Oath Bound
Page 115
“Kenni, just hang on. I’ll get you out—”
Julia spoke over me. “And you have his stubborn streak to blame for what’s coming. Lincoln?” She released the speaker button and Lincoln nodded.
“No!” I shouted, and Julia held the remote up, so I could see that her finger was still off the button. Lincoln couldn’t hear me.
A blur of motion through the window caught my gaze, and Lincoln punched my baby sister in the face. Still blindfolded, Kenley never saw the blow coming. She grunted in pain, and my pulse raced so hot and fast that my vision started to blur. Kenley’s chair rocked back and forth, and for one interminable second, I was afraid it would tip over and she’d hit her head on the floor, and if that happened, there was nothing I could do for her.
“Stop!” I strained so hard against the zip tie at my back that the plastic bit into my skin, and the sudden warmth told me I was bleeding.
If Kenley fell unconscious, would Julia make it stop? I honestly didn’t know. Unconscious people make terrible torture victims, because they can’t feel pain, but it was my pain Julia was counting on, and I would suffer each of my sister’s blows whether or not she was conscious.
Julia held the remote up to her mouth again and pressed the button. “Kenley? How you doing? Hangin’ in there?”
Kenley gasped and raised her head. Tears spilled beneath her blindfold and a horrible bruise was already forming at the center of the red patch on her left cheek. She turned her head to the side and spit blood on the floor—no reason not to, since Julia already had more than enough of her blood. Then she cleared her throat and sat straighter. “Just fine. Also? Fuck you. And fuck Lincoln, whoever the hell he is. What kind of coward hits a woman while she’s blindfolded and tied to a chair?”
Lincoln actually chuckled. “I only work here,” he said, examining his knuckles, and I wanted to rip his throat out and watch his blood drain onto the floor. “If I had my way, this would be an entirely different kind of...session.”
Kenley bit her lip as silent tears rolled down her face, and my blood boiled. I recognized Lincoln now. He was the one who’d slit Chase Alexander Curtis’s throat.
“Hmm...” Julia turned back to me. “Someone’s been spending a lot of time with her big brother and sister. But I don’t think she’s as tough as Kori, no matter what she wants us to believe. Do you?”
I didn’t answer.
“Tell me about Sera’s Skill, or we’ll find out just how tough your baby sister is.”
She was now assuming Sera had a Skill, and I wasn’t sure whether that was a bluff or a conclusion she’d drawn based on the fact that I hadn’t claimed otherwise. Julia lifted the radio to her lips again and opened her mouth.
“Yes.” I glared at her. “Sera has a Skill.” That was the truth. It just wasn’t the whole truth.
“Good boy,” she said, and I wanted to put my fist through her face. “And what is her Skill?”
But I’d figured out her game. “You already know the answer to that, don’t you?” She was testing me.
“I have my suspicions. She’s a Jammer, isn’t she?”
“Just like her father. Your brother.”
Julia nodded. She had known. But I was sure she didn’t know about Sera’s other Skill. No one did, other than the residents of our hideout house. And Julia couldn’t make me give her information she didn’t know she was missing.
“Sera didn’t know, did she?” Julia sat straighter, and her eyes lost focus with the thought. “She was telling the truth when she said she didn’t have a Skill, and the only way that’s possible is if she didn’t know she was Skilled. Which makes sense for a Jammer—there’s no intent required for her Skill.”
I shrugged. I was afraid to say anything, one way or another—Sera had obviously been blocking Julia’s Skill when she needed to get away with a lie, just like she’d done with Anne.
“It’s too bad, really, because I could use another Jammer—if she weren’t trying to usurp my position.”
“Sera doesn’t give a damn about your position, your money or your power. She didn’t ask to inherit the mafia, and she has no desire whatsoever to run it.”
Julia frowned at me. “You actually mean that. She spoke to you, didn’t she? She confided in you.” She frowned and glanced at the floor without waiting for my answer. “Why would she do that?” When she looked up, I saw comprehension written all over her coldly attractive features. “You’re not just trying to keep her for her Skill. You actually like her. Or is it more than that? Am I making you choose between your sister and your lover?”
“Fuck off.”
Julia laughed again. “Oh, you Daniels siblings. You’re all guns, and knives, and flying fists on the surface, but on the inside there’s nothing but mush. Gooey touchy-feely pulp, rotting you from the inside out. Your emotional fragility is what makes you so easy to manipulate. So let’s try another question. What’s Sera’s other Skill?”
For a moment, I could only blink at her. How the hell had she known?
“What other Skill? No one has two Skills.”
Julia stared at me with both brows arched high, as if she was waiting for me to take it back. But I couldn’t tell her. The only advantage Sera would have, surrounded by Skilled mafia members who wanted her dead was the ability to negate their Skills.
