The thought made her smile, and she took advantage of the momentary high to start running. When Ridge came for her, she had to look like she’d been running through the woods for hours on end. The guys had helped by removing the cast on her arm,and taking out the stitches that Voodoo had put into the wounds she’d gotten when the ceiling fell in.
She knew she had to make her brother believe that she had escaped men still intent on torturing her, or he’d kill her in a heartbeat.
Big brother was a dangerous man. More dangerous than Steel and his team. They might believe they were monsters, but her brother really was one. Maybe Ridge’s experiments had damaged their abilities to empathize and created a gap in their consciences, but they weren't monsters. Not at all. They were damaged men, sure, but they weren't destroyed by Ridge’s games.
Her brother, on the other hand, had never had a conscience, never learned to empathize, and there was no way he could learn now.
If she messed this up, she was dead.
It was as simple as that.
When she couldn’t run another step, Rose leaned against the nearest tree, dragging in a few ragged breaths and cursing her cracked ribs for making it so painful.
With shaking fingers, she dialed her brother’s number and waited.
After a single ring, he picked up.
“What took you so long to call back?” Ridge snapped in that arrogant tone she remembered so well from her childhood.
“I … passed out,” she lied, which wasn't really a lie if you thought about it, most of the time since her last call until now she had been unconscious.
“You're wasting my time,” Ridge complained, not an ounce of sympathy for his poor, abducted, and tortured sister, who had collapsed from exhaustion. Not that she’d expected any. Psycho that he was.
“A-are you coming for m-me?” she asked, still breathing hard from the exertion of running. Now that she’d stopped moving, her body temperature was dropping and she was beginning to shiver. Was there a chance Ridge would just leave her out there to die?
Okay, so she wouldn't really die, Steel wouldn't let that happen, but her brother didn't know that.
“Of course I'm coming,” Ridge replied, sounding annoyed. “I've been looking for those men for the last seven years. I created them, and I own them, they’re going to pay for costing me seven years’ worth of progress.”
No way, psycho brother of mine, they’re going to kill you like the cockroach that you are, and the world will be a better place for it.
“Did you turn on the location services?” Ridge asked impatiently.
“I’ll do it now.” Fiddling with the phone, she switched the services back on and sent out a silent signal to her brother, giving him her location, drawing him into their trap.
“Okay, I have you. I already have a team prepared, so we’re leaving now. Don’t move from the location you're in right now. If you do, I’ll know, and I won't be happy about it.”
“What should I do if they find me? If I hear them coming, should I run? Hide?”
Ridge laughed, a cold, inhuman sound. “You won't hear them coming. They’re too highly skilled to make such a simple mistake.”
After that, he was gone, leaving her smiling at the phone. “You won't hear them coming either, big brother. Your arrogance is going to cost you your life. You're about to lose your power, and it’s going to be a beautiful thing to behold. Enjoy your last free moments on earth because once you get here,you're going to wish for death the same way you used to make me wish you'd just kill me and get it over with.”
Chapter
Nineteen
January 2nd
2:38 A.M.
“She’s okay.”
Steel tensed at the words, spoken softly by Lion, who was sitting beside him in the back of their SUV.
It wasn't the first time one of the guys had said that to him in the last couple of hours since they’d left Rose alone and unconscious on the rough forest ground.
Hell, it wasn't even the tenth time one of them had said it.
