Page 49 of Invincible
CHAPTER16
Greer feltlike her head was weighed down by an elephant sitting on it.The last she remembered, she was walking to the end of the building for some fresh air, certain it would only be a few minutes until Knox joined her.After that, everything was hazy.
Going through a mental check of her body, she didn’t think she could feel anything broken, though her right ankle did hurt like a bitch.Slowly opening her eyes, she took a survey of where she lay, noticing a group of young women in the corner staring back at her.
It became apparent fairly quickly that she was on the cement floor of some kind of a cage.She groaned when her head swam as she tried to sit up to see her surroundings a little better.Her stomach rolled, and she had to fight the need to empty its contents on the floor.When she picked her head back up from where she had rested it on her knees, she found a small bottle of water held out to her.
“Drink this.It takes a little while for the aftereffects to pass, but this should help.”Greer took just a second to study the girl handing her the bottle before grabbing it out of her hand.“Not too fast or you’ll throw it up.”She tore it back out of Greer’s hand before she could finish, screwing the lid back on.“I’ll give you some more later.I’m Mia.What’s your name?”
“Mia?We’ve been looking for you.I’m Greer.I’ve been helping Memphis and the others.Where are we?”
“Shh, they’re coming over here,” Mia said, the fear plain in her voice.Greer watched as the other women, girls really, huddled together trying to make themselves as small as possible.
She heard the lock open right before a large hand roughly jerked her up off the floor.Recognizing the leader of the men who had been at the club, she tried her best to wrench her arm free, only succeeding in making him laugh at her efforts.
Looking around desperately as the cage door slammed shut behind them, she prayed that Knox would come through the door, guns drawn at any moment.
“What do you want?”she asked, trying to sound brave even though she was quivering with fear on the inside.The pain in her ankle meant that she had to hop next to him as he hauled her across the room.When they reached a makeshift break area with a table, several chairs and an old stained couch, she began to fight.
Throwing her onto the couch, she had no time to react before he landed on top of her.Grabbing both of her wrists, he pinned them in one hand to the arm of the couch.
“Keep fighting, whore, I like it rough.”He pressed his lips against hers, the taste of cigarettes and beer heavy on his breath.Trying to buck him off her, she screamed when he found her nipple, pinching it past the point of pain.
“What the fuck is going on here?”she heard through her sobs from the doorway.
She could almost believe that Knox had come to save her, but the booming voice had none of the warmth that Knox’s had.Where Knox’s growl always reminded her of warm honey flowing over her, this one was created from pain and depravity.
Immediately, the weight lifted from her and she was jerked up from where she lay sprawled on the couch.A strong hand wrapped around her throat, pinning her to the man behind her.Her arms folded up across her chest where the other man had torn her shirt.The rumble of the new man’s voice swept across her shoulder, making her shiver.
“Cristiano,” it barked.“I was assured you had taken care of this.”Greer watched as another man stepped out from behind her.He began screaming at the man from the club who had picked himself off the floor and was standing belligerently, staring back.“Cristiano.”Immediately the man stopped talking and took a step back.
“Why is this pinche puta here?”the man holding her asked.“Cristiano, explain to me why there are now thirteen girls here when I never have more than twelve at any one facility?Thirteen is a very unlucky number.Should I return to my customer and demand more money?Is that how I should do business, Cristiano?”
The man spoke in a calm, controlled tone.The only way Greer knew he was becoming angrier was by the ever-tighter grip he had on her throat.
“But, she’s not one of them,” the man from the club said as if the other man could be reasoned with.Greer tried to will him to be quiet.She knew nothing good ever came from a man who showed no emotion.More often than not, they erupted in a spray of violence.“She’s just a whore from one of the clubs.I thought we could have a little fun with her—” He never got the chance to finish what he had in mind for Greer.
One minute the man’s face from the club was looking over her shoulder, the next his face went slack.A small stream of blood started to leak out of a blackened hole in the center of his head.Greer let out a scream before her air was cut off by the large hand.The man crumpled to the ground.Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the gun swing toward the man named Cristiano.
“Unless you want to join him, I expect you to handle this problem next time.”Greer felt the edge of her vision start to blur.Reaching up, she began to claw at the hand on her throat.“Now clean this trash up and put this whore back in the cage.”
Releasing her from his grip, Greer crumpled to the floor at his feet.She scrambled backward to avoid the blood slowly easing toward her.
“Yes, sir,” the man mumbled as the man turned on his heel to walk out.He stopped near the door, turning his cold eyes on Greer, where she still sat on the floor.“The rest will be here tonight.”He studied her for a moment, making her skin feel as if it would crawl off of her bones.Without another word, he stepped through the door, letting it close behind him in a thud loud enough to make her jump.
A bruising grip wrapped around Greer’s upper arm and she was roughly pulled off the floor by a man she hadn’t noticed before.With long strides, he marched her across the room to the cage.
Unlocking the gate, he threw her inside.Her ankle gave out, landing her in the middle of the cage on her hands and knees.She stayed like that for a few minutes, trying to catch her breath.Her knees and palms burned from the raw scrapes.
When she was finally able to curl up on her side, she felt a blanket pulled over her.Mia sat down beside her, rubbing her hand through Greer’s hair for comfort.Between the comforting touch and exhaustion, she felt herself drift to sleep.
Greer wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep when she heard her name called.Dragging her eyes open, she flinched, finding a man squatting across from her.Using her hands to wipe at her eyes, she opened them again, only to find him still in the same spot.
She had watched Memphis sit on their couch when he was supposedly talking to Mia, but the experience from this side was otherworldly.Reaching out, she ran her hand through his chest, making him rock away from her.
“Really?”he said with a smile.
“Memphis,” she whispered.“How are you here?”
