“I’d like to see you try,” she spits, nudging the gun. Setting my jaw, I release it and rest my hands on my knees. My muscles are vibrating so hard-so fast; my body appears to be still. But I can feel every tremor as she continues, “You may think you’re powerful, but whatever scraps of power you have are insignificant to mine. I can make you disappear, and no one will ever have known you existed at all.”
I snarl, on the precipice of demonstrating just how wrong she is, but keep my teeth glued together for the time being. Jay’s right. She’s holding a gun to the back of my head and can end my life in a matter of seconds. A bullet is faster than me, and I have no doubt she would make good on her threat and kill Jay next.
Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply and bring myself to a scary place I’ve rarely had to go in my lifetime. Numbness spreads, and tranquility replaces the white-hot rage. My mind goes silent, and when I reopen my eyes, Jay’s spine snaps straight.
Whatever he sees unnerves him.
I need to get out of this situation in order to find Addie. Only then, will I be more than happy to show this cunt exactly what I’m capable of. This world will fucking smolder, and I will hold her face in the fire and watch her melt in my wrath.
“Did you take her?” I ask. I know she did, but I need to hear the confirmation from her mouth anyway.
I feel her hot breath fan across my ear, followed by her soft, mocking voice. “I did. I took her, and I’m going to sell her only to the ones with the sickest desires. And you can’t do a thing about it.”
One thing I’ve grown to loathe since forming
Z
-I have an incredibly vivid imagination. In this field of work, it’s a curse. Every time I see a new video posted on the dark web or get intel on a new ring-the first thoughts that come to mind are all the depraved, sick things being done to these women and children.
My own mind tortures me with those images. And later, I’ll be plagued by them, except it’ll be my girl they’re hurting.
But now? I’m fucking glad for it.
Because at this very moment, I am enjoying all of the ways I’m envisioning how I will kill Claire Seinburg.
“So,” I start, grunting when a particularly painful twinge flares in my back. “Mark was never your abuser, was he?”
She titters. “Oh, he was. He just didn’t know what it meant for him every time he laid his hands on me. Idiot never did figure out I was the one pulling all the strings. He was too stupid.”
She circles Jay and me, the gun still pointed at my head while her red lips pull into a snarl. The color staining her mouth rivals her hair. Such a bright red that curls around her face and robed shoulders. During the ritual, she was the mystery person in the hood, offering me a knife that she knew damn well I would never use on that little girl. Instead, it went into another’s throat.
“That’s the best thing about the male species. You all are so far up your own asses, you never thought it could be a woman in charge. Never suspected the meek, abused wife because you all assumed I was weak.”
I huff out a dry laugh. “Wrong. I didn’t suspect the abused wife only because I couldn’t imagine one victim actively victimizing other innocent women and children.”
She smiles wickedly and bends at the waist, leveling her green eyes with mine.
“And I can’t imagine a man that puts his life on the line to save these victims forcing an innocent woman into a relationship.”
She assesses me closely while I stare at her, searching for any emotion. I only give her one-I tip my head back and laugh.
“Have you been stalking me, Claire?” I ask with mirth, meeting her glare once more.
Her lips tip up further. “We’re all hypocrites,
Z,” she says, ignoring my taunt and straightening. “The only difference between you and me is that I chose to profit off of the pathetic men in this world. They’re never going to stop abusing those they deem weaker. And they’ll never stop raping and killing them. So, I decided that if that’s the world we’re going to live in, then I’ll be damned if I don’t gain something from it.”
I smooth out my face, only clenching my teeth when the twinge in my back worsens.
Fuck. I really need a hospital.
But I need Addie more.
“You could do so much good in your position,” Jay fumes, disgust twisting his features. “You have immense power. And you choose to feed into the patriarchy rather than changing it.”
She snarls, whipping the gun to him and pressing it into his temple. Jay stiffens, but he doesn’t cower. My muscles lock, the throbbing pain fading as I watch her finger dance over the trigger.
If she pulls that trigger… I will crush her throat beneath my boot before that bullet finishes passing through Jay’s brain.
“You’re wrong.” She looks at me. “Let’s say you did destroy all the rings, Z. Let’s say you accomplished what you’ve set out to do. Do you honestly believe, for one second, it’ll stay that way? Ha! The second the dust settles, evil will already be rebuilding their empire, this time stronger and better than before.” She stares at Jay and me as if we’re delusional.
“You’ll never get rid of evil. Never.”
She’s not wrong, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put a massive dent in the cesspool of rotten souls and create a power vacuum. I’m not under any delusions that I’ll be able to erase human trafficking in my lifetime completely. But that was never the fucking point. Saving these girls-these children-and giving as many of them a second chance at life as I can is the goddamn point.
My plan has always been to dismantle the government’s shady control of the people and their hand in the skin trade. That alone will make a significant difference in the world.
It will be an ongoing battle long after I’m gone. The sun will explode, and the earth will deteriorate before a perfect world ever exists. Humans will kill themselves off before that can happen.
But
Z
?
Z isn’t going anywhere, even when I’m buried six feet under. I will raise a generation to take over, and they will do the same.
Claire looks over her shoulder then, and I notice a man approaching with a deep hood over his head. I can only tell his gender because he’s built like an upside-down Eiffel Tower. Massive, broad shoulders stretching the robe, the seams nearly bursting, and then dramatically tapering down into chicken legs.
Dickhead skipped leg day so often that he can’t even see them anymore because they’re so skinny.
“Car is ready,” he announces, his voice deeper than the Mariana Trench.
Claire faces me, lowering her gun as the man’s raises, and flicks her pointer finger up and down.
“Up,” she snaps, her tone sharp. “Now.”
Blowing out a steady breath, I force myself to move, gritting my teeth from the aches in my body.
Grunting, I stand fully and train my glare on the red-headed snake before me. She’s brave enough to meet my gaze head-on without an iota of fear. I’m sure she’s used to men looking down on her, intimidating in nature. But Claire has never dealt with a man like me.
“What do you think you’re going to do with me?” I challenge, staring at her with condescension like you would a small child who believes they can win an arm-wrestling match against you. “I’m a lot to handle, Claire.”
Her lips tip up in a secretive smile, unconcerned as she draws near, a display to show me how unafraid she is.
“Patrick here will be taking you to our interrogation room. We’re going to ask you some questions.” She pats my cheek, returning the condescension. “You’ll be useful and give us all the information we need. How your organization operates and the illegal technology you use, along with all the intel you’ve collected in your years as a terrorist. And then, I will make you watch your little girlfriend with her new master before I kill you myself.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.