Page 51 of The Road to Ruined

He shrugs. "There's no going back and getting off the bus now."

"I wouldn't go back and get off the bus," I tell him. "I'd go back and let that girl shoot me with Luca in the bathroom."

"Get your fucking head on straight, or you're going to go in there and get yourself in trouble."

"What's the worst-case scenario?"

"You hesitate, and they get the best of you. He'll lock you up and use you for a few days, and then try to sell you to us if he hasn't figured it out, and then I'll set you free unless they want you dead." He moves the knife down to the inside of my thigh. "Femoral artery. It'll bleed a lot, it's great for slowing someone down, but it's also easy to miss. The base of the skull and kidneys are also good places to aim."

"Is there a point in telling you again that I don't want to do this?" I ask. "I'm not an assassin. Do you hate me this much?"

"It's not about you."

"Well, who is it about then?"

"You got out of bed to play monsters," he says. "You'll be okay. Better than okay, even. You don't get to be normal, Teagan, because you aren't. But your friends could be…or they're going to kill them…and make you watch. They'll make sure they know it's because ofyoubefore they go, too."

"They? Not you?"

He shrugs. "Maybe me. I don't really care either way. It won't bother me if that's what you're asking."

"But—"

"I'm not your friend, Teagan."

"How do I know you'll really let them go free?"

"I'll show you," he says. "The people running The Order aren't stupid. They're powerful, and part of that power is in their ability to exist unnoticed. There are only two reasons they kill outside of rituals—if the person is a threat to the organization or to control someone else. Your friends are scared like they should be, and they're running and hiding like they should be. The only threat to them is you."

"I'm not whatever you are. I didn't sign up for this—I want to go home."

He laughs. "You think there are sign-ups? When do you think we all signed up? A career fair? They'll be here in five minutes."

He puts his fingers in my hair, and I shrug him off. "Don't touch me."

"I have to," he says. "See this?"

He opens his hand and reveals a thin, metal object about six inches in length. There's a sharp point at one end, and at the other, it comes to a 'T' with the horizontal line decorated with jewels.

"It's sharper than an ice pick. I'm going to hide it inside your braid; it'll look like a hair clip. That's what you'll kill them with. Okay?"

I hold still while he buries it inside of my braid.

"I'll kill myself before I let them take me."

"You better fucking not. I'll kill your parents.I'lldo it…personally. Because that will personally piss me off."

"How can you hate me this much?" I reach inside his hood, moving my hand to the back of his neck—to that tiny sliver of exposed skin between his hairline and the neck of his shirt. "You have to like me at least a little bit, right? Why don't you help me?"

"I am helping you," he says. "You look cute like this…helpless. If we had more time, I'd bend you over this couch and use that braid for leverage while I fill all of your holes with cum." He runs the braid through his fingers. "Don't talk to anyone. In fact, I should tape your mouth shut. I'mgoing totape your mouth shut."

Shoving him off of me, I jump up from the couch. "No."

Rage flashes in his dark eyes, but before he can respond, I hear a phone. He pulls it from his pocket and glances down at the screen. "Let's go, little monster."

When we get down to the garage, there's a van waiting. Two men climb out, one older and the other maybe around thirty and muscular. He's shorter than Bone Saw and the other man, with a scar running across his face.

"So, all I have to do is drop her off, and my debts are paid?" the older man asks Bone Saw. "That's it? I'm free to go."

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