Page 38 of How to Hack a Hellhound
Liam actually smiled wider, and I think he licked his lips, tasting the spray. I just stood there like an idiot trying to process what the fuck was happening. Todd was yelling, and Liam caught him around the neck, cutting off his shouts, and lifted him up into the air.
Todd’s feet were flailing, his face was turning red, and Liam just casually looked over at me. “You ok, hellcat?” he asked.
“Well, I wasn’t the one tased and pepper sprayed, so yeah, I’d say I’m just dandy,” I snarked.
I wanted to facepalm myself. Yeah, supportive and empathetic were apparently not my strong suits in a crisis situation. But seriously, what the fuck? I thought I was pretty calm considering.
Liam smiled wider. “I’m glad it wasn’t a gun. Bullets are a bitch to expel. Electricity and pepper spray, though? That’s like a shot of espresso to the system. Yummy and invigorating.”
Okey-dokey then. Definitely wasn’t gonna forget that Liam wasn’t a human again.
“Let’s say we take him back to the house for a little interrogation?” Liam asked.
“Ok, first of all, you aren’t interrogating anyone and getting blood in my house. Second of all, I thought we couldn’t interrogate murky souls,” I answered.
“Oh no, we have a torture basement set up in the main house. I wouldnevercause a mess in your house, hellcat. And as for Todd here”—he gave the flailing guy a rough shake—“he just tipped the balance into full rottenness. Sometimes it only takes one action. Trying to kill me and kidnap you just sucked out any hope for redemption. There’s no turning back for Todd, so he’s all ours.”
I wasn’t even gonna comment on the torture room. Nope. Not gonna ask. I guessed I’d see soon enough, anyway, so I gestured to my sexy stalker to lead the way. He did something to Todd—not sure what—and the guy went limp. He cleaned off his face with some napkins and a bottle of water, but the shirt was probably a lost cause. Then he threw Todd over a shoulder and peeked out the door, motioning me to follow as we headed out to the car.
Liam dumped him in the trunk, which quite conveniently had some duct tape. “Wanna drive?” he asked, like we were heading to the park or something. “I can erase the camera footage while you do.”
I nodded and got in the driver’s side, and Liam handed me the keys and grabbed a laptop from the back. He got to work on his magic, and I concentrated on driving exactly four miles over the speed limit to get home. I really did not want to get pulled over, and I thought I’d read somewhere that cops didn’t bother with less than five miles per hour over the limit, but they would get suspicious if you went too slow.
I didn’t doubt that Liam could handle the cops, but I really didn’t want to see it happen firsthand.
Liam was closing the laptop as we pulled up the driveway. “Done. All traces of our presence at Bliss tonight have been erased. Pull into the middle house driveway where the rest of the guys live. We’ll use that basement.”
“There’s more than one torture basement?” I asked.
He looked at me as we stopped. “Of course. There are five of us. Six if Wilder comes. We can’t all be sharing the same space. Not that we always bring hellbound souls here, so don’t worry about that. We usually take care of business in the field.”
Liam got out then, and I saw someone jump down off the porch as Liam walked around to the trunk. It was Corbin, who I hadn’t really spent much time with.
I guessed that was about to change. What better way to get to know someone than to watch them torture someone? I followed the hellhounds and the unconscious Todd into the house and down a set of stairs.
The torture basement was… not as creepy as I expected. It was clean. No dried blood everywhere, although apparently the windows were blacked out and there was a soundproof area. Todd got tied to a chair, still unconscious.
Corbin had a crow on his shoulder, and once Todd was secured, it hopped down onto the man’s shoulder and started pecking at his face.
“If that thing starts eating his eyes, I’m out of here. I’m squeamish,” I announced.
Liam walked over and put an arm around me, and Corbin smiled slightly.
“We’re just waking him up for you,” Corbin said. “Then we’ll leave you two to your date.”
I sputtered at the same time Todd started moaning and thrashing his head, and the crow cawed loudly in his ear before flying back onto Corbin’s shoulder. Corbin gave a little wave and started back up the steps.
“You guys are fucking weird,” I muttered.
Liam just shrugged, watching Todd. “How squeamish do you get?” he asked. “I don’t want to upset you, but I do owe Todd a little retribution. He did ruin my shirt with pepper spray.”
I laughed at that, leaning up to give Liam a kiss. “If you want to beat him up a little, that’s just fine. I have some questions for him. If more than that is required… Well, I may head upstairs for a break while you do the nasty stuff. Not that Todd doesn’t deserve it, but I don’t need to see anyone’s insides or anything.”
Liam smiled. “My pleasure, hellcat. Lead away with your questions.”
Todd started whimpering as we both walked toward him.
Chapter 14
