Jolted awake by rough hands strapping him to a chair, Niklaus renewed his struggles, but there was hardly anything he could do to ward off what was happening now that his ankles were secured to the legs of the chairs with zip-ties, and his wrists were next. More than that, a headache pounded away in his head, the wound to the back of his skull throbbing in time.

He would have continued to fight if not for the soft whimpering across from him. He stilled immediately, jerking his head in every direction, trying to shake off the musty smelling black bag that covered his face.

It was only after his wrists were tied down did someone remove it.

Squinting from the sudden light hurting his eyes, he blinked repeatedly, waiting for his eyes to adjust as he searched the room for Sarah. As she came into focus, he almost wished he hadn’t.

She was bound, very much like he was, but while he could feel where his lips were cut, and knew from the tightness of his face that it too was bruised, seeing her this way made him ashamed that he hadn’t fought harder, protected her from this.

Tear tracks were stark against her tan cheeks, her eyes wide with fear. A cloth was tied around her mouth, preventing her from speaking, but everything she could have wanted to say was reflected in her face.

Why hadn’t he warned her sooner? Why hadn’t he told her not to wait for him, to save herself?

Yet while regret weighed heavily on his heart, his attention was stolen by the men entering the room, joining the two that were already inside still wearing masks.

The latest arrivals didn’t bother with them. Trepidation filled Niklaus at what this might mean. He might not have known for sure, but he doubted that these men would allow them to see their faces if they weren’t planning to kill them.

Niklaus tried to make out their faces, hoping that some kind of recognition would hit him--he needed to understand why they had been targeted. His boss down at the construction site in Florida was not always on the right side of the law when it came to his business—not that anyone really cared since he was a pretty decent guy who got the job done—but Niklaus couldn’t imagine that he would be involved with these kind of men.

They seemed too…powerful.

One stood out amongst the others, wearing a long black coat, a suit of charcoal gray beneath it. His eyes were cold, lips turned down in a deep frown, and much like the other men, there was an air of menace that surrounded him. He was obviously the leader, radiating an authority that the others lacked.

“You did well,” he said.

Niklaus could only guess which of the two masked men he was speaking to, but he watched as the pair approached him, one a shade more eager than the other. This one ripped off his mask, his sweat-dampened hair sticking to his forehead, eyes feverish with a hunger that made Niklaus’ stomach turn.

“It was nothing.”

The other, and if Niklaus had to wager, the one that had gotten the best of him, remained off to the side, as if he wasn’t completely a part of this group, and yet was. He reached for his own mask, drawing it up over his face, and unlike the others, his hair wasn’t dark, nor were his eyes the same obsidian colors as most of the others. No, his hair was blond and slightly curly, reaching below his ears, and his eyes were a bright shade of blue.

There were so many emotions in the eyes of the men in this room, from impassiveness to downright excitement—but this one? His were empty.

There was nothing there, and Niklaus sensed if there was one person he should fear, it was him.

He looked like a man that didn’t care whether he live or died.

“Were you seen?”

“Nope,” said the eager one. “They were alone—didn’t even have his guards on him.”

For a moment, the man looked doubtful. “How sure are you of this?”

While the eager one opened his mouth, ready to answer, the man turned to the blond instead, his brows raising as he awaited an answer. Niklaus didn’t miss the eager one losing his manic smile, or that a flash of irritation sparked in his eyes, but as quickly it had formed, it was gone again.

With his arms folded across his chest, the blond glanced over at Niklaus before returning his gaze to his boss. “They were alone. Surprising, considering who he is.”

Who he was?

Was he supposed to be alone?

Those words seemed to be enough for the man. Snapping his fingers, he gestured for another of his lackeys to wheel in a tray from across the room as he shed his coat and suit jacket, passing them off.

“I am Jetmir Besnik of the Besnik family, but I am sure you already know this.”

No, Niklaus had never heard of the man, or whatever family he was talking about, but he didn’t get the opportunity to tell him before the man was speaking again.

“You possess information that I need. If you tell me, I will release you and your lady friend here. If you do not, I will force you to tell me.” His gaze shifted to Sarah whose eyes widened in fear. “By any means necessary. Have you anything to say?”

Swallowing his fear, Niklaus’ eyes darted around the room. “I don’t know who you think I am, but if this is about money, I’ll give you everything I have. We—”

Jetmir sighed, shaking his head as though disappointed, but Niklaus was too confused to do anything more than protest, not even when Jetmir reached for a pair of knives sitting on the tray. Turning them over in his hands, he stepped forward, so close that Niklaus couldn’t help but breathe in the strong scent of his cologne.

