Chapter24
Maybe she wasn’t really here. Maybe this was all in my head. But I refused to look back at that window. I couldn’t draw any attention if Becks had indeed done something stupid like followed me.
How the hell had she even found where they brought me anyway?
Fuck.Alek would take care of this. He’d have to. I tugged at my zip tied wrists. If I got the right leverage I could break them, but I was being watched by guards. Because I’d been lying on my side for so long, one of my arms was numb from lack of blood flow.
It was a stupid mistake on my part. I thought we were far enough away from Becks that she’d be safe. I assumed that I would be dead and she’d be taken care of.
Fuck that. My kitten would never be safe without me, would she?
No one understood the kind of trouble she could find for herself except me. I had to get out of this alive and get her out of here, safe and sound.
Fuck if I knew how to do that, though.
Artem wandered back in the room, tossing his jacket on the ground. “I have permission to start on your programming.”
The words sounded so innocent. Well, as innocent as something could sound in Russian. But he and I both knew what the first step of programming was: to break a person down until there was nothing left. The beating I’d received before was nothing compared to what was coming.
He wanted a reaction from me, and I wasn’t going to give him one. Eventually he’d get my screams. No one could remain silent forever. But for now, I stared at the ceiling and thought about how hard I’d kiss Becks once I finally had her in my arms again.
“This time, I am going to have you personally disembowel your brother. Have you bring his heart to me on a platter and cook it for dinner, like a good servant.”
I spit at his feet. If he was going to beat me, then beat me. Talking is for pussies.
And I got my wish because then the beating started.
Just like the first time Black Thorn got ahold of me, it started off brutal, with kicks and punches. Once they made sure I was too broken to escape, they’d start with the long game torture of starvation and psychological warfare.
My only hope of getting out was to appear more broken than they thought, then manage to haul my carcass out of here, broken bones and all.
Time ebbed and flowed, seeming to tick by ever so slowly in a mixture of blood and pain, and then fade to black before another kick would wake me right back up again.
It was only when I heard a new word that I came to full awareness once more. “Fire!”