Chapter 23
HARLOW
Solomon's blade was maybe an inch from Archer's throat, when Archer's hand snapped out. The blade in his own hand glittered in the light for a fraction of a second before he drove it straight into Solomon's groin.
Solomon cried out, his face a mask of shock and pain. His blade fell to the floor beside Gina's head with a clatter.
Jules threw himself at it, grabbing it up and holding it out in front of himself like he had a clue how to use it.
At the same time, Archer managed to yank his knife out of Solomon and leaned down to slice the zip ties that bound his ankles to the chair.
Boner gave a muffled cheer.
Archer pushed himself to his feet. He, together with Jules, approached the thugs. Blades in hands, vengeance on their faces.
Yeah, that was as hot as it sounded. They were about to fuck some shit up.
"I suggest you get the hell out of here," I told the thugs. "Unless you want to end up like your boss."
They exchanged glances, but did they do the sensible thing and turn and run?
No.
They didn't even do the sensible thing and turn and walk away.
Instead, one of them lunged at me.
I dropped into a crouch, forcing him to overstep and almost lose his balance. While his arms shot out to keep him on his feet, Jules threw himself at him, driving the knife into his chest.
"That's what you get for threatening my brother, motherfucker!" he growled.
At this point, I would have thought the other thug would definitely leave. His companion was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. His boss was doubled over, his hand on his groin. Fingers rapidly becoming slick with his own blood. And Gina was still very much dead.
If it was me, I would have put all of my energy into self-preservation.
This guy? I guess he had nothing to lose. If he ran away now, we could go after him, or give a detailed description to the police. That was a lot of thinking for someone who looked like he didn't do much of it.
Instead, he took a swing at Jules, landing his heavy fist into Jules' face. Jules was thrown back against the wall with a cry of pain.
"Julius!" Cass shouted. He grabbed up the chair Archer had released himself from, and swung it at the thug with a growl and a grunt of effort. The legs of the chair slammed into the thug's face. It struck hard, forcing him to stagger back a couple of steps.
That was all the distraction Archer needed. He leaped up behind him and drove the knife into the back of the thug's neck.
Said thug, eyes wide, started to fall to his knees, dragging Archer down with him. He scrabbled with his hands, trying to pull the knife out, but never getting a grip. With a groan, he fell face forward onto the floor, his nose taking the brunt of the fall.
Judging by the loud crack as it hit, it broke on impact.
I winced. That had to hurt.
He twitched a few times before lying perfectly still.
I let out a long, slow breath, taking in the carnage in front of me. Gina. Two dead goons. Solomon Danforth, slowly bleeding out in the corner.
Boner, his voice muffled, either cheering, or asking someone to untie him. Possibly both.
"That was epic, bro," Jules said to Cass. Admiration on his face, which was already starting to bruise. "Remind me not to piss you off when there's chairs around." He touched his face carefully and winced.
Cass shrugged. "I couldn't let him hurt you anymore. Any of you."
I brushed my lips over his and smiled. "That was perfect."
"You're perfect," he told me.
"Thank fuck," Boner said, shaking out his wrists, the zip ties sliced off by Archer. "That was absolute fucking bullshit. That asshole really got onto my shit list."
He waited for Archer to free his legs before staggering to his feet and standing over Solomon.
"Mine too," Archer said. "Him and his thugs were waiting for us when we got back from the gallery. Overpowered us." He looked quietly furious.
This was starting to feel like a social media video. The kind that start with, 'I came home and found my boyfriends tied to chairs, and then…'
I guess we know how that ends now.
"But now, we get to have some fun," Boner said cheerfully. "Who wants to help me get this asshole into the bath?"
"Actually," Archer said, turning his face toward Boner. "I have a surprise for Harlow. It's in the bathroom. Ready to be used."
I gaped at him. "You didn't?"
He shrugged with his eyebrows. "I figured you'd want it here."
I hurried over to him, pressed my hands to either side of his face and kissed him hard. "You're too good to me."
"Me too." Boner placed his hands on Archer's cheeks and kissed him soundly too. "I can't wait for this."
Archer's brow furrowed slightly, but if he was perturbed by the kiss from Boner, he didn't show it. Instead, he crouched beside Solomon and nodded for the others to do the same.
Solomon writhed and tried to fight them off, but between the four of them, they picked him up and carried him into the bathroom.
"You can't do this," Solomon insisted.
They ignored him, placed him in the middle of the bathroom floor and bound his ankles and wrists with zip ties before placing duct tape over his mouth.
"The ball gag would be wasted on him," Boner remarked.
Cass hummed his agreement.
They picked Solomon up again and lowered him into my beautiful torture box.
"I hope you don't mind. I don't have a water tap at this side of the bathroom," Archer said apologetically. He fastened the lock on the top of the box and gestured to a cylinder beside it.
