It seemed my prayer was answered, but I wasn’t sure my actual fate was much better.
Because this room had dried blood around it too.
And chains on the wall.
A room where different types of animals were abused and murdered.
For what?
Not being loyal to the organization?
For trying to steal from them?
Like me.
And not just that.
It wasn’t just about the dogs.
Or that one of the dogs I’d freed had mauled one of his men.
Oh, no.
It was that to get my best friend back, several of their men had died.
Did they know about Remy and the other Golden Glades Henchmen? Were they in danger too?
I guess, in my mind, I’d sort of seen them as larger-than-life, too big to fail. But they’d nearly lost a man named Cato when saving Myles. And another guy named Levee had been injured as well.
They weren’t gods.
They were mortal men.
Just like anybody else.
They could suffer too.
The only thing we had going for us was that Remy swore they’d been masked, that no one would know who they were or what organization they belonged to.
So, in my final minutes or hours—God, I hoped it was just minutes—it was my job not to let that information slip, to continue to protect their identity.
It was the least I could do after what they’d done for me.
Keep them safe.
Decision made, I took a deep breath, and tried to, I don’t know, harden myself.
It wouldn’t be easy. I wasn’t exactly great with pain. But for the sake of Remy, I would have to be.
“Here, bring her over,” my fake employee demanded, holding up the chain that was attached to the wall. “No, give me the bad arm,” he added. “She won’t fuss as much.”
I wanted to snap at him about that, but the duct tape made it impossible. Which, I guess, was for the best. The last thing I needed was for my big mouth to get me into trouble.
Or, well, more trouble.
I tried to brace myself for it, but the pain shot across my shoulder and up my neck as my arm was yanked back and my wrist chained right above the duct tape.
“Don’t,” the fake cop demanded as the fake employee tried to rattle the chains, send pain shooting through my body once again. “The boss is going to want to deal with her. Don’t fuck with her first. Trust me, no one is waiting for their turn harder than I am.”