Max lasered a green glare her way. "Oh, I have unfinished business with you, Justina. Do you know what a pain in the ass it's been, being the vampire who fathered the half-breed? I've had strangers beat me on sight! But I get no protection if I just kill you, whereas takingher out garners me new friends. They wanted Bones dead, too, but I'll take what I can get."
I was about to ask who these new friends were, when Max took one those knives and speared it straight through my wrist, hard enough to pin it to the floor. I gave a harsh gasp, but it was my mother who screamed.
"Stop it!"
Max grinned, keeping the other knives well away from my reach. "Thanks, Justina. Now I get to do a little slicing, courtesy of you."
Calibos let out an annoyed sigh I could hear even above my own labored breathing.
"This is boring. Am I going to get to do anything fun today?"
Max took another knife, giving a meaningful glance at my mother before touching its tip to my skin. "Go on, fight me. Give me a reason to make you watch your mother suffer before she dies," he whispered.
I set my teeth and didn't fight as he drove this blade slowly through my other wrist. It hurt even more than the first one had. My mother let out a moan that sounded like she was in pain, too.
"Please." It was barely audible, and she held her hand out to Max. "Please, no more. This is my fault, leave her alone!"
"What time is your playboy vampire expecting you back?" Max asked, ignoring her.
It would take Bones twenty minutes to get to the airport from the compound, maybe less with the way he drove. Then another fifteen or so minutes to load up Annette's ridiculous amount of bags and head back. Would Bones call me once he'd gotten back to the compound? I had my phone set to vibrate, so I wouldn't be able to hear it if he did, since it was outside in my purse. God, would it take him hours before he even wondered why I wasn't back yet?
"Three hours," I said, keeping my face as blank as possible.
Max let a nasty smile curl his lips. "I'm going to assume that really means one hour. But don't worry. I'll make it count. Oh, and I'll take this."
Max yanked my engagement ring off my finger. He held it up to the light and grinned.
"Must be five carats," he said admiringly. "This'll net me a couple million, easy."
"It's a ruby," I snapped, hating the sight of my engagement ring in his hands.
Max laughed. "Stupid little girl, that's adiamond. Red diamonds are the rarest in the world, and Bones has had this stone for over a century. Ian's wanted to buy it from him for decades. But you won't be needing it anymore."
Max sliced up the front of my shirt, remarking that this was for Calibos's benefit, not his. The throbbing from my wrists, combined with the searing pain in my legs and gut, made it so easy for me to pass out. I kept fighting the blackness that crouched temptingly near.
My mother darted forward. Calibos caught her, giving her a hard shake.
"You're nothing but animals," she hissed at them.
"Insults count as screaming," Max replied, laughing as she gaped in disbelief. "My game, so I get to make up the rules. That's two things I get to cut off Cat now. Want to make it three?"
I met my mother's gaze over Max's shoulder. Her eyes were wide and overflowing. I gave the barest shake of my head.Please don't. You can't make it better. Just run when you have the chance.
She couldn't hear my silent urgings, of course. Max let the tip of his knife dip to my jeans, and he slit them down the side.
"Here's where I'll start," he remarked, then grabbed a handful of my hip and gave a hard upward swipe with the third knife.
I bit my lip so hard to keep from screaming that I tasted blood. Calibos snickered. Max held up my severed piece of skin like it was a trophy.
"Nice tattoo," he said, flinging it to the side. "Maybe I'll have that shipped to Bones, so he can have a spare."
My hip flamed where there was now a bleeding open wound instead of the crossbones tattoo I'd gotten to match the one on Bones's arm. My mother didn't cry out this time, but she drew in a deep, shuddering breath.
"I love you, Catherine," she whispered.
I had to look away, because I didn't want to give Max the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I couldn't remember the last time she'd said that to me. She must believe we were both doomed to die.
"I'm sick of holding her, I'm putting her under," Calibos said, turning green eyes to my mother.
"Stop it." Max's voice was a whip. "She's going to see this. She's going toknow."
Calibos made an exasperated noise, then dragged my mother over to the drapes by the window. He yanked one off, ripped it down the center, and then tied the end of it around her neck.
"Max," I said warningly.
He swatted me in the head, hard. "Shh, I want to see what he's got in mind."
Calibos threw the other end over one of the railings in the banister on the second floor. My mother was struggling, but she was no match for the vampire. I began to strain against the knives pinning me down. Max shoved another one through my wrist almost like it was an afterthought, then punched me in the gut where I'd been shot.
The blast of agony must have knocked me out for a minute, because when my eyes focused again, my mother was standing on a chair, one end of the drapes wrapped around her neck, and the other tied to the banister upstairs. There was hardly any slack in the line, and one of the chair's legs was missing.
"Now she can watch, and I can join the fun," Calibos smirked.
Max gave him an approving grin, then turned his attention to me.
"Do you want to know what I'm going to do to you, little girl?" he asked in a conversational tone. "After I torture the hell out of you, I'm going to chop you into pieces. Can't risk Bones getting someone to raise you into a ghoul, now can I?"
Vicious prick wasn't stupid. With my half-vampire bloodline, it was entirely possible I could be raised as a ghoul, if Max were just to murder me. But if I was dismembered, that option was out.
"Same rules apply. Let's see how long you last before you scream and I get to cut something off Justina," he taunted.
Max's fist began knocking my head back and forth like a toy on a spring. Blood filled my mouth and my lip split, but I bit my tongue and didn't make a noise. After a few minutes, the ringing in my ears dulled the thwacking sounds of him beating me. Then he stopped.
"Stubborn bitch. Hmm, let's see if you can keep quiet through this..."
He pulled a lighter out of his pocket, flicked it, dialed the flame up as high as it could go, then held it to my arm. My whole body shuddered and I twisted futilely, gasps and grunts coming from me. After a few minutes of unimaginable agony, I couldn't hold back my scream any longer.