Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

MINA

Leon was engrossed in something on his screen when I stepped through the dark entry hall, towards the living room. He didn't look up, but I knew he was aware of my presence. His body language was too relaxed, one leg draped over the side of the chair. His face was turned towards the laptop, but he wasn't seeing anything on there.

"Kurt said you were predictable," he said slowly. He swivelled around in his seat and looked over at me.

I lounged against the door frame, knife held loosely in my hand. "Not as predictable as him. Or you. You might as well have taken out an ad to say you'd be here tonight instead of tomorrow."

"That was the point, silly girl," he said, looking down his substantial nose at me. "He knew you'd figure it out and turn up. He has lots of people outside waiting for your friends. When they're done with them, they'll be up here for you." He leaned forward. "Lots of them. Too many for one little girl to deal with."

He sat back and took a sip from his coffee.

Smug prick.

"For a little girl, it took four of you to carry me down into that basement," I pointed out. "And a cage and a chain to keep me there. But you know all of that. Because you were there. Were you the one with the camera, filming Kurt violating me while I was unconscious? So brave of him that he couldn't even deal with me when I was awake."

I snorted softly and ran the tip of my knife up and down the side of my finger.

"It was Stefan who took the photos and video," Leon said easily. "He thought it was hilarious. So did Kurt, Hammer and Jase."

Apparently he had no trouble throwing his associates under the bus. People like him never did. At the end of the day, he was nothing but a coward. One who thought he had the upper hand. He was absolutely certain of it. Otherwise he wouldn't dare to taunt me. Even if he didn't know what I was, I still carried a knife I knew how to use.

"And you, no doubt," I said. It was taking all the restraint I had not to throw my knife, and put it through his eyeball. From there, it was a quick trip into his pathetic brain.

Watching him die would be as satisfying as hell, but that would be too quick. He had to at least live long enough for me to twist the blade.

Leon shrugged. "It was just a job. I was paid well to help Kurt to get you down there. What he did to you after that was not my business."

"So you're okay with women being raped?" I asked coldly. "You were happy to see him cage me? You walked away and never gave me a second thought, as long as you got paid? That's fucked up."

It was way beyond fucked up. It was psychotic, disgusting, and made my stomach turn. What kind of man does the things he'd done? I didn't know how he slept at night. He deserved the nightmares I was tortured by.

He shrugged again. "Like I said, it was just a job. When it came to you, he was unhinged as fuck. I wasn't going to get in his way. The one person who tried ended up dead."

I couldn't help the surprise that flitted across my face.

Leon smirked. "You didn't know that, did you? Some guy named Prior, or something like that. He told Kurt he was fucked up and should let you go. He tried to stop him from touching you, but Kurt put a bullet between his eyes. The rest of us, we weren't going to argue."

I didn't remember anyone named Prior, but I respected his attempts to help me. If there was an afterlife, I sent him my thanks, along with a dose of regret that he died trying. And that he failed.

"He had bigger balls than all of you put together," I said. "Where's Kurt?"

"It doesn't matter." Leon shook his head. "There's two ways this goes down tonight. One, people are about to walk through the door, take you and give you back to Kurt, or two, you die. You don't need to know where he is. Just stand there and wait and they'll take you to him."

"And you're going to sit there and let it happen," I said darkly.

If he was right, and people were coming for me, I'd choose death. But I'd fight like hell first. "Don't tell me, you're paid well to do nothing."

"Exactly," he said. "You're finally catching on. Personally, I never understood what he saw in you."

I snorted. "Am I supposed to be offended by that? The last thing I want to be is your type. Besides, someone with balls as small as you wouldn't be able to handle a woman like me."

"Ohhh, your insults sting, little girl," he sneered. He picked up his coffee and downed the rest of it.

"Not as much as my knife will," I said. "Maybe you're right, and there are people coming for me. But I can't think of a single reason why I should leave you alive to see it."

I tapped the tip of my finger against the tip of my blade. Not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to make his eyes widen.

He glanced backwards slightly, in the direction of the kitchen. Presumably this was where he expected Clarissa to come out and do something. Maybe help him pin me down until help arrived.

Clarissa didn't appear.

He blinked a couple of times, like his eyes were becoming heavy.

"Is it too late for you, old man?" I taunted. He couldn't have been more than in his late twenties. "Do you need a nap? I'm sure Clarissa can find you somewhere to lie down for a little while."

He blinked again and shook his head. "I'm fine."

