Page 29

Stuart screamed, two men holding him tight, pulling his hand forward to the bench.

“No! No! No!”

The sound of his voice rang around the big space, fear surrounding me, adding to my own, amplifying as my heart beat faster and faster, thundering in my chest like a train running down the side of a steep mountain. Out of control. Out of control. Watching as my boss shrieked in terror.

“I’ll get you your drugs. And your money. Whatever you want. Please. Don’t.” His shrieks subsided to a whisper. “I need my hands. I can’t work without my hands.”

I was too horrified to scoff. Utterly frozen to the spot. Not that I could have moved anyway. The man who’d dragged me out from underneath the desk held on tightly, his fingers gripping so forcefully to my bicep they hurt. I’d tried to rip myself free from him. Tried to run. I’d peeled my white jacket off and escaped. I’d almost been at the door, but he caught me just before I got to it. Now his fingers pressed into my flesh, and I could feel the bruises forming around them.

“The thing is, you’ve stolen from us.”

“I didn’t. I didn’t. I just didn’t order enough for you and the practice.”

“And for you. We know half of it’s been going up your nose. You think we’re fucking stupid? Thing is, if I don’t teach you a fucking lesson, someone teaches me a lesson. So, this,” he waved the scalpel in front of Stuart. “This is all self-preservation. I don’t want to do it. I have to do it.”

But he smiled, wide, flashing a whole load of rotten teeth, those that had been removed, replaced by stupid gold caps. And then he nodded at the men holding Stuart down. They tightened their grip, pulling his arm out straight onto the bench, flattening his fingers. The man brought the scalpel down. I watched it hit Stuart’s finger, stopping for a moment as he writhed and screamed, and then there was a dull crunch, and the animalistic wail seared through me. My legs buckled, as if the moment the scalpel came down, it sucked all the bones straight out of me. The man holding my arm caught me before I hit the floor, scooping an arm around my waist.

In front of me Stu whimpered, a blubber of words not making any sense. Gibberish and pain and shock. His head rocked back and forth, the scalpel coming up again, the other men tightening their grip once more, my boss wriggling like crazy, blood spurting out onto the bench top, dribbling onto the floor.

“Oh God,” I squeaked, turning my head away.

Fingers nipped into my cheeks, turning me forcibly, making me watch the scalpel sink into his flesh again. Another blood-curdling scream. More blood. My stomach jolted.

“You ever take from me again and I’ll take off more than your fingers…”

He pushed the scalpel down again. Stuart sobbed, his legs giving way, his body suspended from the arm held onto the bench. One more scream, morphing to a yell, an agonised wail of pain.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, splashing over the hand of the man who held me in place. The man with gold teeth turned to me, his eyes moving from my face, over my body, down my legs. I didn’t dare breathe and all I could do was stare back, fear taking any words from me, my body not moving, my brain unable to think. The metallic smell of blood and the gurgling sobs of Stuart filled the air.

There was a noise. A click. But my attention couldn’t follow it, my eyes not leaving Stuart, who had sunk to the floor, cradling his dismembered hand to his chest, blood soaking through his shirt, spreading out in front of him. The patch got bigger. Redder.

“Who the fuck are you?” Gold-teeth’s words broke through my daze.

There was someone else here.

I moved my eyes as much as I could, the hand still squeezing my face. I could see him, but my brain was slow and confused, the message from my eyeballs delayed.

“I’m here for my lass.”

“This bitch yours, huh?” I could feel the hot breath of the man with his fingers in my cheeks brushing over my ear, pushing them harder into my face.

Pain radiated over my jaw. I closed my eyes, trying to stop the sobs erupting from my throat. Fear mixed with relief. Cade was here. I wasn’t alone. But Cade was. There were five men. Rough, violent men. And only one of Cade. He was slimmer, less threatening. They would hurt him. I couldn’t bear to watch them hurt someone else. Not Cade.

“I’m a King, mate,” I heard his voice again.

He was full of confidence, his face hard, his eyebrows nipping together, his hands rolled into tight fists at his sides. He was ready to fight. But he stood no chance against these animals. Gold-teeth pointed the scalpel at him, creeping closer.

