Page 75 of Damned
Kruze wiped his sweaty forehead and doused yet another trip down fuckin’ fairytale lane. He seemed to think foolish stuff like that whenever Bree came to mind. She was definitely the princess he’d once accused her of being, but he was no white knight, and there was no golden dragon. Only an ugly job that needed to be done before he could see her pretty face again.
“What is this?” Berfendedemanded haughtily, gesturing at the basalt.
Lifting his head, Kruze let his gaze wander to the top of the wall. It seemed a helluva lot higher now, but it was only a hundred feet or so. Maybe less. Straight up, yeah, but not a mountain by any means. Just a wicked outcropping of razor-sharp basalt in the middle of nowhere, that ran for miles to his left and followed the river at his right. Unless you wanted to walk for days, the only way out was up.
“See that dead tree all the way up there, General Berfende?” Kruze leaned into the prickly guy and pointed to the top and to his right. “I stashed Banks in a cave right below that tree. Don’t worry. She’s tied up, not going anywhere. Plus, that cave’s close to the top where the helicopter’s wait—”
SMACK!Berfendeslapped Kruze across the face. “You idiot! How do you expect me to get to her now? I will have you hung!”
First, I’m gonna be burned alive. Now hung. Make up your gawddamned mind.
Rolling his shoulder to shake off that slap, Kruze bit back his anger. “I secured her where bears couldn’t get at her, sir.”
“B-bears?” Josephus croaked from Berfende’s other side.
Kruze nodded, his cheek hot, his rage barely under control, but sticking to the plan. “Yeah. Grizzly and Black Bears prowl this forest. I’m surprised we haven’t encountered one yet. They’re done hibernating, and they’re hungry as hell. But they can’t climb this kind of rock. It’s too sharp, and it hurts the pads of their feet. Lantz didn’t warn you about bears in Maine?” Kruze rubbed his chin. “Bet he didn’t tell you about mountain lions, wolves, or jackalopes in these woods either, did he?”
Kruze couldn’t resist throwing in that last threat. Jackalopes were a taxidermy scam that put antelope horns on jackrabbits. Greenhorns were easily fooled.
Berfendescoffed as if he were tougher than any animal. Josephus’s face, on the other hand, had gone white. He was having trouble breathing, was nearly apoplectic.
Kruze put a hand to the guy’s shoulder and asked, “You okay?”
Josephus pulled an inhaler out of his jacket pocket and took a couple puffs. “Yes. Yes. I am g-g-good.”
Didn’t sound like it. Kruze forgot about him when his earpiece whispered to life.“Bree is now secure,”Pagan reported.“You doing okay, brother?”
Kruze tapped his earpiece twice, signaling affirmative, and damned glad she was out of danger.
“Copy that. Don’t take all day. This woman misses you. She’s up in your bedroom, taking a shower. I told her I’d have you on the line by the time she was done.”
“What are you smiling at, you imbecile?” Berfendeshrieked.
Kruze let his lungs fill with the sublime knowledge that the woman he loved was out of harm’s way, before he lied and said, “I’m thinking what you’ll say when you finally have what you came here for, General Berfende.”And you are so going to get everything you asked for.
“But… but how…?” Josephus gestured at the wall even as his eyes darted into the trees behind them. He was looking for bears now. Well, good. Let him look for jackalopes, too.
It was time to tweak the general again. “No worries,” Kruze exclaimed. “If you guys can’t climb, I’ll just hurry up there and drop her down. The fall will probably kill her, but I’m guessing that’s what you wanted, right?” He shrugged as if killing women made no difference to him.
“No!” Berfendeturned that one syllable word into lightning. His thick, dark brows clashed into one hell of a unibrow. “You must not harm her! She is to be my queen, you imbecile. My one and only queen. I have great things in store for Brianna Banks. How hard can it be? If you did it, so can we. Come, Josephus. We are men. We will climb this little pile of rocks.”
“But General,” he whined. “I am not as fit as you—”
Berfendeturned on his unwilling accomplice and bellowed, “We. Will. Climb. If this American infidel can, so can we. We are warriors. Besides…” His eyes slithered up that wall like snakes on black ice. “She must only cower to me, not this American pig. Where is the collar?” Without looking, he extended a hand to Josephus.
A wave of dizzying spots swarmed Kruze. He had to slap a palm onto the smooth basalt wall before he fell over. Kee-rist, this wasn’t good. He’d planned to get Berfendeand Josephus inside that cave before he ended them. He just wasn’t sure he was strong enough to make the trip up again.
Until Josephus reached inside his neon-yellow jacket and produced another gawddamned metal-pronged, studded dog collar and a son of a bitchin’ chain leash. Rage took over then, and Kruze could do anything.
“Ah, yes,” Berfendepurred like the bastard he was. “Keep it for me, my friend. Once I conquer my queen, I will bleed her, then you will collar her. She is, after all, just an American dog.”
The grin on Josephus’ face turned salacious, as if he were getting a piece of Bree, too. What the hell did bleeding and collaring a woman really mean?
No fuckin’ way.It was all Kruze could do to keep his expression blank and his hands off his pistols. “You first, General Berfende.”You fuckwit!“Josephus, you’re next. Take it easy.” He covered his mouth and coughed to conceal his disgust. “I’ll follow, but just to make sure you gentlemen don’t slip.”
“Yessss,” Berfendehissed. “Yes, of course. Stay behind. But close. I will have your head if we fall.”
And I will have your ass if you ever lay a hand on Bree!Kruze ran a quick hand over his head, fighting for patience to endure these two fuckers. There was no way they could reach Bree now. But Kee-rist, Kruze wanted to end them so badly, he could taste it. They needed to suffer. Senator Sullivan had said end Berfendewith prejudice, and by damn, Kruze meant to follow that order with explicit precision. These vicious bastards had terrorized her and damned near starved her to death. They’d tortured Mehmet, killed him in front of her! By God, at the end of this day, Berfendeand Josephus would know they’d messed with the wrong woman. Kruze wanted them out of view for a reason. They’d beg for death by the time he finished with them. Kruze would make damned sure they suffered.
