The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone (259 page)

“That shut you up!” he laughed as he finished his tethering and his eyes flashed with heat and lust. “Look mighty fine, pretty lady, trussed up in eagerness for me.”

I just smiled sarcastically at him as a door at the other end of the room opened and Vickie walked through, her hard face watching me as she strolled over to me with her hands behind her back, her elegant grace, the one thing I had always admired about her now mocked me. There was nothing elegant about this bitch.

She reached me and smirked, “Thirsty?”

I nodded, not caring that I was surrendering to her. I would kill my dog for some water. She nodded and revealed a can of Energy Shot. My eyes widened on her and I shook my head, “Vickie, please.”

She smirked again and grasped my hair, tipping my head harshly backwards until I could feel it groan under the pressure. My heart was already struggling with keeping my body and brain nourished. There was hardly any blood left in my system and I knew I was waning quickly, but the sudden stimulant would make my heart go crazy under the strain.

My jaw clamped closed, sealing my mouth off to her but she nodded to Shithouse, demanding that he open it for her. I tried to bite at him but the way he held me gave me no room to fight with my teeth. I desperately compressed my throat but as soon as the liquid started to hit my mouth, fingers closed around my nose and halted my oxygen supply. My instinct caused me to choke on the first gush down my throat but there was nothing I could do but swallow the fluid running freely into me. I begrudgingly rejoiced in the nourishment and found myself gulping greedily at it as nature took over and devoured the sustenance.

I slugged back furious lungful’s of air as I tried to make my heart remain calm and steady. My eyes started to glaze as my ribs screamed in protest to the heavy breaths. My teeth sliced through my lower lip as Shithouse smacked me hard in the side of the head, “Stay with us, bitch, I haven’t finished with you yet!”

Vickie dropped to her haunches before me and palmed the side of my face tenderly, a mocking contradiction to the hatred in her eyes, “Well, Mase can’t be that besotted with you, he has been nowhere near.” She laughed loudly causing my teeth to vibrate, “So Ava, we all know how much of whore you are and you’re probably craving your daily fuck by now. Hugh, here, is more than willing to feed your addiction.”

The caffeine suddenly hit with force and I looked up at Hugh—Hugh . . . Hugh. I laughed loudly, “Hugh? Hugh? Fucking Hugh?” My mind had gone into temporary—well I hoped it was temporary—insanity as I giggled furiously. Hugh? Never in a million years would I have labelled him Hugh, it was just . . . wrong, so wrong for him.

I knew my heart was pumping what little blood I had left too energetically around my system, leaving me lightheaded and slightly delirious but I couldn’t hold back the laughter, even when he pulled out his knife and leaned across me. “That’s it, you keep laughing pretty lady, you’re gonna enjoy this so much.”

My hands dropped limply as he cut through the rope holding them and then carved through the twine holding my legs together. His fist once more grabbed a handful of my hair as he yanked me from the seat and dragged me over to the edge of the room, throwing me down harshly so my back thudded on the cold concrete floor and the back of my head bounced off it. He kicked at my ankles, his boot knocking my bone painfully but I still couldn’t stop giggling. Everything was now surreal and I was suddenly grateful to Vickie’s caffeine hit, the fevered rambling it brought on may actually save my mind from what was about to happen.

All that filled my head as Hugh tore through the front of my pretty party dress was Mason’s smile, his soft twinkling eyes and his beautiful face. Although he wasn’t here, my glorious bastard once again encouraged and supported me throughout what was to become my final coherent moment, because I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, my spirit wouldn’t tolerate this, I would irrevocably never be the same again but I swallowed it back and strived to stay strong for my man.

Chapter 10

Mason

HIS NOSE EXPLODED when my knuckles connected with the bridge of it, his low groan bringing on a rush of adrenaline through my system. I had needed this, hankered for permission to let my wrath break free. The torturous pain of keeping it in lockdown was nearly as uncontrollable as my need to find Ava.

“Try again, Estevo” I growled as I picked up the bat from beside me and ran my fingers delicately over the smoothness of the fashioned wood. “I’m growing impatient.”

He smirked at me and shook his head, “You really think I’m gonna tell you?”