“Take another step and I’ll introduce you to carnage.”

Carnage.

The men in the room sniggered. But I smiled, the tiny hint of relief in the pit of my stomach.

Caleb stepped in behind him, a cocky smile on his face.

“Fuck me, I’m seeing double.” The leader with the gold teeth laughed. “It’s Mary-Kate and Ashley, boys,” he rasped. “And what are you pretty little fuckers gonna do, huh?”

“It’s not us you need to be worried about.”

There was a commotion behind me. Someone falling, another stumbling.

“Fuck!” someone else shouted from behind me.

I tried to turn my head to see what was going on, but the man holding me clung to me tighter than ever. Cade ran forwards, straight towards me, but gold-teeth barred the way, striking him hard in the stomach and the blond man doubled over, his hand reaching out steadying himself on the operating table. Caleb jumped over the top of him, bowling into gold-teeth, hands grabbing at each other in the air as both wrestled for the scalpel.

Fingers released my face, the man reaching round his back. I saw the object in my peripheral vision. The darkest of greys. A square muzzle. Shit.

“Cade! Gun!” I shrieked.

“See it babe.”

The arm came down in an arc, the horrible grey-black metal aiming at Cade. He hauled the table up off the wheels that were locked in place, tipping it onto its side. The shot rang out around the operating theatre. A dog barked in the rooms behind us.

“Mother fucker!” someone growled from behind me.

There was a dull thud. A man fell at my feet. His eyes open. Staring at the ceiling, blood leaking over the floor. Someone screamed. And screamed. I looked round. Stuart’s head lolled back, his eyes shutting and opening again, too far gone with pain and shock to do anything other than slump against the cupboard.

The screaming stopped. My screaming. I was moving backwards. My legs trying to keep up, my eyes struggling to focus. Caleb wrestled with gold-teeth. A huge man with dark hair advancing on them both. He swung the object in his hand, low and heavily. It collided with a thump, gold-teeth’s legs buckling under him. Caleb yanked the scalpel from him, then brought his boot down on his face. Once. Twice. The man’s head snapped sideways, blood spraying from his mouth, a gold tooth bouncing along the floor and slowing as the pool of thick, partially coagulated blood stopped its travel.

The men in front of me moved backwards. Yet their legs weren’t moving. They were just all standing. Watching. Someone was saying something, but I couldn’t hear. My mouth had gone dry. My brain an empty void, struggling to keep up with the chaos in the room. Chaos. Cade. The man holding me shot at Cade. No. No.

“No! Cade!” It was my scream that filled the operating room again.

The man dragging me backwards gripped me tighter.

“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” he growled, waving his gun at everyone, slowing as he got to Caleb.

He was going to shoot Caleb. My brain stuttered, a sudden moment of cohesion bursting through me.

“Down!” I yelled, hoping everyone was paying attention.

And then I turned my head and sunk my teeth into his bicep. His flesh didn’t break straight away, not at first, but soon I felt the pop of skin as it gave, just like when I cut through it with a scalpel. But this was blunter, not the usual glide of a knife, the tiny pop and then the silky-smooth parting of the tissue. He screamed, shaking me off. Another bang. A huge deafening bang.

“Fuck! Alice!” I heard their voices.

Not just Cade, but Caleb, too. Cade vaulted the upturned table; Caleb ran across the room. The men in leather behind them scattered, Indie yanking Stuart to his feet.

In the corner, the oxygen tank burned, the fire quickly spreading up the cupboard door. The arm loosened, pushing me to the side. The last man standing was now on his back, a blond man straddling him, dealing blow after blow.

He stopped momentarily. “Chaos, get her out of here.”

Cade nodded, gentle fingers now on my arm, guiding me to the door.

“Cade. Cade.” My voice was a muddle of vowels and sounds. “The animals. We need to get the animals out.”

He nodded, looking over at me. “Magnet. Fury. We have to evacuate the animals.”

Behind me the fire blazed, but Caleb stayed, still punishing the man’s face.