Quintessentially Q

The memory of taking my father’s life filled my nostrils. The stench of his bowels loosening, the sharp tang of blood and brain. It all mixed in some sort of morbid perfume, resonating with the feral part of me, making me proud to be a killer of evil.

Slowly sensation came back into my body. My arm burned. Twisting my neck, I fingered the hole in my blazer, poking the slippery wound beneath. Fucking fantastic.

I’d been shot.

Frederick appeared, reaching for my jacket. “Oh, shit. How bad is it?” He ripped off my jacket before I had a chance to push him away.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.” The bullet had gone right through my bicep. Fairly clean and tidy considering. It didn’t even hurt.

I looked toward the entrance where a mound of corpses lay. Puddles of blood dotted the white tiles.

Franco met my eyes. “Five dead. Four shots and one stabbing.” He motioned for us to leave. “We have to go. Who knows how many more guards are on their way.”

I shook my head, feeling strangely lightheaded. “We’re not leaving until we search the place.” Scooping up the gun and clenching my jaw against the sudden flash of pain in my arm, I took off in direction of the bedrooms. “Fan out. Meet back in here in ten minutes.”

Picking up my pace, I jogged quickly down the long expanse of corridor, trying to ignore the chills of eerie silence and mound of bodies behind us.

Gerald normally only had three to five guards in his private residence. He said they cramped his style when I asked a few years back why he didn’t surround himself in security. We were alone. For now. I just hoped we’d stay alone for a bit longer.

Keeping my finger tight on the trigger, I swept room after room. Strode through decadent parlours and bedrooms fit for a prim aristocrat, not a raping, murdering mobster.

But I only found emptiness. No women. No Tess.

I opened cupboards, searched under beds, even smashed a few floorboards to see if a secret room had been added since the original blueprints. But nowhere did I find a bound and frightened woman. No evidence of a struggle. No trace of Tess at all.

After a full circuit of the apartment, I met Franco and Frederick by the elevator. “Anything?” Three pairs of eyes were better than one. Especially seeing as I’d been f**king shot. Please let them have found something.

Frederick hung his head. “Nothing.” He sighed, adding, “But it doesn’t mean she isn’t in the building.”

I had a better idea. Pulling out my phone, I entered the same website that tracked Tess the first time and waited for the little red dot to appear on the map.

Nothing.

Heart racing, I tapped the device against my thigh. “Viendra sur, toi merde.” Come on, you piece of shit.

I looked again, wishing, praying for the little red dot to show me where Tess was. It was the only connection I had to her. It had to work. It had to.

Franco looked over my shoulder as the screen flashed and came up with an error message. The tracking device you have requested is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again.

“Fuck!” I threw the phone across the room, trembling with rage. My eyes fell to the bodies, and I wanted nothing more than to stab and stab and stab, take out retribution and funnel my rage.

Frederick put his hand on my uninjured arm. “We’ll find her, man. Don’t worry. With or without a beacon.”

Franco nodded. “He’s right. We’ll find her, sir. We’ll just have to mow down some bastards to do it.”

Chapter 10

Tie me, tease me, let your pleasure please me. Hurt me, love me, but please don’t ever leave me…

My employment began immediately.

Trapped in a world of drugs and insipid fog, White Man plucked me from my bed and threw me at Leather Jacket.

I cried out as I collided with his creaky leather and stench. I cringed as he smirked, holding me tight against him. “Hello again, puta. Time for some fun.” He spun me around, trapping my wrists.

His dirty fingers wrapped around my skin, hoisting my arm back till my shoulder bellowed. Even the foggy stupor couldn’t save me from the pain of a dislocated limb.

“What the—” he muttered.

“Let her go, Ignacio. I need her to be able to use her arms.”

“But look at what the little bitch did. Stupid slave.” He ran a thumb over my modified barcode, no doubt seeing the sparrow and the number fifty-eight. He chuckled and shook me, breathing hard against my ear. “You idiot bitch. You fell for the bastard who bought you.” His chuckle morphed into a laugh, shaking both our frames. “This is too good. I’ve heard of slaves becoming attached to their masters, but you went to a whole other level.”

