Page 66 of Fragile Facade

“Ever been tortured before?” he asks as a second man wheels in a trolley of goodies. “Something tells me you have.”

I have in training, but I’m still scared. I slap a smile on my face and admire all his tools. “Oh, that one looks fun. What’s it do?”

He picks up a pair of long tongs, snapping them in front of my face. “Just a basic pair of surgical tongs. They’re usually used up the nose, down the throat, or, in your case, on the teeth.”

Fucking awesome. Just what I need, a few dental extractions. This’ll be fun. “Don’t fuck up my face, man. It’s my panty dropper.”

“I’m sure it is.” He nods, snapping the tongs again. “Who were you working with?”

“Not a very good team player. I work alone.”

“Where is your partner?”

“My fuck buddy, you mean? Probably back home, fucking someone else.” The thought brings a bit of jealousy to my mind, fortifying some of my strength.

“Your work partner. Where is the blond man in the blazer?”

Hopefully back in Moros resenting me for saving him. “I’d never work with a guy in a blazer.”

“Why are you in our city? What did you come here for?”

“Took the tour. Nice place ya have here if dictatorship and a bunch of sheep are your thing. Though, I gotta say, not near enough nightclubs.”

“Or cemeteries,” he adds, proving he knows all about Moros.

“Exactly.” I wink at him. “Cemeteries are fun.”

From behind, my head is strapped to the back of the tall chair, and I’m so out of it that I didn’t even realize someone else was here. A second later, as I’m struggling, a device enters my mouth, and I scream through the pain when it’s cranked open, forcing my mouth wide.

“These are fun, too,” he says, snapping the tongs one more time.

I’m pinned back as they enter my mouth. I’m afraid. I like pain, but not this kind of pain. I don’t want him to see my fear, so I close my eyes and breathe through my nose, reminding myself that it’s worth it. Soren got out. Soren got out. Soren got out. I’m the hero of his life. That’s all I need to know.

“We’ll start with the back ones. They bleed the most.”

I shake all over when the tongs scrape against my molars, and I hyperventilate as anticipation builds. Squeezing my eyes closed, I recall the way it felt to kiss Soren yesterday. Timid and soft and vulnerable, I just had to fucking kiss him one last time, and I’ve never been so grateful that I gave in to my impulse. He kissed me back so hesitantly, so sweetly, I never thought him capable of it.

I scream and feel my eyes roll back, head buzzing and dizzy when he yanks a tooth out. Blood fills my mouth and drips down my throat, my eyes doing the same down my cheeks. Breathing hurts, the air too much for my exposed nerves, and my body wobbles on the chair, light-headedness abrupt and overwhelming. When he removes the device keeping my mouth open, my jaw already aches as it closes.

I force myself to laugh, despite how weak and pathetic it comes out. “Thanks. Been having trouble with that tooth.” My words are slurred and garbled by blood and pain, but they’re audible, and that’s all that matters.

“You’re welcome,” he says calmly, setting down the tongs. His smile is as pretty as Axel’s, but his face is nowhere near as ethereal and defined. He’s a rugged man with a soft voice, deceptive because of how he looks and sounds. His timbre doesn’t match his rigidity, and his smile doesn’t match his morals. Maybe we have that in common. “Anything else giving you trouble, Riot?” he asks. “I’m more than willing to play doctor.”

Blood floods down my chin when the strap releases and my head falls forward, the dizziness slowly fading. “Fit as a fiddle.”

“Hmm,” he muses, pulling up a second chair to sit in front of me. “What did you steal?”

“My pockets were empty, weren’t they?”

“Indeed. Who were you working with?”

“Lone wolf.”

“Do you have a diagnosis?” he asks instead.

“ASPD, I’m told, but doesn’t always fit now, does it?” I swallow blood and wince when I press my tongue to the hollow in my mouth.

“How so? Your superiority is showing even now, despite how inferior you currently are.”