“You should be careful what you eat and drink while you’re here, Mr. Sokolov.”
I don’t touch anything she’s prepared all day.
And I don’t see Bane either. He’s vanished, probably scouring the catacombs beneath the house.
But I am followed, by several guards, in fact. Anthony doesn’t trust me. Who knows what Bane told him.
“I’m leaving for a while,” I tell Anthony after finding him in his office.
“You coming back?”
“Yes.”
He nods and then narrows his gaze at me. “You’ll take Nova with you.”
“I will not.”
“You will or I won’t allow you back on this property, and you know how Bane will feel about that.”
My teeth grind, but I give a subtle nod of my head.
He’s won this one.
So I take Nova and let her drive me to the motel on the outskirts of town. In one of the rooms on the second floor is the person I captured yesterday—Ellery. That’s their name.
I considered putting them in the trailer where I placed Bane, but I didn’t want to pollute that space. It holds memories of Bane, of when I marked him. I own that memory, and I won’t give it up easily.
Pulling the key from my pocket, I unlock the rickety door and see Ellery lounging on the bed, a magazine in their hand.
“Tell me what you know,” I demand, and Ellery just reaches over and throws a vase at my head. It hits the wall next to me, and I seethe.
Pain in my ass. I locked them to the bed, a chain around their foot, holding them in place. But with how feisty they are, I may have to get more security over here. Perhaps I should look on Craigslist for someone reliable.
I don’t trust Nova. The way she watched me in the rearview mirror as she drove tells me she won’t side with me. I left her in the car to watch out for intruders. I only hope she stays and does what she’s told.
“Fuck off, you piece of shit,” Ellery says, the Boston accent thick and groggy. Probably from the drugs I’m pumping into their system to keep them docile. I feel like they’re someone who would claw through the walls if they could. A bit like Bane, if you ask me. “I’m going to scream and you’re going to go to fucking prison.”
I step around the broken ceramic pieces scattered on the floor. “No one will hear you. There’s a reason I picked this place. And there is no need for dramatics. I just want to speak to you.”
“Over my dead body. And why aren’t I dead, huh? You in the mob or some shit?”
“I’m a surgeon.”
Ellery rolls their eyes. “Fuck off, asshole. You look like a ghoul. Bet you were a shitty surgeon and were fired when you ended up eating your patients.”
My jaw cracks as I grind my teeth. I should have killed them when I had the chance, but something about them…the fierceness they possess, stopped me.
I won’t tell you any of the answers you’re searching for. Fuck you. They’ll die with me.
So I know they know something. And I plan to get it from them.
“What do you know about Henry?”
“Who the fuck is Henry?” Ellery spits, still looking at the magazine they’re holding.
I sigh and take out my phone, pulling up a picture, and showing it to them.
Something flashes in their eyes that tells me they know exactly who this person is.
