Yours (18 page)

I pretended to zip up my pants.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Bitch isn’t trained properly,” I said, shrugging in the direction of the cell where Jessica’s friend was still screaming. “El Alfa told me to try with her, but she’s crazy.”

“Oh, that one doesn’t listen at all,” the guard said, peeking into the cell. He slung his gun over his shoulder to pull the door shut. The screams were muffled.

“Hey, do you know where—”

The man’s neck snapped like celery. Again the darkness rose inside of me as I dragged his body into Jessica’s cell with the others.

Two dead. One unconscious. I snapped cuffs on the unconscious man and left him chained up in there with the others. I took one of the machine guns and tucked the extra ammo into my back pocket. They each had pistols and knives. I debated for only a moment before taking one of the knives and tucking it into my belt. The pistols I left in another empty cell.

My motions were quick, automatic. My shirt was still bloody from the cut Jessica had given me, but I didn’t feel hurt at all.

I had a new mission now.

At the top of the stairs, I looked left, then right, and stopped dead.

Valentina was standing there in the hallway, right in front of me. Her eyes tracked the gun on my back.

“Hello, Vale,” she said.

Fuck. I’d hoped to be able to do this mission alone.

“Hey, Valentina,” I said, hefting the gun on its strap.

“You get promoted?” she said, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Something like that,” I said.

She stood with her hands on her hips. I tried desperately not to notice her nipples perking through the gauze dress she was wearing.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

I had to trust her. There was no way around it. I hated being dependent on anyone, especially during a mission that had gotten as fucked up as it already had. But she was the only person in the house who knew who I was, and I had to trust her.

“The two guards downstairs are dead.”

Her eyes went wide with the realization of what I was saying.

“Dead?” At least she had the decency to whisper.

“I killed them. And one more, I don’t know what post he came from.” It could have been one of the perimeter guards, I guessed.

“But the raid isn’t for another two days!”

So she knew about the raid. I took a deep breath and pulled her into the stairwell so that we wouldn’t be caught while I tried to explain.

“I can’t wait for the raid,” I said.

“Why the fuck not?” She sounded pissed, and I didn’t know why, but it wasn’t helping.

“El Alfa was going to ship out the girls tomorrow,” I said. “We can’t wait until the raid.”

“There are always more girls,” Valentina hissed. “You can’t fuck up the timeline. They told us to wait for the raid.”

I frowned.

“I can’t let them go.”

She leaned toward me, fire in her eyes.

“Stop playing savior, or you’re going to get yourself killed! Do you know how many guards there are in this compound?”

I did know. I’d counted.

“Eight on the outside perimeter. Seven now. Ten more asleep. And three downstairs. They’re dead or unconscious.”

“And David.”

“And David.” I’d forgotten about the little bastard. He didn’t have perimeter duty like the other guards.

“And El Alfa.”

“I’m going to kill him right now. Then I’ll clean up the rest.”

“With what? A gun? You’ll raise the whole house!”

“I have a knife.”

“And a machine gun?”

I couldn’t stand any more of her objections. With every second ticking away, Jessica was more likely to be hurt by El Alfa.

“That’s just in case. Listen to me. All the girls upstairs, can you round them up and get them to a safe spot?”

“There isn’t anywhere safe in here.”

“There’s an escape route in El Alfa’s room.”

Valentina sighed, but nodded. I said a quick thanks in my head. I needed her help. I hated needing anything from a woman.

“I know about it. But only he can access the door.”

“We’ll see about that,” I said. “Get them gathered together and ready to go when I say so.”

“I can’t tell the girls what’s going on.”

“Why not?”

“Look,” she said, as though she was explaining things to an idiot. “Some of the girls are loyal to the guards who train them.”

“What?”

“They’ve been brainwashed. I wouldn’t risk my life to save them. You shouldn’t either. This is a crazy plan.” She leaned out back into the hallway and darted a glance around, making sure there was nobody there.

“What about the girls in the cells?” I asked. I was sweating down my neck trying to get Valentina to agree with me. Jessica needed my help
NOW
!