Julia spoke over me. “And you have his stubborn streak to blame for what’s coming. Lincoln?” She released the speaker button and Lincoln nodded.
“No!” I shouted, and Julia held the remote up, so I could see that her finger was still off the button. Lincoln couldn’t hear me.
A blur of motion through the window caught my gaze, and Lincoln punched my baby sister in the face. Still blindfolded, Kenley never saw the blow coming. She grunted in pain, and my pulse raced so hot and fast that my vision started to blur. Kenley’s chair rocked back and forth, and for one interminable second, I was afraid it would tip over and she’d hit her head on the floor, and if that happened, there was nothing I could do for her.
“Stop!” I strained so hard against the zip tie at my back that the plastic bit into my skin, and the sudden warmth told me I was bleeding.
If Kenley fell unconscious, would Julia make it stop? I honestly didn’t know. Unconscious people make terrible torture victims, because they can’t feel pain, but it was my pain Julia was counting on, and I would suffer each of my sister’s blows whether or not she was conscious.
Julia held the remote up to her mouth again and pressed the button. “Kenley? How you doing? Hangin’ in there?”
Kenley gasped and raised her head. Tears spilled beneath her blindfold and a horrible bruise was already forming at the center of the red patch on her left cheek. She turned her head to the side and spit blood on the floor—no reason not to, since Julia already had more than enough of her blood. Then she cleared her throat and sat straighter. “Just fine. Also? Fuck you. And fuck Lincoln, whoever the hell he is. What kind of coward hits a woman while she’s blindfolded and tied to a chair?”
Lincoln actually chuckled. “I only work here,” he said, examining his knuckles, and I wanted to rip his throat out and watch his blood drain onto the floor. “If I had my way, this would be an entirely different kind of...session.”
Kenley bit her lip as silent tears rolled down her face, and my blood boiled. I recognized Lincoln now. He was the one who’d slit Chase Alexander Curtis’s throat.
“Hmm...” Julia turned back to me. “Someone’s been spending a lot of time with her big brother and sister. But I don’t think she’s as tough as Kori, no matter what she wants us to believe. Do you?”
I didn’t answer.
“Tell me about Sera’s Skill, or we’ll find out just how tough your baby sister is.”
She was now assuming Sera had a Skill, and I wasn’t sure whether that was a bluff or a conclusion she’d drawn based on the fact that I hadn’t claimed otherwise. Julia lifted the radio to her lips again and opened her mouth.
“Yes.” I glared at her. “Sera has a Skill.” That was the truth. It just wasn’t the whole truth.
“Good boy,” she said, and I wanted to put my fist through her face. “And what is her Skill?”
But I’d figured out her game. “You already know the answer to that, don’t you?” She was testing me.
“I have my suspicions. She’s a Jammer, isn’t she?”
“Just like her father. Your brother.”
Julia nodded. She had known. But I was sure she didn’t know about Sera’s other Skill. No one did, other than the residents of our hideout house. And Julia couldn’t make me give her information she didn’t know she was missing.
“Sera didn’t know, did she?” Julia sat straighter, and her eyes lost focus with the thought. “She was telling the truth when she said she didn’t have a Skill, and the only way that’s possible is if she didn’t know she was Skilled. Which makes sense for a Jammer—there’s no intent required for her Skill.”
I shrugged. I was afraid to say anything, one way or another—Sera had obviously been blocking Julia’s Skill when she needed to get away with a lie, just like she’d done with Anne.
“It’s too bad, really, because I could use another Jammer—if she weren’t trying to usurp my position.”
“Sera doesn’t give a damn about your position, your money or your power. She didn’t ask to inherit the mafia, and she has no desire whatsoever to run it.”
Julia frowned at me. “You actually mean that. She spoke to you, didn’t she? She confided in you.” She frowned and glanced at the floor without waiting for my answer. “Why would she do that?” When she looked up, I saw comprehension written all over her coldly attractive features. “You’re not just trying to keep her for her Skill. You actually like her. Or is it more than that? Am I making you choose between your sister and your lover?”
“Fuck off.”
Julia laughed again. “Oh, you Daniels siblings. You’re all guns, and knives, and flying fists on the surface, but on the inside there’s nothing but mush. Gooey touchy-feely pulp, rotting you from the inside out. Your emotional fragility is what makes you so easy to manipulate. So let’s try another question. What’s Sera’s other Skill?”
For a moment, I could only blink at her. How the hell had she known?
“What other Skill? No one has two Skills.”
Julia stared at me with both brows arched high, as if she was waiting for me to take it back. But I couldn’t tell her. The only advantage Sera would have, surrounded by Skilled mafia members who wanted her dead was the ability to negate their Skills.
