Staring back at Strohass, my heart sank. I was going to miss my four captors.
My icy heart cracked as tears threatened to fall. What I wouldn’t give to fall into their arms again. Coltan, forever sweet. Zaavyr, the leader. Jax, the thinker. Aedan, the protector.
Breathe, Kira. Breathe.
I felt myself come undone.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to have you naked and waiting on my bedroom floor, Kira Stryke,” he murmured, and my stomach recoiled in disgust.
I wanted to throw up.
“Come a little closer to me. I want to see the look in your eyes before I force myself into that traitor mind of yours,” he added, his shadow falling over me.
I shook as I rose. He walked closer to me.
“I’ll make you tell me your deepest secrets, Kira. In the end, you’ll beg and scream, but I’ll get them out of you.”
I lifted my chin in defiance, finding a pocket of courage hidden deep within me.
“You’ll have to kill me before I say a single word,” I spat back, my chest rising and falling with my fury.
He just laughed at me. Fucking asshole. I’d teach him to underestimate me.
He turned away, looking toward the file on the table at the entrance to the room. My heart pounded faster. He flipped it open and perused the first few pages, without even looking at me. My eyes flicked back to the pillow, where I had hidden the knife.
I couldn’t make it to the weapon in time. He was too close. I’d have to wait. Assess my options when the time was right. He was too big, much stronger than I. He was a Vakarran and I couldn’t make the mistake of underestimating him.
“I’ve killed many humans for much less than your crimes. And now, lo and behold, you’ve been hiding humans somewhere in the forest all this time? First, I’m hearing about this. I wonder who else knows?” he inquired, his tone dangerous.
Breathe, Kira. Keep calm.
He turned back to me, shoving the file away.
“Where would that file come from? Who else knows?” I pressed. I had nothing to lose.
“I don’t know. Upper management? A secret spy? I didn’t order anyone to look into it, but once I’m finished destroying you, you can bet your sweet ass I will,” he threatened.
I couldn’t let him do that. I had to protect my sisters and the others who depended on me for safety, for their freedom.
His eyes darkened, and he took one step and then another toward me. Time almost seemed to slow to a crawl and I screeched in terror. His eyes were like looking into hell, black veins swirling and pulsing around his copper-colored irises. They were narrowed with anger and zero control as he moved across the room. Death. He personified death.
He was going to kill me.
His arm swung around, backhanding me once again and throwing me onto the bed. He crawled on top of me and I cried out as his hands circled around my throat, cutting off my air as he pried my legs apart with his knee. My cheek throbbed, and it was becoming increasingly hard to breathe. His grip tightened around my neck, tighter and tighter with each passing second. My blood roared with fear and fury at such treatment.
“I will break you. I’ll destroy the rebellion in you once and for all, unlike that waste of time four-man team,” he roared, confident and sure of himself, and I struggled to escape his strength. I could feel my neck bruising as black spots circled around in my vision.
I jerked my knee up, connecting with his balls and he visually flinched, temporarily releasing a little pressure on my neck so that I could draw in a breath. He slapped me again, even harder this time and I whimpered, reaching my arms to either side.
My vision swam. My head felt like it was going to implode.
The pillow was right above me. I could reach it. I could get the knife.
Hope blossomed inside me.
Slowly, I struggled, moving my right arm up and back, until I felt the soft fabric at my fingertips. Strohass kept his hand around my neck, sitting back. With his other hand, grinning evilly, he started pinching my nipple so hard that it brought tears to my eyes.
Up. More. I could feel the ivory handle just out of reach.