Page 77 of Betrayed in the Dark
“Who’s there?” he yells right before I whack my gun across the back of his skull, rendering him unconscious.
Vin turns on his flashlight and removes his goggles. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”
I shrug. “Sorry it wasn’t more dramatic for you.”
We get busy tying Tony to his chair and then wait for the motherfucker to wake up. Alex, feeling impatient, leaves the room and soon returns with a glass of water. He throws it at Tony’s face, glass and all. Tony wakes up violently, sputteringand spitting out water as the shards of broken glass fall into his lap.
His eyes blink rapidly as they adjust to the bright light aimed directly at him. There’s fabric wrapped around his mouth so tightly that it’s preventing him from saying one word. He mumbles furiously around it, his face transforming as red as a tomato, with veins bulging in his neck.
He’s pissed.
Can’t say I blame the guy.
“Tony,” I say, taking a seat on the other side of the desk. My legs spread out wide as I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees, my eyes directly on the bloody wanker. He looks around the room, his eyes squinting and then suddenly widening when recognition crosses his features. “You don’t look so happy to see us.”
Alex unties the fabric around Tony’s mouth, and the second it falls, well…
“You fucking motherfuckers! I’m going to kill you all! Just wait until Alastor finds out about this. He’s going to destroy you! You cock-sucking—”
The barrel of a gun presses into the side of Tony’s head, quickly shutting him up as he peers up at Vin. “Now, now, Tony. I might have to wash your mouth out if you keep speaking to us like that, but I should warn you.” He bends down to his eye level. “It won’t be with soap.”
Tony swallows, looking around at all of us. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Simple. We want to know why Madeleine and Alastor are getting married,” I reply.
He scoffs. “Because they’re in love—”
A shot pierces the floor beside Tony, causing him to scream like a little girl.
All eyes land on Alex as he places his gun on his lap. “We want the truth. Don’t waste our time with bullshit.”
Tony shakes his head. “It is the truth.” A bead of sweat rolls down the side of his head, and I’m not the only one who notices.
“Let me explain something to you, and I’ll do it slowly so it gets through your thick skull,” Vin states. “Madeleine is an Alarie. She is one of us, which means every man in this room is prepared to rip out each organ in your body, one by one, until he feels satisfied with your death. So unless you start speaking, Eli here will go first.”
I stand and reach for the switchblade in my back pocket, grinning as I pop it open and hold it before Tony. He squirms in his seat, looking frantically between us for someone to save him.
But no one will.
I press the tip of the blade into the bottom of his throat, and he screams out in agony as I slice across his collarbone.
After maybe only ten seconds, Tony throws in the towel.
“Okay. Okay! I’ll talk,” he rushes out.
I remove the blade from his skin, wipe it off on his shirt, and then close it up before tucking it back into my pocket.
“Talk,” Vin orders as he slides a chair over and makes himself comfortable. He looks at his watch. “The quicker you tell us what you know, the quicker we’ll leave.”
Tony clears his throat and looks at the floor. “All I know is that she needed Alastor’s help.”
Alex scoffs. “Alastor’s help? What the fuck could he do for her that her own brothers couldn’t?”
Tony shakes his head. “I don’t know. I wasn’t allowed in the room when they met. She called to arrange a meeting with him, saying it was urgent. She arrived within a few hours and was in his office for only a short time before she left.”
We all exchange confused glances. “When was this?” I question.
“About a year ago.”
