Insatiable (Steel Brothers Saga #12) - Helen Hardt Page 0,22
don’t know where—”
A slight movement to the man’s right.
Then, a woman’s voice.
“Brad? Is that you?”
Chapter Sixteen
Marjorie
Slit her throat.
The words rang in my head.
Could I? Was I capable of doing harm to another human being?
I was certainly capable of harming myself. With the slight thought, my fresh cut itched and tingled, and the steel blade grew hot against my breast.
My friend…
Would I get in trouble? I’d been kidnapped. Taken against my will. Surely this would be a case of self-defense.
If only Jade were here. She was an attorney. She could tell me for sure.
Alex rustled around in the other room. Until she fell asleep, we couldn’t do anything anyway.
Still, the blade burned against my flesh, as if it were branding me.
“What now?” Colin mouthed to me.
“We wait, I guess,” I mouthed back.
We should be exhausted, but energy rolled through me. My heart beat rapidly, keeping me on edge. No way would I be able to sleep. No way.
I just hoped Alex could. Apparently, she was used to doing these sorts of things for a living. If so, she should be able to sleep through anything by now. Or she slept lightly. I prayed it was the former.
Come on! Fall asleep, damn it!
Still, she rustled around, sounding as if she was having a difficult time getting comfortable. Served her right, though I wanted her comfortable at the moment.
I wanted her damned comfortable, dreaming about pink clouds and unicorns and sleeping like a baby.
I lay down on the bed. “Lie down,” I said barely audibly to Colin. “In case she comes in here.”
He nodded and took his place on the floor.
Normally I’d have resisted lying down, afraid I’d fall asleep. Not tonight. My beating heart wouldn’t let me succumb to slumber anytime soon.
I sat up in bed and checked my watch. Shit! Forty-five minutes had passed in the span of two. So much for not falling asleep. On the floor next to me, Colin had succumbed as well. Maybe this had been a good thing. If Alex thought we were asleep…
I moved slowly, cringing every time the stupid bed made a creak. I didn’t want to wake Colin. Not yet. The less sound, the better.
I tiptoed to the door and peered into the other room. I squinted to try to see better. Alex was a dark lump on the bed, her chest rising and falling in a regular rhythm. Did that mean she was asleep?
So far, she hadn’t heard me. Did I dare actually walk into the room?
No.
I had to wake Colin first. But how to do that without alarming him? He might cry out, and that would wake up Alex.
I walked back to where Colin lay on the floor. I nudged him gently.
He opened his eyes. “It’s okay. I’m awake,” he said, mouthing more than saying the words.
Relief swept through me. “I think she’s asleep,” I mouthed back.
He nodded and sat up. “Let’s do it.”
Again, the blade burned against my flesh. Take it out of your bra, Marj. You need to have it in your hand.
I drew in a deep breath, gathering my courage.
I was about to wound—perhaps mortally—another person.
“You have no choice,” Colin whispered.
Had I said those thoughts out loud? Or could he just read the tormented expression I probably had on my face?
Didn’t matter. He knew. And he understood. He’d been through a hundred times worse than what we were going through now.
Once more, I gathered my courage, my cut itching and throbbing. I reached into my shirt and pulled the blade out from my bra.
My friend…
Tingles shot through me, and my fingers itched to descend to the bandage on my thigh. I could easily sweep my sweatpants over my hips and slice into myself again.
Easily.
So easily.
“Ready?” Colin said.
“Thank you,” I mouthed.
He cocked his head at me. He had no idea why I was thanking him, of course. He was my focal point. He was keeping me focused, and I was eternally grateful.
I suppressed the shivers that threatened to overtake me as I walked as quietly as I could out the door and toward the lump on the bed that was Alex.
The blade flamed between my fingers, growing hotter, hotter the closer I got to its target.
Did Alex feel the tingles, the thrilling sensation? The torturous pleasure at knowing she was about to be cut into?
I didn’t.
Seemed I only got that when I was about to cut into myself.
Instead, jitters tormented me—jitters, and shivers, and shakes.
Closer. I walked closer. Her chest rose and fell, rose and fell, rose and fell…