I look at him in confusion.
“To draw him out of his little hole, of course.”
I grow cold at the implication. So he means to use me as bait. I’m going tocauseDamien’s death. That thought is even more unbearable than the idea of living my life without him. If Gabriel has his way, I’m going to live my life without him whileknowingI’m responsible for his death.
I feel slightly faint.
“I’m going to kill him,” chuckles Gabriel. “It’s going to be fucking slow. And you’re going to watch him bleed out. You’ll be helpless to prevent it. Then, I’ll decide what to do with you. If you behave, maybe I’ll spare you. If not…”
He gestures with his thumb, showing me exactly how he plans to slit my throat if I don’t ‘behave’.
I stare at him for exactly seventeen seconds before I realize what I have to do.
The only way to save Damien, the only way to keep from living without him, knowing I’m responsible for his death…
The only possible way out… is to die.
I’m going to have to die.
If I’m gone, I can’t be used as bait.
For the first time in my life, the survival instinct is gone, replaced by something a lot stronger: the instinct to save the man I love.
And I realize that the only way to die right now is toprovokethem.
Maybe it won’t work with Gabriel. But if I can get Aaron angry… he might just forget himself long enough to shoot the gun he’s currently got looped around his belt straight at my head.
I turn to him. “So you’re using me to get to Damien. Why? Too cowardly to face him directly?”
His eyes flash dangerously, but he doesn’t react. Meanwhile, Gabriel merely looks amused.
“Guess you knew you couldn’t kill him in a fair fight,” I continue. “Not that it would have been a fair fight. Two against one. But even if he’d gotten his arm blown off, he could still take you. You sad, pathetic fucks.”
Aaron takes a threatening step toward me, but Gabriel stills him with a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re cute,” he says, smirking. “But nothing you say can change the outcome of this. I must say, though, that it’s sweet, this little romance you’ve got going on with that bloodthirsty killer.” He dabs at his eyes in an exaggerated, grotesque fashion.
“I’m a killer too,” I spit out.
“Yeah, yeah. Know all about that. Stabbing Noel, and that FBI agent, and your own father on top of it all. Naughty girl. Anyway, Aaron, go on. Take the picture. Oh, wait. Forgot to do this.”
Before I even know what’s happening, he grabs the gun from his holster and slams it down across my face. It’s not hard enough to make me pass out, but I feel a trickle of blood wind its way down from my forehead.
I’m so surprised I don’t feel anything. Just numbness.
Then Gabriel takes Aaron’s phone and lifts it up, clicking a photo of me with blood running down my face.
“What’s a nice little message to accompany that?” he asks and the pain suddenly hits. I crumple to my knees, my hands clutching my head. “How about:Got your girl. What should I do with her before slitting her throat?”
He sighs, typing out the message. “It’s getting a little repetitive, but I’m not the most creative guy out there, I guess. Though the burying you alive was a nice touch. Still, it didn’t hold. Can’t say Noel and Elias didn’t have it coming.”
He pressessend, then topples down on the one chair in the little cabin. “Well, everything’s in place. You’re sure that cell phone is the one Everest Grant put a tracker in?”
Aaron nods confirmation, still eyeing me with anger.
“Guess it won’t take Damien long to find us. And good idea about this little hike in the woods. It’ll make things hard enough for him that he won’t think we’re setting him up for a trap. Now, kids, we wait.”
Aaron grunts. “How long?”
