Page 145 of Villainous Intent

“That’s it,” he laughed, the sound distorted through his modulator. “Fight. Makes it better.”

One hand pinned my wrists while the other moved to the fastening of his armored pants. I couldn’t get to my cuff. I couldn’t use it on him.

The metallic sound of a buckle being undone echoed in the tunnel.

“I want to see your face,” Baron Ash rasped. His free hand, clamped onto my mask. “I want to watch the light go out in your eyes properly when I fuck you.”

“No!” I screamed. I didn’t want him to know who I was. I couldn’t let him know.

As Ash yanked on my mask, a brilliant blue arc of electricity discharged from the mask, a hidden security measure. His body went rigid and a strangled sound escaped from behind his faceplate as the current coursed through him.

Instinct, buried deep beneath the drug, took over. I scrambled backward, my bare heels scraping against the concrete. I staggered to my feet and ran, not looking back. I had no idea which way led out, but I knew I had to put as much distance between us as possible before he recovered.

The tunnel walls seemed to breathe and shift as I ran, the floor undulating beneath my feet. I crashed into the wall, bounced off, and kept running. My movements were sloppy and uncoordinated, fueled by pure terror.

Behind me, Baron Ash’s furious bellows echoed off the walls.

“You little bitch! I’m going to tear you apart for that!”

I didn’t look back. I couldn’t afford to. The tunnel lights blurred past me and each footfall sent a spike of pain through my skull, but I pushed through it.

Just keep moving. Find an exit. Find help.

I rounded a corner at full speed, hope surging as I spotted what looked like a service door ahead⁠—

Ash caught the back of my dress, yanking me back hard enough that my feet left the ground. The world spun as he hurled me to the floor. My head bounced against the concrete, sending fresh waves of agony through my skull.

“Thought you could run from me?” Baron Ash raged. “I’m going to make this so much worse for you now.”

I tried to scramble backward, but my limbs wouldn’t cooperate. My vision kept fading in and out, darkness creeping in at the edges. The drug and the probable concussion formed a toxic combination, pulling me toward unconsciousness.

His hand clamped around my ankle and he yanked hard enough that my hip popped. I cried out, but the sound was weak, swallowed by the tunnel.

“Please,” I whispered. It was pathetic and I hated myself for it.

“Begging already?” Ash laughed. “Good. I like the noise.”

He dropped his weight on top of me.

“Now,” he hissed, his faceplate inches from my face. “Let’s see what Cipher is so possessive of.”

His hand moved between us and the sound of tearing fabric echoed in the silence.

I squeezed my eyes shut. No. No. No.

“Look at me!” he roared, grabbing my jaw. “I want you to see who owns you now!”

I opened my eyes, tears blurring my vision.

A blur of black slammed into Ash from the side. The impact was so violent it threw both of them off me. The sound was sickening, like a car crash, metal crumpling against metal.

I gasped, sucking in air, curling into a ball as debris rained down.

Cipher.

He was on top of Ash before the Villain even hit the ground. There was no technique, just animal fury. Cipher’s fists were blurs of motion, raining down blow after blow on Ash’s mask.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.