Page 20 of The Player

A tsunami of adrenaline flooded my system as I reached into my jacket pocket for my knife, but it wasn’t there.

Where the fuck was it?

I carried that knife with me everywhere.

Hadhetaken it? Reached into my pocket when I wasn’t looking and stolen it?

I spun around, ready to confront him and fight for my life. Fight for us both. But it was too late. Whoever it was that’d tricked me, they were already leering over me.

“Time to join your boyfriend,” he said in a deep, menacing voice.

And then, before I could do or say anything, I felt a sharp sting in my neck, and my whole world fell into darkness.

ChapterEight

WILL

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The beat in my head was a dull ache, yet I felt it acutely through every inch of my body. A distant sound, but the pain that followed was clear, visceral, like a sadistic soundtrack, and I couldn’t work out where it was coming from.

Had I passed out?

Was that the club I could hear?

The ringing in my ears made it feel like it was, but then the pain grew stronger the more alert I became, and it told me I was wrong.

This wasn’t the bass from music I could hear; it was the thud of my brain. A reminder that something was very fucking wrong.

I was lying on my side, my mouth dry and my eyes burning behind my eyelids. I tried to roll onto my back but groaned as every muscle screamed in protest, keeping me pinned into the position I was currently in. I felt like I’d gone twenty rounds with a brick wall and lost every single round as a knockout.

What the hell had happened to me?

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Despite the searing pain that made me wince, I tried to remember. To recall what my last memory had been.

I was at the masked ball.

I’d seen Bryony there and we’d talked. She looked hot, as usual, and I tried it on a little. I didn’t think I’d been too pushy. Not as pushy as I could’ve been. Then I’d gone to talk to the others, make sure everything was running smoothly, and then…

I gasped, clutching my chest as I tried to breathe through the pain. My throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper, my lungs were sore and aching. My head was pounding like it was about to explode.

I’d wanted to toy with Bryony a little more. I’d thought about sending her a text, but I couldn’t find my phone. Then I remembered I’d left it in the van earlier when we were out on a surveillance job. It was on the dashboard.

I’d gone through the back door, past our security guards and made my way around the side of the club to get to the car park. I’d unlocked the van, then…

A sharp, stabbing pain shot through my skull, making me grab my head, my fingers pushing into my temples to try and find some relief as I curled into a ball.

I rocked, my breath rasping as the pain coursed through me before it slowly ebbed away to a dull ache.