I don’t deserve to have someone as special as Piper get heartbroken over me.
“She won’t be anything if you don’t get to her, sogo.”
At last, he nods his head, edging back in reverse, as if he’s scared someone will shoot him in the back if he turns.
I huff out a breath of relief when I at last hear the door open then click shut, and the sound of Josh’s footsteps pad away until they’re drowned out by distance.
I turn my full attention back to Tragen. “Alright, now go ahead. Kill me.”
My head hurts, the postdrome still crippling me, and I’ve never been more aware of basic biology. Because it really feels like Liam and Dane and eighteen other little shits are breathing in my oxygen and expelling poison.
“You know what happens to soldiers who don’t carry out contracts,” begins Tragen.
“Yeah, I do. Knock yourselves out.”
A snicker runs through the group, the kind of snickering sound that victors make when they allow themselves to be harmlessly amused by the people they know they’ve beaten.
I know most of those assholes have hated me from day one. The psychopath pet of their commanding officer.
“I’m not going to kill you,” says Tragen, and at that, nineteen sets of eyeballs—minus Kevin—glue themselves first to him, and then to me.
Meanwhile, I take a step back in shock. Out of all the things I was expecting would happen,thatwasn’t one of them.
Not being killed by Tragen.
It’s crazy how six words have the ability to turn a whole situation around. The victorious smirks have been wiped clean off the Devil soldiers’ faces. They’re probably back to realizing just how much of a murderous psychopath I am, and trying hard not to shit themselves right now.
No one is freaking out harder than Dane and Liam. In fact, Liam literally looks green in the face.
“You’re not going to kill me,” I echo. “So who is?”
I’m back to scanning the other soldiers’ faces, wondering which of them is about to die. Because if Tragen was the one to put the bullet in my head, there would be no way out. If anyone else tried to do it—well, just watch the fuck out. I’d whip my gun out from my back pocket so fast my would-be executioner wouldn’t have time to blink, and he’d die before he had time to think.
“No one is going to kill you,” answers Tragen. “At least, not today.”
I stare at him in complete confusion. “Then why the hell are you here?”
Tragen settles himself back on my couch. “Just for a little chat.”
Okay. What the fuck? One, Tragen doesn’t chat. Two, why would he bring twenty of his best soldiers with him if he really wanted just to talk?
Death, I can handle. Getting beaten up, I can handle. But not understanding something makes me feel unsettled.Veryunsettled.
“What kind of a chat?”
“A chat about Piper Day.”
Fuck. I grit my teeth, my entire body tense, as I face him angrily. “What do you want with her?” I growl.
“Nothing, so rest easy, soldier.”
Confusion is messing with my brain. Anxiety has sunk its claws into my chest. If he wants to torture me before killing me… this is the way to do it. I lift my hand and wipe a bead of sweat from my temple. He doesn’t budge, clearly not the slightest bit worried about me moving while his gun is still trained right at my head.
“Before you accepted my contract, I showed you two pictures,” he continues.
I didn’t think it was possible to tense more than before, but I’m doing just that. I don’t bother to answer his question, which was rhetorical, but instead shoot a murderous glance at Liam and Dane, who are both looking more dead than alive right now.
“Did you come over just to torture me some more over that?” I hiss.
