Blood Bonds(The Bonds That Tie #3)(17)

Davies steps back up to his tool desk and then sweeps a dramatic hand towards the table. “Help our guest up onto the table, and leave her broken Bond over at the restraint point where he can observe all of my hard work.”

I walk over myself, not giving the guards the satisfaction of dragging me, and even though it’s awkward with my restraints, I climb up onto the table. They’re extra cautious when they tie me down, securing the new straps on before they remove the old ones, and I want to scream at them because of course I’m not going to do anything.

Davies is without a doubt stronger than I am. I’m not a freaking idiot.

“No, you’re not. They’re all going to underestimate you, little Render. They’re all going to look at you and see some pretty little girl forever. The only reason they look so worried is because I’ve missed you, you know? When you ran from me… the things I did to the men and women who let you escape, well, it’s become a bit of a legend around here. They don’t understand your power, what you can do… You really will be my weapon, just as soon as I’ve collected all of your Bonds. How many were there again?”

Nothing.

I think of nothing and I pray Kieran is smart enough to think of nothing as well. We might be screwed here, but I can keep—no, don’t let him in, Oli, fuck—nothing.

There’s nothing.

Davies tuts at me, lifting off the top of his desk to reveal what he keeps inside it. I can’t see it from the angle I’m lying at, but I don’t need to. I already know what’s in there, and if he’s brought in anything new… I don’t need to freak myself out over it.

“I have acquired some new tools. I can’t wait to show them to you, but we have time. No matter what your Bond is thinking about getting you out of here, we both know you can’t. I’ve made better plans. Franklin is staying here with you from now on. Did you tell your Transporter that Franklin is also stronger than you are? For now. I’m sure that once I find all of your Bonds, you’ll be stronger than him. I have so many plans for you, but let’s stop talking and start with the fun, shall we?”

He snaps his fingers and the guards all finally clear out, leaving Kieran chained to the restraint point at the other end of the tent where he can see everything that Davies is about to do to me.

Fuck, I hope he has a strong stomach, because shit is about to get rough.





Chapter Six





Oli


The obsession that Davies has with his set of knives is disturbing. I have to remind myself that he’s absolutely getting off on prolonging his fondling of them in the tool desk. The sounds they make as he runs his fingers along the handles are like the world's most twisted and macabre bells, warning me of all of the pain he’s about to put me through.

“There’s something I need to discuss with you before we start, something that you gave to one of the women in the shower block yesterday. The cameras can see you both interact but not what you handed her. Tell me what it is, and I’ll refrain from killing the girl.”

I think of nothing.

Blackness.

Inky nothingness in a desolate and barren wasteland of oblivion.

Nothing makes Davies angrier than my faultless ability to empty my brain out. He had no idea that one of my fathers, Vincenzo, had been a Neuro. He was the stay-at-home father with whom I’d spent the most time with, and even as a small child, he’d played this simple game with me—how many different ways can we empty our minds to utter blankness? Even as a very little girl, I’d be quizzed and tested until I could become a calm, blank canvas.

I wonder often if he’d known that someday I’d be facing this man, if my mother’s dreams of oleander flower-filled cribs also showed a madman obsessed with breaking inside my mind to destroy my life, and that’s why Vincenzo had been the one chosen to primarily raise me.

It makes more sense than I want to admit.

Davies picks a knife, the long carving knife that’s sharper than a surgeon's blade, and steps towards me. “These games grow so tiresome, little Render. Must we always play them? The woman is strong enough that we were planning on keeping her, but that’s not all. Her brother is a leading Tac operative, a pain in my ass.”

Her brother is nothing.

Her brother is absolutely nothing.

Nothing.

I am a blank slate of zero thoughts about him.

“Did you meet him in your time away? Is he the reason you gave her something? She’s not going to escape, you know. If you’re hoping Shore will come after you, I can assure you that he might be strong and have tricks up his sleeve, but he’s no match for me.”

I need a subject change, and fast. “I didn’t give her anything. She gave me a job, and I went to check she was okay. I came here in an apron and work sneakers, it’s pretty obvious I’m not lying.”

He grins at me and waves the knife. “Then why is it that a simple, Neuro-gifted woman could make three fully grown men disappear into thin air? Two of them were Shifters and at least twice her size, and when they approached her in the shower block for a little fun… gone.”

It’s easier to be blank about this. I’d already guessed what had happened in the shower stalls, and I’m incredibly glad that I’d been able to get to Kyrie before it happened.