“You fucker! I answered your question,” I snarl, fury bubbling up inside me.
“You did,” Luke says with a nod. “But I didn’t really like your attitude, so I figured I’d remind you of the consequences.”
The realisation slams into me. No matter what I do, Ollie will get hurt unless I stop this. It spurs me to action.
“Ignore my previous order,” I shout, hoping Ollie will have enough wherewithal to understand what I’m telling her;fight back.
Luke gives me a bemused smile. “You're giving orders now?” he asks with a chuckle, his hand relaxing in my hair.
The guy with his knee in my back chuckles alongside him, the weight lifting slightly from my spine. Apparently, they’ve forgotten that while I may be heavily beaten up, I’m still a highly trained former spec op. One with enough rage to fuel a small city.
And now I have the perfect opportunity to let it out. Even if it’s going to hurt like a bitch.
As quickly as I can, I snap my hands up and grab the hand currently gripping my hair. With a savage twist and a sickening crunch, I break Luke’s wrist before he can react. He yells out, that cocky smirk falling from his face, replaced with pain. I wish I could savour the expression, but now isn’t the time.
Using everyone’s shock, I shove myself upward, knocking the thug behind me off balance. Every part of me is screaming and throbbing with agony, but my icy fury dulls most of it, giving me the chance to turn and slam my fist into the guy’s face. Blood bursts from his broken nose, and he topples backward with a cry.
Luke finally recovers from his shock to roar and tackle me to the ground. My shoulder slams into the concrete, causing pain to radiate outward like an earthquake across my arm and back. I groan, my vision flickering as the Scourge leader rains punch after punch on me. Thankfully, it’s his non-dominant hand so they’re sloppy, but I’m already bruised to hell so they still hurt like fuck.
Across the room, I hear Ollie growl, followed by a male grunt as fist hits flesh. I’m not sure what’s happening, only that whatever it is, she’s okay.
“You fucking cockroach,” Luke snarls, the arrogance gone from his face, replaced with a feral rage to rival Theo’s. “You couldn’t just do what you’re fucking told and had to be a difficult bitch!”
I roll my eyes as I land a solid hit to his stomach, causing him to choke and gasp as his diaphragm spasms. His attacks stutter, giving me theperfect chance to grab his broken wrist and wrench it. He screams in agony, the sound like music to my ears, and throws himself off me.
“Out! Get the fuck out!” he barks at the thugs.
The thug I punched in the face staggers to his feet and hightails it to the door. The other thug, who’s covered in scratches, bruises and blood, scampers after him.
Luke stalks after them, pausing at the door. “You’ll fucking regret this,” he threatens before disappearing through the door and slamming it shut. A moment later, the lock clicks.
I exhale, my body going lax on the cold, hard ground as every ounce of my energy drains away. Ollie stumbles over to me, sporting a black eye and bruised cheek that makes my blood boil.
“How hurt are you?” I ask her, my voice rough from the beating.
“Nothing major, just some bruises,” she says, waving me off. “I’m more concerned about you, Rhys.” She brushes her fingers over my face, the touch as soft as a butterfly’s wing against the worst of my injuries.
“I’ll live,” I say, wondering what the fuck we’re supposed to do now. Fighting back the way we did has only angered Luke, meaning whatever sadistic shit he comes up with next will be ten times worse. For both of us.
We need to get out before that happens. But how?
My stomach clenches with dread. Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have fought back like that and just answered his questions. If I’d ‘behaved’ the way he wanted me to, then maybe he would have spared Ollie the pain? But that’s a lot of maybes and ifs, especially with a fucking psycho like Luke.
There’s just no right answer for this.
I close my eyes and sigh heavily. “I’m sorry I got you into this mess, princess.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologise for, Rhys. None of this is your fault; Luke is the one to blame.He’sthe one hurting us. Besides, that fight went well for us.” I can hear the grin in her voice.
I crack my eyes open and frown at her. “Are you delusional?” Maybe that backhand was harder than I thought, rattling loose a few screws inside her head.
She rolls her eyes before brandishing something small and red.
Holy shit.
My eyes widen. “Is that…?”
She smiles triumphantly. “A Swiss Army knife? Yep. Now let’s see if we can put this to good use before those fuckers come back or figure out that it’s missing.”
