Page 25 of Jonas

I dropped and everything went black.

It could’ve been the cold, rough concrete under my cheek, the throbbing in my shoulders, or the weight of a body pressing on my back that had me coming back into consciousness. No wait, it was the screaming—the very feminine, very irate, very loud screeching next to my ear since Derrika was lying on top of me.

“Don’t you dare,” she shrieked.

“Move!” a man demanded.

“Fuck you, asshole, you’ll have to get through me first.”

Was she…protecting me?

My hands were tied behind my back with zip ties. It was an amateur move. If Derrika would roll off of me, I could pop the plastic digging into my skin in two-point-five seconds. I wiggled my fingers, grazed the waistband of her jeans, and as I suspected she was indeed using her body as a shield. Derrika’s body went from loose to stiff in the blink of an eye—not that my eyes were open to blink. I hadn’t so much as cracked them open as I waited to get my bearings.

“Miss Hart.” A second voice entered the fray, this one calmer, more refined. “If you would please come sit back down so we can finish⁠—”

“Finish?” Derrika interrupted. “We haven’t begun, asshole. And we won’t unless you untie me so I can see to my friend.”

Jesus.

The woman was trying to protect me.

“You know that’s not going to happen,” the man returned.

“Well then it sucks for you because I’m not talking until I know my friend is safe.”

I didn’t need time for her words to sink in. They burrowed into my skin like the tip of an arrow, leaving pain in their wake. No one other than my teammates had ever had my back. And right then Derrika had it—literally. She was lying over me, how she got there and the circumstances that put her there, were a mystery. But I could guess. I was nothing more than a helpless unconscious body and she didn’t like that much.

“Miss Hart⁠—”

“Go fuck yourself with that Miss Hart crap. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know as soon as I know my friend is safe. Untie me so I can check on him, then I’ll leave with you and sing like a canary.”

Was she insane?

Not the sing like a canary part, I didn’t believe that for a second. But this crazy woman would offer herself in exchange for my safety, which made me hark back to what Nebraska had warned us about.

My fingers curled into the waistband of her jeans, silently making my feelings known on her attempt. This unfortunately didn’t deter her or her mouth for long.

“I could teach you some manners,” the first man rejoined.

“You could try,” she snapped. “But you’d fail.”

Good Christ. She was going to get herself killed before I could assess what we were working with. At least two men, cool room, concrete floor. Other than that, I was flying blind. I had no idea how long I’d been out. But I did know that Cooper and Kira would’ve alerted the team. It was only a matter of time before backup arrived.

Now to keep Miss Mouthy quiet long enough for me to get a better understanding of what we were working with.

I groaned loud enough for anyone in the room to hear. Derrika’s response was immediate and comical—or it would’ve been if the knee between my legs that she jammed into my thigh to get me to shut up wasn’t dangerously close to a part of my anatomy I was particularly fond of.

I grunted. Her knee dug in harder.

“Good, the big guy’s waking up,” guy number one sneered. “Now how about your first lesson.” With that came a boot to my kidney. “Get the fuck up and mind your mouth.”

My eyes shot open, my gaze landed on nothing but a white wall. A cool glow to the room told me the room was windowless. The pain-filled grunt from the steel-toed boot to my side sounded more like a growl. I could think of Derrika as mouthy but hearing some motherfucker who had snatched us for reasons I could not only guess but was certain had to do with Delcon since he was calling her Miss Hart made me want to shove my fist down his throat until he choked on it.

Derrika, however, was undeterred.

“You think to kick him again, not only will I die before I tell you what you want to know, I’ll claw your eyes out when I’m free.”

Jesus.