Chapter Nineteen

They followed Brian’s trail almost a half mile through dense forest, snaking onto higher ground far above the river. Anna couldn’t imagine that this encounter would end any way but in bloodshed. She felt as though they were stalking an animal, waiting for the first glimpse of their prey. A dark energy radiated from Kael’s lean body, her desire to kill almost palpable in the cool afternoon air. Anna felt her own murderous rage, though she wasn’t sure she could follow through with it.

If she killed Brian, it wouldn’t be the first time she’d taken a life. After losing Garrett, she’d sworn that unless it was in true self-defense, her blind retribution for his murder would be the last time. She hadn’t liked how lost she’d felt when she gave in to her violent desires.

She didn’t want to kill Brian. But she wouldn’t necessarily mind if Kael did.

She understood the concept of vengeance, and more important, she was unwilling to direct Kael’s actions in whatever came next. Anna saw that Kael was struggling with her own demons, and she would allow her to exorcise them however she needed. Hearing something, she signaled Kael and they both stopped walking and listened keenly. Anna gestured to a cluster of maples to their left. He’s there, she mouthed, hearing angry muttering and harsh breathing.

When they caught sight of Brian, his back was to them. He was leaning against the broad trunk of a tree, forehead pressed to his forearm, his other hand busy in front of his body.

He remained oblivious as they approached from behind, panting in time with his aggressive strokes. “Fucking little redheaded bitch. When I’m fucking done with you—”

Brian’s curses were cut short when his body slammed up against the tree as Kael tackled him. He grunted loud and struggled in an effort to turn and face his attacker. Kael wrapped one arm around Brian’s neck while she produced a wicked- looking knife from the back of her jeans with the other. Anna hadn’t even realized she was carrying it.

“Make one sound, and I’ll slit your throat,” she growled into Brian’s ear and pressed the blade against his neck. She eased her free arm from his throat to make room for the knife and pinned him in place with a rough hand on his back. She kept him pressed hard against the trunk, face smashed to the side against the bark. “After I cut your dick off. Do you understand?”

Brian hesitated, then he gave Kael a fast nod.

“We’re going to take a walk.” Kael pressed the edge of the blade against his throat, drawing a thin red line of blood to the surface. With a glance at Anna, she said, “Get out the gun and keep it pointed at his head. If he so much as breathes wrong, put a bullet in his brain.”

“No problem.” Anna forced false confidence into her voice as she pulled the unloaded handgun from the back of her jeans. She made a show of cocking the gun, then pointed it at Brian’s head. “My pleasure.”

Kael clapped Brian on the back. “All right, asshole. When I step back, you move away from the tree and put your hands on your head. If you try anything, my partner here will blow your head off. Do you think anyone will come after you?”

Brian managed to shrug. “Eventually.”

Kael stepped back and Brian immediately turned to look at Anna, who kept her gun pointed at his face. She met his stare, unwilling to be intimidated by the hatred in his cold eyes. This man hurt Elin. She was glad she didn’t have any bullets in her gun.

Brian reached down to tuck his flaccid penis back into his blue jeans. Anna jerked her gun at the movement, and Kael’s blade returned to Brian’s throat before either Anna or Brian could react.

“What are you doing?” Kael hissed.

Despite his predicament, the loud-mouthed defiance they had seen at the river returned to the surface. “I’m just zipping up, faggot. Or did you want to do it for me?”

Kael delivered a sharp punch to Brian’s kidney. “Shut up and walk.”

Kael steered them farther away from the Procreationist camp, back toward where they’d stayed with Dr. Kate. Brian set the pace, with only a little additional urging from Kael with the tip of her knife against the small of his back.

About a half mile from Kate’s home, they came upon a run-down old barn that had obviously been abandoned for years. Kael poked Brian in the back.

“In there,” she told him. “We need to have a conversation.”

Brian changed direction without a word. He pushed open the large front door, half-rotted off its hinges, and stepped inside. When he reached the middle of the barn, he turned to face Kael squarely for the first time.

“Wait, you’re—” Brian’s eyes widened in surprise. He dropped his hands from his head. “You’re the faggot who was with the redhead. You killed Sue and Derek.”

“I wish I could say it was nice to see you again.” Kael gestured with her knife. “Get your hands back on your head.”

Brian looked over to Anna. His expression betrayed his genuine confusion. “So who is she? Christ, faggot, you were fucking the redhead a week and a half ago. It didn’t take you long to find a new one.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Kael snapped. Anna watched a vein pulse in the side of Kael’s neck. Brian was trying hard to upset her, and it looked like he was doing a good job of it. “It’s none of your business who she is. Stop looking at her. And stop calling me faggot.”

Brian’s lips curled into a defiant smile as he slowly dragged his eyes back over to Kael. “What’s wrong, fag? Hit a little too close to home?” He laced his hands casually on top of his head. “You look like you’re probably just as good at sucking cock as that little bitch we took from you. Elin, isn’t it?”

