“Well, Ned, this is a serious situation you are in. Don’t you think so?” I ask. Gabe must have turned the torch down because the sound lessens.
Ned finally looks up, and time has not been good for him. His brown eyes are sunken in, his reddish-brown hair is longer and knotted, and he has clearly lost weight. “Fuck you.”
While I laugh at his pitiful attempt to be a badass, a growl rips from Gabe’s throat. Gabe is across the room and has thrown a punch before I can form the words ‘No, don’t.’ I shrug; oh well, it’s not like he doesn’t deserve to get a couple of blows in. “Don’t you speak to her like that,” Gabe snarls and backs up. His shoulders are heaving, and he keeps clenching and unclenching his hands. He’s holding back, and I love him even more for that.
“Hold him,” I demand, and everyone moves, including Ned, who tries to scramble away. But it’s useless. Reed and Gabe have his shoulders pinned to the wall, and Elio and Carlos have his legs pressed into the floor using their feet.
“Let me go. I’ll tell you?—”
I squat down right in between Ned’s spread legs. I set the torch down and pull out the gun I placed in my waistband along with the knife. “Oh, you’re going to tell me exactly what I want but letting you go.” I shake my head and make a tsking sound. “That isn’t going to happen.” I pick up the torch and move it so the flame dances before us.
“Tara, go easy with that. We don’t want him to pass out too early,” Reed says, and I shoot him a look that clearly says I know what I’m doing.
“What group were you and Dean talking about the night you raped me and then left me for dead?”
“I don’t—” With a flick of my wrist, the flame briefly touches the exposed skin below his knee. Ned starts to scream, but I slap my hand over his mouth just like he did mine that night.
“What. Group.” I move my hand away from his mouth, hoping he will stop playing games.
“Dean never told me the name,” Ned says through gritted teeth. This time, I quickly drag the flame across his skin and let him scream.
“I don’t believe you. Someone hold this,” I say, holding up the torch. Gabe takes it from my hands, and I grab the knife. I grab Ned’s shirt and cut it from the bottom to the top. Yeah, I might have grazed his skin a little with the blade. Who cares?
“I swear I’m telling you the truth. The only thing Dean told me was that to become a member, we had to complete a set of tasks.” Tears stream down Ned’s face, mixing with the snot and drool.
“What was the task? Obviously, I know one of them was raping someone.”
“I never knew what the task was until Dean showed up. He would get a cryptic message, giving us a task and a time limit to complete said task. Sometimes, we had to film and upload it. Other’s the group would know when we completed them because we would have a number to contact.”
I look over my shoulder to make sure Demon is hearing every word. He nods to let me know he is listening. I look back at Ned and twist the knife in the air. “What task had you completed. I want full details.”
“I only did the…” Ned’s words trail off, and his face turns an ashen color as if thinking about what he did to me turns his stomach, but I know different.
I lean forward, wrap my hand around his throat, and slide the sharp blade down the middle of his chest. “Don’t sit here and act like you suddenly feel bad about what you did to me. You enjoyed every second of it. I might not have been awake for Dean’s abuse, but I was fully conscious when you took from me. I heard every word that came from your mouth. How much youenjoyed it.” I bring the knife to a stop when it gets to the top of his shorts.
The air around us turns sour as the smell of piss fills it. I let go of his throat and stand up, moving out from between his legs. I turn my gaze to Gabe, who is staring at Ned, and I see the anger boiling under his skin. “Gabe,” I say and wait until he looks at me.
“Yeah, Princess.” His voice is strained, just like the muscles are pulled taunt all across his body.
“I want him to be alive when I get back,” I say, then spin on my heels and walk away. Gabe wastes no time in throwing a punch to the side of Ned’s head. I leave him to get his revenge. I’m sure Reed and Elio will also step in to get theirs. Demon will make sure that no one goes too far and kills him. I head up the stairs and don’t stop until I’m in the kitchen. I open the freezer door and pull out the huge bucket that holds all the ice that is made.
I sit it down on the counter and head into the attached garage. Gabe has a chest freezer in here where he keeps extra bags of ice in case the guys pop over unannounced, and we decide to cook out for everyone. I grab the full bag and return inside. Once I have everything I need, I head back downstairs. Carlos stands in the hallway and rushes forward to help me carry everything.
“Perfect. This will help wake the fucker up,” he says.
“I figured he would pass out from the pain once I let the boys loose on him. They deserve to have a hand in this. It wasn’t just me who was hurt by his actions.” We walk side by side back to the room. Ned is slumped against the floor, blood pouring from multiple places on his face and torso, and, by the look of it, his leg is broken. But his chest still moves up and down.
“Let’s finish this.” I hand the bag of ice to Gabe. He cuts it open and pours it on top of Ned. When Carlos turns the bucketupside down, Ned is already waking up, but he still does it. I don’t have anyone hold him because he isn’t going anywhere. I walk closer and pull Ned up so he is sitting against the wall again. Then I step back, not realizing my mistake. “Last question. Answer this honestly, and I’ll make all of this stop.”
Ned coughs and groans as he wraps his arms around him. “Please?—”
“Lilly Harris. Was she also a task?”
“Yes,” Ned says and slumps forward.
“What—” My words die as a gunshot rings through the small space. Something heavy hits me from behind, and I fall forward but don’t hit the ground. Gabe’s arms around me twist, so I land on him. My face is buried in his heaving chest.
“Are you hit?” Gabe asks at the same time I ask, “Are you okay?”
