Chapter 47: the

RAVEN

I’m uncomfortably laying on my shitty mattress. I don’t know how many days have passed at this point, but I think I’ve maybe slept for four or five hours in the time I’ve been here. Not only is it impossible to sleep peacefully under the blinding lights, but I don’t trust falling asleep. It’s too vulnerable.

I close my eyes. I don’t even have anything to cover them with considering I’m still wearing the short dress I was kidnapped in.

I roll, restless, wincing when I twist in such a way that it causes the bruise on my stomach to hurt. Carefully, I settle onto the hard surface, just as my stomach growls.

Thank God my headaches have subsided, but it isn’t helping that I’m unable to sleep. At his point, I think I’m so overtired that I’m no longer tired.

I move to stand, annoyed and exasperated.

As I stand, there’s a metallic clink behind me and I turn so quickly that I stumble. I wait for the door to open, listening for any noise. I wait for what feels like minutes, but the door never pushes open.

My heart is hammering in my chest. I don’t know whether it’s a trap. How do I know that this isn’t some sort of test from Kash? How do I know he’s not trying to see if I’ll attempt to escape so he can beat the shit out of me?

I take a hesitating step towards it, but I pause, unsure.

And then I hear a resounding bang somewhere in the depths of the building, followed by some yelling. A gunshot. Chaos.

I instantly know it’s Luca. I can’t explain how I know, but I do.

Like my heart recognizes the proximity of his.

I don’t waste the opportunity, I scurry to the door and it pulls open with relief. I peek my head out the threshold, finding no one nearby. The gunshots increase, but now that I’m no longer in the room, I can tell just how far away they are.

I glance down the hall in both directions. I haven’t the slightest clue which direction to head in. I was brought here unconscious, and I’ve never left the room, which means I don’t know the layout of the building.

I randomly choose to go right, spotting a staircase at the end. Seeing the stairs leads me to believe I’ve likely chosen correctly.

There’s a single room on the way and I know I have to check it out. My hands are trembling and I’m not sure what it is—adrenaline, lack of food and sleep, fear, or anxiety. It’s probably all of the above.

When I tear open the door, I realize that it’s to Kash’s office. If that’s what you would call it. A few desks and cabinets are placed within the small space. On the largest desk is a monitor, clearly showing live camera footage of my cell.

I click through the angles of the cameras and my breath catches when I spot Nero and Luca somewhere else in the building. I have no idea where they are because I’ve never seen anything else but my cell and the hallway in front of it, but he can’t be too close because I’m unable to hear him.

I watch, however, as he lifts a pistol and fires at one man. Another comes up behind him and I panic as he doesn’t immediately notice it. Luca spins around on the man so fast that I’m barely able to process as he twists the attacker’s arm until Luca’s aiming the man’s own handgun at his head as they pull the trigger together.

In the closeness, blood splatters all over Luca’s face and white shirt, instantly soaking right through the material. He doesn’t even react to it. He simply releases the dead body so it hits the floor and casually steps over it.

He doesn’t give a shit. Not when he’s focused on finding me.

I flip the camera back to the one that overlooks my cell to inspect whether Kash has learned of my absence. I can’t see anything out of place, but I refuse to waste any more time.

I begin rifling through the cabinets, one after the other. I know for a fact that Kash has a gun somewhere in here and I want to find it.

Maybe the lack of food is making me think unclearly, but I don’t want the gun to protect myself. I want to fuck with Kash. I want to watch as he realizes that I’ve outsmarted him. After everything he’s done to me, I want to observe his reaction as he figures out that his plan has failed. That he’s about to die by my hand.

Eventually, in the far corner, I find a pistol placed delicately on the shelf. Knowing my way around guns, I quickly remove the magazine and pop out each bullet until they fill my free hand. I take them and toss them out the nearby opened window without a second thought. I slide the magazine back into the weapon and place it back where I found it.

Because I need to be certain, I scope out the remainder of the room, finding a few stray bullets in the desk drawer where the computer monitor resides. I also find a large hunting knife that I clutch tightly to my chest. As I’m doing so, I notice Kash come onto the screen.

He leans his head into my cell and curses, quickly stomping out of it, speeding up his pace in his search for me.

I position the knife behind my back, stepping in the opposite direction of the door. I wait for him. I know he’ll come here. If he has any brain, he’ll want to peek at the security system.

At the last minute, I decide I shouldn’t hide inside. It’s too dangerous to be the one trapped in the room. I don’t want to be backed into the corner, that isn’t wise.

I step outside of the small room and find a nearby wall that I hide behind. My heartbeat hammers in my ears, my adrenaline spiking knowing what’s about to happen. There’s absolutely no fucking way Kash is keeping me here another night. It isn’t happening. I’ll die before it does.

I can hear as Kash’s frantic footsteps near, heavy-footed and offbeat with his awkward gait. I’m too paranoid to stick my head around the edge of the wall to see where he is, but when I hear a small cabinet door slam shut, I make my move.

He immediately hears me as I approach—which was the plan because it distracts him enough so that he doesn’t inspect the magazine—and he narrows his eyes, lifting the weapon in my direction.

My pulse increases impossibly. There’s no possible way I can be absolutely certain that the gun he’s pointed in my face is the one I’ve emptied. He easily could’ve found that on his way here, but I ignore that thought and step closer.

“It’s over, Kermit,” I warn.

He doesn’t back down. Instead, he closes the distance between us to press the barrel to my forehead, directly between my eyes. “You seem to have a fuckin’ death wish, Rae.” With a pause, he tilts his head and an evil smirk curls his thin lips up, as he torments me with a triumphant tone, “But you’re trapped. There isn’t a single place to run to now.”

I swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat, keeping the knife tucked carefully behind my back. “You know that the second you pull that trigger, Luca will be on your ass.”

“A risk I’m willing to take.” He pulls the trigger and an audible click! echoes around us. It’s as loud as if a bullet had actually fired.

That’s when I smirk because I know I’ve got him.

He lowers the gun, confused and panicked as he releases the magazine to check why it hasn’t fired. His gaze is furious as it lifts to my own. As if he hasn’t already realized what’s going on, he rushes to the desk and rifles through the top drawer for the stray bullets that once resided there.

“Don’t bother,” I muse, “I got those too.”

Enraged, he throws the gun across the room where it creates a small hole in the drywall from the force. He’s so angry that his face is red as he turns to me and threatens, “I’ll just kill you with my bare hands then. It’ll be nice to feel your heart stop beating. Makes it more personal, don’t ya’ think?”

I smile at his reaction because he’s spiraling. This was the whole reason I did it this way. It’s so much more fun to watch as he realizes his entire world is crumbling around him.

I know Luca is getting closer at this point because the sound of gunshots are getting louder. He’s coming for me and that’s the biggest confidence boost I could ever receive.

“You got it wrong earlier, Kasimir,” I tell him. As I speak, I bring the gigantic hunting knife out from where I’ve been keeping it discreetly tucked at my back, “I’m not trapped in here with you. You’re the one trapped in here with me. You always have been.”