. “Do you know how many towns I had to travel to, running after each time I failed to find his replacement? How hard it was to try and find someone who fit all the criteria over and over again? And then I stumbled into this beautiful little college town in Washington, and there you were. Working at that charming cafe. You were the answer, andshetook you from me. Imagine how surprised I was after all these years when I returned to the one place my family never wanted to come back to, and there you were again. A gift from God. He smiled upon me, and I knew I was on the righteous path. The FBI stashed you in what should have been the perfect place. But fate had other plans for us. And who am I to turn away from fate?”

“There isn’t anus,Courtney. I’m not yours to use. I never was. I never will be.”

“You’re lying to yourself! You’ve been listening to the lieshe’sbeen feeding you.” She pointed to Gage, who continued to pull wildly at his chain. She needed to figure out a way to get that key. “You were meant to complete this for me. That’s why all the other women never worked out. Because it could only be you.”

Courtney brought her hands up and captured Sloane’s arms in her grasp. “My plan worked. My brother was a pure soul. I was so worried you’d fuck it all up, but Mae told me what I did had worked. That you couldn’t let anyone else touch you. You kept yourself pure, and you are still the perfect replacement.”

“I was never pure! I wasn’t a virgin when you took me, Courtney. And I’m not pure now. Gage and I are together. Ineveryway. This plan of yours isn’t going to work. Your parents aren’t going to accept a replacement for your brother, you have to know that? I’m sorry they treated you so horribly that you thought bringing them someone you’d taken against their will andtorturedwould make them love you like you deserved to be loved. It won’t. You’re sick, Courtney. You need help. I can get you that help. Just please. Please let us go so we can help you.”

Pain flashed across Courtney’s face. Sloane saw tears fill her friend’s eyes and for a moment, she thought maybe she actually had gotten through to some sane part of Courtney’s mind.

But in the next instant, Courtney lunged. Just enough to jolt Sloane, her body reacting awkwardly to the threat. Courtney’s hands slid over Sloane’s throat, and she tried not to fight against the pain. It would take everything in Sloane to not break Courtney’s hold, but her mind was screaming over and over again that getting Gage the keys was most important. Courtney squeezed and the edges of Sloane’s vision darkened.

She let the tears that had gathered in the corner of her eyes fall, and just as the sneer grew on Court’s face, Sloane made her move. Her left hand lashed out, plunging into her captor’s pocket to snag the keys. She wasted no time swinging her arm and underhand tossing them at the wall next to Gage.

Courtney’s fury was palpable. She squeezed so hard Sloane felt her throat crushing under the pressure. From the corner of her eye, she could see Gage working frantically to get the lock around his ankle undone. She focused all her attention on the enraged face in front of her, when the glint of silver flashed off to the side of her.

Oh god, Courtney had pulled one of her hands away, the other still clamping down on Sloane’s neck. How could she have forgotten about the knife?

“You just had to be like them in the end, didn’t you, Sierra? Just afucking whore. You ruined everything!”

Courtney threw her to the ground, her hand raising up to gain momentum. Searing pain in Sloane’s hip nearly blinded her as the knife plunged into her flesh. A scream tore from her throat as she tried everything in her power to get away from the pain.

She couldn’t look at the wound. It was going to overwhelm her, and there wasn’t time for that. Instead, her eyes flashed back up to Courtney, and the shadowy figure now standing behind her. Gage’s hands flashed in front of Courtney’s face. Sloane saw a rope slip down over her head, pulling tight across her neck.

“Sloane! Get out of here!”

Sloane’s eyes flickered to Kimi’s body and she whimpered.

“Red, run, please.” His words ground out as he continued to choke Courtney, who was bucking and thrashing with every ounce of strength she had. When Courtney’s head slammed backwards, catching him in the temple, she knew she had to step in. Gage’s grip slipped on the rope as he stumbled backwards. It gave Courtney the room she needed to spin around, landing another blow to Gage’s head.

Sloane didn’t think. She just acted. Fueled by the most intense flood of adrenaline, Sloane grabbed the knife from the floor beside her and lunged for Courtney. The knife pierced the skin of her neck, and the next second a scream filled the near silent basement. Sloane didn’t let go, pressing in harder until Courtney stumbled away.

She slammed into the concrete wall, rolling until her back was against it. Sloane watched in horror as Courtney reached up, pulling the knife from her neck. A wretched, soul sucking screech gurgled up out of Courtney’s mouth before her hands went limp at her sides and she stopped moving.

Sloane stared at her friend’s body. No. Not her friend. Her captor. Her tormentor. Her nightmare. She couldn’t move. The emptiness behind Courtney’s eyes would haunt Sloane for the rest of her days. She had done that. She’d killed someone.

That realization snapped her from her stupor. Sloane looked over at Gage. She expected to feel his arms wrap around her at any moment, but her heart dropped at his body, laid out on the ground, not moving at all. Was he even breathing?!

Help. She needed to get help. She needed… She needed to get them help!

And that’s when it slammed into her. She needed to pull the wire. Gage had said help would come if she ripped any of the leads out of the main hub of her security system. With her hand pressed against her hip as more blood poured out of her wound, Sloane limped towards the corner where the alarm system mainframe was installed.

She pulled the first wire out, flinching as her vision darkened. But she couldn’t take any chances, she pulled the next wire, and then next, until her breath shuddered in and out of her lungs so violently she could barely stand up.

Turning, Sloane tried to make her way back to Gage. But her legs were too weak. She only made it one step before her body was tumbling down to the ground. What little breath was left in her lungs rushed out as she slammed into the cold concrete.

There was no way to tell how much time passed as she laid there, trying to force air into her lungs to keep the dizziness away. Sloane finally got her breathing back under control, but there was no energy left in her body to stand. The only option she had was to roll onto her back. Slowly, so slowly she wanted to cry, she brought her heels up to her bottom and pressed into the concrete as hard as she could. Her body moved mere centimeters, but she was closer to Gage. And that kept her going.

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