The Hunter's Angel

Justice

I blinked—once, twice, three times. The blurred web of darkness slowly lifted from my gaze each time my eyes opened and closed. 

I willed the heavy fog away from my mind as I fought to make sense of where I was. 

My vision finally adjusted to the dark room, and I winced against the cold, fluorescent light shining over me, my head pounding from the bright glare. 

My head felt heavy—too heavy. I swallowed a groan as my skull throbbed in pain. 

But it was nothing compared to the thumping of my pulse as I slowly took in my surroundings.  

I seemed to be in some sort of warehouse, the space large and eerily barren. The place looked like it had been abandoned some time ago, the scaffolding nearly in pieces and a few overhead lights flickering against the cold darkness. 

The building was enveloped by cement walls, and panic slowly started to seep in as I realized just how trapped I was. A sense of panic that only grew sharper as I finally lowered my gaze. 

I had been tied to a metal chair, my wrists and ankles bound together with thick rope. 

Cold, biting dread sank deep inside me as I found myself in the exact situation I had been in months ago. The chilling memory of being tied up inside of that van, of being touched and taunted by that disgusting, cruel man—

I closed my eyes against the sordid reminder, bitterness coating the back of my throat. 

I refused to let that happen again. 

I wasn't sure what cruelties Rico was capable of, but I had no intentions of finding out. 

I could still see his dark gaze, his cold, twisted smile as he realized that I had unearthed the truth. He hadn't known that it was Bruce who revealed who he really was—that he was the mole, the traitor Hunter had been looking for all of these years. 

If only I had realized it sooner.

Because nothing about this was looking good. 

No. I didn't think there was any escaping this. 

My body began to tremble with a wave of alarm as the chilling truth swept through me. I tried to stay in control, to soothe my panic so I could gain some semblance of where I was, but I couldn't stop the tremors that racked my body. I couldn't stop the bitter hopelessness that burned a hole inside of me. 

How the hell was I going to get out of this? 

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed through the warehouse, causing me to jerk in my seat. The movement sent another sharp ache through my head, and I bit back the cry of pain that nearly escaped my lips as the footsteps grew closer, approaching me from behind.  

Shit. Was that Rico? 

My heart pounded against my chest, and I fought to settle my hammering pulse as the figure moved beside me. 

"You're finally awake." 

I swallowed against the tight lump in my throat as Rico sauntered in front of me, his burly stature and dark stare suddenly all the more frightening now that I knew who he really was. 

"Took you fucking long enough," he muttered, his cold gaze meeting mine with disdain. 

How long had I been out? All I could remember was Rico hitting me with the butt of his gun and a flash of sharp pain before everything went dark. 

God, I hoped Hunter had gotten my message. But, even if he had, how the hell was he going to find me? 

I could only imagine the fear he must have been feeling once he had shown up at my apartment and seen the mess that had been left behind. I could only imagine the thoughts that must have been running through his mind.