The jangling of keys filtered into my ears.
“It’s not Harris,” Eve said. “He always gets his rocks off by announcing himself.”
It didn’t matter who was coming. I couldn’t retreat even if I wanted to because my arms were stuck.
Then silence ensued before a collective gasp reverberated through the barn.
I could feel his stare burning through my skin, but I kept working.
“I have to admit”—Josh’s voice, calm and amused, sliced through my concentration—“I was wondering how long it would take you to try this.”
My fingers stilled on the wire, but I didn’t look up.
He squatted down and gripped my wrist. “Fran, as well as others in here, will pay for your disobedience.” He snatched the wire out of my hand.
Laura let out a choked sob. The other girls shifted deeper into the shadows of their cages, their movements sounding like the rustle of dead leaves in winter.
Slowly, I lifted my gaze to meet his cold, dark eyes, so like his father’s that I spat in his face. “I’m not the scared little girl your father knew.”
His smirk was half-cocky and half-evil. “And I’m not the bastard my father was.” He wiped the saliva from his face. “I’m worse.”
“I doubt that,” I retorted with steel in my voice. “Where’s Fran? You better not have touched her.”
He rose to his feet like a predator uncoiling. “She’s waiting for you, actually.” His excitement made my skin crawl. “Sabine is getting her ready for the show, and you’re going to have a front-row seat. Now, step back.”
“You’ll have to cut the bars. My arms aren’t moving.”
He unlocked the cage and pushed in the gate, along with me. Then he pressed against me from behind, his chest hard against my back as he yanked my arms free. The manure scent in the air mixed with his cologne made my stomach turn.
Pain ricocheted up to my shoulders. No matter. I turned and kneed him in the balls. He doubled over with a grunt, the keys clattering to the dirt.
“Lock him in,” Eve said, sounding panicked.
I dove for the keys as Josh tackled me to the ground. We grappled in the dirt like two mud wrestlers, my fists striking anywhere I could reach. I headbutted him, which did nothing to slow him down.
“Come on, Grace. You can do better than that.” His fingers crushed my windpipe as he straddled me, his weight pressing me into the packed earth. “I should end you right now, but I’ve worked too hard leading up to this day.”
My fingers clawed through the grit and hay, searching for metal as darkness crept into my vision.
Then he pushed his tongue into my mouth as my fingers closed around the keys. I leaned into his vile kiss, and in one swift motion, I plunged the jagged metal into his neck.
“Bitch!” Blood oozed out as he reared back.
I shoved him sideways, scrambled up, and bolted. He caught my ankle and pulled. My body twisted as I fell, my temple cracking against the hard ground. The world tilted and blurred around me.
Shrieks echoed through the barn.
Josh fisted my hair, jerking my head back. “Get up, bitch.”
I swayed, acid creeping into my throat as pain pulsed through my skull.
“Ready for more?” Crimson trickled down his throat, the wound shallow enough that the bastard would survive.
“I won’t stop until you’re buried six feet deep. I enjoyed killing your father. But you… Your death will be even sweeter.”
He chuckled and secured my wrists with plastic zip ties, which bit into them. “Bold words from someone at my mercy.”
“For now.”
