Christy’s POV
The mont Curtis dragged backward into that narrow tunnel, my heart dropped straight into my stomach.
One second Kendrick’s eyes were locked on mine, full of fire and promise, and the next we were separated as darkness swallowed everything.
The steel door slamd shut behind us, echoing through the tight corridor like a death sentence. My scream got trapped in my throat because Curtis’ arm tightened around , his hand pressing painfully against the side of my face as he forced further down the hallway.
"No... stop! Kendrick!" I tried twisting away, my wrists burning against the ropes digging into my skin.
"Let go!" I pleaded weakly as my body still ached from Zain’s last outburst when he found out about his parent’s deaths.
"Shut up," Curtis hissed, dragging faster, his breath rough against my ear.
"You think I’m stupid? Did you really think I would let him take you back that easily?" he asked with a mysterious smirk.
I stumbled as he yanked , my bare feet scraping against the cold stone. My entire body trembled, but not just from fear, it was from the raw anger that burned hot in my chest.
Because I had seen Kendrick, I had seen all of them. They found and I wasn’t alone anymore.
For a mont, I had felt safe....Just for a mont, I had believed everything was finally over.
But Curtis always had one more trick...he always have one more way to ruin everything.
The hallway lights flickered above us, revealing Zain staggering behind with blood soaking his shoulder. His face twisted with pain and fury when he saw struggling.
"You useless bitch," Zain spat, limping after us.
"If you didn’t fight so damn much, we could move faster. She is fucking slowing us down!" he yelled at but I just gave him a glare.
Piper was behind him, shaking, her eyes wild like an animal backed into a corner. Her hands were trembling so badly she could barely hold her small handgun.
Curtis didn’t answer, He was too focused on forcing forward. My legs hit sothing hard and I noticed that it was a corner. The tunnel split, and he shoved left, deeper into the underground maze.
I twisted again, trying to break away, but he jerked back so hard my neck snapped to the side.
"Try that again," Curtis growled.
"and you’ll regret it." he threatened while glaring at .
I could still see his jumbled expression but his obsession was still obvious.
Zain reached us, panting really hard like he was going to lose consciousness "Curtis! We can’t take her! We’re injured, the cops are everywhere, we are boxed in for crying out loud and she is a fucking liability!"
I could feel Zain’s rage behind .. . He was trying to hide his hatred for . He hated that I was still breathing... Hated that everything had gone wrong the second Kendrick stord in.
Curtis ignored him and kept dragging until we reached another tal door. He shoved forward and punched in a code. His hands shook slightly, not from fear, but adrenaline.
When the door slid open, the stench of damp concrete hit . The room was small, almost cell-like, lit by a single flickering bulb. He pushed inside, but he didn’t let go. His grip was desperate now, like he was afraid soone would snatch from him.
"I should kill her right now," Zain snapped, stepping into the room after us.
"We don’t need her... She is slowing us down. They are right behind us, Curtis!" Zain continued trying to convince him.
"You kill her, and everything falls apart," Curtis shot back, finally pushing against the wall.
"I told you already.. I have a plan." he said while staring at my face.
"A plan?" Zain laughed, the sound dry and sharp. "Your plan is falling apart, Mark and Callie got caught and Celeste is bleeding out and might die soon while Piper nearly got shot in the face... "
"I SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT!" Piper suddenly scread, her voice cracking as she pointed a shaking finger at Curtis.
"You left ! You left all of us! You said we were in this together!" she yelled like she had finally snapped.
Curtis’ eyes narrowed with the sa coldness I had seen since the day he kidnapped .
"In my plan," he said flatly, "only the useful ones survive."
Piper froze... Zain stiffened and my breath stopped for a few seconds.
He said that, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like they were all tools he had never intended to keep.
Piper’s face twisted in betrayal, rage slowly tearing through her. Tears blurred her eyes, but her hands steadied.
"So what am I to you?" she whispered, voice trembling. "After everything? After I protected you? Lied for you? And helped you?"
Curtis didn’t blink. "Expendable."
Piper’s jaw dropped...She stared at him like she had never seen him before. "You..You can’t be serious."
I could tell from her reaction that she had feelings for him but unfortunately he didn’t even spare her another glance.
"What makes her so special, why are you acting like you can’t see my love for you!" Piper yelled angrily at Curtis.
"What makes you think that you deserve to be by my side, are you worthy" he simply asked her without any emotions.
"Why? What does she have that I don’t?" she asked him angrily while glaring at .
"She is Christy and you are not...Do you really think if she wasn’t in the picture, you would have a chance?" he asked her with a mocking laugh.
"Why?" she asked him with a pained expression.
"I can’t be with a woman that has been used by different dirty n" he said bluntly and she took a few steps back like she had been hit.
Zain swore under his breath, holding his wound tighter. "I told you before, Curtis. We should have killed her when we had the chance. But no...you trusted him over the people who actually helped you."
Piper’s chest rose and fell quickly, like she was seconds away from snapping. Her eyes slid to dark, resentful and watery as she was trying to hold back her tears.
"This is all because of her," Piper spat. "Because he likes her! Because she is the toy he’s obsessed with!"
Curtis’ jaw tightened, but he didn’t deny it.
He couldn’t deny what was so obvious.
Zain took a step closer to , eyes burning with enough hatred to set on fire. "Let end her, one stab is all it will take, she is worth more dead than alive. Curtis, listen to ... we will never escape with her slowing us down."
My breath halted.
He reached for the knife strapped to his belt, pulling it out in one steady movent. His steps echoed as he approached, and my back pressed harder into the wall.
"Don’t," Curtis snapped instantly.
But Zain didn’t stop. The loss, the pain, the chaos.. they had pushed him past reason.
"Curtis, STOP HIM!" I shouted, chest heaving.
"She dies here," Zain growled, raising the blade. "We don’t have ti for your obsession!"
Curtis moved fast, grabbing Zain and shoving him back. Zain stumbled, nearly dropping the knife.
The room exploded with their loud voices.
"You’re losing it!" Zain yelled. "You want to escape? Then we need less weight dragging us! And she... "
"Christy stays alive," Curtis barked. "I didn’t go through all this because of a damn fantasy... I have a plan!"
"This plan NEVER included us?" Piper scread. "What are we then? Shields? Sacrifices?!"
Curtis didn’t turn to her, he just smirked.
"Pretty much," he said.
The silence after that sentence felt like a punch to the chest.
Zain’s eyes widened in shock while Piper’s breath stuttered.
For a mont, I even forgot how to breathe.
Piper’s face twisted into sothing ugly, raw, and heartbreaking all at once.
"You used us," she whispered. "You used ."
Curtis didn’t deny it.
Sothing snapped inside Piper. She reached behind her quickly, ripping a small sharp knife from her boot. Her scream tore out of her chest as she lunged straight at .
"You ruined everything!" she shrieked. "I will kill you myself!"
I flinched as the blade ca straight for my throat.
But before she could reach a gunshot exploded in the tiny room.
Piper’s body jerked mid-air, her eyes stretching wide in pure confusion. The knife slipped from her fingers and clattered across the floor.
For a mont, she stood frozen, staring at Curtis like she didn’t understand what just happened.
Then she collapsed and blood spread beneath her quickly, a dark, warm pool reaching toward my feet.
My breath trembled.
Zain stared in shock. "You... you shot her?"
Curtis lowered the gun, face blank. "She wasn’t useful anymore."
"You are insane," Zain whispered. "Absolutely insane."
Curtis turned his cold eyes toward then, and my heart thudded hard.
He stepped closer, his shadow falling over .
"Now," he said calmly, "let’s finish the rest of the plan."
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