Chapter 18 #2
Now that I can see and talk again, I begin searching for the key, starting with his vest pockets.
Velcro scratches open as I dig my fingers into each one, hurrying to the next one and then just feeling the outside for a key outline.
My strength is gradually returning to me, which is a huge fucking relief for me and the others.
I dip into one of his cargo pants pockets, pinching something hard and narrow. “I think I f—”
The words die on my lips when the door opens, and Charles walks in.
I grasp the metal object and slowly retract my hand to my lap, trying to avoid his attention as he surveys the room.
Two armed agents position themselves behind him.
Creighton’s gun is closest to me, but it’s re-holstered and will waste precious time and sound getting it free.
Stephens’s gun is on the floor, maybe six feet from me.
If I get a foot under me and jump, I could make it.
The safety’s off. I just have to grab it, point, and shoot.
And then what, Raegan? He’ll heal.
Fuck.
Charles’s stare lands briefly on Stephens’s and Creighton’s bodies before touching on each of the guys and finally landing on me.
He smiles and addresses all of us.
“I’d been expecting an attack from the Guild on my board if they were going to reject my offer.
They’re low-hanging fruit, so to speak. The easy targets because of their public statuses.
I had Bea prepare portals at their homes and workplaces, ready to adjust and activate should she see anyone of alarm.
It was one of many plans I had in place should the Guild be arrogant enough to fight back.
Your predictability has become your downfall once again.
“It’s almost disappointing you fell for one of the simplest traps. And yet, you’ve somehow still managed to surprise me.” His eyes settle on me. “How did you survive?”
I press my lips together, running through my options. The guys are still locked up. If I throw them the key, would they be able to unlock it in time? Or should I hold onto it and slip it to them when he’s not looking, so they can escape later?
But I’m no match for him without my gift.
His eyes slide to the other three in the cell. Jackson and Aiden aren’t in great shape. Even if their strength has returned like mine, their injuries are still dangerous if they don’t get help. Kellan is the only one mostly unharmed.
“I presume one of them helped you. You and the Guild Master I’d killed.” He holds his hand out, and Stephens’s gun flies into his hand to aim at me. I freeze, fear wrapping me in immobilizing vines as I stare down death.
What do I do? Is this it?
“We’ll do it execution style this time, I think. I got carried away before with all the bells and whistles in my fun.”
“No! Raegan!” Kellan bellows, yanking and beating the bars in his attempt to get to me.
Jackson rams his shoulder into the bars, running through the pool of blood he’s accumulated.
I swallow thickly, unsure of what words I could say to change his mind.
“Wait!” Aiden shouts. “You don’t want to kill her. If you let her live, you can have the Guild.”
What?
“They’ve already made their decision,” Charles counters Aiden without looking away from me.
“Because of me. They’ll follow me. And I’ll work for you. I’ll do whatever you want. If you have me leading them, then you’ll have the Guild, too. Just don’t hurt her. If she dies, then any chance of us or the Guild working for you dies with her.”
Charles stares at me. He takes in my blood-soaked appearance, his arm holding the gun steadily on me as he debates Aiden’s offer.
I fight to get my heart rate and breathing under control.
“And you?” Charles directs to Jack and Kell, turning his face to them. “Would you do anything to ensure she lives?”
“Yes,” they both answer without hesitation.
“Prove it.” Charles smiles at them. “See those dangling chains? Cuff yourselves. Show me how well you listen with her life in the balance.”
All three of them move to do it, raising their arms over their heads to clasp the metal cuffs to each wrist. My chest tightens at the sight of them like that, knowing it’s because of me. If Charles wasn’t such a superpowered psycho, I’d give it my all to take him down right here and now.
“Hm...” Charles scratches his jaw and looks past the barrel of his gun at me again. “Perhaps you do have some usefulness left. Do the other Guild members care about you this much?”
I don’t answer.
“It’s no matter.” Charles turns to the guys, finally lowering the gun. “I’ll consider your offer, Guild Master, and what you bring to the table in exchange for her life.”
“For her safety!” Kellan shouts, his arms rattling the chains. “Swear that she won’t be hurt!”
Charles gives him a polite, businessman smile. “I’ll take your notes into consideration as well.”
While he’s busy watching them, I slip the key between my boot and the floor.
“Take her,” the GE president orders the two agents who’d arrived with him. He leaves first.
Standing, I pretend my leg is injured and drag my foot and hop over to the cell, gripping the bars and wishing I was in there with them.
