Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“FUCK,” Easton grunts, shoving me behind him as he instantly jumps into action, effortlessly taking out men left and right, but there are too many of them. He can’t slaughter every single one of them no matter how good he is.
The panic gets to me, and realizing just how much danger Easton is in, I drop to the ground, scrambling toward one of the fallen soldiers, hoping like fuck Zade and the boys get here fast. Snatching a knife off the guy’s uniform and prying the gun out of his dead hands, I get to work, hoping I’m doing more good than harm.
With the bodies piling up in the elevator, the doors are unable to close, and we have no choice but to climb over them and run to freedom. The second I step out of the elevator, hands grab me from behind, dragging me back as I let out an ear-shattering scream.
“OAKLEY,” Easton roars, struggling to get through the mass of men bearing down on him, all while the asshole across the garage just watches with a smug-as-fuck grin across his stupid face.
“Give up now, girl,” someone says in my ear. “It’s over for you.”
And with that, a black bag covers my head before a fist slams into the back of my ribs. I scream out and crumble to the ground, my knees buckling as the pain tears through me. My hands are bound behind my back with what could only be a thick rope, and not a second later, I’m shoved into the back of a car, the engine already running.
The tires screech through the parking garage, and the momentum of the car has me slamming into the back as I struggle against the ropes. I scream out, terrified by what’s to come and what happened to Easton. Is he alive? Did they get me and run or stay to finish him off?
Fuck.
I’ve already spent days thinking he was dead and it was horrendous. I can’t do it again.
A laugh rumbles through the car, a voice I don’t recognize, before the familiar sound of an outgoing call connects through the car’s Bluetooth system. The call is answered barely a second later, but it’s received with nothing but silence. “We got her, boss,” someone says from within the car.
“Good. Now bring the bitch to me.”
Fuck. I know that voice like the back of my hand.
Aunt Liv . . .
Zade’s mom.
Chapter 17
CROSS
Oakley hangs from chains in front of me, her head lolling to the side, barely kept upright by her arm. They shot her up with something the second we arrived in this shitty underground bunker, and thankfully she’s been out cold since, unable to bear witness to the vile torture Santos has been putting me through.
There’s not exactly a clock down here in this cold, damp dungeon, but from what I can tell, we’ve been at this for at least two hours, and so far, I can’t figure out what the fuck they want with me. Their end goal is Oakley. If Santos is working for Priscilla DeVil and Matthias Quinn, then why bring me along? I act as Oakley’s protection and it goes directly against their game plan in keeping me alive. So why the fuck am I not lying dead in the bottom of Zade’s parking garage?
My only guess—Santos has a bone to pick with me, some kind of personal agenda, which makes him nothing but a fool.
The subtle sound of my blood dripping to the floor fills the small dungeon-like prison as I hang from the chains bolted to the ceiling, my only lifeline being the phone I stashed in Oakley’s pocket. I can only hope it didn’t fall out or that it wasn’t found and destroyed before we got here.
Sawyer would have been tracking it before we even left the hotel. They’ll find us. Without a doubt. I just hope they do before Santos decides to put a bullet through my brain. Though, it’s not like this is the first time I’ve been caught in this particular predicament, but it’s definitely a first being in an underground bunker system. And I sure as fuck have never been chained up with the girl I love, beaten and bruised before me.
Like I said, I’m fucking thankful that she’s out cold and not having to bear witness to any of this because it also means she can’t feel the pain her body is currently suffering through. But fuck, after asking me to betray Zade, maybe she could use a little pain, but I think I drove that point home and she’ll know better than to ever ask that of me again. I get where she’s coming from though. Why would she want to be with me when I can’t give her what she needs? She doesn’t see it though, even with Zade going forward with the ritual, I’d still give everything I am to save her. There has to be a way I can honor my loyalty to Zade and still get the girl.