He was clearly not fine. He was struggling to keep his eyes open. His body swayed to the side. He grabbed the table to keep from tumbling over.

"Are you sure?" I asked sweetly. "You look like you're about to pass out. I'd be very careful about doing that, if I were you. You never know what might happen to you while you're unconscious."

"You wouldn't fucking dare," he snarled, but there wasn't much force behind his words.

"No, I wouldn't, because I wouldn't want to touch you," I said. Unless it was to open a vein or two.

I moved towards him, my knife still in my hand. There was always the possibility he was faking.

If he was, he was doing a good job of it, especially when he toppled to the side and hit the floor with a painful thud. His head rolled back and he lay still.

Clarissa stepped into the doorway that led to the kitchen. "Oops. I might have accidentally-on-purpose slipped something into that coffee. My bad." She grinned.

I managed a small smile back and slipped my knife away. "I had a feeling you were a badass."

"Through and through," she agreed. "If there's people coming for you, we better get him out of here quickly."

She stepped around him and locked the front door. "That'll slow them down," she said before grabbing his feet and dragging him towards what looked like a bedroom.

"What are you—" I started.

"There's more than one way out of here," she said. "Give a girl a hand?"

I leaned over to grab Leon's wrists and heft him up off the ground. Together, we carried him into the bedroom and over to a wardrobe.

"Wild guess what my favourite books were when I was a kid." She opened the wardrobe door and pushed the clothes aside to reveal a trapdoor in the floor. She pulled a key out of her pocket to unlock it and tugged the door up and out of the way.

Under the trapdoor was another set of stairs leading down.

"Motherfucker is gonna have some bruises when he wakes up." Her smile suggested she was pleased by the idea. She grabbed his feet again and started to drag him down the stairs, his head bumping on each as they went.

"I'm struggling to feel bad about that," I said. If all he got was bruises, he was getting off lightly. "Where does this end up?"

Wild guess it wasn't Narnia. Although, I could use some Turkish Delight right about then.

"Down to a tunnel that goes under the street," she said. "Up some more stairs to the back of the next block. I may keep a spare car there."

"I want to be you when I grow up," I told her.

She laughed and waited until I was at the bottom of the stairs, and could grab up Leon's wrists again. We carried him through a dimly lit tunnel that smelled of moisture and disuse, and strained to lug him back up another set of stairs.

We set him down beside a door and I pulled out my phone.

"We could use some help." I sent off a quick text to Daze and Gianni to meet us outside, if they could.

A few moments later, Daze texted back that she was on her way.

I frowned at the lack of response from Gianni, but he might be busy dealing with Kurt's minions. There was no way in the world he could be dead. He was too smart for that.

I rubbed my forehead with my fingers. I was starting to get a headache. I was also starting to wish I told Reuben of my plan.

I hadn't wanted to put any of my men in danger, but that was exactly what I'd done. I knew Kurt had something like this planned and I'd walked into it anyway. If it wasn't for Clarissa, I might be well and truly fucked.

I startled as a knock sounded on the door right beside Leon's unconscious body.

"I'll get it," Clarissa said. "In case it's not anyone friendly, I can pretend I'm working with them. I'm just trying to help Leon escape from the clutches of the enemy." She pressed the back of her hand dramatically to her forehead and grinned.

I nodded and stepped back out of sight.

She must use these tunnels more than I thought, because the bolts slid free easily and the door opened on almost silent hinges.

"Hey." Daze's voice echoed through the space. "I see you brought a friend."

Relieved, I stepped back, but grimaced at her wording. "He's no fucking friend of mine. We need to get him out of here, to Reuben's. It won't be long before…"

I caught the look on Daze's face. "Reuben is here."

"He's somewhere around here," she agreed. "He and the other men are dealing with a few bad guys. Nothing they can't—" A gunshot rang out. "—Handle." The first gunshot was followed by a second and a third.

"Just another night in Dusk Bay," Clarissa said. "Let's get this asshole into my car. He should be asleep for another few hours, but it's always a bit of a hit or miss, because it depends on their body weight and whatnot." She moved her hand back and forth, before grabbing Leon's ankles once again and dragging him out the door.

Daze and I exchanged glances before taking a wrist each and helping to throw him into the boot before Clarissa slammed it shut.

"I hope he doesn't vomit in my car," she remarked. "I hate when they do that."

I made a face and leaned against the car to send a text to Reuben. And then one to Damon. Leon better have some good answers as to where Kurt was, because I had a feeling I was going to get bawled out very soon.