Chapter 38 Jo
thirty-eight
Jo
Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.
Though, it’s not like I have a choice.
A year ago, I might have swallowed my pride and just listened to the asshole. Taken his deal. Maybe I’d get close to him, get him to spill his secrets to me and use them to my advantage. That’s not an option anymore, not now that I have my guys.
Really, I’m relieved that he wanted to meet in the abandoned wing, since that’s where I was planning on doing the torture portion of the evening anyway.
However, what I didn’t think about was the absolute heeby-jeebies this place gives me.
I haven’t been back here since I discovered the secret door deeper in the building, but I’m still finding myself jumping at every little noise, like the ghosts of riot-past are about to come out and rip me limb from limb.
The weight of the syringe nestled between my breasts is a constant reminder of what I have to do as I pace the wrecked hallway.
It’s not the killing part that bothers me. No, Banesworth has had this coming for a good long while. It’s the after part that I’m worried about. How am I going to get rid of the body? How am I going to make sure that nobody asks questions about his disappearance?
I’ve never committed murder and then stayed in the fucking building—which is exactly what I’m about to do. Usually, I kill in a different location, have my pick of weapons, and my targets are mostly unaware of my existence. I’m used to planning with a ton more resources at my disposal.
My thoughts are interrupted by the asshole himself coming through the door, a slimy smile on his face.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Looks like you can listen,” he sneers, backing me against a wall. From here, it’s like the snakes tattooed on the side of his head are staring straight at me. It makes my skin crawl.
He’s too aware, his eyes roaming over me too closely. If I reach for the syringe now, he’ll be able to stop me.
I need to distract him.
But how? He knows that I despise him, so it’s not like I can just seduce him.
“We’re a little too close to the entrance. Let's go a few doors down—it’s an old medical examination room. I know for a fact there’s a functional bed.” He punctuates his words with a run of his nose up my throat.
The action makes my stomach revolt, and I hope I’m doing a good enough job of keeping my emotions in check through my bond with Hayden. I don’t need him bursting in here with Kole sooner than I planned.
So, I follow his directions, acutely aware of his footsteps behind me.
It makes my hackles rise to have a predator at my back, but unfortunately, it seems the theme for the evening is: I have no choice.
When we reach the area that once served as a medical examination room, he immediately puts a hand on the back of my neck.
“Stay still,” he barks, and I make sure to flinch a little. His dominance doesn’t actually have any kind of hold over me, so this…this might actually work in my favor.
I act like I want to fight the command, but in the end stay put, just like he wants. “Fucker,” I spit in faux-outrage, cringing as he grips my jaw in one hand.
“See, I may bark at you to stay still, but I’ll always want to hear those nasty words coming out of your filthy mouth.” He leans in, licking up the side of my face.
Mother. Fucker.
“Get off me,” I snarl, but I don’t move.
He chuckles.
“Get on your knees.” This is it. This is the perfect opportunity. I really sell my performance, I think, making a face of frustration before dropping to my knees.
I have to time this perfectly, since it’s not like he has a belt to undo or anything, The sick fuck is already getting off on my forced submission, his cock hard enough to make a tent in his scrub pants.
My heart races as I stare at it in disgust, and as soon as he hooks his thumbs in the waistband of the scrubs, I reach into my cleavage, take out the syringe, flick the safety cap off, and jam it into his thigh.
“Bitch!” He screams, trying to get away, but I’m already pressing the plunger down.
I grin, watching as the drug immediately takes effect. He sways on his feet, then collapses onto the ground. I may or may not give him a swift kick in his prized alpha-nuts as soon as I stand.
Damn, this is my favorite part. Seeing abusive, power-hungry assholes put right where they belong.
My senses go on high alert when I hear footsteps pound in the hallway. “Jo!” Hayden shouts, and I can’t help the relief I feel in my chest. Yep, I definitely played it right, telling him to meet me here.
“Over here!” I call out, my heart still racing.
The footsteps get closer, and it’s that moment I realize there’s more than one set.
More than two sets. My eyes stay trained on the doorway, waiting to see just how deep of shit I’m in.
Fuck. What did Hayden do?
“Lisichka,” Kole’s deep timbre sounds before I see him.
He appears in the doorway, his eyes darkening when he spots Banesworth on the ground.
One second, I’m waiting for his reaction, the next, he’s sweeping me into his arms as his mouth takes mine, his hands gripping my ass he lifts me up against him.
Shit. It hasn’t been long at all since I’ve seen him, but so much has happened in the last few hours that simply being held by him fills me with this sense of relief.
Then, Kole breaks away, a growl ripping in his throat.
“That fucker’s scent is all over you. Please tell me you didn’t kill him already?
I want to have some fun,” Kole asks against my lips, but before I can answer, someone else does.
“He’s not dead.” West’s voice has my blood turning cold, and I scramble away from Kole to see the doctor on his knees next to Banesworth, fingers checking his pulse.
Sam and Hayden stand behind him, Sam looking murderous.
“Yet,” West adds, surprising me as he looks over with a savage look in his eyes.