“What about them?” she asked.

“If anyone knows what’s going on, they’ll be the first ones killed.”

Now Valentina looked more than upset with me. She crossed her arms.

“They told me you were in control of this mission,” she said carefully, slowly. “Your job is to kill El Alfa. Not save a bunch of slaves.”

“I can do both.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Really.”

“There’s no saving these girls now. Kill El Alfa, and you’ll save all the ones who’d come after.”

“I’ll do that too,” I said. But I was thinking about Jessica. I wasn’t going to abandon her. But if I was going to save her and kill El Alfa early, I wouldn’t be able to do it myself. I took Valentina’s hand, desperation clutching my fingers tight around hers.

“Valentina, I need your help.”

She blinked. Her mouth opened as if she was going to say something, then closed again. She looked irritated beyond belief, and a little bit scared. For the first time, I wondered if maybe she wasn’t right.

Well, it was too late now.

I put a hand on her arm, and she looked up at me. I was desperate to get upstairs. I didn’t know what El Alfa was doing with Jessica, but if the guards were right, I shouldn’t spend a second more down here. I needed Valentina to be on my side before I went, though.

“Imagine if it was you down there,” I said, letting my fear start to show. “Imagine if—”

“I don’t have to imagine,” she snapped. “I’ve gone through their training.”

“Then help me save the rest of the girls from it.”

She was silent.

“Please,” I said. I was terrible at begging. Before, I’d always managed to get the job done myself. But I couldn’t do that now. Not with Jessica’s life on the line. I knew that I was putting Valentina at risk by including her in this mission, but there was nothing else I could think of that would save the innocent girls in those cells.

“Alright,” she said finally. “What do you want me to do?”

I realized as I let my breath out that I’d been holding it in.

“Stand here. Take this knife. If any guard tries to go down the stairs, kill them.”

“Kill them? How?”

The sound of footsteps coming down the side hall made both of us tense. Valentina ducked her head into the hall, then back quickly. Her face was pale.

“It’s one of the outside perimeter guards,” she whispered.

Looking up at the light above us, I had an idea. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but it was the best shot we had.

“Stay here,” I said, pushing her back into the shadows of the stairwell and to the side. I reached up and unscrewed the light bulb until it flickered out. The bulb was hot, and I swore as I pulled my fingers away, already burned pink.

I palmed the knife in my good hand and stepped out into the hallway.

The guard sidled up to me, caution on his face. Maybe he was wondering where his replacement was. His machine gun was already in his hands. A little better prepared than the other guards, but I hoped that wouldn’t matter.

I wasn’t going to shoot him. That would attract attention, and I didn’t want any more of that.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I think there’s something wrong with this light,” I said, pointing up. He looked up at the dim bulb, and I sliced the blade across his neck and stepped aside.

Blood sprayed out the front of the cut into the stairwell. He was still gurgling as I shoved him down the stairs, into the darkness. You couldn’t see any more of him.

“Just like that,” I said. I turned the knife around and held it up to her, praying she would take it. Jessica was in danger, and I needed to get to her now. “Can you do that?”

“I think I can do that,” Valentina said, taking the knife from me and giving me, finally, an amused smile.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jessica

“What other tricks has your trainer taught you?”

El Alfa circled around me, his hand hovering over the table full of whips and knives. I swallowed hard. I was still locked up by the collar, and I didn’t think I’d be able to fight against him while I was still tied up. He could stay out of my grasp, and use any of the weapons against me. It was almost worse than having my hands tied.

“Well?”

My eyes came back to his. Dark, evil eyes.

“Lots of tricks,” I said, racking my brain for an idea,
any
idea. I’d read so many books that had crazy sex in them, but now my mind was blank.

“Good,” he said. He reached the end of the table without picking up any of the weapons. Thank God for small favors. Now if only I could distract him so that he didn’t need to use them…

My collar felt tight around my throat. It was hard to breathe. The chain hung heavy and pulled at my neck.

