Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Max
I jump on my motorcycle, put on my helmet, and race across town. There’s no time to waste. They’ve already caught her, I’m sure of it.
Heath should’ve told me they’d follow me to the sandwich shop, but of course he didn’t.
Does he even trust me?
I already thought it was weird Heath handed me those bills. I should’ve put two and two together. He wanted me to be her honey trap.
I make my way up the mountain slope, zigzagging across the road to avoid fallen rocks. It’s hard and perilous with that steep drop-off right beside the road, but I know how to stay out of danger. At least when it comes to nature.
I push the throttle to go faster and faster, trying not to lose my grip as I pass The Shack, a long-abandoned house on the hills rumored to be filled with the ghosts of murder victims.
But when a scream emanates from the woods behind the house, I hit the brakes.
“Ivy,” I mutter to myself.
That was definitely her.
I turn my motorcycle around and race toward the house, then head off the beaten path and into the woods. Brambles and bushes hit me around the ears, and a scrape on my shin makes me hiss. This forest is too dense to continue by motorbike, so I park it against a tree, take off my helmet, then run farther on foot.
I’m too far away for them to see me, but I see them .
Two masked men, hovering near a stone alcove in the middle of the woods.
I slide behind two trees and hide, observing from afar … wondering what they’re going to do to her.
Wondering if it would ruin her to know that it excites me to watch.
Silas
One shriek from her throat is all I need to feel alive.
Before she’s even managed to move a single muscle, I jump off the rock and grasp her by the legs to drag her out of the alcove and into the open forest. She kicks me and scratches at the ground, nails digging into the soil, but all it does is get me fired up.
She fishes a knife from her pocket and swings at me, but I knock it out of her hand with ease.
“Nowhere to run to now, little thief,” I say. “You’re mine .”
She doesn’t know who she’s messed with, but now she’ll definitely find out the hard way.
“Let go of me!” she shrieks.
She’s flipped on her belly from all the thrashing, but it won’t stop me. Nothing will.
I laugh and call out to Heath, “Found her!”
He runs out of the forest. “Good catch,” he says as he runs up to me and takes one of her legs to help me drag her away from her hideout.
“This little thief thought she could wait it out,” I say as I crawl on top of her. “But I know how to hunt my prey.”
She grabs a rock off the forest floor and attempts to smash me in the head, but I pin down her wrist before she even has the chance.
A filthy grin spreads from ear to ear as I admire my prize, and I lean in to whisper, “You’re a violent little thief.”
“Fuck you!” she growls, attempting to slap me as she flips on her back, but I swiftly dodge.
“I like the mouth on this one.” Heath laughs as he goes to his knees near her head and holds down her wrists. “I can’t wait to hear what it sounds like when she moans our names.”
“In your fucking dreams,” she hisses.
“No …” With a mere inch between her skin and mine, my hand travels all the way from her belly to her neck, my lips hovering so close to her face I can almost taste her fear. “You won’t need to sleep to feel my presence. I will make every day a living nightmare.” I grip her throat and squeeze until she squeaks. “Until you give me back what you stole from me.”
“I. Can’t.”
My eyes narrow. “What’s that?” I lean in with my ear to her lip. “I can’t hear you.”
“Don’t. Have. It.”
Her eyes are slowly turning away, so I release the pressure, and she sucks in a breath.
“Liar,” I grit.
“It’s not a lie!” she yells back. “I didn’t—”
“Steal?” Heath interjects, holding up a few bills. “I just fished these out of your pocket while Silas was busy teasing you.”
“You don’t have proof,” she says. “That’s my money.”
He laughs and grabs his cell phone, shining light through the bill until our marking becomes visible, and I can literally see all the color drain from her face. All that blood pooling somewhere else … somewhere much, much lower, and I can’t wait to fucking taste it.
“We marked them.”
Her eyes widen. “Max.”
The shock riddling her face is the greatest thing ever. Fuck, we should’ve done this much sooner.
“That’s right, twig. This is our proof. We tricked you like you tricked us.” I lean in to whisper into her ear, “Time’s up … payday is here.”
“What?” she murmurs.
“No one steals from us without paying a hefty price,” Heath says, digging his nails into her wrists.
“I don’t have the money!” she yells.
“Oh, now you admit you stole from us?” Heath’s brow piercing moves as his forehead muscles pinch.
“What do you mean ‘you don’t have it’?” I plant my fists beside her face. “What the fuck did you do with my money?”
She gulps. “It’s gone.”
“Where?”
“Used. For bills and food.”
Heath frowns, while my brow begins to twitch.