I regarded the bat with a slight tilt to my head and decided it wasn’t sufficient enough for the extraction of information. I needed something more potent, something with the promise of carnage.

I nodded and smiled, “Yeah, I agree, the bat isn’t quite gonna make the grade, you deserve something more . . .” I pursed my lips and contemplated the arrangement before me. “Something more complex” I whispered more to myself than Frank’s minion as I picked up the small knife and ran it between my fingers.

Estevo smirked at me; obviously he had a different idea to how I would use it. I strolled around him a couple of times, studying him and perceptively working out how much self-worth he had. He was a typical Portuguese guy, his dark hair and tanned skin healthy and radiant from the nutrients in the local fish and herb cuisine.

I leant over him from behind, my malice savouring the way he clenched his hands in expectation. “You are a pretty little thing aren’t you? I imagine with a face like that you get your choice of women.”

He remained silent and stiff beneath me as I brought the knife up to his face. “Go ahead, cut me Fox, I’m sure a few scars will add to the rugged appeal women find sexy.”

I rolled my tongue around my cheek as I placed the flat of the blade against his cheekbone. He squirmed as I pulled it upwards like a razor, peeling his skin away from his face with just the right pressure on the knife. “But I’m not going to leave scars, Estevo, there’s going to be no skin left to scar.”

I shivered as his blood pooled heavily down his face, the flesh beneath his cheek now angry and exposed as I unwrapped his face. He squealed deep in his throat as I nudged the knife across to his other cheek, “Anything coming back yet?”

He pressed his lips together and shut his eyes against my unsettling smile but the significant shiver in his chest notified me of his distress and agony. “I’m amazed how different you look already, this is quite exquisite. I can actually see your veins pumping your body with as much blood as it possibly can.”

I dragged the blade over his face again, his skin detaching in a way that made it curl upwards in a delicate pattern.
“Fuck!”
he breathed as his fingers curled around the arm of the chair and his leg started to twitch rapidly, the ball of his foot bouncing wildly on the floor as he tried to control himself and override the pain.

Once more, I moved over to the right side of his face and smirked when a gurgle crept from his throat. “Please” he begged but I shrugged him off as I drew the knife downwards this time, causing a more painful sweep but still only deep enough to shed his skin.

His scream was louder this time and I laughed as a tear slid from the corner of his eye and trickled over the sore tissue, the salt in it evidently causing a sting to accompany the agony. Both his legs were now vigorously bobbing up and down as I moved the tip of the knife along his broken nose and across the delicate area of his eyelids. “Fox!” he choked out as my finger pressed against his eyelashes and held his eye closed in preparation. “Please.”

“Tell me then!” I urged as I taunted him and traced the edge of his eye socket with the curved tip.

“I . . . I can’t!”

As soon as the words left his mouth I knew I would break him. He was now arguing with himself if it was worth losing his face over. “Frank is gone, Estevo, he can’t hurt you.”

“But . . .” He gulped as I ran the point back over the previous path with a little more pressure, leaving a trail of blood to bubble to the surface of his thin skin. “But Vickie . . .”

I laughed and shook my head slowly, “You’re scared of Vickie? What the fuck is she gonna do?”

“The same as what she is doing to Ava.”

I bit my tongue but refused to let that thought take control, “Ava is a woman, Estevo. You’re telling me you put yourself in the same league as a woman?”

I hoped and prayed he wasn’t aware of Ava’s strength and combat skills. I needed him to think she was just a small timid female. “Well, no but . . .”

“But my wife is worth losing face for?” I scoffed at the double meaning, finding my humour quite disturbed but amusing.

He was panting as I pulled back once more, my eyes following the path of the knife with a cold excitement. His eyes screwed closed and I knew I had him. “Fornos de Algodres shelter.”

I dropped the knife and spun around. “Thank you, Estevo” I muttered as I flew across the room.

Chapter 11

Ava

I STARED AT the ceiling, focussing on the domed metal as Hugh slipped the knife through the front of my bra and released my breasts to the cool air. “Very nice” I heard him mumble as my foggy brain tried to keep up with the frantic flow of blood supplying it.

My heart was racing but there wasn’t enough blood to fuel the rocketing throb. My pulse couldn’t keep up as it strained to either slow itself down and adapt to the weakness of my body or speed up and fight to push the blood around my ailing system.

