I turn, unable to handle the force of the cold water against my chest and allow my back to take the brunt of the pain. The hose travels up and down, and I flinch as they send the water shooting between my legs. They laugh, my misery their greatest pleasure.
Felicity’s dried blood washes from my body as I drop to the ground, crying in pain as I fall onto my sore wrist, my skin turning an angry shade of red. They step in closer and grab my arm, flipping me over to make sure they get every little crevice of my body.
The water blasts against my face and my arms shoot up, desperately trying to protect myself as I listen to their howling laughs. The blasting water slams against my head, washing out the filth that’s matted into my hair over the past few days, and it’s the most horrendous thing I have ever endured. The pressure is insane, and it feels as though the water could literally fracture my skull.
Their relentless torture continues until the water rushing off me finally runs clear, but the water doesn’t stop, it’s simply redirected toward my cell where he hoses down Felicity’s decaying body and clears away the blood staining the floor.
The guard who grabbed me steps in closer and curls his hand around my arm, yanking me to my feet. “Would you look at that,” he mutters, his gaze dropping down my clean, wet body as I stand before him looking like a drowned rat. “You might have a little something to offer me after all.”
Dread sinks into my chest as he laughs and reaches for his belt buckle. “It’d be a shame to let you go without test driving you first.” A cocky grin stretches over his lips as he glances back over his shoulder at his colleague. “What do you think, Jase? Should we take her for a ride?”
The other guy laughs. “I don’t see why not? After all, we’ve been stuck out here in the desert for weeks and I’ll be damned if I don’t get something out of it.”
Hell to the motherfucking no. Not today, assholes.
My gaze sweeps around the cells as my heart thunders in my chest, but nothing scares me more than the soft jingle of his belt coming undone. I glance up at the top of the stairs as he grips onto my waist, his fingers digging into my raw skin. “Don’t even think about running,” he spits. “There’s nowhere you can go where I won’t find you.”
My hand stretches out as he grabs the top of my soaking pants. “Now spread those fucking legs.”
My fingers curl around the old iron key left in Ariana’s cell door, and I yank it out just moments before swinging my arm in a shallow arc, remembering Marcus’ finest lesson—when in doubt, aim for an artery. I stab the blunt tip of the old key right through the side of his neck, needing every bit of strength I have to pierce through his thick layer of skin.
The key sinks deep into his neck until it has nowhere else to go, and I clench my jaw as his eyes go wide, barely registering what the fuck just happened. A fierce battle cry tears out of me, and with every bit of determination I have, I rip the key out again, the metal prongs on the side tearing through his flesh like butter.
Blood spurts from his artery, splattering right across the dirty, wet cells, turning me a sickening shade of bright red. I can’t help but think of Marcus. He lives for this kind of shit, and I know he’d be proud, but now is not the time to dwell.
Blood soaks me as he slams his hand against his neck, his face turning white. It happens so quickly that the guy with the hose barely has a second to look over his shoulder before his colleague is dropping to his knees.
“Fuck,” I grunt, having to move fast as the other guy drops the fire hose and sprints toward me. I fall with the bleeding guy and hope he has some kind of weapon on him, but I get nowhere before the other man is on me, the pressure from the wild hose sending it flying around like a disaster waiting to happen.
He yanks me up, gripping my arm so tight that it cuts off my circulation. He spins me and slams my chest against the metal bars. “My, oh my. You are a feisty little thing, aren’t you?” he purrs, leaning into me, letting me feel his excitement pressing up against my ass. “Giovanni isn’t going to like—oomph.”
My ass slams back against his junk and he buckles, loosening his hold just enough for me to slip out of his grasp. “Fuck, you little bitch,” he roars as I spin around and slam my knee up hard enough to crush his balls.
“That was for my fucking wrist, asshole,” I spit as I dash back, skipping over his dead colleague and splashing my bare feet down into the pool of blood beneath him.
Every little nerve within me screams to head for the stairs and break free of this fucked-up little dungeon, but I can’t get there without putting myself right in the line of fire, and I can’t leave this dungeon until he stops breathing. It’s a desert outside these walls, and I won’t survive out there, not with him coming after me. So instead, I race in the opposite direction to where the wild hose is flying around the back of the cells.
The blasting water sprays around the cell, soaking everything in its path, its reckless pressure making it fly around like a blow-up air dancer outside a used-auto dealership. I race for it, momentarily putting me right in its path. The water blasts across my chest and I suck in a loud gasp, pushing through the stabbing pain as I dart out of its way.
My hands grip the nozzle and I put my weight over it to try and control its wild flailing before turning it on the fucker who sprayed me in the first place. He stands crouched by the stairs, gripping the railing to keep from falling as he groans in agony, his balls hopefully shredding inside his pants. His jaw clenches and he glares at me with a ferociousness that would have any woman trembling, but I’ve got the upper hand here and I will not back down, not now.
With his balls crushed, there’s nowhere for him to go, and I don’t miss my opportunity. Turning the violent spray on him, I push the little lever as far as it goes, upping the pressure and slamming it directly into his chest. The momentum pushes him back, whooshing him right off his feet until his back rams up against the metal bars.
His high-pitched scream tears through the basement, the sound absolutely sickening, but I don’t dare relent as I struggle to hold onto the thick hose, the pressure threatening to lift me off my feet. Instead, I put everything I have into it as I move closer toward him, the water keeping him pinned to the bars.
His scream is blood curdling and guilt fires through me, but assholes like this don’t deserve to live, especially if it’s a me or him type situation. I have to end him.
Drawing on every last bit of my DeAngelis vibes, I raise the nozzle of the hose and watch as the spray of water slams over his face. He instantly starts choking on the water, blubbering, and trying to catch a breath around it, but I don’t stop, knowing damn well that given the chance, he sure as fuck would have tried the same thing on me. Hell, if they didn’t have orders from Giovanni to prepare me for a buyer, then I probably would have already suffered the same fate.
Holding the hose still burns my muscles, but I fight against it, my determination winning out as his blubbering and cries slowly begin to fade. His hands droop but just to be sure, I keep the hose aimed at his face a while longer. When I’m finally met with a loud silence, I remove the spray from the guard and watch as he drops to the ground beside his colleague.
The hose sags in my hands as I turn it off, and the loud motor finally falls silent. Fear pounds in my chest as I creep toward the two bodies, waiting for them to spring to life again. “Fucking hell,” I breathe. Two bodies in less than two minutes. The boys will be proud, assuming I ever see them again to tell the story … and assuming they’re still alive, but I have to believe they are. They’re my only hope of survival.
Not knowing what’s going on upstairs, or if there’s even anybody up there, I pat my hands over the guards’ bodies until I finally find what I’m looking for. My fingers curl around the handle of a knife, and I tear it from its holster before cringing. The blade slices through the drowned man’s throat and blood spills like a waterfall over his chest, but I can’t take the chance that he will survive this.
Then grabbing the blood-soaked key, I turn toward the other cells, determined to get us all out of here alive.
5