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She felt something tight grip her heart. “No.”
The second nurse rummaged in the cart beside the bed. Obviously not finding what she was looking for, she moved toward another cart in the corner.
“I haven’t seen a case this bad in years,” the first nurse said and squeezed her arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you,” she said and was dimly aware of the second nurse moving behind her.
“We’re going to do everything we can for your mother, okay?”
“Okay—” she began and hissed when something pricked her neck. She recognized the feeling since Blade sedated her only a couple of hours ago. She reached up to pull the syringe out, but before she could her legs gave out and she crashed to the floor.
“Hurry up, get her on the gurney. We’ll wheel her out under a sheet and then—” the nurse said and then everything went black.
20
Lyla
She wokefeeling like her arms were going to fall off. She moaned and realized several things simultaneously. She was on her knees on cold, hard stone. She was also blindfolded, gagged, and her hands were bound behind her. It took a full minute for her to think past the pounding in her head. She scooted backward to ease the tension on her shoulders. Her hands hit rough cement walls and skated down to discover that the chain shackling her wrists together behind her back were threaded through a metal circle at the base of the wall. The length of chain allowed her to rest on her knees, but it wasn’t long enough to allow her to stand.
She leaned against the wall, but this did nothing to alleviate her cramping muscles. Memories of the nurses passed through her mind. She bared her teeth as rage beat back the fear. If those nurses hurt her mother, she would gut them herself.
She shifted and heard the clink of a chain, which seemed unnaturally loud in the enclosed space. Unlike the cuffs Gavin had used on her earlier, the metal shackles on her wrist were at least three inches thick and no joke. Her watch with the GPS was gone and so was her wedding ring. She was still in her jeans and button up top, but her leather jacket and shoulder holster were gone.
The sound of an agonizing scream reached her ears followed by another. Her heart leaped. Was this Sadist’s torture chamber? Her mouth watered as bile rose. She struggled to swallow since the gag was so tight that her mouth couldn’t close. Her lips ached. She tried to shift the gag out of her mouth by rubbing it against her shoulder. When her neck cramped, she straightened abruptly and let out an infuriated scream.
Fuck Sadist! If he was going to kill her, get it over with! Even as her emotions raged, an image of Nora appeared in her mind. She yanked savagely against the chain. Nora needed her. So did Gavin. Oh, Gavin. He would Hulk out. And Carmen would freak out too. She should have stayed at home like Carmen said, but no, she had to sit by her mother’s bedside and now here she was in... wherever the fuck this was.
She wasn’t sure if seconds, minutes, or hours passed. Her shoulders burned, went numb, and then came to life with a dozen needles stabbing into her, making her moan in pain. She tried to work the gag free without success. She went through every emotion possible, yanking at the chains and growling like a wild animal. When rage obliterated all thought, she finally gave into the tears of helpless rage and then despair.
She heard the jingle of keys and thought she was hallucinating. Then she heard the squeak of a doorknob and a slight gust of wind as the door swung open. Through the blindfold, she saw the faintest hint of light. She balled her hands into fists. Would he stab her to death? Beat the crap out of her or just slit her throat?
She breathed heavily through her nose as she waited. And waited. The screams she heard earlier were loud and piercing now that the door was open. Her heart pounded with dread and fear. She scooted back and then stiffened when the door closed and she was thrown back into complete darkness. What the fuck?
There was no sound in the room. Was a guard checking on her? Someone had the wrong room? She didn’t hear the scrape of a key in the lock. Dizzy with fear, she waited for something to happen. Long minutes passed. She shivered and then moaned as a shaft of pain shot through her arms.
“Lyla.”
The voice came out of the darkness right in front of her. She screamed and reared back so hard that she collided with the wall. It was him—Sadist. She would never forget that soft voice. Her body erupted with goose bumps, and she completely lost her shit. She fought against the chains, desperate to get away from him. Two years had passed since this monster murdered Manny and carved her up. There was no one to save her, just like last time. This was it. This was the end.
“It’s been too long,” Sadist crooned.
She faced the direction his voice emanated from and screamed. If she weren’t bound, she would claw his eyes out and try to kill him with her teeth.
“I must say, I like seeing you like this.”
Of course, he did. He was a sick fuck.
“You know, Lyla, you’re quite fascinating. You have nine lives. You’re my only victim who survived. The cuts I made were fatal, yet here you are.”
Oh, God, he sounded closer. She imagined he had a knife held in front of him that she would impale herself on if she was stupid enough to try to attack him with her arms bound behind her. She tried to get away from him, but there was nowhere to go. She willed the wall to swallow her. She couldn’t be at the mercy of this man twice. God wasn’t that cruel, was he?
“Imagine my surprise when I bribe Gavin’s guards to kill you and, even pregnant, you survive. What are the odds?”
The touch of a smooth hand against her cheek made her stomach revolt. She edged away, but the stupid chains kept her in place. The touch came again, a finger stroking down her cheek and then her neck.
“You’re so beautiful. Everyone sees what you want them to see, but I know better.”
He grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled. Buttons popped off and then rolled across the floor. She scooted back, which did nothing to deter him. He ran his hands over her raised chest scars and hummed in the back of his throat. Her stomach heaved, and she resolutely swallowed. Oh, God. What was he doing?
