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“What are you talking about?”
Jefferies jerked his head to me, seeming to have forgotten I was there. The man loved to lecture. Maybe if I played it right, I could get him to give me a Hade Harbor history lecture and buy time. It was worth a shot. The man loved the sound of his own voice.
“The real power in Hade Harbor isn’t rich assholes like Soren Anderson. My family line can be traced back to the founders. We aren’t the same. You couldn’t understand.In tenebris prosperamus.”
The Latin phrase lodged in my mind like a splinter, making me curious, though I hardly had time to think about it right now. I had to distract Jefferies.
“Try me,” I protested.
Jefferies’ lips split into a wide grin. “Oh, I’m planning to. Why don’t we get started?”
He pulled the knife from his belt again, and my words to try and distract him died on my lips.
He approached with the knife and trailed it down my cheek. His eyes leaped to mine. He wanted to see fear there. Perversely, I was determined not to show him even a second of it. I’d ruin his sick fun however I could.
He moved the blade past my throat, my collarbone, and down my sternum until he reached the top button of my waitressing uniform. The cutesy 1950s pinup style that still had real buttons. He slipped the knife under the first one and sliced it off. The button pinged somewhere in the darkness.
“One down…” Jefferies said softly.
I tried to tune him out. I couldn’t fight back right now. My hands and feet were tied too well. I’d tested them as roughly as I could have when he’d gone upstairs. My only choice was to wait until he cut me free. If he was going to rape me, he’d have to free my legs, at least. I had to wait.
I focused on controlling my breathing. I tried to keep it steady as he cut off another button. The shirt gave around my chest, opening enough to reveal the tops of my breasts, encased in white lace.
“Now, it’s getting interesting, isn’t it, Eve?” Jefferies said.
I focused on his face, really seeing him for the first time. Some girls in class thought he was handsome, but I never had. Now that I saw him up close, I saw that I was right. His beard was neat, his teeth even, but his eyes were ugly. They shone right through to his damaged soul, and I’d never seen anything uglier. It made him disgusting.
“Come on, Eve. This is no fun if you don’t say something,” he goaded and pressed the knife to the slope of my breast. “Should I see if I can make you make a sound?”
Just then, the muffled doorbell rang again.
“Motherfucker!” Jefferies stood angrily and swiped his hair back. He stared down at me for a long moment. “Fuck it. I’m not answering.”
The doorbell rang again, and a hard knock sounded.
“Maybe they’ll look around the back if they can’t find you,” I pointed out and slanted my eyes to the windows.
Jefferies scowled but turned and headed upstairs. I let out a shuddering breath as I was once again alone in the basement.Fuck.What was I going to do? A tear dripped down my cheek.
I should have waited for Beckett. I should have let him take me home. I should have accepted his apology the other night and not been so proud. I’d wanted to forgive him, but my damn damaged pride had gotten in the way. I always had to do everything the hard way.
A quiet tapping stopped me from bursting into sobs. Was Jefferies back already?
I stifled my tears and twisted around as much as I could to see where the tapping was coming from.
My heart all but jumped to my throat. There was a dark shadow at the window, crouching next to it and peering through. A terrifying white mask was pressed against the glass. I nearly screamed but kept it together. The dark shape was pushing on the glass, trying to get it to open. Seeming to realize that it wasn’t going to work, they stood.
No! Don’t go!
But they weren’t going. Instead, a fist wrapped in dark material slammed against the glass, making a muffled sound. Once, and then one more time, and the glass fell inward, tinkling softly as it hit the dirt floor.
The arm forced inside the hole and cleared the rest of the glass out, making a barely passable space. The next thing I knew, the dark shape had lowered themselves through the gaping window frame, holding their entire body weight by bracing one hand on the window ledge.
I only knew one person that strong.
Hope leaped in my heart, and I couldn’t look away as the big, tall man dropped to the floor. As soon as he straightened, I knew I was right. I could recognize Beckett with my eyes closed.
He strode to me, his white hockey mask costume no longer scary, and reached for me.
