Page 108 of Alluring Darkness

My cheek smacks into the stone as the punch to my jaw sends my entire body crashing to the ground as if I’m nothing but a puppet with my strings cut.

Then he starts up a merciless assault.

I try to disassociate from the pain as much as possible, but I can’t block it all out as he continues to punch and kick me.

When Gabriel is at last satisfied, he steps back again. Agony blooms all over my body. I drag in a rattling breath.

Gabriel releases another contented sigh. “Ahh, that felt good.”

Fucking asshole. I am going to poison him and watch him die screaming if it’s the last thing I do.

My limbs tremble as I force myself to push my body off the ground again. But I’m not sure if my bones can handle another beating like that, so I stay on my knees this time. After drawing in a deep breath, I tilt my head back and meet Gabriel’s eyes again.

The fury is still there, but he looks smug now too.

Holding my gaze, he pulls out a gun and levels it at my forehead. The muzzle is cold as the metal meets my skin.

I just continue looking back at him.

He narrows his eyes. “You should be terrified right now. Staring at me with wide eyes and begging me not to shoot you in the head.” He presses the gun harder against my forehead. “Why aren’t you?”

Because I’m messed-up in the head in ways that you will never understand.

But I don’t tell him that. Instead, I reply, “Because the safety is on.”

To my absolute shock, he actually turns the gun slightly and looks down at the safety. Which is of course off.

A genuine laugh, full of bafflement and smug satisfaction, rips from my chest. I can’t believe he fell for that.

The laugh is abruptly cut off as he hits me with the butt of the gun hard enough to snap my head downwards. Blood trickles down from where the strike must have broken the skin. It runs down my forehead and slides down my temple.

Raising my head, I lock eyes with him again and flash him a mocking grin. “Worth it.”

He draws back his hand as if to hit me again, but right then, noise comes from the mouth of the cave.

I turn towards it.

And dread washes through my body like ice water.

Two people walk into the cave. Or rather, a woman holds a gun to the back of a handcuffed man’s head while she marches him into the cave.

“How do you think you’re going to win if you waste your time abducting me like this? It makes no sense. And how did you even get my own team to betray me like that. It shouldn’t even be possible if…” Connor trails off as his eyes meet mine. “Raina.”

“Con,” I breathe.

“Took you long enough,” Gabriel says.

The woman behind my brother scoffs. I drag my stunned gaze to her.

Shelley.

It’s Shelley. The girl I poisoned in the cafeteria earlier this week.

“Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?” I snap, all of my restraint now completely gone.

Gabriel hits me with the butt of the gun again.

“Touch her again and I’ll—” Connor growls while he moves as if to take a step towards us, but he’s cut off before he can complete the sentence.

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