Page 122 of When He Plays

“Sebastian!” Harper screamed.

Charlotte watched, in horror, as Carmichael drove a knife into Sebastian’s chest. Once. Twice. Three times. Four.

“No!” Charlotte’s shriek.

“Sebastian!” Harper’s cry was heart-wrenching.

Sebastian was still crouched over Carmichael, and he clearly hadn’t anticipated the attack. Carmichael had wrenched the knife up—from where? His boot? Under his pant leg? And he delivered four fast and brutal jabs to Sebastian’s chest. Blood flew everywhere in a horrifying spatter.

Then…

Sebastian dropped to the side.

“Sebastian!” Harper’s voice broke. There was a loud crash.

Charlotte glanced back at the crash. Harper’s chair had toppled to the side.

“I don’t like being interrupted!” Carmichael’s snarling voice.

Charlotte’s gaze whipped to him.

He rose to his feet. The knife remained in his hand. “Really annoys me.” He drove his booted foot into Sebastian’s side.

Sebastian barely moved at the impact. A dark circle—blood—spread around him.

“Had to bide my time. Wait for that prick Logan to disappear. Wait to attack…” Carmichael bent, and his left hand slid toward his boot. He came up, holding what looked like a tiny remote. He aimed it at the right side of the cage, toward a black box.

“No more voltage,” Carmichael said after he clicked a button on the remote. He tossed aside the little device. “Now I’ll be taking that key back.” He swiped it from Sebastian’s grip.

Sebastian didn’t fight. Didn’t move at all.

But the dark circle of blood beneath him grew.

Carmichael stalked toward the cage. “Gonna have to finish you both quickly. I don’t like that. I like to take my time. But when Logan comes back, he has to find your dead bodies.” He inserted the key into the lock.

Charlotte backed up, trying to move protectively near Harper.

“I’ll slice you good, though,” Carmichael promised. “I can do it fast. I can stab you twenty times before you even have time to scream.”

Harper screamed. Loud. Long. Desperately. The scream seemed to echo around them. Surely, Logan would hear the cry? Surely, he would…

The scream stopped Logan cold. He hadn’t made it to the control room, not yet, and with that scream…

I won’t make it there.

He spun in an instant and began running back toward Charlotte. Fear fueled him. Rage burned past all rational thought.

Sebastian should have let him kill Carmichael. Logan should have thrust the knife--Charlotte’s favorite knife—deep into Carmichael’s heart.

This time, that was exactly what he would do.

Carmichael opened the padlock. He tossed the lock aside. When the cage door swung open, there was a long, ominous creak. He gripped the knife. Took a step inside the cage.

A long shudder worked his body. He swallowed. Blinked.

Charlotte remembered how dazed she’d been when she first woke up. “Doesn’t feel good to get electrocuted, does it, jackass?”

A snarl twisted his lips. He launched toward her, swinging down with his knife.