“Enough,” Raymond’s voice freezes the air. Before I cannotice, he’s standing next to me. Pain zaps down my body. My bones rattle as he pumps electricity from the taser connected to my arm. I writhe on the floor. I hear shouts, pleas. My body gives out.
Everything goes dark again.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Crowded Rooms and Calculated Takedowns
Elliot
My world stops. Nicholas's body stills, the violent shaking finally ceasing after excruciating minutes. I try to reach for him, but Raymond’s words stop me in my tracks. “Don’t fucking move if you don’t want a repeat performance.”
My gaze stays on him, eyes stinging. The walls close in on me. The feeling of being trapped intensifies. Watching his happy face look slack, helpless, finally breaks me. Why did I argue with Raymond? Knowing full well I have no power here. Knowing not just my but Nicholas’s life is completely under his control right now.
I watch Nicholas lying on the filthy floor, body unmoving, and finally give up. I can’t win here. I lost the minute I entered through the door, grossly unprepared. My gaze flickers to Raymond, standing next to Nicholas’s defenseless body. “Please…pleaselet him go.” I can barely hear my own voice over the static filling my ears.
Raymond laughs, stepping away from Nicholas. I take a relieved breath, but stay put. I can’t give him more reasons to hurt Nicholas.
“Oh, Eli boy. You know I can’t, not when we’ve just started having some fun.”
I have to convince him. I need to get everyone out. Sloan and Bree haven’t woken up since Adrian carried them inside, already unconscious. I have no idea how he managed to incapacitate two combat-trained werewolves in seconds. They also somehow defeated Nicholas and Matt.
I don’t have the time to riddle that out now. Keep Raymond happy. That’s all I need to worry about, even if that has never helped me before.
No, I can’t think of all the times I’ve watched him systematically kill everyone I loved. Not right now. Not when Nicholas lies there defenseless. All because ofme.
I need to make sure he gets out with all his friends, even if that’s the last thing I ever do.
“You wanted me here. I’m here. Just let them go,” I plead, voice just as broken as I feel.
Raymond sighs with disappointment, shaking his head. “You were always like this, even when you were little. Righteous. When you teamed up with that nerd friend of yours and started shaking up these upright pricks.” He points towards Nicholas and Matt. “I thoughtfinally. Finally, you understand what it feels like. The rush. The need.” He sighs again. “But you’re still the same crying and snotting little boy pleading with me to let them go.”
I hear footsteps receding, but I don’t pay them any attention. My entire world narrows in on Raymond’s words. Every word sets my nerves on edge. My heart barrels against my chest.
“You’ve been watching me?” I whisper.
He tilts his head as if surprised. “Of course, I’ve been watching you. It was entertaining, even if your murders were cowardly at best. I was jealous that they gave you a name too. Vigilante Wolf Hunter, a little too wordy, isn’t it?”
His words fade away, my mind stuck on one sentence.Of course, I’ve been watching you.Because then he knows what Nicholas is to me. He could have finished me at any point. I’m sure he was not worried about hiding bodies. In fact, I have no doubt he’d been sating his bloodlust since he left myhometown.
No, he chosenow. He was waiting, biding his time until he could find the perfect time and reason to destroy me completely. Nicholas is not making it out of here, is he? No.No. I cannot go there. I need to make a plan.Any plan.
Adrian. Right, he sounded doubtful. I can convince him to save Nicholas, Matt, Sloan, and Bree. Once they’re out, I know they’ll get Raymond. He won’t make it far, especially if he finishes his job this time around.
My gaze sweeps the room for Adrian, but he’s nowhere to be found.
Raymond, angry at my lack of response, stomps over and kneels in front of me.
I freeze. He always used to do that. Get down to my level. Give me a false sense of power. Like we’re equals.
“So tell me, Eli boy, which one would you save? The lover? Or everyone else?”
His presence fills my entire vision. Like a nightmare I can’t wake up from. It’s so overbearing that I almost miss Adrian coming back inside the room.
My mind races with Raymond’s words. Will he really let Nicholas go if I choose him? Will Nicholas ever forgive me if I let his friends die? How will I ever face Oliver?
But I may never have to. And Nicholas will get to live. With the burden of his friends’ deaths weighing on him. But he’ll live. Will he, though? Even if Sam knows I’m here with Nicholas and Matt. And he might have seen Sloan and Bree come in, he’s helpless here. He’s the brains, not the brawn. That was supposed to beme.
I’ve been a reluctant part of enough of Raymond’s games to know he will not let Nicholas go. Especially this time, because he knows Nicholas will come for him if he walks away.
