Miles and Steve are kneeling on the ground in front of Blade. Their hands are bound, and they’re gagged. Miles has a black eye that’s so severe, I can’t tell whether his eye is even open. Steve has dried blood on his shirt, nose, and chin.
They’re both dirty, but mostly okay.
Mostly okaymight be subjective.
They’re alive.
Neither is missing any important body parts, at least not ones I can see.
Vanessa is next to Blade. He has his hand wrapped in her long dark hair and a gun jabbed under her jaw. She looks some combination of pissed and terrified, and guilt washes over me so strongly it gets hard to breathe.
“Where’s my kid?” Blade asks, and I have no idea if he’s speaking to me or Moretti.
“Once you took Vanessa, you changed the terms,” Moretti says coolly. “I have no use for a child, and I told you as much. I will personally hand the boy off to you tomorrow morning. What I won’t do is to subject him to an exchange like this.” He gestures around, tsking. “All these guns. Do you want to terrify your own child?”
My heartbeat picks up.
Did something change?
Are they going to let Blade take me?
Do they plan to kill him tomorrow?
No.
None of that makes any sense.
I’m just panicking.
“Mag, get your ass up here and cover the prisoners,” Blade growls. His voice is no longer the same deep growl it used to be, and it sounds more like a hoarse croak.
Magnum comes up from behind the SUV, and my lips roll together. He’s always been handsome, but he used to have a type of boyish charm that they hadn’t managed to stomp out.
Now he looks as cold and hard as the rest of them. His eyes widen as they meet mine, and I try to mentally warn him.
It’s stupid and impossible, and I know that, but it doesn’t make me feel any less horrible.
Is this truly how I’m going to repay his kindness from all those years ago?
My mind races, and I try to find any possible solution, but I’ve got nothing.
I can’t risk my life or my guys’ lives to save him. Not to mention Vanessa, Miles, and Steve. They’re all completely innocent in this mess.
Moretti steps to my side, grabbing my arm, but he speaks to Blade. “You send Vanessa. I send your ex. I truly have no concern with the other two. Consider them my gift to you.”
I gasp, but Moretti gives my arm a sharp tug, and I push my lips together.
“I was planning on keeping them,” Blade says, chuckling a vile sound that makes me ache to claw his eyes out.
He rips Vanessa’s head back at even more of an angle and says something close to her ear. It’s too low for me to pick out the words, but she goes stiff.
Moretti’s hold on my arm tightens, and I sneak a peek at him. It looks like he’s about to break a tooth with how his jaw grinds.
“She’s in one piece, exactly like I promised,” Blade says, shoving Vanessa toward the middle of the warehouse.
“Go on,” Moretti says, guiding me forward.
It feels like I’m wearing lead shoes as I try to lift my feet to force myself across the empty space. Every cell in my body rebels as I get closer to Blade.