Kael’s eyes flashed with pure rage, and she came at Brian with the knife, slicing him across the chest. Brian’s hands dropped from his head, and he moved as though to strike back at Kael, but Kael delivered a hard punch to his stomach that doubled him over. She followed up with a blow to his face, knocking him onto his ass on the dusty floor.

“Say anything disrespectful about her again, and I’ll cut your tongue out.” Kael stood over Brian, heaving in anger.

Kael was deadly close to losing control. Anna didn’t understand why Brian insisted on pushing Kael’s buttons like this. Didn’t he see that Kael was dangerous?

On the floor, Brian shook with laughter. His T-shirt was stained with blood from the gash on his chest. “Man, the look on your face,” he guffawed and pointed at Kael, who loomed over him. “You need to calm down. Don’t worry, she loved everything we did to her.”

Anna went hot at Brian’s crude insinuation. She aimed the gun at his forehead. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Keep going and I’ll kill you myself.”

Brian released helpless laughter. “Your boyfriend is going to kill me, anyway.” He raised hard eyes to Kael. “You think I don’t realize that?”

“But you get to decide how you want to die,” Kael said. “And how long you want it to take.”

Brian’s grin faded. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Anna,” Kael said, “keep the gun on him while I find something to bind his hands.”

“Do I look like I’m resisting?” Brian asked.

Just looking at him turned Anna’s stomach. His cruel eyes reminded her of the first man who’d attacked her almost a year and a half ago. She’d had to stare into those empty green eyes for almost twenty minutes while he moved on top and inside of her. Anna struggled to keep the gun trained on Brian as her hand began to tremble. She took in the damage Kael had inflicted when she’d smashed him into the tree. Two of his fingers were bent at an awkward angle, obviously broken. His forehead was scraped raw, and blood trickled from his nostrils and mouth.

“Anna, huh?” Brian spit out blood and gave her a toothy, red-stained smile. “Pretty name. The faggot sure does find pretty girls.”

Anna didn’t respond. She couldn’t find words that wouldn’t betray her anger and fear, and so she didn’t say anything. She tried to steady her hand, gritting her teeth to stop the gun from trembling.

“Are you scared of me? That’s so sweet.” Brian grinned up at Anna, feinting an attack. When Anna didn’t flinch, he stuck out his tongue and waggled it crudely. “Are you as good as your friend? She’s a real squirmer. I love that.”

Just as Anna felt like she had no choice but to turn and flee from Brian’s taunting or simply kill him on the spot, Kael saved her. She jogged up to Brian, drew back her foot, and delivered a sharp kick to his ribs. Leaning down, she pressed her blade to his throat again. “Hands behind your back.”

Brian glared as though tempted to try to attack Kael, but when Anna kept the gun and her eyes pinned to him in silent warning, he allowed Kael to tie his hands with a worn length of rope.

“They’ll be wondering where I am by this point,” he commented in a casual voice. “I’m sure we left a trail.”

“They’ll think you deserted,” Kael said. “And I doubt they’ll bother coming after you. It didn’t look like Trey was all that concerned about whether or not you were around after what happened at the river.”

“Yeah, well he just wants that redheaded bitch to himself, that’s all.” When Kael didn’t answer, he added, “If you think you’re going to swoop in there and rescue your girl, you’d better think again. Trey’s got her earmarked. He’s not giving that little piece up.”

Kael dragged him to a pillar and propped him against the wood. His hands, secured behind his back, rested on the floor between his ass and the wooden pillar.

“What are you talking about?” Kael asked.

“Trey gets to take a wife just as soon as we get home from this tour. He’s done seven years with the army, and that’s the deal.”

“And he wants Elin?”

“He’s been drooling over her since day one. Guess he must like the idea of a challenge.”

“She’s that important to him, yet you still tried to hurt her today?” Kael said. “I don’t believe it. Why would you take that kind of risk?”

Brian shrugged and cast a dark look toward Anna. “You don’t understand, man. They expect us to take these women, but we’re not allowed to fuck them. We’re out on the hunt months at a time, then we have to take them back for the guys who’re allowed to marry. Or they just go into service—what a fucking waste that is. And what do we get? If we make it through seven lousy years—if we manage to avoid getting killed by some faggot like you for seven years—then we get to fuck again.”

“Is this story supposed to make me feel bad for you?” Knife in hand, Kael knelt in front of Brian, resting her blade against his cheek. “Because I really can’t feel bad for a rapist who isn’t allowed to rape.”

“It’s all a bunch of bullshit, anyway,” Brian muttered. “That fucking hypocrite. He thinks we’re different somehow, him and me. But guess what? She doesn’t want him either, but she won’t have any choice. Know what I’m saying here? Just because I don’t dress it up as being in the interest of the human race and all part of God’s plan, I’m the bad guy.”