"Is that acid?" Jules asked, his expression guarded. He was either disgusted or approving. Possibly somewhere in between.
"Yep," Archer said simply. "This is personal for all of us now, but it's more personal to Harlow, Cass and Jules. One of you should turn it on."
"Not me." Cass raised his hands and took a couple of steps back. He was getting better at this death and violence thing, but this was a step too far. I respected that.
"Harlow hasn't killed anyone today," Boner pointed out. "I think she should do it. Besides which, this is her box." He lovingly tapped the side of it.
When no one disagreed, I locked my eyes on Solomon and slowly turned the tap, letting the acid begin to drip into the box.
"This is for what you did to my sister. This is for what you and your associates did to Cass and Jules' brother. And this is for Erin. When you get to hell, keep an eye out for Hypnos and Zeus."
If he was telling the truth and they didn't know who I was, they might not be looking out for me. Good. I was going to find them and I was going to kill them both.
But first, I was going to watch Solomon Danforth die a slow, uncomfortable death.
After that, I was going to book in for another tattoo, to cross off the next line on my arm.
"I could go for some pizza," Boner remarked.
"You know what, so could I," I said, sitting down against the wall. After all the stress and excitement, I was hungry. Yeah, I'd never had a weak stomach.
Obviously, since my torture box used to live close to my kitchen. More than once, I'd eaten dinner while watching the water drip inside.
"I'll order some." Cass hurried out of the bathroom without looking back over his shoulder.
"I should be pissed off with you for getting him into this," Jules said.
"Maybe, but you know by now he would have been involved either way," I told him.
"Yeah. He's safer with all of us to keep an eye on him than he would be if it was just him and me." Jules didn't seem happy with that, but he accepted it. For Cass' sake, if nothing else.
"You're sticking around then?" I asked.
He sat beside me and crossed his ankles. "Do I have a choice? I'm a loose end too."
"You're not a loose end," I told him. "You're a…" I couldn't think of the word.
"Freshman at Vigilante University," Boner supplied. "Where the fees are low, but the exams can be brutal." He gestured toward the bruising on Jules' face. "You should get some ice for that."
"I've had worse," Jules said. A slow smile crept onto his handsome face. "You should see the other guy. He got off far worse than I did."
I choked back a laugh. "That's true. If there is a Hades, he's there regretting his life choices." Possibly surrounded by fire and some strategically placed lava.
"He never should have fucked with us," Jules agreed. He rubbed at his face absently.
It didn't seem to me like anything was broken. That was a small mercy, given how hard that punch looked. If it was me, I would have been laid out flat. Jules must be even tougher than he looked.
"What are you going to do with them?" He didn't look like he wanted to know the answer.
"I have an incinerator," Archer said, nodding toward his oven. "No one wants to eat any of them. Gina would be bitter and those two would be too fatty."
He could have been talking about a pig or a chicken he'd dispatched. There was absolutely no emotion in his voice. No sympathy for the fact they were humans. They were nothing more than dead meat.
"Oh, I don't know," Jules said. "It could be interesting when people at the restaurant ask where Gina is. I could tell them she's…late."
I laughed again. "I should have figured you'd have a dark sense of humor like the rest of us." Except, I didn't think he was joking. He looked like he was ready to pick up a knife and start slicing her into the perfect cuts.
"I might as well. I'm sitting in an apartment with three people dead and one with acid dripping on his legs." Jules gaze drifted towards Solomon, without a hint of remorse. "This should feel completely fucked up, shouldn't it?"
"The first time it does, but after that you get used to it," I said. "If it wasn't him, it would have been us. People like him get off on torturing people like us. I bet he enjoyed watching Boner and Archer sitting there, defenseless."
"Not defenseless," Archer said flatly. "I had a knife. Used it when he wasn't looking. Then I waited."
He didn't look smug. Wasn't bragging. He was stating facts, nothing more. Possibly while wondering at the statistics regarding people who got bound with zip ties, but got themselves free.
Honestly, I suspected that was something no one had researched before. Or made a meme about. Maybe I should.
'My boyfriends were ambushed, but one had a plan…'
"I didn't have a fucking clue," Boner said admiringly. "You're one sneaky prick. I mean that in a good way. If you hadn't done that, we'd all be fucked right now." He laced his hands behind his head and leaned against the box like he was on holiday somewhere.
"We would have fought them off," Jules argued.
"Of course we would," I said with not a whole lot of confidence. Boner was right, if it wasn't for Archer…
I didn't want to think about it. The important thing was it was Solomon in the box, watching the acid fall, his eyes wide.
"It's going to take hours for that to rise high enough," I said. If he didn't bleed out first, which was likely given the way the blood pumped out of his body.
"I don't know about anyone else, but I could use a beer." I pushed myself to my feet and headed into the kitchen, the three of them behind me.