“You fucking bitch!” he growled, reeling back, clutching his bleeding forearm. “Get hernow!”
The two big men came at me like trained dogs. I kept the knife angled forward, shaking but determined. One of them grabbed for my wrist, but I twisted and drove the blade deep into his thigh. He howled and crumpled to one knee, but before I could free myself, he smashed his elbow into my face. My nose exploded with pain, blinding and hot. Stars burst behind my eyes, and my legs buckled.
He ripped the knife from his own leg and tore it from my hand, flinging it across the room with a metallic clatter. “I’m going to fucking bleed to death,” he muttered, trying to hobble upright.
“You’re fine,” the small man snapped, pushing forward. “Let’s go before he gets back. Move.”
He.
They meant Halo.
They grabbed me under the arms like I was luggage and hauled me towards the door. I kicked, twisted, and screamed until my throat was raw. No words, just a feral snarl that I hoped carried so thatsomeoneheard me.
My fingers scraped against the doorframe as they dragged me through it. I clawed at it, desperate to anchor myself to something, anything, but their grip was iron. I could feel my nails bending, breaking as I fought, fire sparking through every fingertip. My vision blurred from the pain in my face, my head spinning from the loss of equilibrium. Blood from my nose dripped down onto my shirt. I tasted copper.
If I could just buy Halo time, maybe he would come back.
“Fucking hell, she’s fighting like a cat,” one of them grunted.
“Just get her in the goddamn car.”
They pulled me into the parking lot, and the sudden blast of sunlight burned into my swollen eyes. The parking lot was empty. No one watching, no one to help me. They knew what they were doing. I tried to scream again, but all I could manage was a whimper as they threw open the back of a black SUV.
I thrashed harder, bit someone’s hand, and heard them hiss a curse of pain. I felt myself slipping in and out, adrenaline surging like tidal waves, then crashing.
They slung me into the back seat, and my body hit the floor mats. I curled into myself on instinct, breathing ragged.
“She fought like hell,” the man with the stabbed thigh said.
“Not surprised,” the leader said, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. “That’s what makes her valuable.”
The door slammed shut behind me, and the car started to move. The smell hit first: sweat, old fast food, somethingmetallic and sharp that might’ve been blood. The floor was cold and ribbed, scraping the backs of my legs as I was shoved down. A zip tie cinched tight around my wrists before I could twist away, plastic biting deep into skin already scraped raw. I thrashed one last time, heel slamming into someone’s shin, before a hand caught my jaw and forced my face upward.
“Feisty,” the smaller man said, that same sleazy grin still stretching across his face as he leaned into the back from his place in the front seat. His bloodied arm was wrapped in a towel now, though it wasn’t doing much good. Crimson leaked through the fabric in pulsing dots. “I like that. Got some fight in you.”
“Go to hell,” I hissed. My voice cracked, thick with blood from my nose.
He laughed like we were just chatting in a diner. The van rocked as it pulled out of the lot, the engine humming like a lullaby.
“See, this is why he liked you,” he said, nodding to himself. “Halo has never been the sentimental type. He’s all business, a real cold-blooded bastard. But you—” He tilted his head like he was analyzing me. “You made him soft. I saw it on his face.”
“You don’t know him.”
“Oh, I know himplenty. I probably know him better than you do,” he said, almost too casually. “You think this is about you? It’s not. You’re a means to an end. He paid me to keep your location private, to book the room for him… paidwell. But there’s always someone who’ll pay more to watchhimbleed. And that’s the thing about loyalty… it’s not worth much in this business.”
“So you’re lying, cowardlyfucks.”
The bigger man driving snorted. The other one, the one I stabbed, didn’t speak, just cradled his leg with a white-knuckled grip and glared at me like he wanted to return the favor.
“Call it what you want,” the small man said, unfazed, “but at the end of the day, everyone’s afraid of the wrong man. They think Halo’s the monster, but I’ve met the people huntinghim…”
I spat in his face. It wasn’t graceful. I had to twist and jerk my head, and most of it landed on his cheek, but it was enough.
He froze and then wiped it away with the back of his hand. Looked at me with a kind of amused rage, like he couldn’t decide whether to hit me or admire me.
“Well,” he said quietly, “now Ireallysee what he saw in you.” He sat back again, voice dropping to a murmur. “Too bad you’re just bait now.”
I clenched my jaw. My heart was still beating like it was trying to crack through my ribs, but I didn’t show it. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. They could keep me tied up, haul me off to whatever shithole they wanted, but if they thought I’d just sit pretty and not give them hell, they didn’t know me at all.
