Keystone (Crossbreed #1)(82)
Darius inclined his head, and a smile touched his lips. One of the men yanked me to the right and shoved me into an empty room.
When I saw the lone chair in the center and a fireplace on the left with a fire going, I backed as far away from them as I could get.
“You said he wanted to speak with me!” I shouted. “Darius!”
“Oh, you’ll get to talk to him,” the big guy said, closing the door. “Just as soon as we’re done asking you a few questions.” He nodded at his partner. “Tie her up.”
The smaller guy was afraid of my fangs, and knowing this, I forced them out and smiled at him. He came at me, arms wide, and I sidled to the left. There wasn’t a single piece of furniture in the room aside from the chair, so that left me with no weapons.
Except for the two in my mouth.
I stood close to the wall and bent my leg to anchor my foot against it, bracing myself to launch at him. His eyes widened when he drew nearer.
“Move it along, Kevin. We don’t have all day.”
“Then why don’t you get over here,” Kevin bit out.
His hands moved close together, and I could see his plan of attack was to grab hold of my neck. He took one tiny step forward and lunged.
I dropped my foot, and instead of attacking him, I channeled my Mage energy and spun multiple times to the right. I flashed across the room, stepped up onto the chair, and drop-kicked the big guy right in the chest.
He wheezed as the air slammed out of him, and I crashed to the floor at the same time he hit the wall. The landing hurt since my hands were still cuffed. Ignoring the pain, I was scrambling toward the door to open it when Kevin grabbed me in a viselike grip, dragging me backward.
I kept my legs stiff, refusing to sit when he tried to move me by force. The air and blood cut off from my head, making my limbs weak.
“Get up, Declan! I can’t hold her for long,” Kevin shouted.
Declan crawled to his feet, one hand on his chest, and stalked forward. With brute force, he kicked my legs out from beneath me and shoved me to a seated position. Then he sat on my lap to keep me still while Kevin wrapped a tight cord around my body, strapping me to the chair before I could sink my teeth into Declan’s back. Both of my ankles were tied to the chair legs, but those bindings didn’t feel as secure.
When Declan finally stood up, he wiped his brow and strode to the fireplace. A log snapped as he gripped the handle of an iron poker and withdrew it from the flames. The metal had a dull glow that made me straighten up in my chair.
“I have a few questions to ask, and you’re going to cooperate, aren’t you?”
I won’t die from this. I won’t die from this, I kept repeating in my head.
He loomed over me with the hot tool. “Who do you work for?”
“I’m self-employed.”
I clenched my teeth when the poker neared my face.
Declan scanned my body. “Too bad you’re wearing that sweatshirt. All that clothing doesn’t leave me with many options of where to put this.”
He flicked a glance at the man behind me, who gripped my hair and held my head back.
When the tip of the poker seared my neck, I jerked violently.
He lowered the torture device and glanced at his friend. “You’re going to need to hold her head tighter.”
Kevin’s hand covered my forehead, and I found myself unable to look away. “Don’t you burn me with that,” he warned Declan.
“I’m not telling you anything,” I snarled. “The only person I want to speak with is Darius, so call him in here.”
He bent down, holding the rod close enough that I could feel the heat. “Who do you work for?”
“No one. I’m a rogue. Why would I be walking around with a duffel bag full of dirty clothes if I had a job?”
“Wrong answer.”
He lowered the flat end of the poker until it branded my left cheek. I screamed, slipping into a primal state of survival. The pain was unfathomable—sharp and real, pulling me right into the moment. My eyes watered, and my skin pulsed with searing pain that intensified with each passing second. He stood up, watching me writhe and bare my teeth like an animal caught in a trap. Tears were streaming down my face, reawakening the fresh pain that continued to burn as if he had never removed the iron.
Oh God, I can’t survive this. Now I knew why men cried for their mothers when dying on the battlefield. I just wanted someone to make it stop, to get me out of there.
Kevin let go, and as I sat there and sobbed, I became incensed that these two men were standing there watching me and laughing. I jolted forward, tipping the chair and sinking my fangs into Declan’s thigh. The momentum tore my teeth down his pants, cutting through his flesh in the process.
He bellowed in pain, but I barely heard it over my own roar. When I hit the ground, Declan stumbled backward, almost losing his footing. If he kicked me in the legs, I didn’t feel it. I wriggled my body, trying desperately to loosen the ropes—the smell of burning flesh sending me over the edge.
“Dammit, pick her up!” Declan shouted.
Kevin wasn’t a threat to me; he was more of an annoyance. Men who couldn’t think for themselves would spend the rest of their lives as followers. Declan… Well, he had officially penned his name in my book of people I wanted to destroy.
They righted my chair, and my chest heaved as I tried to capture a satisfying breath. The taste of his blood in my mouth made my stomach twist into painful knots.