“What? No?”
“It’s dinner time.”
Thomas smiled as he rang the bell on the wall.
Chapter twenty-six
IfScotthadn’tknownTim was tied up and gagged in the back of his van, he would’ve assumed he was having a good time with the way the vehicle rocked and swayed.
Thomas hadn’t let go of him the entire time, including on the difficult spiral staircase. He tightened his hand on Scott’s waist, tucking him close to his side. When they first stepped outside into the sunshine, Scott had screwed up his face as a kaleidoscope of colours had assaulted him all at once. His stomach had gurgled, and the telltale cramps in his sides warned of his body’s need to vomit.
Thomas had held him upright when all Scott wanted to do was bend at the waist and lose his insides on the path. He panted with the effort not to throw up while Thomas’s voice warped, pitching with concern.
“Thought I was going to be sick,” he murmured.
Thomas peered into his eyes, and from the way his brow jumped up his head, whatever he saw hadn’t been good.
“Tim,” Scott said, watching the van through a squint.
“We’re coming, Tim,” Thomas yelled. “Calm down.”
Tim stilled for a few seconds, then the van started shaking again.
“I need to get him out,” Thomas said.
Scott nodded numbly and unwrapped his arm from around Thomas’s shoulders.
Thomas’s fingers twitched against Scott, then he sighed and let Scott stand by himself. His gaze roamed Scott, who was favouring one leg and pinning his cut hand to his side with his bicep.
“I’m fine.”
“Bullshit,” Thomas muttered, before moving to the back of the van. “I’ll be quick.”
Out of Thomas’s sight, Scott slumped and found himself magnetised to the ground. He didn’t collapse, more a controlled fall where he made sure to be as quiet as possible not to alert Thomas helping Tim. Scott sat on the ground, glancing over his shoulder and wishing he was nearer the giant flowerpot to rest his back. He didn’t have the energy to move and instead pulled his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and thumped down his forehead.
He listened to Thomas and Tim murmuring, then the scuffle of feet.
“Oh fuck,” Tim blurted.
Scott knew that was in response to seeing him, but he didn’t have the energy to lift his head and say something back.
“Scott!” Thomas was beside him in a heartbeat, touching his shoulders.
“I’m okay,” he said to his knees.
“Let’s get you up,” Thomas said hooking Scott beneath his armpits. “I need to get you both to the hospital.”
“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Scott said at the same time as Tim.
“Yes, you do,” Thomas hissed in his ear.
Scott didn’t have the energy to fight him. He had his eyes closed because the world was spinning far too fast for him in that moment, but Thomas’s voice was constantly coming from one area.
“And your wrists are bleeding,” Thomas said, presumably to Tim. “Not to mention the amount of cracking I heard from your joints when I untied you.”
Scott’s head whipped up, and he forced his eyes to open. Tim stood a metre from him, rubbing his bloodied wrists. He gasped when Scott looked at him, then nudged Thomas with urgency. “We need to get going.”
Scott frowned. “Your wrists –”
