29. Kage
Chapter 29
Kage
T hey finally gagged Victoria. She still yelled at them around the cloth, making sure she wouldn't go down without a fight from her soul, being strong until the end. My eyes found Tal as he struggled to stay awake. He'd been in and out since the shooting. They patched him up after they decided he didn’t need to bled out, so he couldn't recover well enough now.
He kept trying to check on Victoria, furious another man tried to use her mouth. That was our hole, and he better hoped I died because I'd be coming to sever the rest of his shaft to make him choke on it. No one touched what belonged to us, and Victoria was ours. I wouldn't let her leave my side the rest of my life.
At first, her c onstant need to talk drove me up the wall, but now that I was faced with the possibility to never hear it again? I couldn't breathe from the pain, so I couldn't let it happen. I needed those ramblings as my background noise. When she talked to me while I worked in my craft room, it actually soothed my restless thoughts. It used to make them worse and challenged my ADHD to up my heart rate. Now I understood she had it as well, but she went her whole life not knowing it. Her parents failed her, but we knew that already.
I worried what might happen when we didn't place her in the drop zone after we'd receive the money. Our only hope was Leo, but I didn't know what he could do on his own in his current state. He'd been hopped up on pain killers and just had surgery to fix his penis. If he'd been at full strength, I wouldn't bat an eye, but he wasn't.
One of the men went to radio Valentino, and my ears perked up when I heard another annoying voice. “I’m so sorry I imposed. Did I arrive at a bad time?”
It sounded like Lucinda, and I knew her tone because she didn't shut up the whole evening she came over. Tal picked up on it too, raising his head to share a look with me and Victoria be cause she smirked around the gag. She knew her friend's voice like no one else.
So Leo didn't work alone. He recruited help, and he knew where we were. But how could he have figured it out? I'd have to ask him, if we survived this.
Valentino came to wherever we were placed in his house, and I knew it wasn't near the front because we didn't hear Luce until the radio had her in the background. I bet she talked on purpose just in case we were listening. Contessa took in his boss coming down after he got word from a buddy. They didn't find the dude who worked with Tal, so we'd be set to die this afternoon.
They talked on the side, confirming no trace had been found. That's when Valentino's next murmured words made me want to laugh. "I just had a long-lost niece show up. She's Ernesto's daughter. She'll be perfect to use as an offer to the Vasquez family, but I need to gain her loyalty first."
The three of us knew he didn't really have a long-lost niece. That was her in, but it made me wonder what their plan was? We'd have to play along with whatever happened, but I just hoped he'd move fast enough to save our lives. We had a small window now that they confirmed the missing man. I bet he ran and never looked back, hiding his every step for them to believe he died. His payout must've been enough to encourage him to disappear.
"Nothing?" Valentino wanted it confirmed. Contessa shook his head, so his boss nodded. "Send word to Javier. I’m done being patient. He's thorough, and I know he'll come. Offer one million because it's three. Tell him he's in charge of disposing. He can drop them in a ditch for all I care. As long as he keeps our names away from the drop sights. We're not to be tied to these humans for someone to blame us."
"Yes, sir." Contessa moved to leave the room.
Valentino walked out to head back to his 'niece', so I hoped they knew how small our window was. If Leo was sound of mind, I knew he would've had Luce bug Valentino the moment she came in. We just had to hope he pulled it together enough to not let the unmedicated pain consume him or the opposite with him being too strung out and slowing his thinking.
When we were alone, Victoria shook her head, gagging her gag forward. She managed to get her lip under part of it to free some of her mouth. It impressed me she did it. Mine was way too tight to do shit, and I tried last night. I also learned what we ha d her sleeping like that first night in our kitchen, and I felt guilty. The stiffness alone threatened to kill me let alone not being able to doze off completely. Whenever my head tipped to a side, I was wide awake.
"You guys heard it too, right?" she referenced Luce, so we nodded. "I knew Leopold would pull through after my note I left him!"
We gave her a curious look, but voices were coming back our way. She shifted the gag back into place to make it look like she didn't remove it. My eyes crinkled in a smile at her cuteness. Valentino arrived again, so he must've gotten rid of the new pair of innocent eyes. He wouldn't want his niece learning his dark side just yet. That would come with him selling her off later. It was a good thing she faked being his niece because I'd feel terrible otherwise.
Time moved on, making me watch the ticking clock in fear for when their hired killer would arrive. A man came in, wearing brass knuckles, fishing wire around his neck, and plastic bags over his shoulder. Oh goodie, we'd suffocate and choke to death. Victoria's eyes widened in fear for the first time since I met her. We didn't make her feel this close to death, so she knew this one wouldn't be like t he romance she read. It wouldn't be our version of dark.
"Are these the things?" he asked, nodding toward us. We weren’t even people. No, he made us objects to dehumanize us for his mind to handle killing easier.
"Yes. Just make sure none of this can come back to bite me in the ass. It's why they're about to die because they failed to clean up a murder site, and my son has been taken in. I want them to suffer before you gut them. I want the light to slowly dim as it sets in they won't survive."
"That's exactly what I plan." The man had no soul. His delight in death disturbed me. I only understood it when the person needed to die... like the men in front of us. "Is there a certain order?"
"He needs to be last, and she needs to be first." His finger went from Tal to Vicki.
Her eyes widened, watching as the man came toward her with his killing gear. Tal and I fought the bindings to try and break free because Leo might not make it in time to save her. She worked her gag out, glaring at the murderer among us. "Y-you don't want to do this! You don't know who I am, and who will come for you when I'm not found!"
"Please, honey. They all think they're important," he laughed. He didn't even wear a mask, letting us see his face and feeling that brave.
"My father is Stanley D'amour, you stupid little shit." When he got his face close enough to her to intimidate her, she threw her mouth forward and sank her teeth into his flesh. She managed to get a chunk as the man screamed and retreated. She made a disgusted face, and it made me wonder why she did it.
Valentino appeared annoyed, worse than before. He called in the doctor to come patch up his killer to not get blood all over us. He was smart enough to know if Javier went down, he would too. Killers didn't pick a side, and he'd drop a name to get himself a deal.
While we waited for him to get cleaned up, Valentino marched toward her with the plastic and wire, slapping her face to echo in the room. My Little Omega whimpered. He then fixed the gag to be tighter, but I hadn't seen her spit the piece of flesh out of her mouth. She took a large chunk of it too. Why?
"You little bitch! You've just earned dying by my hand personally." He then put the bag over her head and began to cinch her airway off with the wire. Even worse, he stood in front of her to watch the fear in her eyes through the clear plastic.
Talon and I did everything we could, panicking. My heart wanted to stop beating, but we were forced to watch her die first. Tears left my eyes because I loved her. I'd fallen for the she devil, but I only got her for a week.
Just when I thought all hope was lost, glass began to shatter all around us as smoke bombs rolled in. The calvary finally arrived but was it in time because my Little Omega’s body went limp.