But this is for the best. I’ll find a way out and then come rescue them this time.
“I’ll see you guys soon, okay?” I slide my boot to the edge of the cell as I talk, leaving the key against the wall just behind the thick edge of the cell wall before the bars begin.
I’m not sure what good it’ll do while they’re restrained as they are, but if there’s any chance they can get out of those and I can remove one more obstacle, then it’s worth it.
“Hurry up,” one of the agents grunts, grabbing my elbow and pulling me away.
“Don't touch her,” Aiden demands.
“We’re killing anyone who lays a finger on you, beautiful. Let everyone know that.”
I yank my elbow from the agent, and he doesn’t try to touch it again. I walk awkwardly with them to the door, keeping up the charade of my injured leg, then look one last time over my shoulder.
Jackson’s blue eyes are as dark as the deepest ocean, a terrifying gleam in them as he watches me leave.
The agents lead me down hallway after hallway lined with concrete walls and fluorescent lighting. I try to keep track of every turn, counting my steps and the hallways, but they all look identical.
We go down a couple flights of stairs and the hallway changes to tile flooring and white walls. There’s an odd smell here, some sort of chemical that reminds me of the hospital. They unlock the fifth door on the right and stand back for me to enter.
The room reminds me of solitary back on the island when I was little.
A single cot, toilet, and a six-by-six area of hard walls and floors. The only upside is that there’s light in here. The downside is that there’s no switch on the wall for me to control it.
Please don’t leave me in the dark.
Just looking at this room has my skin crawling with the suffocating need to get out. To turn and run, even if it means he kills me for doing it. My chest grows tight, oxygen suddenly feeling limited in this small space while I try—and fail—to convince myself it’s all in my head.
Knowing it isn’t real doesn’t stop my body from reacting like it is.
I linger in the doorway, too scared to take the final steps in and commit to being here.
Charles appears out of nowhere behind me, startling me forward the last steps into the room and reminding me he can teleport anywhere he wants in whatever hellhole this is.
“Welcome to your new home. It has all the amenities you need. And privacy, of course. An upgrade from the last room, wouldn’t you say?
” He chuckles softly to himself as if he’s enjoying his own joke.
Then he lifts his hand, and pressure shoves me up against the wall.
“You really are like a cockroach, Raegan. I’d love nothing more than to snuff out your life here and now to be done with you, but your Guild Master’s Hail Mary has promise.
Even with the Guild aside, I’ve seen what he and the other two in that cell can do, and they’d be great assets to GE.
All I have to do is keep you alive, brush you off every now and then, and show you to them. That said...”
He smiles, and his hand twitches. The pressure increases, and I’m squished against the wall, the force making my head throb and my body ache like I’ll pop if pushed much more.
“I’m a businessman first. And we don’t like to waste resources by letting them stand around.
You and your friends have cost me too much with all the facilities you’ve destroyed, dead employees, and stolen assets.
You and the others are all going to earn your keep until that debt has been repaid. ”
Charles stretches his other arm to draw his sleeve back, then peers at the watch. “You’re ahead of schedule, but I can be flexible. We’ll put some of the Guild members to work right away once I’ve brought the rest of them here. Maybe I’ll be kind enough to let you watch.”
I don’t know if it’s the threat of watching something happen to the others I’ve grown to care about or that his gift is making it hard to breathe, but the room begins to spin, and I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling woozy.
He laughs as if he’s enjoying seeing me this way. “Fight me again, and you won’t just watch. You and those boys will be participants. Don’t test me, Raegan.”
Slowly, I force my eyes open.
“As for you...” He scratches his chin. “I was unable to try again with your mother, but perhaps I could hand pick some agents who could be a good match with your gift. You can make me grandchildren who actually listen. Little terrors of destruction, can you imagine?”
Charles chuckles. “In any case, don’t cause trouble, and I’ll maintain my word of keeping you alive and well.
” He drops me, and I crash onto the cold tile floor.
Pain flares in my left arm and knees as something cool snaps around my wrist. “Your shackle, daughter. To keep that dangerous gift of yours contained.”
His heeled dress shoes click on the tile floor as he walks out.
The door shuts—no knob or handle on my side—and a lock thunks into place.
Panic rises like bile from my gut, choking me as I squeeze my hands and eyes shut.
“Whatever you need, I’m here. I’ve got you.”
Dane’s voice echoes in my head from memory, and I latch on to it, pretending he’s right next to me, holding my hand and talking me through it.
And I pray he’s okay, wherever he is.