Even in his drugged-out state, Gavin could hear the tinge of desperation in the woman’s voice.
Lowering his arm, he tried to make out the vague profile of the young woman sitting on her knees beside his hips. She didn’t sound like the other women who had been eager to use him.
“I wouldn’t have taken your money if I couldn’t. I guarantee all my customers satisfaction. Don’t worry, you’re not going to be around to complain.”
“Taylor, make them go away,” he pleaded.
A sharp smack had him trying to concentrate on Slate’s distorted face staring down over him.
“You want to go home, Reaper? Then you need to do something for me.”
“You’re lying. You won’t let me go.”
“I will. You’re no use to me anymore. I’ll have Ink drive you wherever you want to go. You want to see that bitch of yours again, I can make it happen.”
Gavin didn’t trust Slate as far as he could throw him, and he was so weak now that he couldn’t throw a bar of soap across the room. “You’re lying.”
“What if I’m not? You could be home with Taylor tonight. All you have to do is one thing for me before you go.”
“What is it?” he mumbled.
“You see the girl sitting next to you? Her name is Runner. She wants you to do a favor for her.”
Gavin raised his hand to the bridge of his nose, pinching it, desperately trying find a focal point with the lights blinding him. “What does she want?”
“She wants you to strangle her.”
“No. Go away.”
“If you don’t, Butcher offered to do it for her, but she wants you to do it.”
“No.”
God, why couldn’t he die? He was past praying to be saved. He knew no help was coming. The only thing he prayed for now was death. He didn’t even care if it was an excruciating end, only that there would be a final breath.
Gavin felt a hand on his chest.
“Please. I want you to do it. You hurt as I do. Put me out of my misery. Please, Slate swore to me that he’d let you go.”
“No. Go away. Won’t do it. Won’t ever do it.”
Strong hands gripped his neck, strangling the air out him. “You’re going to do it or so help me God ….”
Wheezing laughter managed to find a way out of his throat. “Do it. Please do it.”
The hands went away.
“You’ve got him so lit—” Slate snarled.
“Don’t blame me for that. You’re the one that told me to.” Butcher’s fear-filled voice moved away from the bed.
“Fuck! Take him back downstairs.”
The woman sitting by his side threw herself on his chest at Slate’s order. “No! He’ll do it.”
Gavin felt hands slap at his face.
“Do it!” she screamed at him.
Gavin stared up at her blankly.
“If you don’t do it … I’ll … I’ll find Taylor and kill her.”
“No.”
“I will. I’ll get Slate to tell me where she is … I’ll kill her. I swear I will.”
Gavin grew cold. She was threatening the woman he loved. Still, he couldn’t give her what she was asking. If the woman was determined to die, she could do it by her own hand. He couldn’t, wouldn’t do it for her.
“Go away … Get yourself help.” Gavin tried to think of something that would make the woman realize how precious life was.
“Better yet,” Slate interjected, “how about I send Ink and Butcher to get her? I can see her becoming a bigger star than you.”
The idea of Taylor being subjected to be the same horror had rage rising in his chest. “I’ll kill you before I ever let you put a hand on her.”
“How can you stop me? Crash will tell me where she is, and you know he’ll do it.”
Slates infuriated face swam into his vision.
“No.”
Slate was pushing his rage like a battering ram, not letting up.
“I will. I’ll make sure I’m the first to fuck her. Then I’ll let Butcher have her. By the time he’s done with her, you won’t even want her anymore. I’ll guarantee that.”
Slate’s laughter sent him off the deep end. Pushed by threatening Taylor, Gavin flayed around, grabbing the neck below Slate’s grotesque mask. Gripping it tighter, he pulled the mask closer.
“Die, die, die, die …,” he screamed the chant over and over.
“You can let her go now, Reaper.”
Gavin opened his eyes at Slate’s voice. The bright light had been turned off, and now the only light was from the bathroom, filling the bedroom.
Confused that Slate was standing at the foot of the bed holding onto the video recorder, Gavin raised his hands to move his hair away from his face so he could see clearly. When he did, something slipped to his side.
His horror-stricken gaze fell to the body of a young woman lying next to him, her eyes open and empty, staring back at him.