Burn (Steel Brothers Saga 5)

My God.

It was alive.

“Hey, hey,” I whispered. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

It was a male, naked, his bony body streaked with blood and grime. His head had been shaved.

“I want to help you. I’m a friend. I’m going to take the gag off of you, but don’t scream. All right?”

The man whimpered and nodded.

I removed the gag carefully. “Who are you?”

He groaned, muttering unintelligible words.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to talk. I’m going to get you out of here.” As quickly as I could, I unbound his ankles and wrists.

I startled when a sound like a board creaking came from somewhere upstairs. Tom must have come back. I threw the dirty blanket over the sickly man. “Shh,” I said. “Don’t let him know I’ve untied you. I’ll take care of him. If I don’t come back for you in half an hour, find something to use as a weapon, and get the fuck out of here.”

I hated leaving him there, but he’d at least be safe while I was in the house. I’d told him to leave if I didn’t return, but he was so bony and sickly-looking, I wondered if he’d be able to get up the stairs.

But he would. Talon had gotten up those very same stairs.

“I’ll be back for you. I promise.”

I hoped I’d be able to keep that promise.

I walked toward the stairway, the dark walls seeming to pulse and close in.

My God, how had Talon survived this?

And who was the man in the cellar?

I willed myself to get a grip and ascended the stairs slowly. I had come here alone and unarmed. I hadn’t thought about protecting myself. I could kick the shit out of Tom Simpson wi

th a look, and if he had a knife, I could easily disarm him.

But if he had a gun…

The man was a killer. A cold-blooded killer. And God only knew what he’d done to this poor man in the cellar.

Bile nudged up my throat. That was a crock. I knew exactly what Tom had done. The same thing he’d done to my brother.

I shut the door of the basement quietly and walked through the small kitchen. The doorknob to the front door turned slowly.

A man entered, carrying a bag of groceries. As far as I could tell, he was unarmed. The hair on his head was dyed dark brown.

But the eyes…

A maniacal smile crossed my face. I had him.

Finally.

Finally, I would avenge my brother.

My smile became wider.

“Hello, Tom.”