“Bills and food?” I snort, but it swiftly turns into full-blown laughter. “Bullshit, that was five grand. There’s no way you spent it all.” I fish my knife from my pocket and hold it under her neck. “Where is it?”
“I’m telling you the truth,” she grits, eyes filled with rage. “I don’t have it anymore.”
“What about the phones?” Heath grits.
“I sold them for more cash,” she replies.
I frown. “What about the little box underneath my bed?”
“What?” she mutters.
“The red flower,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Why would that be important? It was plastic.”
I grip her tightly. “Tell me what you did with it!”
Her eyes widen in shock. “I gave it to a girl … on the streets.”
My teeth nearly grind off a chip.
She gave my flower to a random fucking girl on the streets?
“It wasn’t yours to give away,” I hiss.
“You should’ve known better than to steal from Serpents,” Heath growls.
With my blade, I tip up her chin far enough and force her to look into my eyes. I have to admit the droplets of blood rolling down her skin entice me.
“You think I do any of this for the fun of it?!” she yells. “You think I stole from Max because I enjoyed it?!”
“Yes. To see the look on his face when he realized his money was gone,” I reply.
“Laughable. Like I don’t have something better to do than look at spoiled assholes.”
My eye twitches, and I shove the blade farther into her skin. “Watch it.”
Heath snorts. “Don’t taunt him, little thief. You’ll get more than you bargained for.”
“You don’t know me,” she says.
My eyes narrow as I push the blade deeper into her skin. “No? Well, we’re about to get very acquainted.” I draw a line from her neck all the way down to her heart, watching her squirm underneath me. “Remember what I told you in that bathroom?”
She swallows, blood droplets rolling down her delectable skin. “Are you going to pay me back with money …” I push the blade into her shirt right where her nipples are. “Or with skin?” I cut through the fabric with expert precision until the only thing between the blade and her is her bra. “Now tell me … What do you prefer, little thief?”
Ivy
What am I supposed to do? How am I going to get out of this alive?
I can’t get away from them. Heath’s got me pinned, and Silas has all his weight on my thighs.
“I don’t have any money, and I can’t pay it back. I don’t have a job anymore thanks to you!” I yell, gazing up at Heath, hoping it’ll help to pin the blame on him.
“He came to visit me at Club RIVERA during my shift. It’s because of him that I had to take extra precautions and leave Club RIVERA abruptly.”
Silas narrows his eyes at him, and I glance between them.
He … doesn’t know?
“I gave her a warning she’d remember,” Heath says.
So they operate separately from each other? This could be my only advantage.
“I have nothing to give you,” I swiftly say. “But if you can get me a job, I—”
“ Nothing ?” Silas repeats, hung on that single word.
He raises a brow, pushing the knife farther into the thin layer of fabric separating the metal from my bare nipple.
Fuck.
His teeth glint in the dark, a smile so vicious it’s almost more frightening than the knife in his hand. “I thought I made myself clear. You’re not getting out of this. And if you don’t have the money to pay …”
He wants my skin.
He wants to make me bleed, crack me open, and split me in half … kill me.
I shudder as he brings the knife to my mouth and slowly lowers the bottom half, blood caking my lip.
“You will have to earn every fucking dollar back,” he whispers as the knife pushes into my mouth and across my tongue. He wets his lips as he slowly drags it out across my tongue, leaving a trail of blood. “What will you do, twig?”
I have nothing left to offer … nothing except … Myself.
“Anything,” I say, letting go of my soul along with those words.
Because both of these boys know as well as I do what it means.
What that word unlocks …
What it will cost me.
Everything .
His eyes flicker with interest. “ Anything ?” he parrots like he can’t believe his ears.
A tear wells up in my eyes, but I push it back and nod softly.
There’s no taking it back.
This is it.
This is the trade-off.
That money I needed so dearly to keep my head above water cost me my body. My freedom. My soul.
He grins, baring sharp, wolf-like teeth before his smile slowly turns into a diabolical laugh. “You don’t know what you’re offering.”
“You want to play with me, don’t you?” I grit. “Then do whatever you want. I don’t care. My body … for the money.”
“Don’t tempt him,” Heath says.
“Too late,” Silas growls, pulling the knife from my mouth. “I accept.”
Heath laughs, the sound filling the forests around us with echoes. “I’m curious how far you’re willing to go,” Heath says, leaning over to look me in the eyes. “Because we’re not going to go easy on you.”
“What?” I stammer, seeing the excitement in their eyes.
Silas rips the mask off his face, revealing his bloodshot eyes and the insane grin that makes my blood run cold. “You’re mine now.”