1
Mateo
“Mateo.” Dry, sticky hands shook my shoulder, and I forced my eyes open as alarm jumpstarted my heart. Sitting up too fast, I glanced around through narrowed eyes, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. The room was empty but for me and Lucy, and I had a second or two before the pain in my back set fire to my bones. “Mateo.”
“What . . . what is it?” Rasping hoarsely, I squeezed my eyes closed as a vicious throb assaulted my sides and my breaths became labored again. Turning to Lucy, her dirty face aimed at me with such indescribable emotions masking her bird-like, round features, I arched sharply only to agitate the scabs on my back. “What happened?”
“I heard something.” Gingerly shuffling around, I grabbed Lucy to pull her to my chest, and her frail frame was stiff against me. Her shivers reverberated off my skin, and I stroked her greasy, matted hair as her sniffle assaulted my ears. “I heard something outside.”
“It’s okay. If they were going to kill us, they would’ve done it already.” No matter how many times I said it, Lucy never believed me, and I shook my head as silence descended between us. “We’ll get out of here. My brothersarelooking for me.”
Hopefully.At least I could convince her of that despite how unsure I was, and a peculiar kind of disgust glued my tongue to the roof of my mouth. We’d been in this room for what I could guess was about six days, but it was only a guess. Sometimes, it felt like much longer, and other times, I didn’t even care enough to keep track. Closing my eyes, I rested my cheek on Lucy’s crown, and we sat, unmoving, savoring what little comfort we could from each other.
Gulping down the dense lump in my throat, I leaned back only to wince at the shooting pain down my back, and Lucy tensed. Her breath hitched loudly, her big, blue eyes meeting mine, shimmering in concern, and I shook my head slightly. She was so sweet, and a slight crease appeared between her slender, blonde brows as that worry morphed her delicate features.
“Just stay still. Don’t use up energy.” We got fed twice a day, assuming once in the morning and once at night, and I knew it’d be a few more hours until then. The thick, metal door rattled slightly, and goosebumps swept down my arms when Lucy whimpered. A hardbangrattled my teeth, and anxiety gnawed at my gut as I glanced over my shoulder through tight pupils.
“Ready to start spilling some secrets?” Two men entered the room, and my lip curled as the one who spoke perfect Italian slapped his whip against his palm threateningly. “You know, it’d be easier for you if you just gave us what we wanted.”
His thick accent sent prickles down my spine, and I tightened my grip on Lucy as silence engulfed the room. Clenching my jaw when the guy shrugged, apprehension gripped my heart in a vise and squeezed as the door shut with a damningclick. A cold sweat broke out on my body, and Lucy’s shallow breaths became wheezes as I pushed her into the corner. Standing on unsteady, weak legs, I rolled my shoulders and bit my cheek against the pain and the itch as amusement flooded both men’s faces.
Ugly-ass grease monkeys . . . they can’t even torture someone right.
“You obviously don’t get what growing up with Carlyle was like if you think I’m going to talk.” Grinding the words out through my teeth, I resisted the urge to spit at them and really make them mad. Eventually, Carlyle or Oran would find me— all I had to do was endure. Every fucked-up thing Carlyle had imposed upon me my entire life was all in preparation for this, and this waspitifulby comparison. For once, I was glad he was such a dick to me, and I inhaled a deep, stabilizing breath.
“Everyone talks, kid. It’s just a matter of figuring out how much you can take.”If you were good at your job, you wouldn’t need to figure it out.No wonder Carlyle had such a low fucking opinion of the Italians— they operated like it was the fifties again, as if I didn’t grow up in the shadow of a monster. It was insulting, honestly.
“Let’s get this over with so you can go slink back to Diamon and tell him youfailed again.” Oh-ho-ho, that made him mad, and I whipped around to pin Lucy to the corner with my body as he stormed over. The metal tips of his flail shimmered ominously, but I could take it. It was only physical, after all. Carlyle was much worse in terms of creativity.
Lucy shivered against my legs, her slender fingers gripping my jeans at the knees, and I breathed harder and faster as adrenaline replaced the air in my lungs. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled and my cheek twitched as I ground my teeth together. When the air swirled, I braced my feet firmly on the concrete, and the whip came down with all the force its wielder could muster.
Fire surged just under my skin as it burst open, the crusted parts of previous impacts flaking off as the metal caps dug into my shoulder blade. Lucy’s quiet squawk rang in my ears, but I stayed silent, even as those flames wrapped around my ribs. Pain weakened my knees, and I squeezed my eyes shut as he sent the barbs sailing into my back again.
I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry.I wanted to be rescued, damnit!If I succumbed, God only knew what would happen to Lucy.
That was the whole point of putting her in here, after all.Fucking amateurs.
“Fuck!” Blurting out the slur hoarsely as a fourth, or maybe fifth, stroke landed against my back, I blinked back the tears that blurred my vision. I watched in hyper-detail as they fell onto Lucy’s head, and their cruel, dark laughter rang in my ears. Keeping myself as still as possible while the pair walked out, I pictured them with their stupid smirks, thinking they weresogreat.
Only when the lock on the outside of the door slid shut did I collapse, and I gasped for air as my nerves threatened to explode. Trembling hands cupped my face, but even my ears hurt, so I sobbed unashamedly into Lucy’s dirty, blood-stained shirt. Violent tremors strafed my spine and blood dribbled down my back, soaking into the waistline of my jeans.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Okay, okay, I’m here, Mateo. I got you.” Lucy’s voice wavered, her own tears burning my face, and I sniffled hard in a futile attempt to fill my lungs. She kept talking, but I couldn’t hear any of it as blood thrummed in my ears. No matter how expected it was, how easy it was to see the whole picture, that whip fucking hurt, and if we weren’t rescued soon, I was going to end up with oneraginginfection.
“Shit. Shit.” Panting harshly, I laid down on my belly to try to relieve the stretching of my back, and my eyes rolled dangerously. It’d be a few minutes or a few hours, but those two would be back. If it’s just the one, I could probably take him, and bitterness coated my teeth.
The silence was deafening when the beat against my ear drums quieted as Lucy stroked my forehead and gingerly pushed back stray strands of my hair. After the first few times, I got used to the constant throbbing, the fire, the sting every time I took a breath, and I closed my eyes and managed a shallow inhale.
“S-so, tell me . . . tell me about you . . . your fiancé.” Sniffling harshly, Lucy croaked a cry of her own at my question, and all the tension in me seeped into the cold, wet concrete floor. “He’ll be happy when . . . when you’re saved.”
“He’s . . . he’s a great guy.” Holding my face in her lap, Lucy took a shuddering breath and wiped her face and mine. I cracked open an eye to find her exaggerated, sad, sharp frown. “We got together in high school, been together ever since. I . . . I already told you about that. Right, I think I did. Seth is . . . ”
She trailed off blankly, and her lips thinned until a white line appeared around her mouth. Whatever she was thinking, I didn’t have the mind to guess, so I closed my eye again as she started to shake her head.
“Mateo? Mateo, no, no. Don’t pass out. Please.“ Desperation laced her tone, but I couldn’t stop myself as the darkness closed in on me. The pain didn’t dull even a little, and she tapped my face as her panic was the last thing I heard.
2
Mateo
