Page 87 of Finn

I woke up groggy and disoriented. The feel of fingers running down my cheek made me sigh as I sifted through my foggy brain.

“I must have had a nightmare,” I mumbled, wondering why my voice sounded so scratchy.

“Oh no,” a voice said, sounding amused. “Your nightmare is just beginning, sister.”

I sat up, every nerve in my body screaming terror as I jerked away from the fingers on my skin. In front of me was the man I had seen before. The one who’d frightened me with just a look. Up close, he was even more terrifying. His eyes were dead. Emotionless. Emanating from him was malice. Pure evil. He was older, his hair slicked back, and unattractive. Everything about him oozed danger.

I scrambled back, hitting a wall and looking around, confused and dazed. Scared.

Brian was leaning against the opposite wall, looking smug. Beside him was a man his age who looked like the person crouching in front of me.

“Brian?” I whispered, searching my mind. The events of this morning hit me. The apartment. Tom. Brian and the gun. Calling Finn and the words Brian had used before hanging up and tossing my cell phone to the bed. “You won’t be needing that anymore.” Then he’d shoved the gun into my back and told me I was going with him.

I had tried to struggle, and he shook his head. “The easy way or the hard way, Una. You come with me, no one else gets hurt. You struggle, and I will shoot every person who looks our way.”

I thought of Mrs. Meyers down the hall whom I often saw. My neighbor Emily. The super and his kind wife.

“I’ll behave.”

“See that you do.”

We took the stairs, waving at Mrs. Meyers across the lobby as he pushed me out the back door, his gun jammed into my back. I struggled with him at getting into the trunk, and before I knew what was happening, I felt pain on the back of my head, and the world went black.

Now, I was in a dark room. With three men who all threatened me in different ways.

My brother looked unconcerned. “I can’t help you, Una. It’s you or me, and this time, I’m choosing me.” He pushed off the wall. “You’ll figure it all out. You always do.”

He sauntered away and disappeared around the corner.

“Who—who are you?” I asked the man still crouched in front of me. He eyed me like a piece of meat, his gaze cold.

“Your future.”

Fear twisted around my spine, and I felt nauseous. My head ached and I was cold. I pulled my arms around my waist, horrified to realize my ankle was chained to something.

“Please. I know someone who will pay you. Whatever you want,” I begged, knowing my words were true. Finn would do anything to get me back safely.

He stood, staring down at me. “The great Finn?” He began to laugh. “He is of no use to you anymore.”

I swallowed. He began to pace back and forth in front of me, mumbling, talking to the younger man still leaning against the wall, eyeing me with disdain.

“Is she what you really want, Uncle?”

“Yes, Juan. Almost perfect.”

I blinked. Juan. This was Brian’s roommate?

“I’m sure she’ll be perfect once the Russians are done with her.”

“Uncle” laughed. “Oh, she will be.”

“Wh-what?”

“You’re not ready for me yet. You will be in a few months.”

“No,” I gasped, shaking my head. “No.”

“See that right there? Your denials and pleas will be removed. Your thoughts and desires will be gone. You’ll live to serve me. Only me.”