Savage Vandal (82 Street Vandals #1) - Heather Long Page 0,95

against the wall. Blood sprayed as the nick on his throat turned into a slice.

“I have a question,” Kellan said in an icy tone. “Just one.” Eyes rolling, Arlington shot a look to him. Pain and fear illuminated his face. “Tell me the truth. Don’t lie, ’cause I will know.”

Jasper and I said nothing. Of all of us, Kellan hadn’t taken that many turns at the fucker. If anything, Jasper had been hogging him.

“Maybe you’ll get out of here intact,” Kellan suggested, and I didn’t laugh. I didn’t even crack a smile.

If anything, Jasper’s expression was deader than mine felt. Arlington was only leaving here one way.

“Did you rape her?”

Panic turned Arlington’s eyes even wilder, and he made a noise of protest in his throat. But it wasn’t denial.

It was fear.

The blade in Jasper’s hand slammed into the man’s shoulder. Right into the meaty part. Blood sprayed my shirt, but I didn’t let him go.

“How many times?” I asked.

Because it had been the one question I hadn’t wanted to ask. The bruises on her were hard to deny. We’d all seen them.

Abuse.

Physical.

Mental.

Emotional.

Jasper twisted the knife. The ragged scream coming out of his throat wasn’t enough.

Not near enough.

“Don’t kill him yet,” Kellan said as he rolled up his sleeves.

“No,” I agreed. “First we cut off everything that ever touched her.”

“Then we kill him,” Jasper added.

At some point, he stopped screaming.

It was still way too soon in my opinion.

Just now…

Coming back to my room after dealing with Arlington, the last thing I’d expected was to find Dove there. All I’d wanted to do was erase every bad memory. I wanted that bastard’s blood off me before I touched her. Now that I had?

Fuck, I was never going to get enough.

I splashed water on my face. Of course, she didn’t want to act like any of this was real. She was still looking for a way out. A way away from us.

Goddammit.

I needed a shower, and I wanted to take it with her. A panicked sound from the bedroom had me spinning, and I pulled open the door to the bedroom in time for the door to my room to swing inward.

Chapter 25

Emersyn

The door burst open in front of me, even as the bathroom door swung open behind me. With only the sheet to cover up, I swallowed the sound of panic as Kestrel filled the doorway. He stared at me for a second, relief flitting across his face, and his shoulders sagged before his gaze jerked toward Vaughn.

“She’s been in here all night?”

I barely heard the question over the wild hammer of my heart. There was some solace in it being Kestrel, but the fact I was naked and my face was on television, even as Kestrel stared at Vaughn with that unreadable expression, threatened to turn me inside out.

“Yeah,” Vaughn answered with the kind of certainty that should have made me excited. Like he was daring Kestrel to question it. “Problem?” It wasn’t cocky or smug, just unequivocal, as if the idea I’d be anywhere else would be ridiculous.

“Freddie was supposed to be watching her and he’s missing.”

“What?” I straightened. “He went to get food last night, but he didn’t come back…” Now that I thought about it. He really hadn’t come back. I’d thought maybe he got distracted.

“We’re going to need you,” Kestrel said to Vaughn, then he flicked a look to me. “You should probably stay in here for now.”

“I want to help,” I said before I slid off the bed. I almost lost the sheet.

“No,” Vaughn and Kestrel said in the same breath, and I glanced from one to the other.

“No?” I dropped the damn sheet because fighting with it was making me awkward. Kestrel’s eyebrows climbed, and Vaughn snagged something from behind him and then he tugged a shirt over my head.

Oh for fuck’s sake… I yanked my hair out of the way and stared at him. “Really? You’re naked.”

“He doesn’t care about my junk,” Vaughn told me flatly.

I rolled my eyes and turned toward Kestrel, who stared at me with a kind of burning intensity. The blue-green color of his eyes wasn’t visible in the half-light cast by the television. It took me a moment to realize he’d even stepped all the way in and closed the door behind him. “The door was locked.”

Not that it had anything to do with anything.

“Freddie had to pick it to let us in here.”

Vaughn snorted behind me, and a drawer closed. The thump of wood on wood pulled my