“Please,” Jetmir said with the slightest of smiles. “I will enjoy this more if you make it difficult for me.”

Niklaus didn’t get the chance to think of a response before a scream of pain ripped free from his mouth as Jetmir stabbed the first knife into the left side of his chest, just beneath his collar bone.

He felt the blade ripping through skin and muscle, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t escape the agony and managed to add to it as the ties binding his wrists dug deeper into his flesh.

But before he could recover from the first, Jetmir plunged the second knife parallel to the first.

“Bleed for what you believe in,” he said in a low voice. “By the end of your time with me, you’ll die for it as well.”

Panting, Niklaus watched as Jetmir took his leave, along with a few others, but three remained.

The one that had taken Sarah.

The one he had fought with.

And the blond.

It was him, Niklaus knew, that he needed to remain wary of. Because it was to him that Jetmir had given a meaningful look before he disappeared out of the room.

Jetmir hadn’t been gone more than a couple of minutes before Niklaus was cut free and dragged from the chair before his wrists were rebound, and this time, he was hung from a hook in the ceiling.

Sarah was whimpering softly, but as his gaze was to the cold, damp wall in front of him, he could only hear what was happening around him. There was the rattle of the cart, the flicker of a flame igniting, and the men speaking in their native tongue behind him. That only made it worse, having to hear everything, but seeing nothing.

Someone walked behind him, hesitated a second, then Niklaus flinched away from the cold blade that was slipped beneath his shirt, cutting through the material with ease, the sides draping open though the shirt remained in place because of the knives still in his chest. He tried to breathe through his panic, wishing once again that he knew something, anything that could get him and Sarah out of this place.

But the men at his back were eager to get started, drawing the blade across his skin in a painful line. Niklaus hissed, but didn’t cry out…not yet.

Blond hair snared his attention as the one that moved like a ghost leaned against the wall so that he had a clear view of his face. He was the one holding the knife that was now dripping with Niklaus’ blood.

“Tell them what they want to know,” he ordered quietly, like his words were only meant for him to hear.

Tell them? As though he had no part in this?

Niklaus looked from him, to the wall, and back again as he tried to think of an answer, one that was the correct one to a question he didn’t know.

It dawned on him that Jetmir hadn’t given him any information to actually provide an answer for. He was beginning to believe that this was not about answers at all.

That thought made his heart hammer harder, but his lack of an answer made the blond move out of sight again.

Not even seconds later, the sharp sting of his parting flesh had Niklaus trying to get free, and as the blond dug in deeper this time, he finally cried out.

“Do you have an answer?” the blond asked, this time loud enough for them all to hear.

His breaths ragged, Niklaus whispered a plea he knew would fall on deaf ears, his own just barely picking up the sound of Sarah’s distress.

But that was nothing compared to the noise he made as the blond rhythmically, and quite patiently, took his knife to Niklaus’ back and began to really work.

---

“Leave him be, Valon.”

Valon…Niklaus repeated that name over and over to himself as awareness crept back in. Now, finally, he had a name to put with the blond.

Valon fell into his line of vision, blocking out some of the sunlight streaming in through the windows on either sides of the room.

He didn’t dare try to move, hours of agony had taught him very quickly that any tiny alteration in the way he hung caused the shredded muscle along his back to flare to life once more.

Still as vacant and unfeeling as before, Valon said, “Tell them what they want to know.”

He had been steadily working his way across Niklaus’ back, starting at the tops of his shoulders, carving long, fluid lines down to the small of his back. Unlike his counterpart—who seemed to enjoy Niklaus’ pain a little too much—Valon rarely made any noise at all, and didn’t give any indication as to whether or not this thrilled him.

Had he been in this place so long that he had begun to hope that it was Valon torturing him as opposed to the other? Was he choosing between two levels of pain?

Time passed in waves. He could no longer tell what day it was, or how long he had suffered under the onslaught of torture, but through it all, Niklaus was thankful that all their attention seemed to be focused solely on him. Sarah mostly had to watch him suffer, it was far better than her being hung alongside him.

“Still don’t want to talk?” Valon’s associate called out. “Then we’ll try something new.”

New?

What more could they do to him that hadn’t already been done? But even as his mind ran wild with possibilities—even as he fought the darkness that threatened to pull him under—he heard it.

