Saving Death

Chapter 24

Bile flooded my mouth and my temples throbbed. I spat it out on the dirt floor where my head stuck to the grit and dust. Without moving, I could see that I was no longer in the car but in some kind of abandoned building. I strained to raise my head off the ground, but it produced more pain and I flopped back onto the ground, taking deep measured breaths to stop my stomach from overturning itself.

When I looked down at my hands I saw that my wrists were still bound with rope, which was now stained with my blood. That's when I became aware of the constant searing pain in my hand where the small shard of glass had wedged itself. Pushing my wrists to the floor, I attempted to push myself to a sitting position, but I winced loudly at the pain, signaling the others that I had woken up.

"Ava!" Sam's deep voice echoed through what looked like a derelict car park. The space was lined with enormous concrete pillars, stained with different coloured graffiti. Directly in front of me, a long wall was patterned with many tiny green windows that looked like they hadn't seen the light of day in years due to the amount of moss and ivy growing on them.

"Ava?" Sam's voice was strained this time, but as I attempted to sit up again, I was immediately pushed back down to the floor by a strong hand. I shrieked in pain as my hands hit the ground, forcing the glass further into the wound. Tears sprung to my eyes.

"Don't touch her!" Sam roared, his voice bouncing off the hollow insides of the building. I breathed deeply and looked down at my trembling hands. My whole body ached and I was exhausted. The pain was becoming too much. What had they done to me? Glancing behind me, I eyed Jules, who glared down at me. "Please," I pleaded with him, tears brimming at my eyes. "I just need to clean out my hands."

"You don't need to worry about that where you're going," he grumbled shortly. His eyes widened as he looked behind me and I turned, coming face to face with Mr Jenson. His blonde hair had curled at the ends in the damp of the building, and his face held something like pity as he gazed upon me before turning to Jules.

"I'll take her, Jules," he said, pulling me up by the knot at my wrists, sending shooting pains through my arms.

"Ow—you're hurting me," I complained, feeling my legs struggle to stand on the hard floor. A voice in my head was telling me I should fight, but I didn't have any fight left in me. It was as if my muscles refused to be of any use as he dragged me, tripping and stumbling, through the long concrete building. When we finally reached an opening, he let go of me and I fell on the floor. I landed on my front and searing pain shot through my arms yet again, but this time, I didn't scream. I stayed sprawled on the floor as Sam erupted with anger, his growls ripping through the building.

"Stop hurting her!" he bellowed.

I looked up wearily towards his voice and could see that he was bound by two long metal chains that stretched out between two concrete posts. His chest was bare and red bruises stretched out over his torso where the other men had beaten him into submission. I was vaguely amazed that he was still standing after the beating he'd endured, but there was still a great deal I didn't know about Sam. He must have had some kind of healing abilities, but if that was true, then it hadn't been Seline's magic that had healed him when he'd been hurt before. I watched his chest heave frantically and as my eyes met his, I felt the overwhelming urge to cry. His eyes bored into me, telling me to stay strong, then he turned away to look behind me.

"Ben, please..." he whispered, sending my brain into a field of fog. Mr Jenson stepped forward, I knew that that must be his name.

"Well, well," he drawled, kneeling down next to me. "I've never known a reaper to care so much about a human life before. It's quite captivating." He glanced at Sam. "Sure, I've known a few swift, disappointing romances, but love—no, I've never seen a reaper love before." His shoes scraped on the floor as he stood up and walked over to Sam.