Page 53 of The Road to Ruined

"It'll get you in trouble—you know it will. Keep your mouth shut," he says before leaving through the back door, sendingus back into darkness when he closes it behind him. My two counterparts, either used to it or they stopped caring a long time ago, don't react. I practice slipping my hand in and out of the cuffs a couple of times before the engine starts and the van begins rolling back down that dirt road.

TEN

Hours pass before the van rolls to a stop. Muffled voices move around the side of the vehicle before stopping near the back doors. My heart pounds in my chest; I can hear the blood pumping in my ears. What are they talking about? What if that man told whoever is waiting the truth?

But no. There's no way. He was scared shitless of Bone Saw and whatever debt he owed The Order. He still has a family he cares about, so there's a part of him that's human.

And that's what makes him easy to control.

The door to the van opens, and the old man meets my icy glare. If I get a chance to kill him, too, I will.

"What are you waiting for?" another man says. "Bring them out."

Do it,I challenge him with my eyes.Come put your fucking hands on me.

"Actually, I hurt my hip the other day," the man says. "I need help unloading them."

"Jesus Christ, Dale, you worthless piece of shit," the other man says. He sighs heavily before stepping into the van, then stops in front of me first. "What'd you do to this one's face?"

"Uh, my guy got a little rough with her," Dale says.

"She looks fucking pissed. She's older than he likes, too. And too lucid."

He guides me out of the van and into the garage, where I wait mere feet away from Dale while he retrieves the other two. I keep my eyes trained on that fucker the whole time. Then, they march us through the expansive home to an office upstairs. Sugar Daddy looks up as we walk in; I don't see the girl with the cake anywhere.

"You said there would be four of them," he says calmly. "And what's wrong with this one's face?"

"One of them…didn't make it. And my guys got a little rough with that one."

"You really are a worthless piece of shit, Dale," Sugar Daddy says.

"That's what I told him!" the other man says. He nudges my shoulder. "Didn't I tell him that?"

I do my best not to react, glowering at the floor.

"Ugh, god, I thought I smelled something," a female voice says. The girl with the cake walks up the side of the room in a pair of workout shorts and a crop top. She stops in front of me. "Well, that one looks okay…except for the right side of her face. Does she have all of her teeth?"

She removes the duct tape and slides her fingers into my mouth, pulling my lips away to better examine my teeth. It takes every ounce of self-control not to bite her damn fingers off.

The girl next to me doubles over and vomits onto the carpet.

"Ew…" Cake Girl says.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Sugar Daddy grumbles. "Mike, get Dale out of here—pay him half."

"Half?! But—"

"Half. And you're lucky you'll be getting that much."

Mike escorts Dale out of the room, and then Sugar Daddy brings the phone on his desk to his ear. "Matilda, come clean this shit up in my office…now."

He slams the phone back down in its cradle. "It smells."

"I know," Cake Girl says.

"If we weren't going to be on a beach in Europe somewhere by this time next week, I'd have Mike kill Dale out of spite."

"Should I take them downstairs and get them hooked up?"

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