Page 118 of The Weight Of Falling
“Do you know what Roy said about you?” Eddie asks, his voice softening like a mock confidant. “He said you are the piece that makes or breaks his son. He said you are where the game ends.”
Pain flares, hot and bright, as he slowly drags the knife across the skin of my left forearm.
This time, I can’t help it. I scream.
I hear him giggle. “Oh, yeah, what a beautiful scream you have. You need to let it out more often. It’s exquisite.”
My body is shaking with fear and exhaustion and pain. I squeeze my eyes shut.
He taps my face with the blade. “No, don’t close those baby-blue eyes of yours. I want to see your fear. I didn’t wait this long just to stare at your eyelids.”
I can feel blood dripping down my arms. My breath rasps through my lungs. The pain blurs the edges of my vision.
“Beg a little, Kenzie darling,” he pleads. “I do love it when my ladies beg.”
I shake my head from side to side. I won’t beg. Not for him. I find a core of strength I never knew I had and draw on it.
My mind goes to the people I’m leaving behind. My parents. Sofia, Tess, and Kate. Gideon and Aaron. Joel. I think about how broken they’ll be. How they’ll have to carry this grief around. Joel would tease me, tell me that even in this moment I can’t help thinking of others.
I let out an agonized scream as he makes another cut on my right forearm.
The mattress dips as he sits on the edge. My ribs feel too tight and I can’t get enough oxygen into my lungs. The anticipation feels almost as bad as the carving.
He leans down, bringing his face close to mine. His rancid breath fills my nostrils. I turn away, but he grabs my chin and forces me to look at him.
“I’m saving your face for last,” he whispers. “I always save the best for last.”
He lifts the knife again. “Hmm, what’s next? Legs, chest, or stomach?” He taps his knife to each spot as he names them. “Let’s see, eenie, meenie, miney...”
He stops abruptly. “Well, well. What do we have here?” He yanks the pendant from my neck. “You have no use for this where you’re going. Let’s see what’s inside this pretty thing.”
He sets the knife down to unclasp the pendant. When he opens the two pieces, his eyes widen in surprise and then rage fills his face. “You little bitch.”
51
One second, Eddie is looming over me, snarling in my face. The next there is a loudpopand he simply...disappears.
I lie there, my arms burning, my breath sawing in and out of my lungs, braced for the next drag of his knife.
Instead, I hear shouting and pounding feet. Then a face I thought I’d never see again fills my vision.
“Joel?” I whisper, wondering if I’m hallucinating.
“It’s me, my love,” he says hoarsely, his expression in ruins, tears filling his eyes as they travel over me, taking in the ropes, the blood, and who knows what else. “You’re safe now. We’re getting you out of here.”
“Eddie?” The word is soaked in terror. I try to turn my head, but Joel’s hands gently frame my face, warm and steady against the iciness of my skin. “No, don’t look at him. He’ll never hurt you again. Gideon made sure of that. Look at me. Only me.”
I do as he says and keep my gaze fixed on his dark eyes, full of fierce love and tenderness.
“I’m going to untie you,” he says softly.
He shifts, starting to pull back, and panic sets in. “Don’t take your hands away. Please don’t take them away.”
“I won’t,” he reassures me swiftly. “I’m not letting go. I’ll keep them right here.”
“I don’t want to feel the knife,” I sob. “I only want to feel you.”
His jaw works and a devastated look enters his eyes, but his thumbs carefully stroke my cheeks. “My hands are right here,”he says softly, his eyes never leaving mine. “Keep your focus on my touch.”
