I lifted my knee and kicked the table, sending it flying across the goddamn room. I screamed, roared like the fucking devil. My insides were coiled with the flaming chains of hell, my heart on the verge of exploding as desperation to find Alyx consumed every molecule of my being.
The door opened, and the PC appeared. “I leave you in here for ten fucking seconds and you decide to rearrange the furniture?”
“Let’s just say I’m feeling a little on edge.”
As the door slammed shut, he stayed on the other side of the room. “Talk.”
I raised a brow. “Are we alone?”
He nodded. “Say whatever the fuck you want about our business. Just tell me what is going on with Alyx.”
That settled me a little, the fact that he mentioned we had ‘business’ clearly proving our conversation wasn’t being recorded. Alyx might be his daughter, but I knew he wouldn’t risk his reputation for anything…and that included saving his daughter.
I sniffed and wiped my face on my shoulder. “Alyx was with us, yes.”
“You son of a bitch.”
“Calm the fuck down and listen,” I warned. “We found her a few days ago, but I didn’t tell you because the threat hadn’t been eliminated yet.”
“What threat?”
“The Pythons. Slither made it clear he would come for her again, so we decided to keep her at our safe house until we managed to take them out. I didn’t wanna chance it by sending her home then letting her end up in Python hands again.” God, the lie sounded so fucking real, even I would have believed it.
The PC started pacing, rubbing his chin. “So, are you telling me you had her, but you didn’t tell me?”
I snorted. “Think about, man. If you knew she was safe, if you knew we had her, you would never have been able to pull off the act of a concerned fucking daddy. Slither is sly as fuck, and believe me when I say there’s no bullshitting that asshole. We couldn’t chance it by telling you.” I rolled my neck from side to side. “I wanted to make sure Slither wouldn’t be able to get to her, so I did what I had to, to protect her.”
He kept pacing, eyes downcast, mind seemingly running in every fucking direction. The tap of his leather dress shoes on the cement floor was starting to fuck with my brain.
“Can you stop pacing?”
He turned on his heel, his eyes pinned on mine. “Let’s say I believe you. Where is she now?”
“Jesus. Do you not think if I knew that I’d fucking tell you?”
“I need to think.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. There is no time for you to fucking think!”
But he rushed out of the room, leaving me behind. I gave another solid pull at the cuffs, the skin around my wrist raw from the strain.
“Let me out of here!” I yelled, but it was no use behind the soundproof walls. I scratched my forehead. “Where are you, Alyx?” I whispered to myself, and I lolled my head back. “Where the fuck are you?”
18
Alyx
It wasdark with the bag pulled over my face. My heart pounded, and I could almost hear the swooshing of blood inside my veins.
The rope tied around my wrists behind my back cut into my skin, but I kept twisting my hands with the hope that I might magically be able to free myself. I had no idea where I was, or who I was with. All I knew was when those men came rushing into the house, chaos exploded around me. It was impossible for me to focus with everyone shouting, cursing, and frantically rushing around like maniacs. When smoke erupted around us, I was too disorientated to realize that whoever pulled me out of the house, shoving me into the back of a van, wasn’t trying to save me from the mayhem. The last thing I saw before a bag got pulled over my face was Granite being taken down by a bunch of men, and I heard him scream my name. Calling me.
I tried to fight blindly against the masked monsters, kicking and screaming, managing to slam my fists into bodies I couldn’t see. There was a slight sting on my arm, and I became groggy, dizzy, my arms and legs getting weaker…until finally everything went black.
I woke up in this metal chair, feeling the cold spreading through my bones, my wrists and ankles tied. Everything was still black, the rough fabric of the bag over my head scratching my face. My lips quivered, and my body shook like crazy. Not knowing where I was, unable to see anything, only heightened the fear. Intensified the terror. I tried to listen if there were any sounds around me, but all I heard was my frantic heartbeat.
God, it was like I had a giant neon sign around my neck reading ‘Kidnap me!’
“You awake, there, princess?”