Sarah’s whimper.

Fighting to keep his eyes open, to stay conscious, Niklaus shook his head, weakly, trying to force his head around. “Don’t…don’t touch her.”

But his words were as weak as his body.

He tried to stay conscious.

He needed to, for her sake.

But even as he heard the sound of ripping fabric…the sound of Sarah screaming behind her gag…he was sucked right back under.

---

At some point, Niklaus had been moved, transferred from the hook back to his chair. It felt like he had lost another day, drifting in and out of consciousness. His stomach ached with hunger, his mouth terribly dry, but those baser needs were the last things on his mind as the agony of his wounds kept his full attention—he had grown to ignore the knives still imbedded in his flesh.

He was lost, stuck in a place where he was just slightly aware of his surroundings, but immune to the pain he was in, at least until a bucket of cold water was thrown on him, bringing him back to focus.

The pain came rushing back almost instantly, enough to nearly take his breath away, sparking over every nerve-ending until he was gritting his pain to get through it. Valon dropped the bucket and moved back.

“Your time is up,” Jetmir announced as he crossed the room, his first time back in this place since Niklaus was brought in.

Though Niklaus wasn’t looking at him, he knew the man carried something heavy, the liquid inside sloshing around before the container was set down. Once Jetmir was beside him, he fisted Niklaus’ hair, forcing his head up, and with the action, Niklaus finally saw Sarah.

The sight of her was worse than anything they could have ever done to him.

She was bruised all over in varying shades of healing. Gone was the beautiful girl that had been laughing with joy as they explored the city, replaced by someone he hardly recognized. Makeup was smeared all over her face, her clothes gone, leaving her stark naked, and though he wished he hadn’t, Niklaus’ eyes zeroed in on the blood coating her thighs.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’m so sorry.”

She hung her head, never once looking at him, but he thought he saw a tear drop onto her leg.

“I have given you ample opportunity—more than, if we are being honest—to tell me of your business and the men you intend to meet in a few days’ time, but you have continued to defy me. To what end, only you can know. Perhaps it is the Russian way?” Jetmir released his hold on Niklaus. “What more must be done before you break?”

Blinking more water from his eyes, Niklaus looked to him, noticing the black lighter he held in his left hand, an engraving he couldn’t make out on its onyx casing. A sliver of anxiety shot through Niklaus each time Jetmir flipped the top back, igniting the flame to flicker in the darkness of the room. He had long since stopped begging, knowing that he would never get out of the room alive. But he had never stopped begging for Sarah…at least from what he could remember before his body gave out on him.

“Tell me what I want to know,” Jetmir said, his tone soothing for once, the same request that had been demanded of Niklaus since he entered this place.

No matter how vehemently Niklaus denied any knowledge of what they were talking about, none of them were convinced he was not the person they sought.

For what felt like the hundredth time, he said, “I’m not who you’re looking for. I don’t even know what it is you want!”

Sighing, as though Niklaus had disappointed him once again, Jetmir grabbed the red, plastic container from the floor by his feet, walking over to her, whistling as he began dumping the contents onto Sarah’s head, the liquid soaking her hair and washing away the red that stained her body in seconds.

Her eyes pleaded with Niklaus as she seemed to snap out of whatever fog she was under, her cries of alarm not quite muffled by her gag.

When the acrid scent of gasoline hit him, Niklaus began begging in earnest, not caring how weak he sounded. “Please…I’m not who you think I am. I live in Florida. I work construction! Whatever you want. Money? I can get it for you. Anything. Anything you want, I’ll do. Just please, please, let her go.”

Jetmir held the lighter out, his expression thoughtful as the flame sparked and danced, as if it too was anticipating the moment of contact.

“One last chance.”

Niklaus met Sarah’s gaze, helplessness eating at him. He could see it in her eyes, the moment she knew she was going to die, and instead of fear, there was acceptance.

Acceptance that there was nothing he could do to stop this.

And maybe...maybe acceptance that a part of her believed this was his fault.

No matter how short the time would be, he knew the look on her face would haunt him until he died. Her lips were moving, as though she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t understand her words…and he never would.

“Please…”

The word had barely passed his lips before Jetmir dropped the lighter.

Time slowed to a crawl as Niklaus watched its descent, falling end over end until it clamored on the floor, bouncing a couple of times before settling. Then, he watched in horror as the flames rushed over her, licking at her skin until she was consumed entirely.