Page 16 of All The Way Under
I suck in a deep breath.
“Let me out of here, and I can fix it for you. I’ll improve this whole island prison, so it’s more habitable. For you. For me. For the damn ogre you’re lugging around without a home.”
My gaze drops to the man who is crawling away unsuccessfully. Ravelo drags him by his boot back to my door.
“And you! Just knock these bastards out and let me out of here. Do your muscles even work?”
I’m seeing red and breathing fire at this point. They’ve left me alone all day. I haven’t seen a soul until now. I’m grasping for anything at this point.
His eyes are blue. They flick up to meet mine, and a hint of disdain flashes like a bolt. He doesn’t speak.
“Asset twelve, move back.”
Nery pulls a fucking syringe out of his pocket and loads it into his blow dart gun. I swear they think it’s a carnival game. The jab.
“Move back,” he says again, then repeats himself when I don’t move.
I take a step back, then another, keeping my eyes trained on the stupid blow dart gun. Ravelo pushes the man into my cage, and they lock it behind us.
“He takes up more than half the space,” I say. “This isn’t fair!”
Nery lowers the weapon and smiles with crooked, grimy teeth, black outlining each one.
“This isn’t a hotel, princess. This is captivity. This isn’t about fairness.”
I blow out a breath.
“And who is this?” Nodding to the man on the ground in a fetal position. He’s facing the wall.
“How do you know he’s not going to kill me? I’m not worth a cent if I’m harmed. I know Bianca has made that clear.” I use her name because they’re all terrified of her.
Like I suspected, Bianca came into negotiations like a hot lead pipe. Fired up and ready to crash through everything.
“How do I know he’s not going to kill me in my sleep?”
Ravelo shakes his head.
“We don’t know. Maybe he will. You aren’t worth all the noise you cause.”
Nery shakes the brown blow dart gun. I should be thankful they don’t have real guns, but somehow that stupid brown pipe is just as terrifying. I killed two of their best men, and they are making me pay. That’s what this is. It’s retribution in any way they can.
The men leave, their pants dragging across the dirt, getting peppered by rain. They grab one of the torches on their way back to their main area of the base, leaving us with one outdoor torch and a small lantern I have on the floor opposite the man. When they go out, I’ll be in pitch blackness with a stranger.
“Who are you? I know you can hear me. The injection puts you out quick, but you wake up quickly. I saw your eyes. I know you’re back.”
He rolls over but stays on the ground, lacing his hands behind his head. I move my lantern to see his face a little better.
“Has screaming got you anything except a blow dart, or is that a viable tactic to get things around here?”
So smooth. So calm. So unlike me when I woke up in this dirt-lined prison. I exhale, sitting down by the lantern.
“Who are you and why do you give off…those bad vibes?” I clear my throat. “Are you going to hurt me? Let’s get down to facts right now, before anything else.”
Might as well keep with my neurotic persona. It lends to an illusion of control—when I have zero.
“Name’s Brody. Pleasure to meet you,” he deadpans. “Vibes? What does that even mean? Some esoteric description for not being able to label something correctly using intelligence?”
He presses his lips together into a smug line. He lets his gaze slide over to meet mine.
