Page 44 of Judgment Day

He clenched his jaw but nodded. “Fine.” Chest heaving, he said, “But we will kill them. Every single one.”

The moment I let him go, he walked over to the man currently pinching his bloody nose, picked up the knife that had fallen to the ground, then shoved it into the guy’s groin.

The man’s screams filled the barn as he crouched into a ball.

I shot Leo a glare.

His mouth lifted in a grin as he shrugged. “I couldn’t help it.”

Hell had a way of unleashing the darkness in even the brightest souls. Leo, whom I’d only ever seen with a seductive smirk on his face and a playful spark in his eyes, had found his darkness and embraced it with a smile. I didn’t blame him. I was contemplating doing the same to the guy with the petal apparatus, but he’d run out the broken door the moment Leo’s fist connected with Knife Man’s face. The other three men ran, too.Well, damn.

“Start on that end,” I said, nodding to the last stall. “I’ll take care of her.” I pointed to the girl with the metal corkscrew sticking out of her body. Her cries would haunt my dreams for weeks after this.

I kneeled down between her legs, spotting the first trail of blood seeping from inside her. I touched her knee, and she flinched.

“It’s okay.” I lowered my voice, kept it calm. “You’re okay.” And then I took the handle and twisted counterclockwise, unscrewing the device he’d inserted.

She flinched again.

I gently squeezed her knee. “Just breathe, love. It’s almost over.” I didn’t even know if she could hear me.

“They’re locked,” Leo said from a few stalls down.

“Then unlock them.”

He growled. “It’s digital. I need a code.”

“Aren’t you some kind of technology genius?” I continued twisting the handle. “Fucking hack it.”

He flipped me off. “Do you have any idea how long that would take?”

Winston gave me the location, knowing there was no easy way to get the girls. I warned him about playing mind games. He’d just sealed his fate.

I slowly pulled the metal thing out of the girl, wincing at the blood that covered it. One end was shaped like a cone with four petal-like sections, all coming to a sharp point at the tip. Apparently, twisting the handle caused the petals to open up and spread apart while inside. I swallowed back the acid that crawled up my throat at the thought of it.

Sadie went through this.

She endured this hell for three years. I’d been here five minutes and I knew I would feel the shadows of it on my soul for the rest of my life.

I wanted to make sure no one ever had to live through this again.

I wanted to save them.

Sadie wanted to save herself. She sent them here knowing what they’d go through.

Leo hovered over the guy curled up on the dirt, snatching him up by his hair. “What’s the code, asshole?”

The man shook his head.

Leo slammed him into the ground.

The guy coughed and sputtered. “We’re only given a location. Nothing else.”

Leo kicked him in the ribs. “Fucking useless.”

“Maybe not.” I glanced at the knife Leo had tossed to the ground. “We can wedge that in and pry the lock loose. We just need something to hammer it in.”

Some girls were still sobbing. Some cried out for it to stop, as if their bodies were still in shock, even though no one was touching them.

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