She stepped into the cold rain, shivering. “Can I go somewhere less… exposed?”
“No.”
Ruby muttered angrily as she undid her belt and slid her pants down to her ankles. With her hands tied, it was impossible to do it gracefully. She crouched down and purposefully tripped over her own pants, falling into a puddle. She squirmed, struggling to pull her trousers back up. “A little help here would be nice.”
Mark frowned, uncertain.
“What? You never even touched a girl before? I won’t bite. Help me.”
Sliding his machete into his belt, Mark leaned down and grabbed Ruby by the arm, lifting her to his feet.
With all her strength, Ruby shoved her knee into Mark’s balls. He doubled over, gasping. She twisted out of his grip, spun behind him and looped her arms over his head. She pulled her forearm across his neck, choking him.
Predictably, his hand went to his machete.
“I wouldn’t do that if—”
He grabbed it’s handle just as Ruby seized his jaw and twisted. His neck snapped with a sharp crack.
Ruby let go and the body dropped into the same puddle she had fallen into a moment before. She felt sick. She had killed before, a dozen times, but only with her bow. Not up close like this. I didn’t have much of a choice, she told herself, but that didn’t make it feel any better.
She knelt and grabbed the machete. Its blade was dull; she had to rub her bonds against it frantically before they started to tear. They finally came loose, a second before she heard the first footsteps behind her.
She leapt to her feet, bringing the machete around in a defensive swing. Too slow. Higgs rammed into her with enough force to drive the air from her lungs. She crashed into the wall, pain lancing through her whole body. The machete slipped from her fingers.
Higgs’ fist caught her in the cheek. She hadn’t even seen it coming. Senses reeling, she tried to squirm away, but his forearm pressed against her chest, holding her against the wall. She tried to claw his eyes out. Higgs brushed her hands away like she was a child, then kicked her in the crotch. Fucking hell. Hurts for girls too.
Ruby spat in his face.
“You whore.” Higgs grabbed her by the hair and flung her to the ground. Blood filled her mouth. Fighting dizziness, she clambered to her hands and knees.
Higgs grabbed her leg and pulled her back.
There was nothing she could do. Her hands floundered hopelessly to get a hold of something, anything. She grabbed the door frame as he dragged her inside, but he was too strong and she couldn’t get a proper grip. Higgs let her go when she was in the middle of the room. She only made it two feet away before his mass landed on top of her, sitting on the small of her back. A meaty hand grabbed her neck and pushed her face into the concrete floor.
Ruby couldn’t stop herself screaming. All her rage and fear escaped in one manic cry. She couldn’t stand being so powerless, so pathetically weak.
Higgs’ hand moved from her neck and instead smothered her mouth. Ruby did the last thing left to her: she bit his fingers. He howled, trying to withdraw his hand, but Ruby clenched her jaw and kept his index finger jammed between her teeth.
Higgs’ other hand cracked into the back of Ruby’s head. She still didn’t let go. He hit her again, then a third time. Burning waves of pain coursed through her skull. Finally, his finger ripped out of her bite, leaving behind the taste of blood.
He growled. “Bitch!”
For a moment, his weight on her lessened. This was her chance. Ruby put all her force into twisting herself onto her back. It worked. Now she was looking up at Higgs’ enraged face.
He grabbed her by the neck—
—and she grabbed the knife from his belt.
She buried it in his right shoulder. His eyes widened with shock as the blade pierced his skin. Ruby pulled down, feeling the blade slice through skin and muscle as it ripped through his bicep. It was like cutting steak.
His left hand lifted from her neck and moved to stop her. Ruby quickly pulled the knife out and twisted her arm away from his grasping hand. Then she buried the blade into his palm. He screamed.
Ruby pulled the knife out of his hand and pressed its now bloody edge against his throat. “Get off me. Now.”
He went silent, not moving. His face was curled in a mixture of rage, pain, and disbelief as he stared at the knife.
“I said fucking now!”
Slowly, he climbed off Ruby. She kept the knife firmly pressed against him as they both stood. Blood poured freely from the huge gashes in his shoulder and hand. Ruby could feel that blood on her — warm and disgusting. Higgs’ face was quickly turning white.
Ruby’s grip on the knife was so tight it hurt, but she couldn’t loosen it. She could kill him now; she certainly wanted to. And if she did, all she would have to do was sneak out of the Haven and she’d be free. The horror would be over. It would be the easy thing to do. It would even be the right thing to do. Every minute she stayed here was another minute Roman was out there without her to help him.
But she had already sacrificed her career for Roman. More than that, she had practically sacrificed the last three years for Roman.
Tonight, she was going to do something for herself.
Ruby pushed the knife forward, drawing blood. “You’re going to take me to wherever Gavin keeps his weapons,” she ordered.
Higgs nodded quickly.
“And you’re going to stay just as quiet as your friend outside is being right now. Got it?”
He nodded again.
“Good.”
Ruby pushed him forward, leading him out the door and into the rain. She smiled. Gavin was about to find out that she wasn’t so helpless after all.
23
Roman slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, lost in disbelief. He rubbed his hand across his throat; he swore he could still feel Sparks’ boot pressed against it. Tan stepped in front of him and offered a hand. Roman didn’t take it. Tan shrugged, then sat beside him.
They waited in silence for several minutes, both already too drenched to bother moving out of the rain. Roman’s heart gradually stopped pounding as he stared straight ahead, eyes unfocused.
Finally, Roman asked, “Why didn’t he kill me?” It hurt his throat just to speak. “He was activated. He was furious. And he… walked away. Why?”
Tan shrugged. “Maybe he just didn’t want to.”
Roman shook his head. “You know that an Adrenalite would never just walk away from violence.”
“You’ve got a strange definition of the term ‘never.’ Because, unless we both saw different things just now, an Adrenalite literally did walk away from violence.”
“But—”
“Let it go, Boss.”
“Huh?”
“You were wrong about the kid. He’s not some bloodthirsty lunatic, he’s a boy. Simple as that. Accept it, and let it go.”
Roman opened his mouth to respond but instead erupted into a fit of coughing. Tan gave him a hard thump on the back, then lifted him up by his arm, supporting Roman’s unsteady weight.
“Come on,” Tan said. “You’ve had your chance to be stunned shitless, now we gotta go.”
Roman shrugged Tan’s hand off him, moving to the sidewalk where the puddles weren’t as deep. One step at a time, he told himself, falling into a trance with the simple repetition of it. At each corner Roman half expected to find Sparks waiting for them. Surely the kid would change his mind and come back. But every turn only revealed more wet, crumbling streets. Every time it was a relief. Although Roman found himself almost wishing Sparks would return. That would at least make sense.