Damien jerks at each word coming from Judson, as though his brother is shooting bullets straight into his chest. He slams his feet into the ground, sending dust flying in all directions. He’s unable to speak but his body language utters every word he longs to say. His anger vibrates across the room and slams against the walls. He attempts to free himself again but he’s helpless, forever at the mercy of his sadistic brother.

Even though Damien has done so much to torture me and almost drove me to my death, I feel every beat of his pain, the burning torture inside his soul. I realize that the man he is has everything to do with Judson, and without Judson, Damien could have been a better man. This truth hits my heart hard, cracking its edges.

My legs and feet feeling as though they’ve disappeared into thin air, I stumble toward the corner and slide to the floor, my knees together to hide my private parts.

Damien’s death will mean my own death. If Judson kills his own brother, his flesh and blood, why would he spare me? My fear is what Judson wants to see as he glances from me to Damien, looking for a reaction. I’m unable to hide it as my body is a trembling mess.

Why didn’t I die in the coffin? Why did Damien have to save me?

“Get over here.” Judson barks at me. “I’m not done with you.”

Panic riots within me as I get to my feet, using the wall for support. I can’t resist his request, not when a gun is pointed at me. I force myself to move forward.

He meets me halfway. To my horror he removes another handgun from his pocket and grabs me by the flimsy fabric of the negligée. The coolness of the gun digs into the skin under my chin. I sag with relief when he finally lowers it. The sigh of relief turns to ashes inside my throat when he grabs my hands and pushes a handgun between them, his strong hands tight around mine.

“Have you ever shot a gun, ma chérie?” His breath is an unforgiving inferno on my cheek, burning its way through the layers of my skin.

I shake my head, biting back the sudden urge to throw up as I read his sick mind.

“That’s okay. Allow me to demonstrate.” He shoves the second gun into his waistband before he moves behind me. Fear melts the strength from my hands. I let go of the weapon and it falls into Judson’s hand. My reward is a stabbing pain between the shoulder blades as the elbow of his free arm meets my back.

The sound of pain that pours out of me is like sandpaper on the surface of my throat.

“You have two choices. I can make this easy for you or we could go the hard way. Let’s start easy.” He wraps my fingers around the gun again and his lips brush my ear. “Do me a favor and kill my brother. Your reward will be a quick and painless death of your own. I’m thinking maybe pills? If you refuse to obey, I’ll cut your throat with the smallest razorblade you’ve ever set eyes on. The death will be so painful you’ll wish you were never born.”

For someone who, only a few days ago, had been ready to open the door to the other side and come face to face with death, being murdered by Judson terrifies the hell out of me.

My wild gaze lands on Damien. Eyes blank and glistening, lips bloodless, head slung against the wall behind him, he’s nothing but a shell of his former self.

His eyes are coated with tears. The man I thought was a monster, the man I thought had a hard core is crumbling before me. Judson raises the gun, my hands tucked beneath his. The target is Damien’s chest.

From the way my body is shaking, I’m in danger of pulling the trigger without being pushed.

Judson steadies my hand the best he can before letting go. My arms sink lower but he pushes them up again. The gun settles on its target.

“When you’re ready, pull the trigger.” Something hard and cool digs into the back of my neck. No one needs to tell me what it is.

I have two choices. I could shoot Damien as I’m told or turn around and shoot Judson. But in my crumbling state and given my inexperience with guns, there’s no way I’ll succeed at shooting Judson before he kills me first.

Damien’s Adam’s apple rises and falls as he swallows his fear of dying. For the first time since he kidnapped me, we share the same fears. He’s as much a victim as I am. I can’t do it. I don’t have it in me to take someone else’s life.

“What are you waiting for?” Judson presses the gun deeper into my skin. “I said blow his fucking brains out.”

I close my eyes and swallow the lump lodged in my throat. Should I kill myself and end the madness? It would be so easy to raise the gun to the place under my jaw and pull the trigger before he stops me. But my stubborn streak, refuses to let evil to triumph.

“Looks like someone needs a little motivation.” Judson steps away from me, the space he had occupied behind my back filling with cool air. I don’t turn but I hear him unzipping his bag. Within a matter of seconds, he comes to stand next to me. While still holding on to his gun, he’s fiddling with a rectangular box.

Before my brain catches up with my eyes, Damien grunts as though electrified. A fragile beeping sound pierces the silence like a needle, followed by a flash of red light.

Judson places the object between me and Damien. The color drains from my face when I spot the timer, counting down the last sixty minutes of my life. Judson straightens up, a smirk on his face. “You have sixty minutes to decide whether you’d rather swallow a few pills and die peacefully, or if you’d prefer to be blown to pieces. Looks like you don’t have much time to decide. In fact, I’m being generous with my time. What’s it gonna be, sweetheart?”

He returns to his chair and waits for me to commit murder.