“That doesn’t matter either,” Poe said behind me.
I didn’t have to look to know that Remy was with him, that they’d entered the room with the guns given to us by Rafe.
I caught the flicker of fear in Todd’s eyes before he recovered. “Still an even fight. Three on three.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it.
“You think you count?” I shook my head. “You’re nothing.” I looked at the two guards. More locals, more hired guns. “These guys could chew you up and spit you out. They don’t live behind a microphone, behind a keyboard.”
The guards shifted, made uncomfortable by the compliment.
By my respect.
Todd lifted his chin. “They work for me.”
“Do they? I’m guessing it’s more accurate to say they work for themselves.” I turned my attention on them. “Do you know who this guy is? Do you know he hurts women for a living? Pimps out poor girls to be slaves to rich men who use and hurt them.”
One of the men cursed a language I didn’t understand.
“Do you have sisters?” Remy asked behind me. “Daughters? Because this guys would sell them for a dollar and not think twice about it.”
“We have no beef with you,” I said to the two guards. “You can walk out of here right now, let us take out this trash. You could even come back in a few hours, take whatever you find as payment for your work. It’ll be a while before the cops come around.”
They looked at each other, a form of unspoken communication moving between them.
“I’ll pay you double what I promised!” Todd told them. “Name your price.”
One of the men cursed again. At least, I assumed it was a curse from the anger that laced the words.
The two men lowered their weapons, then took a step toward us.
We moved aside, giving them a path to the hall.
“Give us half an hour,” Remy said. “Then the place is all yours.”
I waited for them to leave to advance on Todd.
“Wait! You don’t have to kill me! We can work something out.”
I laughed as I hauled him up for the chair. He was surprisingly light.
Surprisingly small. A fucking paper tiger.
“I’m not going to kill you.” I removed one of the zip ties we’d found in the Rafe’s duffels. “That’s a job for someone else.”
58
MAEVE
The tunnelsglowed red beyond the open door, the digital clock reading 24:00:00.
This time I wasn’t afraid.
I stood in a row with the other girls, all of us wearing masks of our choosing. I didn’t know most of them. They’d been contacted by the Butchers, all women the Butchers thought might have a special interest in tonight’s Hunt.
The men stood on the other side of the room. All the teams except the Butchers.
I recognized the bird men and the hockey mask men, the wolves, clowns, and demons. The leaned against the walls, their posture relaxed as they talked like they were at a company water cooler instead of a Hunt.
