Chapter 29
Zane
Idied forty deaths watching Les collapse on the floor. It happened in slow motion. She sucked in a breath, drawing my attention then all the color drained from her face, and her legs gave out from underneath her.
When I dropped to my knees in front of her, her eyes were completely blank, and she wasn’t seeing what was right in front of her. She was seeing her time with Jay. I don’t know how she knew Steve was one of them, but I believed her completely.
She snaps the capsule open, waving it under his nose with a shaky hand. I’m so damn proud of her that she pulled herself together to do this, but I was hoping she wouldn’t put herself through this anymore. But I know she needs to do this, so I’m going to help her, lend her my strength, and together we can hopefully end this for both our sakes.
“Where’s Jay?” Les asks as soon as his eyes flutter open.
“I don’t know,” he croaks. His nose is still pouring blood from where Holden hit him.
“Cut the shit,” Les barks. I can see her spine straighten. “I know you were there, you fucking coward.”
Steve’s eyes snap to hers. “Where?”
Les marches over to her torture table, snatches up the scary curved knife, then marches back, shoving it against Steve’s throat.
Her hand is no longer shaking; it’s steady, her blade pressing right up against his jugular. “Where’s. Jay?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Steve says, then swallows when he can feel the blood slip down his neck. “You’re going to kill me, anyway.”
“I am.” She shrugs. “But you can either die quickly, or I’m going to torture you within an inch of your fucking life. The choice is yours.” She presses the knife harder.
Something in her eyes must tell him she’s telling the truth because he takes a shuddering breath. “I don’t know where he is. He never told me.”
“Why did you help him?” I ask, stepping beside Les.
“He offered me a hundred grand,” Steve answers, glancing around the room. I follow his line of sight to see the rest of Les’ guys standing against the wall. They look intimidating as hell. I have to admit, they used to intimidate me until I saw how soft they were with Les. It’s laughable now. That doesn’t mean they still won’t gut someone for her.
“You took a hundred grand for what you did to her?!” Ryder yells, stepping forward. I’ve been waiting on his control to snap. Holden grabs his arm to stop him, but Ryder jerks it away. “You almost fucking killed him!” Ryder growls, jabbing a finger at Gage, “You almost took them both from us!” With each word, he’s eating up the steps that bring him right in front of Steve. Les grabs my arm, pulling me to the side. She can sense what I already did. Les silently hands Ryder her knife; he looks at her in surprise before taking it carefully from her hand.
“You need this too,” Les says quietly.
Ryder’s eyes are black and wild. Everyone can feel the shift in the air; things are about to get bloody. Quickly.
Ryder turns back to Steve, and even he feels it. Ryder slashes through Steve’s shirt with one sure diagonal swipe straight across his chest. Steve screams, but it’s cut off by Ryder’s hand wrapped around his throat. “Shut up,” Ryder growls. “For every fucking scaron their body, I’m going to do it tenfold to you until you start fucking talking.”
I’ve seen Ryder pissed off through the years, mostly aimed at me. But I’ve never seen him like this. Even when he’s mad, he has this carefully constructed control that won’t let him dive off the deep end. Right now, he’s unhinged. That line to his control cut in two. There isn’t going to be anything we can do to rein him back in. Looking around the room, none of us want to either.
With one hand wrapped around Steve’s throat to hold him still, Ryder starts slicing into Steve’s chest, one slow drag of the knife at a time. He’s so hyper-focused on his task that it’s like the rest of us disappeared.
“Stop,” Steve blubbers.
“Not until you tell me where that motherfucker is hiding.”
“I don’t know!” When he says it this time, I believe him. Jay didn’t even tell him where he was hiding, so this is wasting our time.
“What’s he up to next?” I ask.
“He just said everyone had to die! So he could have her!”
I look at Les, and she nods; it’s time to end this. “Ryder,” she says softly. When he doesn’t stop, she gently touches his arm. “Ryder.” He jerks back with a growl, making her take a step back.
Shit.
“Ryder,” I say sternly. “Give me the knife.” He turns those crazy eyes on me, and even I have to stop myself from backing away. “Let her end this.”
