One last shot to the head, and my gun is pointed at Liam.
The guy is literally shaking, and I can tell he’s one second away from shitting his pants or something.
“Not him,” I grit out, lowering my gun.
He sags against the wall, turning around. “Thank you,” he gasps. “Thank you, man. You’re a real friend. Thank you. I canexplain everything, I–FUCK!”
I’ve just shot one of his kneecaps and he falls to the floor, groaning. Then I shoot his thigh, and he screams in pain. I’ve heard the femur is the most painful bone to break in a body, and Liam’s face, contorting now with such pain that he can no longer make a sound, makes me suspect it’s true.
Dane turns just slightly, his eyes wide as he sees his friend on the ground. He probably realizes that what awaits them is far worse than two bullets to the head. And he’s right.
Something about him doesn’t make me want to hurt himquiteas much as Liam, at least not for the moment. I stop at knocking him out with the butt of my gun, and he falls with a loud grunt.
Tragen snaps his fingers, and in a flash, the soldiers he’s let live surround the men I once thought of as friends, and bind them tightly with zip ties. They gag them, but, undoubtedly realizing my plans for them require they stay alive, they apply compresses to Liam’s wounds so he doesn’t bleed out, and leave cups of water and cereal in front of them. I get a satisfying mental image of them eating like the fucking dogs they are.
No, not dogs. Dogs are loyal. These shits don’t deserve to be compared to any living creature. Not even fucking bacteria.
“We’ll deal with them later,” declares Tragen. “We’ve waited long enough.”
“What do you mean, waited long enough?” I ask, a sudden rush of foreboding creeping up my back.
But Tragen doesn’t answer. I follow him out, my entire body tense with anxiety that has turned into actual anguish. If he’s fucking me over—if all of this was to waste my time—if anything has happened to my Piper…
Nothing will stop me from burning the entire fucking Devil Tower to the ground. And burning him along with it.
I slide into the front seat of his car, while the other soldiers head to a second one just behind ours. Tragen turns on theignition, and it doesn’t take me long to realize… we’re not going to Devil Tower.
“What the fuck?” I growl, ready to murder him right then and there.
Though again, I’m aware I don’t stand a chance.
“Calm down,” he says, speeding down the road outside of Astley, toward the thick forests that extend far beyond it, past the range of mountains that border our town, which tourists flock to during skiing season.
The Astley natives know better than to head beyond the mountains. You can get lost in those thick forests, and never see the light of day again. Plus, there are rumors of the kinds of things that can happen to you out there.
Devil fights its battles in the wild underbrush. At least that’s what people say.
“Devil took Piper to the forest?” I ask uncertainly.
“No.”
“So why are we heading in that direction?” I question with mounting unease.
“Piper is in that forest. But Devil didn’t take her.”
“They didn’t?” I’m starting to feel sick to my stomach again as I remember what Tragen said.She’s not in danger… as long as she’s in Devil Tower.
I suddenly realize he’s right, because the thought that she’s in those woods, outside of the tower, makes me far more nervous than when I thought she was trapped inside it.
Logan was on her side. I don’t know why, but he was. The head of Devil, Damien, may have wanted her dead, but he had yet to follow through on that threat, even though she hadn’t exactly been in hiding. Which meant his intention wasn’t all that strong.
I can’t quite understand it, but somehow, I realize Tragen is right.
Why the fuck do I only realize it now that she’s left the tower?
I rub the bridge of my nose, the remaining waves of pain from my migraine threatening to turn into another full-blown one. It’s only the continued stress wreaking havoc on my body that keeps it at bay.
“Were you just trying to keep me at the apartment until she escaped?” I ask suddenly, suspicion pounding at my temples.