Anna blinked in surprise at Brian’s clear-headed critique of the moral distinction the Procreationists used to justify their actions. It told her that he understood the difference between right and wrong. He just didn’t care. He understood perfectly what rape meant, and he yearned to commit it.

“Does Elin know that Trey plans to take her as his wife?” Kael played the tip of her blade over Brian’s face, every so often pressing into his skin to raise a few drops of blood. “Has he told her?”

“He hasn’t told anyone. But it’s obvious. She’d have to be stupid not to notice he’s paying a whole lot of attention to her. For all I know, he’s already proposed.”

“Proposed,” Kael scoffed.

“I know,” Brian said. “Hypocritical bullshit.”

“Who’s the kid?” Kael asked in a quiet voice. “The little girl with Elin.”

“Fuck, man,” Brian said with a tired laugh. “I don’t know. Lacy? Lauri? We just picked her up along the way.”

“What about her mother? Where is she?”

“We’ve got her, too.”

“Then why is the girl with Elin?” Kael ran the point of the knife down the middle of Brian’s lips, over his chin, down to the center of his neck.

“Because it’s easier to keep her under control. That was Trey’s idea. That cunt won’t be trying to escape anymore now that she’s got the kid to think about.”

Kael nicked Brian’s throat with a flick of her wrist. The blade moved so quickly that Anna didn’t realize what had happened until a new line of blood appeared. “Don’t use that word again,” Kael said.

Brian stared past Kael, stiff and unmoving under the knife she still held against his throat. “What word?”

“You know the one.” Kael moved her face in front of his, forcing him to meet hate-filled indigo eyes. “Her name is Elin. That’s what you’ll call her, understand? Nothing else.”

Anna cleared her throat. They needed to get back on topic before Kael snapped and killed him. She thought about the ugly marks she’d seen on Elin’s back. “Is that why she was beaten? Because she tried to escape?”

“The first time.” Brian tore his eyes away from Kael’s fierce stare to look at Anna. “Then it was because she was disrespectful to Trey. He wanted her broken as soon as possible, but she hasn’t made it easy.”

“I’m sure she hasn’t,” Kael said, a faint note of pride in her voice. “When does your second contingent return to camp?”

Brian rolled his eyes. “You think I’m the leader or something? I’m supposed to know everything? You jumped the wrong guy. Trey’s the one with the radio.”

“We heard it was tomorrow or the next day,” Kael said. “Does that sound right to you?”

Brian stared hard at his feet. After a tense silence, he lifted his face and looked at Anna. “Your tits are bigger than Elin’s.”

Kael’s punch knocked the back of Brian’s head hard against the wooden pillar. Brian, one eye now swelling shut, managed a hysterical laugh almost as soon as Kael pulled away.

“Well, they are!” Brian said, giggling hoarsely. “Whose tits do you like?” He grinned at Kael. “I’d have a better idea if she took her shirt off, but I think I like Anna’s.”

Kael dropped down, placing her weight on Brian’s knees to force his legs flat. Anna watched in horror as Kael unzipped their prisoner’s jeans. Brian released an involuntary shriek when the blade touched his penis.

“Do you think I’m fucking joking around here?” Kael grasped Brian’s penis with her free hand, angling the knife between the organ and Brian’s testicles. “Do you want to lose this for the rest of the questions?”

“No!”

“Then talk. When does the second contingent return?”

“Tomorrow or the next day,” Brian gasped out.

“Who guards the women at night?” Kael kept the knife pressed against Brian’s exposed penis and stared directly into his eyes.

“I don’t know, man. I haven’t been doing guard duty lately.”

Kael moved her arm slightly, and Brian yelped in pain. “Why the fuck do you insist on making this so difficult? Do you know how happy it would make me to cut you to pieces right now?”

“So do it,” Brian snarled. “Stop talking about it, and do it already.”

“Tell me about the guards instead,” Kael said. “How many guards at night?”

“Six. Four around the perimeter and two standing guard with the prisoners.”

“Do you communicate?” Kael asked. “Do you keep voice contact, have radios?”

“We’ve got walkie-talkies,” Brian said. “We don’t use them all the time. Nobody has ever really bothered us much. You’d have to be crazy to attack a force our size.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m crazy.” Kael waggled dark eyebrows at Brian. “When do you usually wake up in the mornings? Who’s the first person awake?”

“Trey doesn’t take guard duty anymore, but he’s always the first one awake. He likes to be the one to get the women up in the morning, check on them—”

“What time is that?”

Brian shrugged unhappily. “I don’t know. Sunrise? Fuck, man, I’m usually asleep.”

“Is Elin restrained in any way at night?” Anna asked Brian.