My mind was hazy and frenzied as visions of my family laughing in the sunshine tormented my soul yet comforted my heart; George’s happy smile as a young boy playing ball with his sister, Mason’s soft smile as he watched me sway across the room and love him with my body and Kade’s beloved arms holding me tight against him. They all laughed happily and waved to me as I shuddered against the harsh touch of Hugh’s hand up my inner thigh.

Fight, baby.

“I can’t” I whispered back.

Hugh slapped at my face as my eyes closed wearily, “Keep awake, bitch.”

Yes, you can, Ava. Fight!

“I . . .” I gulped at the dryness in my throat and then shivered as harsh rough hands cupped my breasts and squeezed cruelly, “I want to but. . . .”

My face shot sideways as his palm struck me again, “I aint fucking no dead slapper so you need to keep your eyes open. You hear me?”

Endurance, Ava. Fight the bastard.

His voice was strong and firm as he reprimanded me and I gazed around me groggily to see if he was actually here with me. A choked sob erupted from me when I saw him stood in the corner of the room smiling softly at me. “Mason?”

I felt Hugh turn to scan the room, checking to see if Mason was actually with us. He snorted and peered down at me, “You’re losing your shit pretty quick; we need to do this now.”

His knee wedged between mine and pushed my legs apart. I didn’t have the strength to struggle anymore. My body was giving up,
I
was giving up and I turned my head once more and stared lovingly at my husband. “Help me,” I rasped but he shook his head.

No, fight him. You can do this Ava, you are strong. You can take this prick.

Fury rippled through me with his refusal to help me and I glared at him, “Fucking help me!”

No!

“Yes, damn you!”

“Shut the fuck up, you freak!” Hugh barked as his fingers curled around the edge of my knickers and started to yank at them.

Ava!

It was the combination of the two sounds that did it, the harsh rip of fabric and Mason’s firm growl. My heart rate peaked with my intense rage and slammed my brain with so much adrenaline I had to scream to release the surge of emotion. Hugh stared at me in horror as I launched my fist into the side of his face. He shot sideways but was quick to get back to me, his hands curling around my throat but I was too far gone to care. Mason’s wrath had always astounded me; its force was both manic and malevolent and I had often wondered how he thrived on it but now, in the moment between death and existence, when I had no more to lose, when my mind and my soul had accepted mortality and my spirit had given up, natural instincts of survival swelled within me and produced a storm of hysteria and passion.

I penetrated his stare as my throat burnt against his fingers and my lungs squealed in torturous misery. Slowly and agonizingly I raised my hands, placing one arm around the back of his neck and the other on his jaw as my vision faded to a tunnel, a taunting light at the end which called to me with so much power my ears started to hum at my reluctance to cave.

You know what to do, baby. Finish him.

I closed my eyes, summoning the small bubble deep within me. The spark fused and ignited, its energy giving me the last threads of vitality I needed. My breathing steadied as my panic calmed and my strength built, my arms locked tight as my body reinforced its genetic shield. The scream caught him off guard first but his eyes widened as I rammed upwards with my knee in a quick harsh movement and butted his balls as I jerked and snapped my arms, breaking his neck cleanly and efficiently. He flopped against me instantly, his dead weight heavy as any remaining strength evaporated and I relished the oblivion of unconsciousness.

* * *

“Ava . . .”

I smiled faintly as I heard his frantic voice, the feverish tone of him nectar to my senses as I tried to call out but darkness surrounded me once more and I fell down deep into the pit.

I felt lighter as the weight lifted and hands and fingers probed at me. I winced as a sharp prick twinged the back of my hand and a warm sensation curled up my arm and tickled my veins.

“Baby . . . please . . .”

Everything was surreal and far away, too far away. I needed to touch him but I was too exhausted to reach for him. The light was still shimmering in the background, beckoning me into its breach but I dug my heels in each time Mason’s voice would penetrate my mind.

“You’re a warrior baby, battle it. Don’t let it win.”

I was tired of fighting though. The temptation to give in and rest was too intense. The promise of freedom and tranquillity too enticing as the light guaranteed serenity.