He grabbed my chin, digging his fingers into the hollow of my cheeks. “You were like a f**king queen in that bathtub, thinking you’d landed on your pretty little feet. Well, live it up, princess, ’cause you’re in servitude now.”

His head cocked to the side, and he kissed my cheek with dry lips. “Then again, if you fell in love with one ass**le, you can fall for another. Maybe you’ll want to f**k me before the week is out. Huh?”

I flinched as he stroked my hair, then sighed in relief as White Man pulled me from Leather Jacket’s embrace. “You’ll have plenty of time to mind-fuck the poor creature. But first I want to see just how strong she is.”

He held out his hand as if he’d asked me out on a date; blue eyes twinkled as I gawked at his palm. I couldn’t remember what I should do. I couldn’t remember anything. The alchemy of chemicals in my bloodstream slowly stole everything I knew.

“Come along, little one. No time like the present to start your initiation.”

I tried to step back toward the pallet. I ordered my limbs to move, to run, but nothing obeyed. I just stood there swaying until White Man grabbed my elbow and guided me from the room.

His perfectly ironed clothing contrasted against the sinister grime as we made our way down a long musty corridor. I wanted to scream and punch him in the eyes, but all I could do was coast along like a good belonging. The fog imprisoned my mind—turning me into the worst sort of captive—the one who obeyed without duress, who didn’t even need shackles to keep her down.

They’d taken my will, and soon, they’d take my mind.

White Man spoke to Leather Jacket as we stopped outside a door and pushed me inside. “Don’t go too far, Ignacio. Remember…little is key. They become more pliant that way.”

I stumbled like a brain-dead zombie, screaming silently for my body to do anything but fumble. Everything was so heavy and soupy and unresponsive.

Please. This is your last chance! Obey!

I managed to twitch enough to inch backward, shuffling toward the exit.

But all it took was a hand between my shoulder blades and I was pushed forward.

I blinked, looking around. Concrete walls, concrete floor with dampness climbing the corners and puddles resting in cracks. Three chairs, white and sun-worn, faced each other in a circle.

White Man guided me by the shoulders to sit in one of the chairs. It creaked under my weight and my head flopped onto my chin. So tired. So confused.

I’m hungry. I’m tired. I’m cold. I just want to go home. Where am I?

He patted my cheek, saying, “Have fun, little girl. Happy initiation.”

I wanted to hurl myself out the door; my heart bled as he clapped his hands and looked behind me. “Great. The others are here. You’ll no longer be alone, little one. I’ll see you later.”

He slipped out the door and the lock clicked into place behind two girls who’d entered on a leash, tugged by Jagged Scar. He gave me a snide smile before jerking the girls forward and pushing them into a chair.

I couldn’t comprehend what I saw.

Both girls were naked. Both trembled and shook as if an earthquake had replaced their hearts. Their eyes were full of horror and terror, but it was their hair that terrified me.

Blonde. Both of them. The same honey straw as my own.

Oh, God.

I wriggled in the chair to stand, but the chemicals blocked the signal from my brain and I sprawled to the floor instead. My cheek pressed against slimy concrete and I groaned as a flash of pain spread through me.

Leather Jacket laughed, coming to my rescue. Grabbing a chunk of my hair, he hauled me upright and threw me onto the chair. “Clumsy bitch.”

My eyes smarted from the agony of his grip, but I swallowed back the heaviness of tears. I was foggy enough without adding grief to the mix.

The girls sniffed, trying hard to stay silent even as tears tracked their dirty faces. I refused to look at them. I hated seeing the shadows of bruises on their arms and ribs. Why were they here?

They’re here for lunch. We’re going to have lunch, and then we’re going to have a nap and dream of whimsical things.

I shook my head, snapping out of the druggie daydream.

Leather Jacket gave a sadistic smile, bending to lick me. Once again, he dragged his foul tongue up my cheek and into my hair. “Trying to figure it out, aren’t ya? You won’t be able to. Not with the mixture in your blood. You’re going to do as I say, when I say. Got it?”