“Yes, lots of tricks,” I repeated. My mouth was like cotton.

“Show me.”

Oh, God. I had to do something. I thought of where Vale had first met me. The idea came to my mind in a flash.

“He likes me to dance,” I said, making up the lie as I spoke the sentence. It was a good idea, I realized.

“Dance?”

“Yes,” I said, enthusiasm coming into my voice. “If you unchain me, I can dance for you.”

He eyed me suspiciously. I was being too enthusiastic, I realized. I dulled my face, putting on a blank, stupid expression.

“I like to dance,” I offered up, pretending to be a stupid submissive girl. “I’ll give you a good dance. A lap dance. You understand, a lap dance?” I patted my thighs.

The suspicion dropped away from his eyes. He thought I was stupid. He thought
I
thought he was stupid. Neither was true, but as long as I could keep him from being suspicious, I had a better chance of getting away.

“Yes, a lap dance. That sounds… nice,” he said. He undid the lock, and I felt the chain swing away. The collar was still around my neck, but I wasn’t chained anymore.

All I wanted to do was keep his attention occupied. I dreaded the thought of him touching me sexually. If I danced for him, though, I was only postponing the inevitable. Well, I’d try to postpone it as long as possible. He might fall asleep.

At least April was safe for now. I took some comfort in that.

Turning away from me, El Alfa headed to the bar. I edged closer to the table, trying to see if there was a weapon there that I could use on him. Before I could get close enough to grab anything, though, he turned around. I put on a simpering smile.

“Where do you want me to dance?” I asked, in my most innocent voice.

Yes, this was the Jessica I’d been before. The good girl. Always ready to please. Ready to do anything you wanted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a knife at the edge of the table. A small blade, glinting shiny and sharp. If I got the chance—

“There,” he said, pointing toward a couch. I went over and sat obediently on the arm of the couch, my legs crossed. Good girl.

El Alfa pressed a button at the bar. Music started up, an intense pounding beat like the one that had been playing at his club. He poured himself a drink. I stood up and began to sway.

How the hell had I danced before? I didn’t remember a single move. But if he was starting to drink again, hopefully that wouldn’t matter.

He came over and I started dancing, gyrating my hips smoothly. My hands came up my sides, dragging along my curves. I didn’t know exactly what you were supposed to do with your hands while dancing, and I wasn’t confident enough to wave them around wildly.

“Come here,” I said, and took his hand, leading him to the couch and gesturing for him to sit down. I don’t know if it was because he was still somewhat drunk, but he let me push him down on the couch.

“Yes, dance,” El Alfa said, taking a sip of his drink and putting it down on the arm of the couch. I let him touch my hips as I dipped down, swaying over his lap. Christ, I wish I had learned how to dance before this.

El Alfa didn’t seem disappointed with my dancing, though. He slapped at my ass with a lazy hand and watched with mild interest as I squirmed and spun in front of him. Whenever his attention seemed to wane, I turned around and ground my hips against his lap. I didn’t want him to get bored with watching, because then he’d want to do more. At the same time, I didn’t want to keep him awake. It was an impossible situation.

The couch was facing away from the door, and every once in a while, I let my eyes drift over. If only he would fall asleep… I could kill him and escape out of the door.

His eyelids looked like they were drooping, but his cock wasn’t. His obvious arousal was going to keep him awake until he was able to get more from me. He slapped my ass again, and the sound echoed. He stretched in his seat.

I was bending over in front of him when I heard the zip of his pants. I froze.

“Now take off those panties,” he growled.

Fear dripped down the back of my spine. I forced myself to take a deep breath and stand back up slowly.

“But…but I’m a virgin,” I said, turning around and putting on a pouting face. I didn’t have to work to make my lip tremble. “Don’t you want to keep me pure?”

The table was only a few feet away. I could leap over him and maybe,
maybe,
I would be able to get to the knives before he did. Even then, how was I supposed to know how to fight?

“Is that what you think?” he said. He moistened his lips.

“Well… maybe?” I was playing dumb.