Page 124 of Bad Seed
“Empty your pockets,” Mr. Ato says. “Or should I do it for you?”
Fuck. I panic swallow, which presses my throat to the blade. Wincing, I try to still my breathing so I don’t hurt myself. Then I look over at Aubry.
This was all his idea. The only Hail Mary, last throw hope to save him. I could have walked away, but I agreed. I had to save him.
If I fail…
“I’m sorry,” I mouth and pull the phone out of my pocket.
Mr. Ato grabs it from my fingers. The knife lifts. I start to rub my neck and move to run to Aubry’s side. The hand clamps tighter to my arm.
“Unlock it, please.” Mr. Ato extends the phone and I stare back at Aubry. “Or I can just chop your finger off and do it myself.”
“If you do,” Aubry snarls, “I’ll—”
I leap forward, pressing my thumb to the readout. The phone unlocks with a picture of Astin. As Mr. Ato scrolls through the photo gallery I rush to Aubry’s side. He reaches an arm over my shoulder. Even if ten men had been hanging off of him, he’d still have held me.
It doesn’t take Mr. Ato long to find what he wants, what I was up to when I snuck into his office once Aubry provided the distraction I needed. “Ha. Clever, Talong. Very clever.”
With his bare hands, he snaps the phone in half. I yelp at the sparks dancing on the falling plastic. Mr. Ato glides over a glass filled with amber liquid, and drops the phone remains inside. “Did you really think holding that material over my head would you let you escape? That I wouldn’t hunt you down to the ends of the Earth for that!”
Aubry lifts his chest, not about to be cowed by the man.
A snarl twists up Ato’s lips, and he slams his fist to the desk. In a rage, he starts shoving everything off. Liquor bottles, a lamp, papers, even the glass with the drowned phone in it hit the ground. After giving a long scream, he turns his back on everything and begins to fix up his balding hair.
“Talong, I wish I could tell you that this will hurt me as much as it does you.” He stands up straight and adjusts his tie. “But we both know that’s a lie. Grab the girl.”
“No!”
Goji, the man in white, lunges for my arms. Aubry’s fist plows through the man’s jaw. Two teeth explode out of Goji’s mouth and hit the desk. The hands fall off of me, and I duck out of the way just as Aubry grabs Goji by the middle and hefts him off his feet.
The cock of a gun sunders the air.
It’s the big man in green. He holds the gun right at Aubry’s heart, but tears gush down his cheeks.
“Put him down,” Mr. Ato says.
Aubry looks about to snap Goji’s spine over his knee. He doesn’t care that a bullet’s going to shred his heart to pieces. I slide in between them and place my palm to his chest. His wild eyes pull back, the purple giving way to brown as he focuses on me.
Please.
With a grunt, Aubry throws Goji to the floor. The man rolls better than I’d have expected for someone who just lost two teeth. He cups his jaw, moaning in pain, but rises.
“Sadie…” Aubry reaches a hand around my waist, but he’s too late.
Goji yanks me hard off of my feet. I skitter, trying to keep from bashing my nose in as he drags me toward the boss. In the fight, I missed Mr. Ato dragging a whet stone down his blade with a terrifying glee in his eye.
“Now, my dear, this is going to hurt. A lot. So don’t hold anything back. I’d quite like for him to hear you scream.”
“So fucking help me!” Aubry lunges for me, only for Green to wrap his arm around Aubry’s throat. Even nearly strangling himself, he keeps fighting, stretching his hand to me. “If you hurt her…”
The knife swoops up my arm, slicing away the fine layer of hair. “What should I cut off first?” Mr. Ato muses.
Oh, fuck. Fuck, this is so fucking real.
Metal bites into my ear and he presses down. I yelp, then slap a hand to my mouth. Someone grabs my wrist, yanking my arm down so I can’t stop myself. So he has to hear me scream.
The knife travels over my head. “You won’t look so pretty without that nose of yours.”