Brian snickered. “Yeah. She pretty much always wears the wrist cuffs. I think Trey stopped cuffing her ankles at night after he put the kid in her tent.” He fell silent, apparently adding two and two. “You’re really thinking about trying to get her back?”

“We really are,” Kael said. “Any words of wisdom to help us on our way?”

Brian shook his head. “You’ll never do it. There are too many of us. You’re a hell of a fighter, but that didn’t stop us from taking your woman the first time.” He glanced at Anna, then back to Kael, as if genuinely mystified. “You should just take what you have and forget about the other one. Otherwise you’ll lose them both, I guarantee it. And you’ll die.”

“You underestimate how much we want her back.”

“He does,” Anna said.

“Look, whatever.” Brian’s eyes were glued to the knife between his legs. “I’ll make you an offer. If you let me go, I’ll help you get Elin back.”

“Bullshit,” Kael said. “Why would we trust you to do anything like that?”

“Because I wouldn’t mind walking away from this, you know?” Brian said. “Think you could find it in your heart to accept my help so you can get your woman back?”

“No,” Kael said. “No fucking way. What would make you keep your word? It would be just as easy for you to stroll right back in there and tell them that we’re coming as it would to actually do anything to help.”

“I’m your only chance,” Brian said.

“That would be the saddest thing in the world if it were true,” Kael said. “But it’s not. There’s no fucking way I’m going to trust anything you say. You’ve lied to me before, and I’m sure you’re lying to me now.”

“What do you think I lied about?”

“You never touched Elin,” Kael growled. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“Oh, I touched her. You saw me touch her today, didn’t you?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Kael said. “You want me to lose control and kill you quickly. That’s why you’re pushing me. I’m not impressed.”

“If I’m going to die anyway, as you say, I may as well have a little fun before I go,” Brian said. “I just want you to know how your woman will remember me.”

The longer Anna had to look at the man, the more her stomach churned. They’d gotten all they were going to get from him. He’d known Kael was going to kill him from the start; Anna didn’t trust a single word that he said. “Are we about done here, Kael?”

“Yeah,” Kael muttered. “I think we are.” She turned to Anna. “Do you want to do this?”

Anna sputtered in shock. “Do I want to—”

Kael held out the knife. “You have just as much right as I do.”

Anna shook her head and backed away. “No, thank you. I…he’s all yours.”

Brian’s eyelids fluttered as Kael knelt beside him. He scooted away from Kael on his butt. “Listen man, for real. I never fucked her. I swear it.”

“I know you didn’t.” Kael grasped Brian’s bare penis and squeezed. “But I also know you wanted to.”

Something about the timbre of Kael’s voice told Anna that her lover was entering a very dark place. She took another step away from Brian and Kael. She kept the gun on Brian, unable to look away. She wanted Kael to hurt him, but she was almost afraid to watch.

Brian began to sweat. “Listen, man, I told you what you wanted to know. Why don’t you just have your woman there put a bullet in my head and leave it at that?”

“No, I don’t think that’ll do it.” Kael moved her knife so that one swift upward stroke would sever Brian’s flaccid member. “You really seemed to enjoy making Elin suffer today. I think I’ll enjoy doing the same to you.”

Brian snapped. His face turned red, and he screamed up at Kael. “Fine! You know what? I was lying. You really think I didn’t get at that little bitch before today? We’ve had her for days, faggot. We took turns—”

A flick of Kael’s wrist and Brian released a bloodcurdling scream. Anna turned away, unable to stomach the sight of Kael’s sloppy surgery. She could hear Kael chuckle, then the sound of a hard blow that stopped Brian’s blubbering screams. There was a wet, gasping sound from Brian that suggested Kael had caused some serious damage. Anna stared at the wall of the barn and jerked in surprise when Brian managed another hoarse cry moments later.

Kael placed a gentle hand on Anna’s shoulder. “Come on. We should get going.”

Anna looked over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of red blood and Brian’s pain-wracked body. She didn’t focus on his face. She turned back to stare at the barn wall again. “You’re not going to finish him off?”

Kael shook her head. “Slower this way.”

“But what if they find him? He could tell them—”

“He’ll bleed to death within an hour.” Kael encircled Anna’s waist with her muscular arm and pulled her close. “Besides, he’s not going to be talking to anyone. I made sure of that.”

“Good.” Anna became aware of the guttural, grunting noises behind her and felt a sense of perverse justice at what Kael had taken from the man who had threatened to take Elin’s innocence.

Kael interlaced her fingers with Anna’s. “I understand, you know. Why you didn’t want to kill him. I respect that.”

“Thank you.”

“Do…” Kael paused and swallowed. “Do you understand why I did what I did?”

A sad smile tugged at the corners of Anna’s mouth. I imagine Elin wouldn’t, but… “Yes,” she said. “I do.” She squeezed Kael’s hand. “You acted for both of us.” And I’ve never felt safer in my life.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14