“It’s not! Just leave—”
He pulls at the necklace hard enough to snap it. I stare in shock as the yellow substance spills out onto the floor. It pulses with light.
Clint jumps to his feet. “What the hell is that thing?”
I can’t risk him taking it.“Run! Get out of here!”
The puddle slides quickly toward the door. The man by the entrance reaches down to grab it, and when he touches the liquid, he screams in pain.
My mouth drops at the sight of the flesh peeling from his hands, revealing bones that dissolve like burning paper. A nasty smell of burnt flesh fills the air. I breathe a sigh of relief as the substance slips beneath the door and into the night.
Clint grabs my hair while his man screams in agony, his hands completely gone. “You little devil. I knew you were planning something. I’ll make you sing the truth until you’re coughing blood.”
Chapter 20
Finn
“Take a break.”
Bobby punches my stomach again. “But he still didn’t talk.”
“So? You’re in a hurry?”
“Nah, but what about… what we talked about?”
I crack open my eyes, watching Clint’s blurry shape as he sits on a chair in whatever warehouse they dragged me to.
“You can get him pregnant later,” he tells Bobby. “I’ll give him a few hours to think about whether he still wants to keep quiet.”
“Alright. Should we go check on Dale at the hospital?”
“I’ve no need for a man with no hands, and I don’t want them asking me questions about how it happened.”
Bobby faces me while I hang naked from the ceiling. I barely manage to stand on my tiptoes, making my arms stretch until I fear my skin might tear. Denver is the only place where someone can tie you down, put you on a horse, and take you away without anyone giving a damn or trying to help.
“Remember what happened when Derek was in a generous mood?” Bobby asks as he strokes my chest. “Those raffles he let us play for a night with you. I won twice, and you were so fucking delicious.”
I locked away so many dark memories in a box in my subconscious, but that box is now wide open, allowing every moment of hell to rush through my brain.
“Bring him down,” Clint says.
Bobby wraps his arms around me, pressing my bruises until I cry out in pain. He raises my body so I can slip my bound hands free from the hook in the ceiling. My arms slump the second I’m free, and it’s both painful and wonderful after hanging for hours. Bobby places me down on a mattress and pinches my lips. “I’ll see you soon for some romantic time.”
I spit on the floor. “Don’t forget the flowers.”
He snorts. “I’m gonna fill that big mouth of yours until you gag.”
“Enough sweet talk.” Clint crouches down and holds my chin. “This warehouse belongs to a friend of mine, and ain’t no one around who cares about some screams. It will only get worse for you from this point on, so now might be a good time to stop being a brave fool.”
Knowing how much of a sadist Clint can be, I’m genuinely tempted to give up and tell him everything. Then I think of what it would sound like.I’m here to save a Defender from a man who is more than one hundred years old and can control lizard men.
They’ll beat me harder for telling the truth.
“You’re making a mistake,” I say, unable to think of something smarter through the unrelenting pain.
“My only mistake was not warning my brother about you in time, but I’m about to give him the justice he deserves.”
They shackle my hands above my head with a chain connected to the concrete wall. Through the gaps in the roof, I can see a bit of the sky as it turns from black to orange right before sunrise.
