12. IVY
12
IVY
The man with the blowtorch raised his weapon, the flames dancing like wicked tongues, casting sinister shadows across his face, its hiss filling the room with a menacing promise of agony.
He can’t do this. He can’t burn my skin until I couldn’t take it anymore.
I wanted to believe I was strong, that no amount of suffering could tear the names from my lips—especially Grayson’s brothers. But with the searing heat inching closer to my skin, a sickening wave of doubt washed over me. What if I wasn’t strong enough to keep my mouth shut? What if names escaped my lips between my screams and my last act on earth would be one of betrayal?
The thought sickened me more than the impending torture.
This can’t be happening. This has to be a nightmare .
How long would they burn me? How much agony would I have to endure before my heart finally gave out, unable to bear the torment any longer?
I needed to stay strong, to grab hold of my resolve like a lifeline in a raging sea.
To protect Grayson and his family, no matter the cost to me.
Tears streamed down my face, the salt stinging my cheeks as I pleaded with him, my voice cracking with each word.
“Please, I swear no one in my life is a danger to you.” The acrid smell of my own fear mixed with the slight scent of burning rubber from the torch. “I thought you wanted to wait for Grayson to watch?” What a desperate attempt to buy time.
“He doesn’t have to be around for all of it,” Daniel replied.
“My mom?—”
“I need information from you quickly, Ivy, so consider this a sample of what’s to come. But don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive until your mom shows.”
I swallowed bile down. “Just shoot me. Get it over with.”
But my words fell on deaf ears. It became painfully clear that nothing I said would change the inevitable outcome. Not only was I going to die, but I was going to endure unimaginable agony, tortured until I begged for the sweet release of death.
As the guy took a step closer, drawing the flame so close that its heat radiated off my forearm, despair pulled me under with one final thought.
I can’t believe this is how it’s going to end…