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I couldn’t speak. I simply stared.
He knew what I wanted. He knew why I was here. But he leaned closer and whispered, “I’ll be with you in a moment.” He winked. Straightening, he crossed the room and settled into the desk chair like a throne. “What is this about?”
One of the men moved closer and whispered in his ear. Gage’s eyes darted to the other men in the room as he listened, his expression unreadable. When the man stepped away, Gage sat back, his fingers steepled under his chin.
“Do you know what happens when you break my rules?” he asked the man on the floor in a surprisingly soft voice.
He whimpered in response, rising to his knees with clasped hands. “Please. It was a misunderstanding.”
“Now, Martin, you know that isn’t true.” Gage shook his head and nodded to the man standing next to him. “You broke the law.”
“Please. I will never do it again.” Martin switched tactics. “If you give—”
“I suspect you won’t, because another offense will mark you for the Hunt.”
Martin shrank toward the floor, his face contorting with pure horror at the strange threat.
Gage lifted his hand to the other man I’d initially thought was him. “Would you like to decide his fate, MacAlister? You are a guest.”
MacAlister stepped forward, brushing an invisible fleck from his suit jacket. In the dim light, he looked like a lawyer approaching the stand. He frowned as he gazed down at Martin. The other man shrieked, which seemed a little like overkill. What was MacAlister going to do? Force him to give a statement? Cross-examine him?
“Right or left?” he asked, and my heart began to race. “You must have a preference.”
“Please. I’ll do anything.”
MacAlister chuckled, shaking his head like it was some inside joke.
My stomach clenched. Were they going to kill this man in front of me?
One of the guards yanked Martin to his feet and shoved him forward. He folded in half onto the desk, his begging turning to desperate sobs.
“Choose,” MacAlister said. “Or I will choose for you.”
Martin began to shake. “Please. Don’t. My family…”
“Your family would agree with me,” Gage snarled.
“I guess he doesn’t have a preference.” MacAlister pulled something from his pocket, and bile rose in my throat when I caught a flash of steel.
“N—” I started to cry out, but the protest died in my throat when Gage shot a sharp look at me. Ever so slightly, he shook his head.
I clamped a hand over my mouth, even as every instinct in me screamed to stop this.
MacAlister pinned Martin’s hand to the desk and brought the knife to it. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep myself still. But I couldn’t block out the sounds: Martin pleading, then screaming. The wet splintering sound of blood and bone. And then…silence.
I forced myself to open my eyes, forced myself to look. Blood pooled on the desk, dripping onto the floor where Martin’s unconscious body lay. This time, I couldn’t stop myself. I moved without thinking. Dropping to the ground next to him, I swiftly unhooked the strap of my purse. I felt their eyes on me as I wrapped it around Martin’s wrist like a tourniquet to slow the bleeding.
“Interesting,” MacAlister said with a laugh. “Is she next?”
I looked up at him. “Fucking monster.”
The men began to murmur, but Gage held up a hand. “The matter has been dealt with. Get rid of him,” he ordered like he was telling them to take out the trash. Then, his attention shifted and landed directly on me.
“What about her?” MacAlister pressed.
“She is mine.” He held my gaze for a long, heated moment, then looked to them. “The night is young. Enjoy it. Elsewhere.”
No one argued as they made their way from the room.