Page 31 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)

Chapter 30

Leave His Marks

I wanted to call out to Enzo but didn’t want to cross paths with Ivan alone.

I moved for a long time and still had yet to find Enzo or 195, but I found a wall. I stopped my movement and repositioned, leaning against it, listening for any noises.

There was nothing besides the robotic buzz. A long period of time passed, to the point that I thought maybe we would stay in this darkness. I couldn’t even see my hands inches from my face.

The acrid poisonous scent surrounded me. “195?” I whispered into the space.

“Yes.” He found my legs with his feet and gently lowered himself beside me.

“Where is Enzo?” I murmured.

“Unsure. I saw a collar light up.”

“Jeremy’s. Ivan killed him,” I continued our hushed conversation and moved myself closer to him.

“Ivan is going to come after me next.” 195’s words crawled into my ear. His hands encircled my arms, and alarm bells began to go off. “Please just trust me.”

He wrenched me into his lap, and his mouth latched onto the side of my neck. I didn’t trust him, but all he was doing was, wait, what exactly was he doing?

He continued sucking on my neck for a few more minutes, and while the feeling itself wasn’t entirely unpleasant, it made me feel uncomfortable.

He stopped for a moment. “Just a bit more, I promise.” He found the other side of my neck and repeated his actions, sucking aggressively.

He wasn’t hurting me, and while I didn’t trust 195, 197 had proven himself to me.

After a few more minutes of him sucking on the other side of my neck, his collar lit up.

“I have left my marks on you.” His chestnut eyes met mine; they lit ominously from his collar. “I am sorry to leave you out here, but I did what was directed by 197. I was not to hurt you and help you if I could. But if I would be a detriment, I was to leave you be.” With the light from his collar, I could see a door less than five feet away, but the light also made us a beacon.

“Go on then, I understand.” I stood and reached down, clasping his hand. I didn’t blame the man for not wanting to stay and help. My life wasn’t any more valuable than his or his teammates.

195 held onto my hand as he got to his feet. “You are not what I expected.” He gave me one last unreadable look before moving away. He threw the room’s door open; it slammed shut behind him, and the lock clicked into place.

The timer lit up; less than five hours remained.

My eyes flicked around, searching for the remaining two men.

I found them. Together.

They were grappling on the ground and far enough away to account for why I hadn’t heard the altercation. But even from this distance, I could see that Enzo was no match for Ivan.

I was sprinting towards the men before I could think of how stupid of an idea it was. I was only halfway when, once more, I couldn’t see anything.

I didn’t stop.

I ran smack into them; they were on the ground, and it caused me to trip. I hissed as my knees caught the fall, but I didn’t falter. I threw myself onto their forms. I caught an elbow to the cheek and a knee to the ribs but continued to try to separate them.

They both stopped their movements.

“I have him in a choke hold; give me what I want, and I will let him be,” Ivan’s voice dripped with rage. “Or maybe this will be what I need to do? To finally make you mine.”

Enzo tried to speak, but it came out a garbled mess. Ivan was killing him. This was my fault. I decided to continue on my path of stupid decisions.

“No! I surrender to you, take me, do what you need to do, but let him go.” At that moment, I meant it. How could I not? Ivan being here was my fault.

“I don’t think so, pet .”

My collar lit up. With my newfound sight, I realized I was on top of them both. Ivan lay on his back with Enzo lying on him; Ivan’s arms and hands were choking Enzo.

I figured it already worked once before. I bent my head down and bit as hard as I could into Ivan’s arm, Ivan roared and let Enzo go, pushing him away and onto the ground. I barely caught myself from toppling over with him. Without Enzo as a buffer, Ivan grabbed me by the hips and yanked us both up.

“Too much fight in you, still. Give it up.”

The light from my collar invigorated my fight. So, I did.

I clawed at his face until he was forced to bring me flush to his body so I couldn’t move my limbs. I let my legs drop and became dead weight in his hold; it caused him to lose his grip, and I brought up my hand. I grabbed Ivan by the throat; he had not expected it. Men never do.

He struggled for a moment before changing tactics. His hands found traction in my hair, and he yanked hard. Strands separated from my scalp.

We were so lost in our scrapping that it was an equal surprise when Enzo’s fist came out of the darkness, knocking into Ivan’s temple. The move allowed me to escape Ivan’s hold. Enzo grabbed my hand and began leading us to the nearest room. He was practically dragging me.

“I can’t leave you!” I screamed at him as we ran. “Think of a plan, anything!”

Enzo tensed but didn’t turn back to me. “Please just let me explain this to you later, okay?” he shouted as he hauled us along.

“Just do what you need to do!” We were steps from the door, but Ivan had recovered and was only fifteen feet behind us and gaining fast.

“I’m not the victim in this game. It’s my fault that George is dead. That Violet is dead.” Enzo’s words caused me to misstep, but he expected it, and he lurched the door open with one hand and caught me with the other.

He pushed me through first. His collar illuminated as he stepped through the frame and slammed the door shut.

The lock slinked into place.

Ivan’s fists banged against the door. “I am going to ruin you, pet! You will regret this!”