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e one sound, one fucking sound , I will slit your throat and leave your miserable carcass out here for the crows to pick over," I snarled.
He snorted, like he didn't believe that I'd actually make good on my threat, so I nicked him with my knife. He hissed with pain and surprise, so I cut him again, a little deeper this time.
"What did I say about making a sound?"
The guy finally realized that I was as mean, heartless, and crazy as I claimed to be and swallowed down the scream that was rising in his throat. Pain filled his hazel eyes, along with fear. Good. That would make this easier.
"Gin?" Warren asked. "What are you doing?"
"There's some duct tape in my backpack," I said, not really answering his question. He'd figure it out soon enough. "Hand it to me, please. "
Owen stepped forward and walked around me. A zipper sounded, and he reached into the bag, which was still on my back, and rifled through the items inside. A moment later, he zipped the bag back up and handed me the duct tape. He didn't say a word the whole time. Good. I didn't want him to. I didn't want anything to distract me from what I had to do now.
I kept my eyes on the guy on the ground. "If you make one sound that I don't like, one small snort or grunt or fart, I will cut your throat quicker than you can blink. "
The guy started to nod but thought better of it as my knife kissed his throat again. He swallowed, his Adam's apple scraping against the blade.
Warren kept his rifle trained on the man while I wrapped the tape around the guy's hands and ankles, trussing him up so he couldn't run away.
When the guy was secure and no longer a threat, Owen helped me haul him up and onto his feet. By this point, the guy was shooting daggers at me with his eyes, but I ignored his sullen glares. He had no idea how much more he was going to hate me before this was all said and done.
"As you've probably guessed by now, we are not hikers," I said. "We're here for the woman Grimes kidnapped this morning. We want her back, and you're going to help us with that. "
The guy snorted again. I casually swiped my knife across his left arm. His mouth opened, and he started to yelp with pain, but I slowly waggled the bloody blade in front of his eyes.
"Not a sound . Remember?"
He winced, but he choked down his scream and slowly nodded.
I flipped the knife over, so that I was holding it by the bloody blade, then held the weapon up where he could see it, along with the spider rune stamped into the hilt.
"Now, tell me, have you ever heard of the Spider?"
The guy's gaze flicked over me again, taking in my dark clothes, his blood on my knife, and the cold, cold expression on my face. His eyes widened again, and he nodded much faster this time.
"Good. So I can assume that I don't have to bother explaining exactly who I am and what I do?"
Another nod, this one even quicker and more enthusiastic. Sometimes it was good to be notorious and feared.
"Well, this is your lucky day, because you get to see me in the flesh. More important, you get to be helpful. You do want to be helpful, don't you?"
By this point, the guy's head was snapping up and down faster than I could talk, and the rest of his body trembled in time to the rapid, jerky motions.
"Excellent. Because now we're all going to go for a little walk in the woods. " I looked at Warren. "Where's this other trail you were talking about?"
He pointed to the west.
"Lead the way, then. "
Warren nodded and stepped off the main trail and into the woods. Owen stopped long enough to pull a gun out of his backpack, then followed him. I slapped a piece of duct tape over my prisoner's mouth, so he wouldn't scream for his buddies and give away our position. Then I gestured toward the trees.
"Move. "
The guy hesitated.
"Walk or die - your choice. "
Maybe it was the threat of violence, or maybe it was the absolute chill in my eyes, but the guy swallowed, shuffled forward, and slowly fell into step behind Owen.
