Her’s to Defend (The Chained Hearts Duology #2)
Prologue
Riley screams as the rusty hook tears through the muscles of his back, matching the wound on his other side.
Every thrash of movement opens the medley of fresh cuts covering his chest and abdomen.
Metal rings out across the courtyard as he tries to pull his arms from the handcuffs holding him against the table beneath him.
Cheers sound, hiding his screams of agony.
Dmitri’s forces gather around the man who spent years ruthlessly hunting them, eagerly watching their leader ready him to be strung up for their entertainment.
Every day has been spent fighting off ruthless beatings from his captors.
Riley can only fight back so much before the little strength he has is gone.
A dangerous mix of starvation, dehydration, and delirium quickly threatens to ruin any plans of escape he has.
Today is not that day. Riley was so hopeful when they moved him from the makeshift cell to the courtyard.
Those hopes died the moment he saw the gathering crowd.
There is no doubt he can free himself of his restraints, but with so many of Dmitri’s men surrounding him, he won’t make it far.
Riley does the only thing possible: he waits.
He endures everything they throw at him, knowing every cut, every stab of the knife, every fist slamming into his already desecrated body, is one that Liz will never have to experience again.
Riley swore he would never allow himself to be thrown back into this situation.
Now, his capture is a sacrifice he would happily make one thousand times over if it means she stays safe.
He blocks out the searing pain coating every inch of his body, pushes everything out of his mind, but her.
The way her silky hair feels twisting around his fingers or the way her eyes light up when he surprises her with her favorite snacks.
The feel of her small, reserved hug when he carried her down the mountain, telling her about his past.
Weeks have gone by since he gave himself up to make sure Dmitri couldn’t get his hands on her.
Every day has been an endless cycle of attacks.
Dmitri visits every few days, trying to beat information out of him.
But he doesn’t break, he can’t. Breaking means everyone he cares for is in danger, and if getting his ass beat from sun up to sun down is what it takes to keep his loved ones safe, then he will take it.
His team knows to reconvene at the bunker and decide if they should rescue him, or admit it is just too risky and leave him to die.
Riley wishes they would pick the latter.
Every time he thinks of the love he left behind, he knows she’ll make every man on the team find him and drag him home, for no reason other than to tear him a new one for getting captured.
Another scream tears from him as the hook in his back lifts him off the table until he is upright, held by hooks meant for nothing more than cattle carcasses.
He sucks in a sharp breath, running through every training technique that taught him to fight past the pain and keep from passing out.
Rocks crunch beside him, footsteps drawing closer.
Face to face with Dmitri, Riley greets him with a smile, his normally brilliant white teeth now a deep shade of red.
“Are you ready to tell me where you are hiding my pet?” he asks coldly. A sinister smile creeps up his face as his icy blue eyes dart from the various wounds peppering Riley’s exposed body. “How about what your leader has planned? I–” A spray of warm, red liquid over his face stops his rant.
“Why don’t you go fuck yourself,” Riley chokes out before a hard fist slams into his head, sending him spinning in the air. Cheers erupt around him. His head spins faster than his dangling body, the near constant abuse taking more of a toll on him than he would ever admit.
Dmitri reaches out a hand, stopping Riley’s slow rotation. His eyes simmer with contempt, glaring at the man hanging before him.
“I will make you an offer, Reaper,” he spits.
“Tell me what I want to know, and I will end this. I will grant you a fast death.” Dmitri brings his hand up and pats Riley’s bruised cheek.
“I have many men who want to watch you bleed. You can make it stop; all I ask in return is information. A small price to pay, I think.”
An eerie silence blankets the courtyard. Every man huddled together waits to hear if the man they have spent years fearing will finally break and accept the sweet release of death.
A hiss escapes Riley’s lips while his eyes sweep the small crowd.
The adrenaline that has kept him conscious is starting to wear down, leaving his vision fuzzy.
He rallies every ounce of strength left in him to drag his point across one last time before he succumbs to the loss of blood pooling from his wounds.
With his head high, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, he seethes, “You should kill me while you still have the chance. When I get out of here, and yes, asshole, I will get out of here, I’ll be waiting for you, right up there…
” He cranes his neck to look at the building towering beside them.
The blood drains from Dmitris’s face as Riley turns back to face him, “Waiting to flay the skin from your fucking bones.”
Dmitri’s eyes widen with fear as each word sinks in.
Pride swells in Riley’s chest as he watches the man reach up and gingerly touch the scar across his eye. A reminder of what Riley will do to be free.
Dmitri knows all too well Riley feeds on the fear of others.
He will become the nightmare who watches his victim squirm before he takes their life.
With a small shake of his head, Dmitri tries to ignore the pit growing in his stomach.
Plucking a rusted piece of rebar off the ground, he connects it with Riley’s abdomen.
Deep, guttural screams fill the air like thunder.
His ribs crack from the blow, the force of the impact sending him swinging, the metal hooks threatening to rip clean out of his back.
“You are never getting out of here. As I told my pet, I have my own men in your ranks. I made sure your general will not send help, and your partners do not care enough to risk their lives for you. No, one way or another, you will die here.” He sneers before turning on his heels.
“Someone stop his bleeding, we wouldn’t want him to die before we’ve had our fun,” he adds without looking back.
This is exactly what Riley needed. Dmitri may have power amongst his organization, but he has never been a smart man.
His anger and need to be seen as someone worth fearing has always been his downfall.
He is too busy preening, thinking he has outsmarted his enemies, to realize he is feeding them information.
He will take every beating with a smile on his face because when he does, Dmitri will do anything to wipe it off.
Including telling him his next plan of attack, and just who he has working for him on the inside.
Riley can only hope his team makes it to him before Dmitri makes good on his promise.
Once his cuts are sutured and glued, the bleeding slows.
He is left alone in the dark of night, hanging from the flesh of his back, fading in and out of consciousness.
It’s then he realizes he may have pushed too far this time.
Mentally, he can take whatever is thrown at him, but even he has physical limits that can’t be ignored.
A wave of regret settles over him. He pushed too much.
All the information he squeezed from his captor will never be heard, all his work will be for nothing.
He thought Dmitri would keep him alive long enough for his team to find and extract him, but it’s too late.
His heartbeat thrums in his ears, a sad, irregular sound mixed with a wheeze from every breath he draws.
Riley quickly comes to the conclusion that his lung must have been punctured by the broken rib.
He allows his eyes to drift closed, his pain growing lighter as his thoughts flood with the memories he made with Liz.
If he is to die tonight, her face is the last thing he wants to see.
Shimmering green eyes flash before him, but they are not right.
He was supposed to see her, glowing with happiness, living her life once more.
Instead, he sees her how she was when they first met: blood running down her face, eyes laced with fear as she screams at him.
Riley refuses to let that be it. He compels his mind to go utterly blank before his world falls dark.