You won’t win.
“I’d like to ask you a question before you torture and kill me,” she said.
“Go ahead.”
“Who’s buried in your cemetery?”
He pulled her from the floor and shoved her back in the chair, then dragged another over, spun it around, and sat across from her. “The twelve women who tried to stop me.”
Fury burbled from the depths of her soul.
“They failed. I won,” he continued. “Do you know why?”
“Because you’re King A.”
“Yes! And Ialwayswin.”
“You said I was always nice to you, so I’m going to ask for a favor,” she continued. “Just one.”
“You want me to let you go, don’t you?”
“No,” Sydney replied. “I want you to release your victim. Lethergo free, then untie me. I’d like the chance to defend myself. We both know you’re gonna win, but I would die with some dignity. That would help my mom and dad process their grief.”
The prisoner tied to the cross choked back a sob. Though Sydney had her back to her, she could feel her pain and her desperation from across the room.
His eyes widened and he stared at her for the longest time. “Why would you do that? Why wouldn’t you ask for yourself?”
“I signed up for this job,” she said. “There are inherent risks in what I do.”
“What exactly do you do?” he asked.
“I hunt down and eliminate the scum of the earth,” she answered matter-of-factly. “And I’m the one who’s been hunting you.”
Anger and hatred billowed from his eyes. “I’m going to put all my energies into making you wish you’d never found me. I hope you have a high pain threshold, cousin, ‘cause you’re gonna need it.”
A rush of fear and hatred filled her.
Sydney heard a sound coming from upstairs, like the cry of the wind whispering in her ear.
Come on, baby. I’ve stalled him for as long as I could.
TEDDY
Teddy steppedon the metal ladder fully expecting it to buckle under his weight. When it didn’t, he took a step down, and another. He had no idea what he was walking into, but he was confident it wasnotgood.
Whoever was down there had Sydney, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to get her out of there alive.
Whatever it fucking takes.
At the bottom rung, he pulled his Glock, strode toward the closed door. When he yanked it open, he paused to take in the room, and a fury he’d never known turned his blood to ice in his veins.
Wearing his freakish white mask, King A had Sydney in a choke hold, the tip of his blade digging into her neck. A trickle of blood seeped from her throat.
“Put down your gun,” King A rasped, “or she gets a one-way ticket to hell.”
Teddy set his Glock on the floor.
“Kick it over here,” King A said.
