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Asshole grabbed Cleb by the scruff of the neck and hoisted him off his feet. He brought him up so he stared at him nose to nose.
“Think you’re a big man, do you?” Asshole said with a growl.
Cleb kicked and flailed with his legs but he couldn’t connect with Asshole, who screwed up his fist and would beat Cleb if I didn’t do something. He might even accidentally kill him.
Still a little groggy from his blow, I tasted a little fresh air around the gag and worked it free with my lips.
“Hurt him and you’ll never get your ransom!” I yelled.
Asshole glared. He kicked me in the gut.
I heaved and hurled over the ground.
Asshole peered closer at Cleb, who still had that angry look in his eye. He put him down on his feet.
“You’ve got heart, kid, I’ll give you that,” he said. “But you listen to me, little lord. If you make a fuss, if you make problems for me, I’m going to have to hurt your lady friend here. And you don’t want that do you?”
Cleb’s anger faded instantly. Asshole might have just poured water over a fire.
“There’s a good lad,” Asshole said. “This doesn’t need to be unpleasant. I’ll even let you have one of your toys.”
He held up the one remaining figurine in his hand. It was the main character, Captain Titan. Cleb looked at it with yearning. It wasn’t for the sake of the toy. It was because he wanted Captain Titan to rescue him, or to inhabit the role and become the great spy himself and save the day.
But he was just a little boy.
Asshole tucked it in his pocket.
“You’ll get it when we reach our destination,” he said. “Behave yourself and no one will get hurt.”
Asshole got to his feet and helped me onto mine. He would soon put the gag back in my mouth, so I needed to act fast to say something that might help.
“You don’t need to do this,” I said. “Traes has a lot of money. He’ll pay a lot for us. You don’t need to go one step further.”
“I know he’ll pay,” Asshole said. “But I need to get organized to make sure he doesn’t try to hamstring me.”
“This is between you and me,” I said. “Leave Cleb out of this.”
“Too late,” Asshole said. “You made him a part of this.”
He shoved the gag back in my mouth before I could bite back a response.
What hurt the most was I knew he was right.
Cleb struggled to catch his feet by the time we reached the tower. With my hands restrained behind my back, I couldn’t carry him, so it was left to Asshole.
He grumbled every step of the way and insisted to go to the very top of the tower. It gave good views over the surrounding area. But we had no food, no water, so I doubted we would be there for long.
I sat with my back to the wall. It felt cold, craggy, and damp but if it meant I could support and hold Cleb in my lap, so be it.
I wished there was some way I could escape, some way I could rise to the occasion, but with my hands tied behind my back and Cleb to think about, what could I do?
I had to wait for the right opportunity to present itself. In the end, it was Traes and Waev who held the advantage. They blew a hole in his chest three inches wide. The plasma bolt was so powerful it scorched the stone wall.
Asshole lay there, his unblinking eyes staring at me. His features curled up into a smile of victory.
Yes, he might have failed in kidnapping us, and yes, he was now dead, but the effect he had on me, Cleb, Traes, and our futures was absolute.
I would bear this black mark on my conscience for the rest of my life.