“Hayden, why did you bring them?” I ask, turning to my pyro. “Kole, I expected, but not…” I swallow, looking over at Sam and West. This is the moment of truth. If they decide to turn me in, I’m done for.
“I…” Hayden shakes his head, looking mildly regretful.
“West came and talked to us after you ran. They wanted to tell us…something, but Kole pointed out that you would want to hear it first, and then when they said they would find you in your room…” he trails off, shrugging, “I knew you wouldn’t be there, and at that point, I…
had a feeling you were in trouble.” He gives me a pointed look. Ah. He could feel it in the bond.
“It was him, wasn’t it?” Sam demands, taking a step towards me. “Is this what you meant by ‘having it handled’? A half-assed murder attempt on the old psych ward’s grounds?”
“Excuse you,” I put a hand on my hip, “this was not half-assed, and the murder hasn’t even started yet. I planned on torturin’ him for information first.”
Hayden is frowning at me now, and a pang of hurt resonates in my chest. His hurt. They obviously know something he doesn’t, and he wants to know why I would trust them and not him.
“Listen, y’all.” I take a step away from all the male energy in the room.
“Here’s what happened. Banesworth cornered me a few days ago, sayin’ he caught me in the abandoned wing snoopin’ around.
He threatened to tell Brooks what he saw if I didn’t become his ‘fucktoy’, then barked at me to keep quiet about it.
I had my meetin’ with West right after, and they could tell somethin’ was up.
I couldn’t risk tellin’ anyone about it and tippin’ him off to my resistance to alpha barks, so I made my plan, and here we are. ”
Kole’s pupils are near black, his breathing heavy as he processes my words, Sam looks like he might strangle someone, and Hayden’s hurt seems to have eased a little.
Not gonna lie, the whole visual of all these men coming to my defense makes me feel all kinds of hot and bothered.
“How did you learn to resist alpha-barks?” West asks, a tight but curious look on his face as he still crouches next to Banesworth. It’s then I realize that there’s a rusty scalpel poking out of the unconscious alpha’s shoulder.
Hayden follows my line of sight, a smirk pulling at his lips. “Ah, it looks like our doctor is not as unaffected by Fireball’s tale as he sounds.”
I bite my lip, looking between the beta and the scalpel. Did my Doctor just stab an unconscious man in my honor?
“Focus, Lisichka,” Kole says gently, gripping my shoulder. “About the barks?”
“There’s no point in lyin’, Sam already knows.
” I shrug. “But yes, I trained to resist alpha-barks before I came here.” I look between Sam and West, unsure if I should say more.
I still don’t know if I can trust them. Though, Sam didn’t have to warn me what Brooks was up to earlier, and West totally just stabbed someone for me, even if I had already incapacitated them.
Damn, just ask a girl to marry you, why don’t you?
“Is there more?” Hayden asks, tilting his head.
“She doesn’t know if she can trust us,” West says, sighing as he stands and brushes off his pants.
Stabby and intuitive. I knew I liked him.
I’m not going to let him know how close he is to being off the hook though.
“Well, yeah, can you blame me?” I ask, looking at the orderly and the psychologist. “How do I know that as soon as you leave here, you won’t go straight to Brooks and tell him what I’ve done?”
“Because,” West sighs, running a hand over his hair. “We’re working against Brooks too. We’re trying to find enough evidence to get this place shut down and put every scientist here behind bars.”
Well, fuck.
That does kind of make my life easier.
“What, and you two are okay with me killin’ this dickhead?” I motion to Banesworth. “Because make no mistake, he will be dyin’ tonight.”
“Good,” Sam growls, and I grin, twirling a lock of my hair. Alright, fine. It apparently doesn’t take much to get back in my good graces when murder is involved.
“Well then, boys. I’ll make you a deal. You…assist me with my work tonight, and then I’ll tell you everythin’ you need to know. Plus, I’ll let you ask him whatever questions you want before I end him. Fair?”
West looks apprehensive for a moment. I can understand why. He’s a doctor, even if he’s not the body-saving kind. I’m sure it goes against everything in him to torture and kill someone.
But…this is what I have to do, and it’s the only way either of them are getting a word out of me. If they want to be a part of my pack, this is something they’ll have to get used to.
Am I jumping the gun on the pack thing? Maybe. But, I’ve always been a go-getter kind of gal.
Finally, he gets a grim look of determination and nods. “Mutually assured destruction. If we’re all involved, there can’t be anybody ratting on us. This will prove that we aren’t in league with Brooks?”
“You’re just as smart as you look, Doctor.” I wink at him, feeling like I just won the lottery with the four hunky men that just fell into my plan—perfectly capable of moving a two hundred and thirty pound alpha.
I find myself looking to Sam for his decision.
Sam grunts. “I’m no stranger to the finer details of torture, Trouble. Let’s see how you work.”
Kole’s hand tightens on my shoulder. “I cannot wait to see you make him scream, Little Fox.”
Lastly, my eyes go to Hayden. My sweet, darling alpha. The one least familiar with death, and with the least amount of darkness in his soul.
To my surprise, he’s grinning. “Fuck yeah. Let’s light some shit up, Fireball.”