My face scrunches as I study him a little closer. “Did they give you something?”
He rolls his eyes. “Nope. This is all me, baby. Now, if you wouldn’t mind kindly releasing me from these fucking chains, I’d really appreciate it.”
“How?” I spit, frantically searching around, all too aware of the time quickly ticking by. “I’ve got a gun, but I’m not sure I can make the shot.”
He shakes his head. “No, the chains are too thick. If anything, it’ll ricochet and hit us both, or you’ll just shoot me by accident.”
“If you don’t start being a little more helpful, I might just shoot you on purpose,” I throw back at him, my gaze lingering on the welts across his chest, already trying to think of what creams I’ll need to go searching for the moment we get out of here. “What do I do?”
He swallows hard and lets out a heavy breath that has his lips twisting into a pained cringe. “Out where the guards were. There’s some kind of closet or storage area where they keep all their fucked-up little toys. Check in there.”
I rush out into the hallway to where the guards were watching over Levi and find the storage room just as Levi had said and tear the door open. There’s all sorts of shit, but the industrial bolt cutters are what have my attention. I don’t know if I’ll be strong enough to cut through it, but I’ve got to try.
Hurrying back into Levi’s strange cell, I get straight to work, struggling with the weight of the cutters let alone making them do what they’re supposed to do. “What’s the plan?” Levi questions, grunting as my movements pull against the chains and rub at his bloodied wrists. “Have you got weapons? Gia’s not going to let us just walk out of here.”
I swallow hard and refuse to meet his stare, concentrating on the chains above his head. “The plan is to get out and we have whatever weapons we can pull off those assholes out there.”
“Fuck, babe. Did you honestly just come storming in here without thinking this through?”
“It was no better than the plan your brothers put together,” I throw back at him. “They were going to leave me behind. Make me hang out with Mick like a little bitch who can’t handle herself. And for the record, I think I’m doing pretty fucking well to have made it this far. Marcus wouldn’t have been able to resist slaughtering every guard in sight. It would have been noisy and messy, which would have only seen a war out on the lawn and given Gia all the time she needed to get down here and finish you before they even made it through the front door. So, feel free to thank me at any time.”
Levi shakes his head, and I can’t tell if he’s frustrated or just knows that I’m right … maybe both. But either way, it’s not important right now. “I can’t break through the chains,” I tell him. “I’m not strong enough.”
“You are,” he tells me, conviction shining in his dark eyes. “Keep trying. You’ve got this. Besides, when my brothers inevitably show up, do you really want to tell them that you got this far and then gave up? Marcus would never let you live it down and Roman would have you doing push-ups every day for the rest of your life. Now break the damn chains.”
Groaning, I try again, straining my muscles until they ache, trying to snap through the heavy chain. The metal puts up a good fight, but with the image of Marcus laughing at me in my head, I give it that little bit more until the chain finally breaks under the pressure. The bolt cutters fall and narrowly miss Levi’s head as the chains give out, releasing him from their hold. He drops heavily to the ground, and I go down with him.
“Are you alright?” I rush out, my eyes wide. His arms are probably aching. He hasn’t been able to stand properly for days, dangling here with no relief. I can’t even imagine how his shoulders feel. He takes a deep breath, slowly bringing his arms around in circles, testing the joints while his muscles more than likely scream for relief. “Levi?”
He shakes his head. “My shoulders are fucked. It’s gonna be weeks before they’re back to normal.”
“Can I do anything?”
He pushes to his feet, his face showing every ounce of agony that his body has suffered through as he grips on to me. It takes a moment to get his balance, but the second he does, he looks just like the fierce asshole who stormed through my shitty apartment all those months ago, intent on raising the dead. “Nah, there’s nothing we can do right now. Let’s just get out of here and figure out our next step.”
Gripping his hand, I lead him out of the cell, and as we stride past the guards slowly bleeding out on the floor, Levi pulls me up short. “Well, hey there, Larry. Fancy seeing you down here.” He crouches down and pulls the gun from Larry’s hip. “Did you guys get a chance to meet? This is my girl, Shayne. You know, the one you said you were going to fuck right there in front of me.” He looks over the bullet wound in his chest and presses the tip of the gun into the hole and listens to his scream. “You’ll have to forgive Shayne, she’s new to this whole killing people thing, but it’s cool. Not everyone just gets it, you know. She’ll learn to take better kill shots, she just needs a little more practice.”
I cross my arms over my chest, sighing as he uses my pathetic skills as an excuse to torture this guy as he slowly bleeds out.
“Anyway,” he continues. “It’s been really nice chilling with you these past few days, but I really must be going. Though don’t stress, I haven’t forgotten about my promise to end your life. So, just to wrap this up, it’s been fun, glad you met Shayne, and I’ll see you in hell.” And with that, Levi stands before letting out two shots straight through the hole in his chest that I’d already put there while listening to his sweet screams. He smiles as if getting some sort of peace before moving the gun to the guard’s face and taking a perfect shot right through his eye.
Levi turns the gun on the other two guards, taking the kill shots that I clearly hadn’t been able to make before indicating for me to collect as many of their weapons as possible. “You good?” he questions, cringing as he rolls his shoulder, the shots having irritated his joints.
I scoff, looking back up at him as I hand him a bunch of guns and knives. “I should be asking you the same thing.”
He looks back at me as though unsure why I would feel the need to ask him how he is, and with a bonus eye roll, I let out a heavy sigh, making my way over to the elevator. I press the call button, and Levi moves to my side, checking over the guns and counting bullets. “Prepare yourself,” he says, handing one to me. “It could be an ambush.”
Levi discreetly moves a step in front of me, and I resist the need to curse him out when the doors open, and we’re met with nothing but an empty elevator.
“Huh?” I grunt, my lips pulling into an ugly sneer. “Why aren’t they coming?”
Levi shakes his head. “I don’t know. They could be waiting for us up top. Don’t drop your guard.”
Nervously moving into the elevator, the door closes behind us and I press the button for the main floor. We start moving up, and Levi quickly rolls out his shoulders once again, his face contorted with pain. “You know that really fucking sucked,” he murmurs. “I had to start meditating just to try and forget the pain.”
I glance across at him. “You know how to meditate?”
His lips pull into a cheesy grin, and I see laughter flashing in his eyes. “Absolutely not. It didn’t fucking work and only managed to frustrate me some more.”