Page 49 of Tico

The first crack of the whip against Ryan’s back tears an enraged scream out of him, but I don’t stop. I keep going. Crack after crack until his head drops and his body goes limp.

Tico looks over at Psycho who grabs a bucket, lifts the bag of ice out of it and a moment later, dumps it over Ryan’s head. I walk back around to the front as Ryan sputters.

“It would be wise to answer me, Ryan.”

Still, the asshole refuses to talk.

Another whimper slips out from one of the men at the end, Bones. I walk over to him and stop in front of him, cocking my eyebrow.

“Care to share with the class, Bones?”

“S-Shut the f-fuck up, Bones!” Ryan stutters out.

Bones hesitates but eventually nods, ignoring Ryan’s threats. “I don’t know his real name, but he goes by the name ‘the Collector’.”

A chill goes down my spine as my muscles lock up and I struggle to keep my face neutral.

I knowexactlywho he is talking about.

And there never would be a ‘handing me back over to Scooter’ scenario.

No, if the Collector ever got his hands on me, I’d never see daylight again.

Chapter 25

Tico

Ember’sbodygoesstockstill at the name ‘the Collector’. I look over at Wire and he dips his chin, silently telling me that he’ll dig into it.

I walk forward and stand next to Ember.

“What else can you tell us about the Collector? When was the exchange supposed to happen?”

Once again, Bones hesitates. Wire had dug into all of their identities last night and this kid? He’s a Prospect and was almostready to patch in. Just twenty-three years old. But then Wire found out he joined the Chrome Vipers willingly. That…that signed his death sentence.

“It was supposed to happen this upcoming Friday night. After the fight you were supposed to have. His men were supposed to grab you on your way home.”

Ember reaches into my back pocket, grabs my brass knuckles and stomps back over to Ryan before delivering a wicked right hook to his jaw.

“You three really are fucking brainless, aren’t you? If the Collector had gotten his hands on me, there would be no fucking ‘handing me over to Scooter in a month’. I would haveneverseen the light of dayeveragain. And when the Collector used up my body, I would have been buried somewhere on his massive estate just like everyone else he used up,” she seethes.

I narrow my eyes. She knows who he is? I glance over at Daemon but even he seems confused. How does Ember know the Collector or knows of him?

“I’ll m-make sure the Masters hear everything about your b-betrayal when the c-calvary comes,” Ryan spews but he and the others should know that they’re never getting out of here alive. Unfortunately though, his threat works and Bones clams up.

Ember’s right hand trembles slightly at her side, my brass knuckles hanging loosely in her hand. The skin around her knuckles is already reddening and I curse inwardly.Chingar(fuck). Those brass knuckles were made specifically for me which means they’re too big for her. Resolving to check on her hand later, I take my knife off the table and walk back over to Ryan, slicing off his grungy boxers so that he’s completely naked.

“You are going to tell me everything about that deal and anything else I want to know, otherwise you and I will be spending a lot ofqualitytime together.”

Ryan spits at me, but I step back in time to avoid it.

“I’ll n-never talk. It w-won’t be long until they c-come for us, and when they d-do, I’ll enjoy m-making you p-pay for this. Once the C-Collector is here, I’ll make s-sure you have a front row s-seat for when he claims her v-virginity in front of you.”

He laughs but it’s soon cut off with another cry of pain as I grip his mediocre dick in my gloved hand and slice it right off.

Daemon steps forward without me asking to and cauterizes the wound with the torch. The added pain of the torch causes Ryan to pass out again. I sigh with irritation but step back so that Psycho can dump another bucket of ice water over him.

Ignoring Ryan’s sputtering as he comes too, I look at the other six captives. “Anyone else care to talk?”