I couldn’t focus on what they were doing though. All I could focus on was the blood painting the front of his cheap dress shirt. And a suspiciously clean circle of cement that surrounded the kill site.
How often do they do this?Cortisol burned through my veins as I remembered that this was just the first kill of many. The casual cruelty of the Gauntlet, a mission like this — death was something they could demand of me at any time now that I was theirs.
As the reality of that set in, my head pulsed with questions. But I knew that there weren’t answers in the warehouse — not the kind I needed. Before I could process what was happening, the scythe clattered to the floor, and my feet were running for the door.
I needed air. I needed to get out of the warehouse. And more than anything, I needed to figure out what the fuck I’d just signed myself up for.
10
KIERA
The steps passed in a blur.Before my captors could say a word, I was through the warehouse door, stumbling across the dirt driveway and into the field. It wasn’t until the cold night air seized me that I realized I was covered in cold sweat and warm blood. Some of it must have splattered across my hand as I dragged the scythe across his throat.
The moment replayed in my mind like a film on a loop. I could still feel the resistance of his flesh against the scythe, muscle threatening to pull the weapon from my grip even in its dying moments. But no matter how many times the loop played in my head, it didn’t quite feel real.
It had been so easy to get caught up in the moment, to let my rage take the lead. But now it was over. He was dead. I was his murderer.
Murderer.
That word pulled the plug on all my other thoughts. No more racing thoughts, no more logic or reason or planning. Just the pounding of my heart threatening to spill from my throat.
I could have been staring out into that field for seconds or hours when the strong hand clamped around my shoulder. Ijumped before I even processed the feeling, wheeling around in time to see whiskey brown eyes scanning me with concern.
“Are you okay?” Spencer asked, letting her hand hover in the dead space between us. “I mean, I guess that’s a stupid question.”
My mouth hung open just slightly as I took her in, wondering when I would wake up from this nightmare. “Is he…?”
“Um, yeah… he died pretty quickly after… Listen–” she shook her head and took a deep breath. “I know it’s a lot, but we should probably head back inside. It’s only going to take a minute to clean up and?—”
“Clean?” Finding my words was like sifting through mud. I tilted my head, uncertain I’d even spoken aloud.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, Bunny.” Spencer wiped away a tear I didn’t realize I’d shed, cupping my face in her palms. Those earthy brown eyes of hers were the only thing still grounding me as she brushed the hair from my face. “I promise everything is going to be okay. I’m going to take care of you. But to do that, I’m going to need you to come inside where I can keep an eye on you. You don’t have to help if you’re not ready, but it’s not safe for you to be out here alone, okay?”
‘Help.’She said it as plainly as if we were taking out the trash.I guess we are.
The thought almost made me laugh, until I heard the rough scrape of a body dragging over cement in the warehouse. Instantly, the anxiety flooded back in. But this time, Spencer was here to hold it back. Long enough for a shred of logic to creep back in, at least.
My hands are all over this. I should see to it that it’s cleaned up properly.
Nodding, I let her wrap my shaky hand in hers and lead me back to the shadowy warehouse doorway. But even with mysavior at my side, I wasn’t sure how I’d survive facing down what I just did.
11
KIERA
I triedto breathe through it. But the bile burning the back of my throat was enough to make me puke again.
Squeezing Spencer’s hand harder, we were just steps from the warehouse entrance.
I’d killed someone.
And whatever came next was certainly something I didn’t want to be involved in. Flashes of every gory movie I’d ever seen were a highlight reel in my mind. Limbs torn from limbs; blood spewing onto the floor, my face; reciprocating saws revving and churning as they cut through bone.
From everything I’d ever learned, it was nearly impossible to get away with murder. Especially one as gruesome as this, especially with four perpetrators.
Spencer swung the door open, a creak forcing my eyes back into the warehouse. “Just try to breathe, it’ll be done soon.”
Someone will come looking for him.
