“Oh, I’m well aware of that.” He hums. “Maybe I’ll make you dig your own grave after starving you for a month, like I did with Cole. Or maybe I’ll convince you that you’re a fucking murderer, like I did to that whore you call your wife.” My blood roars back to life, threatening to flood this fucking room with everyone in it. “Every single person in this room has a breaking point. I think yours might be losing every ounce of control you have. I suppose we’ll find out.”
Pain like nothing I’ve known erupts through me when the collar burns like fire against my skin, sending shockwaves thatsear through my veins, twisting my muscles into submission. A scream ravages my throat, and I know that all I can do is wait it out.
One.
Two.
Three.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
“Again,” he tells them.
I curse, low and vicious, as I writhe in pain on the ground. The pain stops for another second, long enough to conjure the image of Dove in my mind.
“See how easy it is?” he laughs. “And I’m only just getting started. You’re strong, Rowan, I’ll give you that, but we’re about to make you stronger. And then… then you’ll help us get Every. Single. Thing. We want. One global government. One system. No borders, no wars,” he drawls. “No crime.”
No freedom. No love. No life.
My bones feel as if they’re shattering when my body bends under more electric shocks. A foot lands on my ribs afterward, urging me back to life.
“Or maybe I’ll just kill you. You murdered my people, after all. Been a goddamn thorn in my side for so many years. Maybe I don’t need you at all.”
A lie. A blatant lie.
“Your people?” I laugh as I cough, my voice slowly dying out. “You didn’t lift a fucking finger. You knew I was hunting them. And you lured me into that shithole to get Dove,wantingme to take her back in the state she was.”
“Get the car ready,” someone says.
“You killed your own people,” I groan. “Deceived them, then killed them like they were nothing.”
Salister admits calmly, “Theywerenothing. Nothing compared to the mission we have ahead of us—everyone serving our cause understands that. Again.”
Another wave of electricity, far more powerful this time, strikes me. My vision blackens, and I fight to remain conscious. I fight, but I don’t know why… he’s either going to kill me or he won’t. I just wish I knew beforehand.
Water splashes on me from a bucket somewhere to my side. It’s ice cold, and it makes the wound in my side sear with pain. A shiver runs down my spine, my tux and my white shirt clinging to me like a second skin. I jerk my head left and right, getting rid of the excess water from my hair.
“Let’s see ifyou, perhaps, are something more than the vermin you look like right now.”
“Sir, we might need him alive. He could die—”
“Silence!” Salister shouts, his voice reverberating against the walls. My heavy breathing is the only sound after that. “It’s up to him if he dies or not. Let’s see… let him put up a fight. He always finds a way… don’t you, Commander?” He spits out the last word.
I say nothing. Fragments of my life flash through my mind at the speed of light. I want to catch a thought and bring it close to my heart, but they’re all moving so fast. So unbelievably fast.
I push into my lower body again, trying to get up, as my father’s voice booms in my mind.
“Stand up. Do it again. Embarrass me in front of everyone and see what happens.”
My hand slips on the blood-slicked concrete at my back.
“You think we can do it?”Cole’s voice whispers in the recesses of my mind.“Think we can rise to power and fight them off?”
And then, Dove’s voice, soft as a prayer as I groan.
“Rowan, I… I love you.”
“It’s okay if you want to kiss me.”
