Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 70651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
“Fine,” Cove concedes, “but the second he gives him up, we’ll do everything we can to take him out. The guys will be nearby and ready. It’ll be over quickly.”
Despite his sure words, the quaver in his voice gives him away. He’s nervous as hell that this is going to end badly. I’m pretty certain it will…for Night Giant. To see him bleed and hurt for everything he’s done to me will be invigorating and freeing. I need this. I need to kill him with my own two hands. Bury my monster for good.
“Let’s go,” I grunt out, lifting my chin toward the door. The same door I escaped from all those years ago.
Cove stays in step beside me, a strong presence despite his smaller frame. He’s in bitch boy mode, but this time his claws are aimed at someone other than me.
We step into the building, the creaking of the door on its hinges much louder than I remember. Everything is just as it was before. An eerie wave of confusion washes over me. Time seems to have rewound to the past. I don’t feel like Dragon. I feel like Chase, caught in that fucker’s web.
“This way,” I grit out, forcing my feet to move. I walk between stacked storage containers until I come to the place I called home for nearly two years. “Fuck.”
A heap of clothes sits on the soiled mattress—the same fucking mattress. I remember the blood stain in shape of an elephant. A chill shivers down my spine at the memory.
Cove walks over to the mattress and lifts a T-shirt. I recognize it as one I’d seen Mitch wear in one of his social media pictures. I stalked every single post of his and remember it all.
“Where is he?” Cove demands.
“Come on,” I grunt, waving for him to follow. “There was a place Night Giant took me sometimes.”
Cove’s fingers run down my spine and his palm spreads out over my lower back. “Breathe, Dragon.”
I suck in a sharp breath, thankful for the cool oxygen filling my lungs. “I’m breathing. Still alive, BP. Can’t get rid of me yet.”
He smirks at me. “Don’t plan on ever getting rid of you, asshole.”
If I weren’t in my own personal hell, I’d capture his sharp jaw in my brutal grip and claim him with a fiery kiss. But with Night Giant lurking with my little brother, I can’t afford not to stay focused.
We walk down a series of corridors made by a careful arrangement of stacked shipping containers that go all the way to the incredibly high ceiling of the monolithic building. As we reach a dead end, forcing us to go left or right, I hold a finger to my lips, craning my ear to listen.
Breathing.
The heavy kind of breathing when someone is terrified.
Mitch.
I creep forward, making sure to keep Cove protected at my back. Cove and I aren’t stupid and came strapped with weapons. I’m sure Night Giant will force me to give them up, but right now, I’m hanging onto them like a lifeline.
A whimper.
Closer.
My heart is hammering inside my chest, pumping blood furiously to my ears, making it nearly impossible to hear.
Cove grips the back of my leather cut, stopping me. We wait in silence until my heart isn’t racing like it was. It’s then I hear it too. Footsteps on a dirty floor.
“Shhh, princess. Your savior will be here soon.”
Boiling rage surges up inside me, singing all rational thoughts. I charge toward Night Giant’s voice, ignoring the hisses of Cove behind me. When I step into Night Giant’s “room,” I don’t see him sprawled out on the bed naked like I expect. For some reason, this startles me into confusion.
So many times, I’d been dragged into this room from my makeshift cell to please the motherfucker. I spent so much time on my knees in this room.
But he’s not naked and waiting.
He’s fully dressed, standing behind my brother, a Glock digging into his temple. Mitch is in nothing but a pair of black boxers. He’s shivering and his green eyes are wild with fear. A strip of duct tape over his mouth prevents him from speaking. When his gaze flickers to me, another wave of terror makes him tremble. Since I haven’t seen my brother since he was like in the first grade or some shit, he probably doesn’t even recognize me.
Sickness roils in my gut.
Does he think I’m one of them? A sicko like Night Giant?
“It’s okay, bubba,” I say in a tone I hope he remembers. “I’m gonna get you out of here.”
Recognition flickers in his eyes and he starts sobbing. This sends Night Giant into a fit of creepy laughter. It makes every hair on my arms stand on end.
“We had a deal,” Cove growls from behind me. “Us for him. Let him go.”