Chapter Forty-Three
Pain Can Be More Than Physical
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I couldn't see. There were pictures, images in front of me but I couldn't focus. The shot rang in my ears, a loud echo. Beside me I heard Liam grunt with pain, a sound so much louder than the gunfire. No. Not Liam.
But I felt no pain. Shock brought me back into a clearer mind. Liam had been hit. I looked over to him and saw that he had one hand pressed to a blood-stain on his leg and the other hand held his gun, aimed in Lee's direction. I stepped towards Liam, wanting to do something to help but Lee shouted, "No. Don't move or I'll blow his brains out the back of his head."
I clenched my fists and sucked in air, breathing hard. I felt woozy. Liam was shot. He was in pain. He was losing blood.
"You two dim-witted children. Did you think I would allow you to lure me into a trap? I bet you doubted that I would not harm either of you. But I have loyal agents within LASER who understand that you two are dangerous." He grinned and I expected his teeth to be razor sharp. He was a goddamn monster. I wanted to punch his teeth in. I wanted to run away.
I took a step back, slowly and wished that Lee would turn away for a second so that I could get the key out of my front pocket. The key for the handcuffs. I doubted Lee would allow me to reach for it. I heard the door knob turn behind me and out of the corner of my eye, watched as two men entered. They had cold, expressionless faces and they moved to stand by Lee, obviously his men. They talked in low tones and I used this time to study Liam. He looked pasty and his forehead and neck were covered with a sheen of sweat but his eyes were focused and steadfast on Lee.
Suddenly, he spoke, the pain making his voice come out soft. "I've got your head in my gun's sight and a witch wall in between us. I can shoot you but you cannot shoot me back. Give me a good reason not to kill you, Lee. Because I can't think of one."
A wave of relief crashed over me. Thank goodness. We were safe. I would have created my own wall of power to reinforce Liam's but I only knew how to make ones that were completely solid. His wall must have been an intricate spell if it was only one way. He was a genius. He was brilliant. He was my saviour... again.
Lee smirked, one that pierced my hope and deflated my sense of ease. He had something up his sleeve. Like a maddening evil magician. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
"Allow me to introduce Karl." He gestured to the tall and lean man beside him. The man, Karl, pressed his thin lips up into a smile, though his ice blue eyes took away any warmth the smile might have had. His hair was a dark brown and drawn back into a ponytail, tendrils falling out at the front. His skin was olive coloured and made me think of vomit. But I kept returning my vision to his eyes. There was power in them, they sparkled with it.
"Karl is my go-to witch and he has done the exact same thing to you, Lieutenant. So now we will play the waiting game. Once you have lost enough blood and collapse, I will be free to do whatever I please with the helpless Kayli. You would have been better off coming in with all guns blazing rather than trying to fool me with this false arrest."
I swore aloud and reached into my front pocket, removing the key and awkwardly freeing myself from the cuffs. Now that I knew that, for the moment, Lee was not a threat, I could move without fear. I stepped towards the door, praying with all my might that it would be unlocked and I could get Liam out of here before he lost too much blood. Lee chuckled when the handle jarred as I tried to pull it down. Locked. Was there no reprieve?
"I've waited much too long for this only to let you escape through an absentmindedly unlocked door, little Hunter."
I felt the urge to scream with frustration. I unleashed a small bit of my temper and kicked the door. And then gritted my teeth as the pain shot through my toes.
"You are a sorry excuse for a man, Lee," Liam grunted. "You will not win today. The outcome will not be in your favour."
"Oh, is that so?" Lee said mockingly. "It seems to me that you two have the rough end of the stick and it is highly unlikely that the odds will turn in your favour. You are about to fade into unconsciousness, Liam, and then the little Hunter will be helpless."
I was not helpless. If, IF Liam fainted, I would hold my own. Lee was underestimating my hate for him, my desire for revenge.
"This," Liam gestured towards the wound with his unarmed hand and my stomach rolled at the sight, "This is but a scratch, general. Your witch is poor at meditation and will not be able to hold his shield for long. It is indeed a waiting game."
Liam was being way too confident. There was no way he could last long, his colour was turning grey. I let out a trembling sigh into the silence. The men glared at each other, daring the other to say something. I should attempt to think of a plan but my mind was empty but for the sound of the shot and Liam's anguished face.
"Why?" The hissed word came from Liam, asking the question I'd needed to know the answer for since I was so young. Somehow he had managed to ask it before me, as if he could tell what I really wanted to know and had spared me the pain of asking it.
"Why?" This time the word came out in a rumbling tone. He was utterly furious and yet his aim never wavered. His face was pale and the leg of his jeans was no longer navy but a nauseating dark maroon. And yet no pain showed, there was not a single tremble in his body.
I wanted to go to him, to touch him, to hold him, but I didn't want to distract him with his aim or his magic. He would have to be struggling between the pain and his focus. I wanted to get out of here. My heart pumped faster. I wished that we had never come. I wished that after the first time Liam had caught me that I had stayed with him, forgotten about Lee and lived out whatever had happened next. I wanted to be in a warm home, in the arms of my lover with not a worry in the world. My vision blurred and I felt a swirling dizziness. I wanted out. I wanted to back out of this as if it had never occurred. I looked at the blood on Liam's jeans and found it hard to swallow. Maybe it would have been better if I had never been born.
But you were and there's no backing down, said my conscience. What are you gonna do about it?
"Why?" This time it was me who spat the question out.
Lee stroked a thumb down the side of his gun. I wished the gun would burn hot in his hands. Then his eyes connected with mine, their dark depths glistening with hate and torture.
"Revenge."
