“Breathe.” He said it again, and the command in his tone forced me to draw in a breath that shuddered all the way to the bottom of my lungs. I felt dizzy as I pulled my knees up to my chest, wondering if I could hide behind them. “You were never this scared before, you know? You were brave—strong. Even when you had every reason tobefrightened, you always stood so tall.” As he spoke, Otto idly picked up a piece of fruit and offered it to me like I was some animal in a petting zoo.
I didn’t move to take it. I wasn’t getting caught up in him touching me again. If I’d fallen into some weird, fucked-up mindset when he’d tended to my cuts, I didn’t want to think how I’d react if I let himfeed me.
“Come on, Nikki. You should eat.” His voice was deceptively soft.
“I don’t know you,” I whispered. If I said it enough, would he believe me? If I offered tofindwhoever he was looking for, would he let me go?
“You will.” He leaned in, bringing the grape closer until the coolness of it slid against my mouth. “Open up.”
When my lips pressed together reflexively, his eyes narrowed. The expression was only there for a second before it melted away, replaced by a smile that was so muchworse.
“All right then.” Otto was delicate when he sat the grape on the tray. I watched cautiously as he stood, pulling a knife from somewhere beneath the black sweater he wore. He watched me as he did it.
“Don’t.” It was the only word I could manage to squeeze out around the terror building like tar in my lungs… because this was it, wasn’t it? This was where the crazy psychopath who had been stalking me for weeks killed me. This was where I got to feel all the pain that I’d earned over a lifetime of never being quite good enough. This was where…
He flashed me that empty smile as his eyes flicked between the other two men in the room.
If I could have, I would have used the chance while his back was turned to hide, but there was nowhere to go. There was nothing to do but watch as he walked across the room—there was nothing Icoulddo when he flipped the blade carefully in his hand as he turned to look back at me. His eyes dropped to the untouched tray of food on my bed before he slammed the knife into the shoulder of the man chained to the wall.
I could feel the scream he let out tear all the way through my chest, burning misery and guilt into my soul.
I didn’t eat a fucking grape, and he’d stabbed a man for it.
“Otto.” The pained gasp came from the man we both watched now. “Otto, fuck. Please. I did it because she said I had to. Wealldid it because of our mother. You know how she was. I didn’t—” He screamed again as Otto pulled the blade from his shoulder and slid it into his thigh. “Otto,fuck.”
“Marco… shhh… I have a question. If you answer, maybe I’ll stop hurting you for now.”
Marco’s eyes went wide.
“Anything…anything. I already gave you bank info, but I can tell you where we hid shit. I’ll tell you—”
“What was Nikki’s favorite food?”
There was a moment where the only sound was labored breathing and the low, miserable whine that I realized was coming from the other man in the room, who was chained to the bed and watching the scene in front of us with haunted eyes.How many times had he witnessed this before? How many times had he seen Otto torturing the man chained to the wall?
“I—” Otto twisted the knife handle, and another scream ripped out of Marco’s chest, pulling my gaze back to the little show he was putting on. “Grapes. Fuck, grapes.The little asshole used to get caught stealing them all the time.”
Grapes.
I didn’t evenlikegrapes.
It apparently didn’t matter. Otto’s pale eyes flashed back to me and he didn’t break his gaze as he twisted the knife again, tearing another scream from Marco.
And then again… and again… again, until the screams turned to retching, gurgling… begging.
He didn’t take his eyes off me as blood slowly sluiced down the body of the chained man and fell wetly to the floor… and it took me too long to realize what he wanted.
“Stop,” I gasped, my stomach churning, my body shivering from the sounds of misery coming out of the man. “Stop, stop… stop. Otto, please. I’m hungry, okay? I—” When I reached for the tray, he twisted the blade again, and I froze.
Of course.
Of course.
I dropped my hands to my lap and forced myself to swallow down the sob trying to claw its way up my throat as I opened my mouth and looked at him expectantly.
Ottosmiled.
The knife still had blood on it when he made his way across the room and sat back down, but the hand he used to pick up the same damn grape I’d refused was clean.
