59. MADDY

59

MADDY

I know I'm in the forest, though I can't see anything through the black bag still over my head. The smell of dust clogs my nostrils. My hands are bound with a zip tie behind my back.

"One move, and I shoot," his voice next to me says.

Skiba. Fucking traitor.

There are others. Footsteps and voices are all around as soon as Skiba turns off the engine of the four-wheeler and yanks me off it onto the ground. While I struggle to get up with my hands tied behind my back, I listen to the conversations, catching bits and pieces.

"We got this covered with cameras. Other guys are waiting behind in case he does something stupid and brings reinforcement."

"He knows better."

"He will bring someone."

"I'm not worried. She is our shield. Once we trade, he is fucking ours."

A chuckle. "Until he's dead."

Cold shivers run across my skin. "I can pay you," I say loudly.

Someone grabs the hair at the back of my head through the bag and fists it, setting my scalp on fire.

"You say another word, I will strip you naked so your boyfriend has his favorite view once he gets here."

He pushes me away.

We are just enough inward into Butcher's territory, as far as I understand. During the hurricane, his men crippled all the surveillance cameras in town as well as the nearby territory. So now the jungles between Ayana and Port Mrei have a new invisible "buffer strip." It's patrolled by Butcher's men. Raven will jeopardize his life stepping in here. I doubt that any of the guards will venture in.

Guns are being loaded. I think there are four men. There is the sound of radios beeping in the distance, closer to town.

When the sound of the approaching Yamaha motorcycle hits my ears, I instantly tense, ready for what's to come.

I am praying, I don't even know for what.

There is a shot in the air, and I flinch and duck, my heart instantly thudding against my chest. I want to scream, but the motorcycle starts slowing down evenly—that means Raven wasn't shot, it was just a warning. I know it's him.

And then there are more sounds—ATVs, several of them, coming from the same direction. The multiple sounds of small engines start humming in the air like giant electric bees—drones. The noise is getting louder.

Suddenly, someone grabs me with an arm around my neck, pressing me closer to a hard body.

"Arms in the air!" Skiba barks right next to my ear. "Higher! You were stupid enough to bring a weapon and other men."

"I didn't. It was Archer's order." The voice makes my knees buckle—Raven, so calm.

A bag is suddenly yanked off my head, and I see him, forty or so feet away, my Rave, arms raised in the air, his eyes on me, then on Skiba.

"Let her go," Raven says calmly.

Suddenly, there is a shout at a distance from behind him, radios beeping.

"Hold still! Hold still!" Multiple Ayana guards with rifles on us step out of the bushes behind Raven.

Skiba's arm around my neck tightens. "Someone shoots, I shoot her." He presses his gun to my head.

Raven's jaw clenches as he turns his head behind him. "Stay back," he orders the guards, though I know the guards won't venture this far out of their territory.

But Raven does. His hands still raised, he steps toward us.

Skiba's men behind us instantly shift their guns on Raven.

But Raven keeps approaching.

"You don't need her, Skiba," he says coldly. "You need me. She was your bait. Well done. Let her go."

Skiba's arm tightens around my neck even more, making me bend backward. "We have a bomb at Ayana. One stupid move and a certain house is going to blow up."

But Raven is still approaching, just more carefully.

Skiba motions to one of his men, and he slowly steps toward Raven, almost crouches, though he has a gun. When he is only a foot or so away, Raven suddenly ducks under his arm, twists the gun out of the guy's hand, and, holding him like a human shield, points the gun at his head.

"Let her go," he orders Skiba.

Skiba yanks me backward, making me stand on my tiptoes. "Not a fucking chance. You owe me."

"I don't owe you anything."

"Oh, yes, you do. My best friend."

"And who would that be?"

"Cunningham."

I heard all about it from Kat. I know that Cunningham killed O'Shea and ran away. Turns out, Skiba's been friends with a traitor all along.

"Let's trade," Raven says. "You let her go, and I will let your guy go and stay here with you."

"Oh?" Skiba chuckles. "You want this pretty thing?" He turns to face me and drags his tongue along my cheek, making me thrash in his arms.

"Let her go!" Raven says louder, his murderous stare on Skiba.

"I asked for one thing," Skiba says. "That girl, Siena. You know what she told me? I have nothing on you. Bitch made me mad. I asked you to lay off since you had this one." He kisses my cheek, making Raven's gaze grow vicious. "But noooo, you just think you can have it all. And Tsariuk's reward, huh?"

"Let her go, Skiba. What do you want? I'll give you whatever you want. Just not her."

"Just not her. She is the most expensive thing on the island."

"And she can cost you your life if you do something stupid," Raven says.

I'm sure it has to do with my father, and it makes me mad.

"Hold her," Skiba says to one of his men and passes me to him. A different gun is pressed to my head, the other man's arm around my neck.

Skiba licks his lips as he trains his scowl on Raven and approaches him slowly. His gun is in Raven's face. Raven's gun is still holding another guy hostage.

Skiba motions with his finger. "Pass me the gun, let my guy go, and no tricks. And I'll make sure that she is not shot."

The guy holding me chuckles in my ear and drags his gun over my cheek, the cold metal scratching my skin.

Rave's eyes catch his movement, and slowly, he lets go of the guy, pushing him away, then obeys Skiba's signal and slowly sets the gun on the ground and straightens up.

"Good, good. No tricks, is that clear?" says Skiba, pointing his gun at him, then motions to his man.

The guy approaches Raven from behind. In a flash, a chain is thrown around Raven's throat and yanked, throwing all of Raven's weight back. It's yanked so tightly, that Raven doesn't have a choice but to sink to his knees, trying to hold the chain that starts tightening around his neck with his fingers.

Skiba swings his hand and hits Raven's head with his gun.

I scream.

Raven grunts, a streak of blood instantly running down his temple while another of Butcher's thugs runs up and ties Raven's hands behind his back.

"Now!" Skiba shouts to Ayana guards. "You either call off the flying fucking saucers"—he motions to the drones—"or I shoot his chest."

In seconds, the drones fly away.

It's quiet, eerily so. Over a dozen of us on both sides standing in this fucked-up standoff. Raven is tied, a chain around his neck, on his knees, bleeding. But no one is coming to help.

Raven struggles with the chain collar. "Let her go, and we can talk, and you can do whatever you want," he rasps.

"You are trash, Raven," Skiba snarls. "Look at you, kneeling for me."

"Let her go," Raven asks, his voice raspy as the chain cuts into his throat.

Skiba burps out a nasty chuckle. "I figured we'll jump on the Tsariuk action and get the reward for his daughter."

"What you'll get is Tsariuk putting a bullet in your head."

In a second, Skiba's hand swings, my insides clenching when he sends a punch into Raven's face.

I whimper in helplessness.

"Now, let's do this again." Skiba sniffles. "How about we all go for a ride to Port Mrei? We can do a public hanging of you, Raven. Oh, Butcher would love that."

"Let her go, or someone will hang you and everyone else in town."

The kick into Raven's ribs is so loud and hard that my breath cuts off at the sight of him closing his eyes, his mouth open in a silent gasp, because he can't bend in pain, the chain holding him upright on his knees.

Another thud follows as Skiba sends a blow into Raven's face, leaving it bloodied.

My eyes burn. My heart is ready to burst.

"Stop," I whisper, then repeat it louder. "Please, stop. Tell me what you want for his freedom."