Page 51 of Cole: Bloodlines
“No!” Cole cried. “Don’t youfucking touch him!”But the man was gone. Cole turned on Daniel in desperation. “Stophim. I won’t give you afucking thingif he hurts Maddy.”
“Calm down,” Daniel snapped with notable irritability. “Forget the boy. Focus on the girl.”
Panic set in as Cole looked helplessly at Gabe, and a mutual thought passed between them:We have to get out of here now!Yet, any rash moves would get one or both of them shot.
“It’s time to get serious, son,” Daniel said. “We’ve been dancing around the central issue all night, and I’m sure you will agree—it’s been one hell of a long night. But everything that’shappened had to happen. I needed to remind you who I am… and whoyouare.”
Cole flinched at his words—recoiledfrom the reality. He was startled by the fear that rushed through him when he looked at Gabe, as if the killer’s words would suddenly click in his husband’s mind and Gabe would reject him. Deep down, he knew how ridiculous the idea was, but his mind nearly spiraled into panic for a moment. The look he got from Gabe, though, soothed his fears and drove away the panic.
The Mangler remained agitated after the tense exchange with Byrne; whateverthornByrne had stabbed into his side was festering, and the irritation it caused was evident in Daniel’s clipped tone and impatience. “I’m done fucking around.”
Daniel pulled out a knife, and Cole tensed. He could do little to fight back with the cuffs on. He was shocked when the Mangler removed his restraints.
“You have a decision to make, son,” he said. “It will be tough, but it’s necessary. This man before you is an obstacle; he’s preventing you from becoming your true self.”
A deep, consuming fear gripped Cole.
“So, you’re going to remove the obstacle.” Daniel shocked Cole by shoving the knife into his hand. “And if you refuse… I will bring the girl in here and make you watch while I rape her, then butcher her. And when I’m finished with her, you get to watch while I gut your husband.”
Cole looked at Gabe, his fear escalating.
“Decide now,” the Mangler murmured. “Do you save the girl… or watch thembothget butchered. I’m sorry, but your husband here has to go either way. He’s holding you back… like Ezra. So, like Ezra, he needs to be removed.”
Cole squeezed the knife handle in his fist, his jaw clenched and face tight. “This wasn’t… the deal.”
“This was always the deal,” Daniel spoke low. “And I think you knew that all along.”
Shaking his head, Cole swallowed hard. “No. You can’t make mekillmy husband.”
“He’s already dead. Now, it comes down to who kills him.” Daniel smiled. “And you don’t want it to be me.”
Panic flared through Cole—panic for Gabe, for Maddy, for Savannah.
What the fuck am I going to do?
His eyes locked with Gabe’s stare… and his hand tightened around the knife.
CHAPTER 21: DOWN FOR THE COUNT
Maddy scrambled backwarduntil his spine pressed against the cold metal bars at the back of the cage, his fingernails scraping the concrete floor. The heavy steel door to the room groaned open on rusted hinges. His kidnapper's silhouette filled the doorway before the man stepped inside, the door slamming shut with a metallic clang that echoed through Maddy's bones. The man's eyes had changed—glassy, hungry, with pupils dilated into black pools that consumed the irises. This was it. No moreplaying.
The man was going torapehim.
A knot of panic grew beneath Maddy's sternum, spreading icy tendrils through his chest until each breath became a shallow gasp. His wrists and ankles, unbound, gave him a fighting chance—unless the man had a gun.
The kidnapper worked the latch of the cage, the metallic click echoing in the concrete room. He crooked his index finger in a beckoning motion. “Come on, boy, it's time to do this.”
Maddy pressed his shoulder blades harder against the bars, feeling each cold cylinder dig into his vertebrae. His mouth went dry.
The kidnapper dropped to a squat, his face level with the cage opening, close enough that Maddy could smell his stale breath. “Resisting will only make it more fun for me... and less fun for you. Now, come on out.”
Maddy swallowed, his heart hammering against his ribs like it might burst through his chest, but his limbs had turned to concrete, refusing every desperate command to move.
“You really want me to get rough? ‘Cause I have no issue with that. I was just trying to be nice. But if you don't want me to benice…” The corners of his mouth curled upward like a wolf about to devour its prey.
Maddy's throat constricted as if invisible hands were choking him. The metallic taste of fear coated his tongue while hot tears burned behind his eyelids, transforming the kidnapper's face into a watery, monstrous blur. His chest heaved with each shallow breath, his training sessions with Cory—hours of combat drills and defensive maneuvers—evaporating like morning dew under the scorching sun of terror.
Think about Angel, Savannah, your dads… they need you to fight back—to come home!
