Chapter 55 #2
I half-expect Mark to tell Luke to knock it off and let it go, that nothing I do will change his plans. But he’s watching me with his head tilted to the side, arms crossed over his chest, and a calculating gleam in his eyes. He’s apparently curious enough to let whatever this is go ahead.
Not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Probably not if the psychotic grin spreading across Luke’s lips is anything to go by.
I take another step until I’m standing right in front of the psycho.
“Well, well, well,” Luke says as his hand drops to rest on the hilt of his knife at his waist. “You surprise me, freebie. I thought for sure you’d chicken out.” He tightens that hand and draws the knife from its sheath, the blade glinting in the fading sunlight.
I eye the knife warily, my body tensing as I try and fail to stop myself from trembling. My earlier rage is almost completely gone, replaced with ice-cold fear that trickles down my spine and clamps around my chest like a vise.
Luke brings said knife up and presses the flat of the blade against my cheek. If I were into knife play before, I’m definitely not now.
“Such a willing sacrifice,” he murmurs, his eyes intent on watching the blade as he moves it down my face and neck to rest against my chest. “But how far will you go, hm? Are you willing to let me cut you? Brand you so every time your boyfriend looks at you, he sees exactly who you belong to?”
Rhys sucks in a sharp breath from where he stands behind Luke as Theo and Alex growl behind me. Luke chuckles, the sound edged with insanity as his dark eyes light up with delight.
“Have you been opening your legs to more than one man, freebie?” He tuts and shakes his head in mock disappointment. “It’s a good thing Ethan isn’t alive to see this, otherwise he’d be crushed and his betrayal will have been for nothing.” There’s a bite of anger in his voice.
Bile burns my throat as nausea swirls in my stomach. Everything inside me is screaming for me to back away, to run from this monster, but I hold my ground. Even as my skin crawls as that knife slides back up to my cheek, the sharp edge resting threateningly against my flesh.
“Maybe instead of branding you as mine, I'll just brand you as what you are. A fucking whore who tempts men into betraying their masters.” He moves closer until his lips press against my ear. “If you move or back off, I’ll make your boyfriend suffer while you watch.” The dark threat in his voice has icy terror shivering down my stiff spine.
With a flick of his wrist, the edge of the knife slices into my cheek.
I hiss as pain sears across my face and blood trickles down my face. Alex and Theo make noises of complaint, and even Rhys snarls out something, but I don’t pay any attention to them. My focus is elsewhere, to the still-open gap in the wall.
Tobias holds Harlow by the scruff of her neck as the dog snarls silently at the scene in front of her.
There’s a look of horror on my brother’s face as he watches Luke cut my cheek with a savage grin.
His eyes meet mine, and with the hand not holding Harlow, he makes a gun with his fingers and then points up.
My gaze follows where he pointed to see the sleek barrel of a rifle peeking between barbed wire above the wall. That must be Rachel, although how the hell she’s sticking to the wall, I don’t know. A second later, a thumbs-up pops up above the gun.
I hope that means she’s ready because time is almost up. Blood is filling my mouth, coating my tongue with the cloying tang of iron, and the pain is almost unbearable as it burns across my cheek.
With my current position, I can’t see any of the guys, but I can see Colin and Anthony.
Colin stares at me with an expression similar to my brother’s, with a hint of confusion, as if he can’t understand why I’m letting this psycho do this to me.
Anthony’s face is hard as he glares at Luke with blazing hatred.
I meet Colin’s eyes and widen mine slightly before flicking them to where Rachel is. His brow furrows for a second until he finds the barrel of Rachel’s gun. The confusion melts from his face, replaced with determination as he nods once.
Anthony, having dragged his glare from Luke, sees where Colin looked and follows, his eyes flaring slightly. He snaps his attention back to me and inclines his head before the two of them work on getting my guys’ attention.
With the two of them on board, the only thing left to do is get this party started.
I turn my focus back to Luke just as he pulls the knife from my face. “You bleed so prettily,” he says with a wistful sigh. He goes to lean forward, tongue out as if he intends to lick my blood.
Oh, fuck no.
I snap my hands out, grab his broken wrist, and jerk it as hard as I can.
The scream of agony that erupts from his mouth is surprisingly satisfying as he tries to stumble away from me.
I don’t let him, holding onto his arm for dear life as I shake and twist is as much as I can.
More cries spill from his lips, his face so pale that he looks like he’s about to pass out as he swipes sloppily at me with the knife.
Around us, everyone else has sprung into action. People shout, gunshots crack and the meaty thuds of fists hitting flesh echo around me. I even hear Harlow’s barks and snarls. But I ignore it all as I let go of Luke’s arm to dodge the attack and then go for the hand holding the knife.
His grip is weak thanks to the agony from his ruined wrist, making it easy for me to take the blade. Doesn’t stop me from slicing my palm as I do, but I ignore the burst of pain as I grip the handle of the knife for dear life.
Luke’s eyes are hazy with pain, rage and madness as he lunges at me. “You fucking bitch. I’m going to destroy you!”
His body slams into me, sending the two of us sprawling across the ground.
Somehow, despite my hand being slick with blood, I keep a hold of the knife even as my arm smashes against the floor, leaving me gasping in pain.
Luke isn’t faring much better, having fallen onto his broken wrist, but he recovers before I do and is on me in a second.
I try to scramble away, but he grabs me and drags me back. The knife I’d held onto slips from my grip. I try to get it back, but it’s too late.
Luke flips me over, straddles my waist and wraps a large hand around my throat.