Page 43
FORTY-TWO
DRAKE
I waste no time in heading to the drama department.
I can’t believe I never thought of it before.
A mask will give me the ability to blend in with the crowd and I must hand it to them, the gladiator costumes was a stroke of genius.
It completely covers the wearer’s identity and I can watch over Imogen without discovery.
It will also keep me the fuck away from Angela, who is like a constant bad smell under my nose.
How I detest that woman and can’t wait to deal with her as a Reaper clears up shit.
That is one broken angel who should be hurled into the trash.
Women like her aren’t broken, they are smashed beyond repair.
I move fast and as I edge inside the drama department I waste no time in taking the stairs up to the wardrobe department where they keep their costumes. I’m convinced I’ll find what I’m searching for there, but it turns out, I discover way more than I bargained for.
As I inch inside, a muffled groan alerts me that I’m not the only one in here and as I flick on the light, I’m on my guard as I search the room.
I note a figure tied to a chair, tape covering his mouth, almost naked save for his boxer shorts.
“Fuck, Jesse.” I make haste and rip the tape off and note the swelling on the side of his head, blood trickling down past his eye.
“Imogen.” His voice is urgent. “She’s in danger.”
Chills run through me as I grasp an item of clothing and press it hard against his wound and as I untie him with my other hand, I growl, “Tell me everything.”
“We don’t have time. He’s taken her to Redrock Canyon. There’s a house there set low down in the mountains. Call the cops. They’ll get there before us.”
I pull out my phone but it’s not the cops I dial and as Ryder answers, I urgently fill him in on the details.
I’m guessing it will take them two hours by road, but we have other forms of transport at our disposal and the helicopters will be a quicker way to travel, but the mountains may make landing more difficult.
The darkness also presents a challenge, but our transport is designed to deal with that.
I fill him in and he wastes no time in issuing instructions and I throw Jesse some clothes off the rail and say quickly, “Take yourself to the medical room. That wound needs tending to.”
“No.”
He scrambles into the clothes. “I’m okay. You need me and I’m coming with you.”
He grabs a black robe from one of the rails. “This should work.”
I don’t question him and as we head toward my car, I hope like hell we’re not too late.
He fills me in on the journey.
“I was heading to prom when I got a call to meet someone. It was a guy I know, someone you don’t ignore.” His voice falters and he whispers, “His name is Christian Duprey.”
It’s as if a samurai sword is shaving off parts of my heart one by one as fear grips my soul. If Christian Duprey has Imogen, this is worse than I thought.
“I met him in the drama department, where he told me that tonight was my final act and I was to bring my victim to the house at Redrock. To kidnap her, to–” He falters and my knuckles turn white against the steering wheel.
“Anyway, I told him I wasn’t doing it. That I was done with his society and wanted no part of it. He was angry. He told me I had let the society down, that I had failed my probation and he would punish me by taking something I cared about.”
Jesse’s voice shakes and his painful gasp causes me concern as his hand presses against his head.
“I tried to get away. I saw the madness in his eyes but he flew at me and I’m embarrassed to admit he overpowered me.
I felt a blow to my head and woke up tied to the chair, minus my costume.
The bastard even took my socks. I couldn’t move and my head hurt like hell.
It still does, but all I could think of was Imogen. ”
“And then I found you.” I heave a sigh. “Thank God I did, because now we at least stand a chance of saving her.”
“How?” Jesse sounds worried. “You don’t know who you’re up against. The man is psychotic, they all are?”
“Then it’s a fucking good job I’m more of a psycho than them.”
My voice is grim, my heart breaking and my resolve overflowing. I failed Imogen. I let her out of my sight and if anything happens to her, I doubt I can live with that.
I’m also concerned about Jesse. His breathing is fast and I’m aware how head wounds can bite when you least expect it.
This isn’t good and I check my watch and note we will arrive at the house in thirty minutes.
I calculate that Ryder will get there around the same time and if Imogen was taken somewhere, I only have Jesse’s word on that.
I last saw her twenty minutes ago. Therefore they have a twenty minutes head start on us and a lot can happen in that time. It’s a fine line between life and death and my blood runs cold when I face the fact we could be too late.
Jesse is battling consciousness and I say loudly, “Tell me about the society.”
I need him to remain focused and talking will help with that.
“It’s not a club anyone should join.” His voice is bitter, as if he is finally facing the facts, and he groans. “It started off as a game. Fucking the pretty teacher was a tick on my college list. I didn’t expect her to be so depraved and it kind of excited me.”
His painful gasp isn’t good and his voice is dimming as he whispers, “She drugged me, messed with my mind and promised me deliverance from the desperate future my folks had planned out for me. She was offering a lot, and I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Those early days were exciting. I couldn’t get enough and then the drugs kicked in and altered my mind and I changed inside.
I would do anything to please her. It became increasingly difficult to do that and, combined with the drugs affecting my mind, the things she asked of me started to feel ordinary.
There would be no consequences, just more of a high, and I was chasing that harder than a forbidden fuck with an older woman. ”
His breathing is labored, and I put in the call and as he passes out, I will get nothing more from him. Jesse is a victim just as much as Imogen, and I will not let anything happen to him, not on my watch. Despite everything he came through in the end and my anger turns toward one man.
Christian Duprey. He will not survive the night. Not if I have anything to do with it, because when the Grim Reaper comes calling, the only place you’re going is straight to hell.
Table of Contents
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- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43 (Reading here)
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- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53