Page 120 of Ruling Scar
“I get the shot,” she says quietly.
Looks like we’ll end up fighting for it.
CHAPTER 28
Lennie
Cold. I’m cold.
I don’t know why. It’s the middle of summer and the strange, dilapidated warehouse isn’t blasting air conditioning.
Blurry eyes strain to gain a clear vision. I’m tied to a chair, my hands behind my back, and the first thought that comes to my mind is my mother.
Will my story be a reiteration of hers?
Noises bleed together and I blink at a watery image against a blank wall. It’s a projection of something. My skin crawls when I realize it’s a video of me and Elijah. It’s. . . oh, God.
Elijah told me no one was watching us at the sex club. But there’s video proof of Elijah fucking me. I look away at a close up of my face as I shatter. The camera pans out, only to zoom again on Elijah’s face. I squeeze my eyes shut, but the sounds of slapping flesh and Elijah’s dirty words don’t go away.
I cast my eyes around, noting all the gray pavement. I’m not pinned in by concrete, though. This place is under construction, with windows yet to be installed and windblown tarps dividing rooms. It whistles, goosebumps flushing my skin. This isn’t thefirst floor and my stomach dips at the thought of getting tossed out of one of the open windows.
I’m expecting saw blades and various tools used to interrogate me.
All I get is a disheveled Leopold.
His curly strands stand straight, the blonde darker in the shadows. His eyes are bloodshot and his shirt isn’t buttoned correctly.
On our date, he’d been nothing but stone cold on the flip of a switch. Whatever measure of cool he had, it’s long gone. This is an act of desperation and that lack of control is almost worse than if he’d organized it down to the T. Because an unbalanced psychopath is far worse than a cold clinician. There’s no telling what moves he’ll try to make.
I’ve never given thought to how I’d react in this scenario. All the training exercises Mom made us go through are lost on me. I wasn’t expecting my throat to feel like sandpaper, or my shoulders to hurt from being wrenched back. I’m amazed I haven’t pissed myself and the clanging of my heart is deep, vibrating in my eardrums.
“I think I’d like to go home now,” I rasp.
Leopold smiles and I hate how boyish it is. This is the smile everyone is taken in by. The mischievous, charming fellow.
I’m so fucked.
“Maybe later,” he says, placatingly. I wouldn’t be surprised if he pats me on the head like a toddler.
“I’d like to go home now.” My tone is stronger, my muscles tensing as I try to test my bonds.
His grin grows. “It’s almost time.”
“Almost time?” What is he planning?
“The game changed.” His eyes are empty, yet bright. The thrill of a high. “At first I thought what better way to taunt him than by having you.”
Taunt him?
“I never understood it myself.” He places his hands on his hips, the grin more fiendish than two seconds ago. “But he wanted you and I wanted him, so I had to get you first.”
“A-are you talking about Elijah?” My chest grows tighter.
The projector whirls, the video behind Leopold, zooming in on Elijah as he thrusts into me. The footage freezes, glitching on a close up of Elijah’s raw face.
“He wanted you so I had to have you.”
“W-what?”
