“Hmph,” I say, head tilting. “Here we are.”
“Here we are,” he repeats.
He steps up to the bars, his face entirely too close to mine. I’d back down, worm out of his space, except he thinks he has the upper hand.
“You killed my friend,” he says.
“You raped my girl,” I hiss.
He chuckles. “Enjoyed every second of it.”
I lunge at the bars before I can stop myself. Rad takes a step back, his laughter growing.
Don’t let him get to you.
It’s what he wants. He wants you irrational, volatile… A danger to yourself.
You’re smarter than him.
I relax my arms, my hands, and, finally, my thighs. A slow, even breath leaves me as my chin dips, eyes staying on him.
“You’re dead, Cutrelle,” I say, knowing only he can hear me. “You and your friends.”
He shakes his head, still smirking. “I know people a lot more powerful than you,” he says.
“You see, there’s the difference between us,” I say as I sit up again, face pressing between the bars. He comes closer, and I reach out to drag a nail across his cheek.
“I don’t need to know people to overpower you. I’ll pick off every single one of your friends if I need to. I’ll leave you all alone, with no one to call, no one to beg for help. And when I finally get my hands on you, I’ll make sure you knowexactlyhow she felt on that floor.”
His smile falters, teeth grinding. “Good luck finding us.”
Rage boils within me as he steps back toward his friends. I still haven’t moved when he grabs his phone, his keys, and his wallet. He kicks one of his friends and nods in the direction of the exit, dialing someone on his phone as he does, and by the time he turns back around to look for me, the only thing left in that cage is my wig.
It takes me less than a minute to go backstage and pull on my bodysuit, take off the voice changer mask, grab my bag, and shove the full-face mask over my head. I’m already back in the club and pulling on my knuckled, fingertip-less gloves when I hear someone ask where the dancer is for cage four.
Gone.
Rad isn’t hard to find in the crowd. He’s tall enough that I can see him pushing through the dance floor. He still has the phone pressed to his ear as he shoves some patrons out of his path, one of his friends trailing behind him. He pivots mid-stride and stalks toward a side exit when he’s halfway across the club, and I pause in the middle of the floor to contemplate my next move.
If Kade were here, he’d tell me to leave. He’d tell me to get out of there and drive home.Don’t do anything stupid.
However, Kade isn’t here.
I’m thumping with adrenaline, Rad’s words on repeat.
I hastily advance after him.
The door opens into an alley. There’s a car speeding off when I run out. I quickly focus my eyes on the license plate number—a Connecticut plate, six numbers and letters.
Connecticut…Shit… if he’s still talking to any of Damien’s remaining crowd, this won’t end well.
I take my phone out to write the plate down, bare thumb bruising on the screen.Fuck. I had him. Why did I hesitate? I shouldn’t have hesitated. I let Kade get in my head. I second-guessed it, and now if he shows up or calls again, it’ll be even more my fault—
Gravel scratches beneath a boot behind me.
My ears perk. I throw my phone onto the ground and twist just as someone comes at me with a rope. My foot leaves the ground, boot plunging into my attacker’s stomach, and I grab the rope between his hands as he starts to fall backward, keeping him upright just to slam that same heel into his groin.
And when I turn around, I find two others approaching me.
