Page 77 of Healed

“Hey, hey, w-what are you doing?” Sam gasped, twisting his head to try to look at me as I crouched down beside him. I grabbed his leg, pinning it to the leg of the chair, and sliced into the back of his foot.

Sam screamed again, but I simply grabbed his other leg—a bit more difficult this time as he was thrashing wildly—and waited for Dante to give the order.

“I can only assume you thought I was joking. I assure you, I wasn’t. I know it’s difficult to tell, because unlike your fine self, I don’t have a tell when I lie. I did have that shit trained out of me. But I assure you, I wasn’t lying. Vienna finds shit like this amusing,” Dante shrugged.

“R-rot in h-hell,” Sam shivered, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly through his mouth.

“I plan to. But in the meantime, I have a job to do. And luckily for you, I’m feeling generous. I’m willing to give you another opportunity, Sam. All I’m asking for is Nico’s location. It really is that simple.”

“H-he didn’t say. You drove him o-out.”

Sam’s knees continued to bounce, his forehead breaking out in sweat that trickled down his cheeks.

“The first half of your statement was a lie. The second was the truth,” Dante smirked. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re hoping if you pepper enough truths into your words, it will disguise your tell. It won’t. He may not have told you where he was going at the time. But you know now. Where is he?”

“F-fuck off!”

Dante didn’t need to give me the command that time. I shot to my feet, my hand snatching up the pliers. Before Sam even realised what had happened, I brought the pliers to his mouth, forcing his mouth open and ripping out one of his teeth.

I was back on the floor, waiting next to his other leg before his first howl had completed.

“Is this worth it, Sam?” Dante asked, inspecting the dirt under his nails, looking utterly bored. Even though Sam was still howling and causing a fuss, Dante had no reaction to it. “This can all end the minute you give the location.”

“B-Barnsley,” Sam gasped. “H-he has a w-woman in Barnsley.”

“We know that. What we don’t know is where. Do you know where, Sam?”

“N-no, I—”

“Vienna.”

I sliced into his other foot. Quick and smooth.

“Carlton!” Sam screamed. “Sh-she lives in C-Carlton! Please. P-please s-stop.”

I stood up behind him and patted his shoulder. “There. That wasn’t so difficult, was it?” I asked, using my knife to slice through the ropes at his wrists.

“Y-you’re letting me g-go?” Sam stuttered, stumbling over his words.

“I’m a man of honour, Sam,” Dante said, looking completely innocent. I smiled at him and he smothered his own in return. “I said I would let you go, and I will. You’re free to leave at any time. I trust you know your way back to your compound?”

Sam looked at him in confusion.

“But—”

“Oh, your feet?” Dante sucked a breath in through his teeth. “Yeah, that’s unfortunate. But not to worry, I’m sure you can crawl your way back.”

He nodded at me and without a word, I grabbed my riding gloves out of my cut and pulled them on.

“Oh, one more thing,” Dante smiled. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to declare an emergency.”

“An… emergency?” Sam asked.

“Unfortunately so, yes,” Dante nodded in sympathy. “You see, you’re an enemy, and you’re on our territory. There’s only so much I can do. I’m duty bound as president to report any threats I can see. And you are a threat, Sam. Even in your current state. You yourself know how clubs work—didn’t we come to that agreement earlier? So you know that I’ll be unable to stop my men from eliminating said threat. You should be okay though—maybe try sticking to the shadows as you leave?”

Dante went to leave, but at the last second he turned around, tutting to himself. “I’m so sorry, Sam, I forgot to mention something else,” he clicked his tongue and pulled a sympathetic face. “The timing is really unfortunate on your behalf. You see, we’re currently hosting a whole bunch of other charters. That may make your escape that little bit more difficult, but you’re resourceful. I have no doubt you’ll figure it out. In fact,” he said, grabbing a knife from the tool station. “Here.” He tossed the knife onto Sam’s lap. “Take this.”

And then he pulled out his phone, pressed a few buttons, and alarms blared out throughout the entire compound.