“But Shannon could die. You insufferable coward.” He spat the words out, disgusted.
Mina was crying now. She turned to the door. “M-master, please let her go.”
His reply came a moment later when the bullwhip landed in a loud crack against Shannon's back, and she screamed again. Brian stalked over to the door. He glared first at Lindsay, then his gaze went to Mina.
“Do not get in the middle of this,” he said.
Mina flinched. Lindsay couldn't remember the last time she'd flinched from Brian. Brian shot Lindsay a killing glare as if it were Lindsay's fault Mina was starting to remember exactly what kind of monster she was with. Brian reached through the bars to stroke her cheek. Her tear-filled gaze rose to his.
When he spoke, it was in a low growl, almost more animal than human. “Mina, you know I would never hurt you, but you will not manage me. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes, Master,” she said leaning into his touch, her eyes drifting closed as he petted her hair.
He was so unbelievably gentle with her. Like an entirely different person.
“Lindsay is not going to hurt you,” Brian said, his glare shooting once again to Lindsay. A warning. A threat. “I'm in control here, and he knows it. Don't you, Doc?”
Lindsay didn't reply, he just gripped Mina's arm harder. “If you kill Shannon, what will stop me from killing Mina? You say you love her. But you risk her life by continuing this game. Let's just trade. I'll give you Mina. You give me Shannon.”
Brian spit through the bars at Lindsay. “Never. I will do whatever I damn well please, and if you hurt Mina, I will keep you alive for months down here before I end you.”
Brian stalked back over to Shannon.
“I'm taking Mina with me,” Lindsay said. “And you're not going to know what I'm doing with her. You won't know if she's hurt or dead or alive. If you truly love her you won't take that risk.”
Before Brian could reply, Lindsay had dragged Mina down the hallway to her and Brian's room. He shoved her into the bedroom and pointed to the door at the other end.
“Unlock the door to the gun closet, Mina,” he said. His voice had gone so dark and cold it was clear she wasn't sure which of the two men down here was more dangerous right now.
“I-I can't let you kill him. I know he's a monster, but I love him. He saved me. Not just in Japan. I can't live without him. Please.”
“If you let me in that closet, I promise I won't kill him, but if you don't, Shannon is going to die. She's your friend. Do you want your friend to die?”
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she shook her head. She took a key from her pocket and with trembling hands unlocked the gun closet.
Lindsay pushed her aside, grabbed a handgun off the closest shelf, slammed in a magazine, and racked the slide.
“Please don't kill him,” she begged again, clearly unsure if she'd just signed Brian's death warrant. Her face was pale. It had been a very long time since Lindsay had seen her this afraid of anything.
He should kill Brian, but Mina was yet another person Lindsay had ruined from his shitty choices. If he took Brian from her, it would destroy her. Shannon's screams pulled him out of the conflict and he raced back to the cell. He fired the gun at the lock twice and kicked the door open against the wall.
Lindsay moved so fast, Brian didn't have time to react. He raised the gun and slammed it hard on the side of Brian's face, and the man went down, unconscious. Blood trailed from the side of his face as Lindsay dragged him to the neighboring cell. He checked all his pockets and took the cell keys. He handcuffed him to a pole at one end of the cell for good measure. Then he slammed the door, locking Brian in.
Mina stood out of his way as he returned to the first cell and started to untie Shannon. When she was free, she crumpled to the ground, the adrenaline no doubt turning her legs to jelly.
“I know you have another key to that other cell, Mina,” Lindsay said quietly. Cell A was the only one with a single key, which Brian jealously guarded. “He'll probably be unconscious for a while, but if you want Shannon to live through the night, you will not let him out until she's far from this house.”
“I-I won't,” she said.
Damian was right. Lindsay should have given Shannon to him. He was her age. He could protect her. And most importantly she'd be far from Brian and this house that had taken everything from her. How could he have ever thought it was appropriate to keep her here with him?
Lindsay picked Shannon up off the ground and held her close in his arms. Her head went to his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his neck, still crying.
Shannon lay on her stomach in Lindsay's plant room as he whispered soothing nonsense in her ear. She couldn't process half of it, only that his tone was so caring that she actually felt safe for a brief moment, even after what had just happened downstairs with Brian.
“This might sting a little,” Lindsay said.
She flinched at the burn as he ran a cool wet cloth over the new marks Brian had left on her. These weren't deep. They weren't bad like before. They wouldn't scar. And they didn't need stitches. But it could have been so much worse. If Lindsay hadn't gotten down there when he did... if Brian had finished, there would have been nothing left to bandage.
She continued to cry as he rubbed a soothing ointment into her back, then he laid a breathable gauze over the whip lashes and taped it down with medical tape against the untouched parts of her skin.
There hadn't been untouched skin the first time. He'd had to wrap her up like a mummy. There had been nowhere safe to put tape the first time.
Ralph flew from his perch and landed next to her, nuzzling his head against her face. “Yes Sir, fuck me harder,” the bird squawked. Shannon couldn't even find it in her to laugh at his antics.
“Not now, Ralph,” Lindsay said, sounding tired.
The bird looked up at him and said, “Excellent references.” Then he flew back into the foliage.
Lindsay rested a hand on Shannon's lower back, the only place without any bandages or tape and sighed. “I'll be right back. Will you be okay?”
She gripped his wrist. “No! Don't leave me.”
“I'm just going to make a call. I'm not leaving our suite and the door is dead-bolted. You're safe now.”
She would never be safe. They both knew it. She would never be safe and she would never be free. She felt his weight lift off the bed as he went into the bathroom and shut the door. She heard his voice from the other side, but couldn't make out anything he said. She was in too much pain to get up and go listen by the door.
The call lasted for a long time. Finally Lindsay came out looking exhausted, like a man who had almost lost the love of his life—or like a man who was in the process of losing her. She waited in the long space of silence wanting it to go on forever because she knew she didn't want to hear the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
“Damian is on his way,” he finally said. “You belong to him now.”
Shannon let out a strangled sob. “No, I want to be with you.” She struggled to sit. He sat behind her and just held her in his arms stroking her hair.
“I know you do. I want the same. But we can't be together. You know Brian will never allow it, and now that he's proven he's willing to go this far again, you can't stay in this house. It's not safe.”