Page 229 of Boys Who Hunt

And so will she.

Tears run down my face for minutes before it’s finally over.

The door is slammed open.

“What have you done?!” Stefano barges inside and shoves me away from the machines.

“Too late,” I mutter.

He grabs the wires and tries to reattach them, but it’s no use. She’ll never return to him.

A smile forms on my face.

THWACK!

The first punch lands the hardest, and I’m knocked back onto the floor.

“How fucking dare you?!”

His voice booms through the room.

THWACK! THWACK!

Still, I can’t stop laughing.

He grabs me by the throat. “You kill her, and you’re laughing?”

“She’s free.” I smile. “And I will be too soon.”

“I will fucking kill you,” he spits.

“Go ahead,” I murmur.

“You think I won’t do it?” he growls.

“Do it. Before they’re here,” I whisper.

“Who?”

I grin. “The boys hunting me.”

For a moment, he stares at me in disbelief.

And all I can do is laugh.

“Fine, you want to play rough? I’ll play along,” Stefano growls, and he rummages around in a drawer until he finds what he’s looking for, fishing out a dangerous-looking handmade device. “I knew you’d try to rope others into your little scheme, so I came prepared.”

My eyes widen as he pulls out a rope too.

But before I can crawl away, he kneels on top of me, punching me so hard I nearly lose consciousness.

He rips the earpieces from my ears, leaving me in silence.

Each punch fades into the other as I lie woozy on the floor.

Everything is spinning.

I’m not sure I care.