But that’s not what happened. She took a step back, her emotions locking up tight. “Later,” she breathed.
Rowan stared after her. Later. It was always later. And Rowan needed now.
She took another step back. “Later, I promise. Get in and get out. Safe. Righ
t?”
Rowan nodded, fighting against himself to step forward and pull her in close, refusing to let go. But they both had a job to do. His gave him meaning, he’d never strip her of that same purpose, though he couldn’t stop what he said next. “Soon, Alex, you won’t be able to run anymore.” He liked the shell-shocked look she gave him. That looked better on her than the uneasy one she’d given him a moment ago when he got too close.
He took off toward the team, and soon, they were heading deep into the woods, the tactical light on their firearms leading their way. By the time they made it into the woods, Rowan’s body was slicked in sweat and his breath was ragged from the exertion. He scanned over the rocky cliff. The entrance had been boarded up, and Rowan wasn’t exactly sure how Lewis got in, but assumed he had another entrance, probably found as a child, and later had become an obsession. Rowan wouldn’t pretend to understand what happened to Lewis’s brain after living with an abusive mother, or what would have happened to a child’s mind when left in a mine for three days alone, but those things didn’t matter to Rowan. Alex mattered. The women mattered. That was it.
“We’re ready,” Alex said through the earpiece, as Rowan finally caught his breath. “I’ve locked onto a wireless router coming from the mine. It’s definitely Lewis. We’re seeing the video feed here, and a security system to alert him to movement within locations of the mine.” A pause. “Okay, that’s disabled now. I’m not seeing anything else that should be a problem.”
“Roger,” Ryder said. “Rowan—”
An explosion followed by a piercing wail had Rowan yanking the earpiece from his ear. He caught the others doing the same. Until he realized what that sound meant. He didn’t pause. He ran to Alex in the same direction they’d come, shoving the earpiece in his ear. “Alex. Answer me. Alex. Alex?”
Ryder barked out orders behind him, “Get the victims out. Luke, with me and Rowan.”
Right as Rowan passed back into the thick brush, Jeff said, his voice sounding far away from there, “Jesus Christ, Lewis blew up the fucking door.”
“Alex,” Rowan roared. “Where is Alex?”
A pause. “She’s gone.”
CHAPTER 13
Sounds began trickling in. First a clanging noise. Then deep breathing. Alex groaned against the darkness. She moved and wiggled, only to realize she couldn’t sit up. Her wrists burned, something heavy weighing down on her arms. She dropped her head back, fighting against the darkness wanting to swallow her up. Until she felt the cool metal of a knife brushing down her chest.
She snapped her eyes open, realizing she wasn’t alone.
Lewis grinned at her, all teeth. “You’re finally awake.”
She quickly took note of her situation. She was bound with her arms above her head, her legs attached to a steel bar that kept her spread wide. She moved from side to side, the coarse rope burning against her wrists. “You sick son of a bitch,” she growled.
Lewis gave a throaty chuckle and dragged the knife over her lips and down her chin, causing her heart to skip a full beat when he said, “You couldn’t just leave well enough alone, could you?” His icy eyes locked onto hers, so dark they held no warmth. “I warned you to stay away from this. You were not who I wanted.”
She controlled her breathing, not wanting him to witness any hint of weakness, regardless that all her internal alarms were blaring. “Of course, I couldn’t leave it alone. You killed innocent women.”
“Were they so innocent?” Lewis purred, watching the knife trail down the center of her chest. “Or did they like the games we played?” He dragged the knife across her breast then he moved the blade to her arm. His breathing changed then, becoming rough, and his eyes glistened with delight as he pressed the blade and dragged it down her arm.
Alex screamed against the bite of the blade. When the blinding pain vanished, replaced by a throbbing ache, she glanced over to find he’d cut deep, blood pouring down her arm, leaving a wide gaping wound.
But all that pain vanished when Lewis lifted the bloody blade to his mouth and licked off the blood, shutting his eyes as he savored the taste.
When he opened his eyes, he grinned darkly at her. “You might think you wouldn’t like my talents, but you would. They did. All of them.”
Her stomach roiled, but she knew she had to keep him talking. If he talked, he couldn’t kill her. Rowan and Ryder would get there. I’ll always find you, Rowan had said, and she believed him. “You made mistakes,” she told Lewis. “You shouldn’t have killed them.”
“Yes, well,” he said, and stepped way, tapping the knife against the palm of his hand. “It was never part of the plan. Until the first one died.”
“Because of what you did to her,” Alex growled, her fingers tingling, her heart pounding in her ears.
“She was weak.”
Alex quickly scanned the area, realizing she was in his dungeon. Everything that some people used for kinky play to give pleasure, Lewis used to cause pain. “Is this place for your sick games?” she asked, turning back to him.
His eyes burned like he enjoyed her fear. Got off on that fear. “Sick to some. Beautiful to me.” He took a step closer, and everything inside screamed at Alex to get away. He grabbed her chin. “But you are not weak, are you? You might be the strongest one yet. The one who will not die.”