Page 7 of Deadly Knight
The figure reaches up and pulls his hood down, revealing a bald head tattooed to look otherwise. His menacing eyes lock on Katya, and I grip her tighter, mind racing to figure out how to get us both away from four grown men. How to fight while also protecting her.
“This isn’t the meeting place,” I say, hoping it’ll get them to back down—if this is the same group I’m supposed to be meeting.
The bald guy tsks, lips pressing together mockingly. “It’s not where you thought we’d be meeting, no, but it gets the job done.”
As quick as he bobs his head towards the others, I move to bend around Katya, only to instead feel a sharp prick in my neck. Instantly, a daze rolls over my vision and, though I grip my girl, she’s ripped from my hands with a screech.
Darkness overtakes me, and I fall to a sound that’ll be soon echoed in my nightmares.
Katya’s scream.
In a similar fashionto how I passed out, my vision slowly returns. The blackness fades into colour—although colour might be a bit of a stretch.
Grey is the first thing I see. Grey cement walls, grey cement floor. So much grey, which means we’re likely in a warehouse of some sort. The Bratva owns many of them for the bloodier sides of business, so I’m no stranger to the work that gets done within them. While I’ve yet to have to participate in the torture of a captive, I’ve been forced to witness it on more than one occasion.
Unlike when I passed out, it’s not to the sound of Katya’s screams but to a muffled sob, broken only by relief as theblurriness over my eyes evaporates completely and I make out what’s in front of me.
Thenightmarein front of me.
Katya. Naked. The only thing still on her is that ribbon. Spread out on a dirty, ripped mattress on the ground, her arms and legs bound by rope, forcing her open. Her eyes are wide with fear, black ink smudged down her cheeks from where tears mixed with her makeup. Her hair is messier than earlier, tangled from the fight she likely put up. Her body quivers, matched by the helpless whimpers as she watches me survey her. A dirty rag is shoved into her mouth and tied behind her head, forcing her silence.
Silent and helpless.
A motherfucking nightmare shredded from my head and brought to life.
A growl rips from me. A noise I never thought myself capable of making. It’s a warning to the assholes who thought to do this. Who thoughttouchingher was a good idea. Like it hasn’t just signed their death warrants.
Like her, my arms and legs are bound to a chair, but unlike her, I’m left clothed and my mouth unbound. It takes a mere horrifying second to piece together this is purposeful. The entire position of me tied up, forced to face my girl—and whatever they have planned.
It’ll be okay.That’s what I want to tell her, but the lie—I pray it’s not a lie—is caught in my throat. Clogged by fear and anxiety to the point there are no words good enough to ease her.
“Whoever the fuck you are, you’ve made a grave fucking mistake,” I call out, forcing my eyes away from Katya and towards the corners of the room. “Whatever it is you want, you’ll have it. Ten times over if you let us go.” And then, I’ll reap their lives for thinking they’d get away with this.
A door from across the warehouse opens, and four men filter inside. This time, no one has hoods up, and I commit every fucker to memory, eyeing my next four kills.
The first guy, the leader, I presume, is the bald one from earlier. He grins as he looks from me to Katya, his gaze lingering on her naked body. I vow to rip his eyes from his sockets first, and then chop off his hands.
The second has his hair tied in a bun. He seems bored, his thin frame slinking behind his leader until he stops beside the bed, staring down at my girl, a hunger igniting in his disgusting expression. He licks his lips like she’s a meal and even chortles to the others when Katya turns her head towards me, eyes widening all over again.
The third will likely be the most difficult to fight when I get free. His bodybuilder frame lumbers forward, attention solely on Katya. He drops to a knee beside the mattress and reaches for her, sliding a hand up her lower leg and stopping by her knee.
Katya kicks out with the inch of leeway the ropes give her and makes muffled noises behind the cloth in her mouth, which only causes him to laugh.
“She’s a feisty one, boss.”
“Get your fucking hands off her!” I tense my arms, testing the strength of the rope, but it holds firm. From what I can tell, they’ve looped it around a few times, which means I’m not meant to move whatsoever.
The bald one waves his hand at the large one, who makes a disappointed noise before standing again, crossing his arms over his chest.
The fourth and final man has black hair so long and greasy, it’s hard to see exactly where he’s looking. His baggy clothes hang loose on his frame, but he grips a knife in his hand, which I recognize as mine. He stands over Katya and tosses it into the air, catching it by the hilt. He does this three times, my stomachlurching every time. One missed catch, and it’ll cut into her below. Based on his sly grin as he rubs a hand through his long hair and glances my way, he knows it too.
“What do you want?” I stare at the man the other referred to as “boss.” The others are mindless drones following orders and will be useless in negotiations. “This about the deal? Take the drugs for free.”
He chuckles and reaches into the front pocket of his jeans, pulling out a baggy of pills that were previously in mine. “You mean these? Nabbed them from your pocket. We’re considering it a tip for a job well done, especially after the girl managed to land a solid punch on one of my guys.”
At least she didn’t give up, even when I was down, and for that, a bit of pride slithers between my terror.
“What’s all this then?” I jerk my chin at Katya, forcing my expression to downplay the fear actually coursing through me. The fear thatshe’sthe point rather than a bargaining tool to force my hand.
