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“Demon!”
The slap across my face coincides with my name being shouted, and I’m yanked back into the present. Glancing around, I take in my surroundings and swallow as I realize I’m sitting on the floor of Jez’s living room.
“What the fuck was that?” Phantom demands, crouching in front of me.
Shaking my head, I push to my feet. “Nothing.”
“Didn’t look like nothing,” he snaps, standing to his full height.Fucker’s tall.“But fortunately for you, we’ve got bigger problems to worry about.”
I glare at him. “Ted McCormick,” I grind out, the name tasting like acid on my tongue. “You think she went after him?”
He gives a sharp nod. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. Where else would she be?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, my tone hollow. “But if she did go after that asshole, then we need to find her.”
Phantom looks at me with questions in his eyes, but he wisely keeps them to himself. Without a word, he exits the house only to return seconds later with a bag slung over his shoulder.
“I haven’t been able to pinpoint her exact location,” he begins as he pulls out a laptop and boots it up. “But I do have an address for Ted, so that’s probably the best place to start.”
I look at the screen, committing the address to memory. Making a snap decision, I stride toward the door. When he makes no move to follow, I glance over my shoulder.
“You coming?”
Phantom jumps to his feet. “We’re going to her?” he asks.
“Damn right we are. Let’s roll.”
“How about we try this one more time?”
A knife slices across the top of my chest. My tongue swells, and the tang of copper fills my mouth from me biting it over and over again to keep from crying out. I refuse to scream and let Ted get any more satisfaction than he’s already getting.
I have to hang on long enough for the cavalry to arrive. It’s been a few days since I left to come here, and I know my brother will be wondering where the hell I’ve been. He’s used to me disappearing for a few days. However, I still communicate through text messages.
I can’t lose hope that the club is coming for me.
“What do you want to know?” I ask sarcastically.
Hands wrap around my throat, cutting off my airway. I can’t claw at the bastard, since my wrists are cuffed behind my back.
“Who else knows about this place?”
Dumb fuck… I can’t answer him when he’s strangling me. Fucker must realize it because he releases me quickly and delivers a right hook to my face. My head whips to the side, and I spit out some blood. One eye is already swollen shut, but now it feels like some of my teeth are loose.
I rotate my neck and glare at him. “Not a good way to get someone to talk to you, Teddy.”
Ted’s face turns crimson, and he screams at me. “How the fuck do you know that name?”
I shrug. “Lucky guess.”
I obviously have no self-preservation instinct as the next hit lands on the other cheek. I won’t talk no matter what he does. Even if I don’t make it out of this alive, I refuse to give up my team. They’ll eventually realize I’m gone and will do anything to find out who’s responsible.
Well, them and the club.
I take stock of my injuries as he storms out of the room. The first thing Ted did was divest me of my clothing, leaving me only in my bra and panties. The torture began immediately. I have numerous cuts all over my arms, chest, stomach, and legs. One of my shoulders feels as if it’s out of the socket, and it feels as though I have a broken rib or two. With every breath I take, it’s like shards of glass are stabbing my insides. I flex my fingers, trying to get the circulation flowing.
I woke up as I was being pulled out of a vehicle, and my heart sank when I saw we were at the trailer. Ted dragged me past a room filled with costumes, a bed, and a camcorder before he deposited me in a sparse room with only a filthy twin mattress. I’ve been chained here ever since.
He allowed me to go to the bathroom only once, but he learned his lesson after I got a few good licks in. I headbutted him in the face and heard a distinct crunch when I caught him square in the nose. I might be disarmed, but I’m still trying to hold my own. At least I know ol’ Teddy won’t be walking away unscathed completely. Pussy knocked me unconscious, and now I have a bucket in the corner of the room and no way out.