“Wrong,” Enrique bit out. “You kill us, he’ll make you pay.”
Noticing that the mamba was now beginning to twine her body around Enrique’s leg, Tate flicked up a brow. “And why would he bother to do that? Maybe you were good little minions, but not good enough to avoid getting caught.” Tate paused. “I want his location.”
“I’d tell you, I would, but it’s hard to remember,” said Enrique. “My memory isn’t what it used to be.”
Wicked fast, Havana twisted a hand in his hair and yanked his head back. She smiled down at him. “Well, hello.” She slashed her claws across his face.
Enrique hissed between his teeth, the sound edged with pain.
Music filled the air as Vinnie chose a song from the selection on his cell phone. “Thought it might be good to disguise the screams. We don’t want the neighbors coming to investigate, do we?”
“He looks pretty with those braids,” said Aspen. “I think he’d look even prettier with some piercings.” She stabbed a claw through his earlobe, eliciting another hiss from him. “Whoops! Made that hole a little too big. Don’t worry, sweetie, I’ll be more careful when piercing your nipple, I swear.” Aspen ripped open his tee and pressed the tip of her claw against his nipple.
“Where will we find Gideon?” Havana asked him ever so pleasantly.
“Fuck you,” Enrique gritted out. He again bit back a cry as Aspen sliced right through his nipple. He didn’t make a sound when she sliced through the left one either. Or when she “pierced” his nose, or his eyebrow. But when she mentioned piercing his cock, the guy’s entire body went rigid.
Tate pushed to his feet, slid the small table aside, and stepped forward. “Where do we find Gideon?”
Enrique snarled. “Fuck y—” He grunted as Tate slammed his fist into the guy’s jaw. “Bastard.”
“So I’ve been told.” Adrenaline pumping through him, Tate hit him again and again. Not in anger, not from a loss of control. No, it was a methodical beating designed to both make Enrique cave and Gavin piss his pants. And his cat enjoyed every moment of it.
Tate occasionally stopped, giving the captives a chance to talk, but they kept silent. So he pummeled Enrique’s face until the jaguar’s eyes swelled, his nose broke, his lips split, and his cheekbone fractured.
His knuckles a little banged up, Tate again asked, “Where do we find Gideon? It’s such a simple question. One of you needs to be smart and answer it.”
Enrique spat at him instead. There was a lot of blood mixed with his saliva.
Alex tutted. “That was a very stupid thing to do.” He snapped one of Enrique’s fingers, causing the cat to finally cry out.
Gavin looked away, but Havana gripped his head and forced him to watch as Tate again beat on Enrique, careful where and how hard he hit. He wanted the jaguar to break, not slip into unconsciousness.
“Not telling you shit, Dever—” Enrique screamed as the mamba constricted around his leg, crushing bones.
Havana sighed. “He’s not going to talk, Tate. Other than to swear at you, that is.”
Tate shrugged. “Then he doesn’t need his tongue anymore, does he?”
Gavin’s eyes widened in alarm. Enrique’s eyes probably would’ve done the same if they weren’t almost completely swollen shut.
Aspen held Enrique’s jaw wide open while Luke drew out the man’s tongue.
“A few slices from your claw should sever it easily enough,” Havana said to Alex, who’d unsheathed his large, curved claws.
Gavin panted heavily, his face losing its color.
Still gripping the cat’s head, Havana said, “Gavin, if you want your friend to keep his tongue, you need to tell us where to find Gideon. And if you don’t, if Enrique here loses his tongue … well, he can’t talk anymore, can he? So the only person we’d be able to question is … you. Yes, we’d have to turn all our attention onto you. I don’t think you’d like that Gavin. Nobody would. Save yourself and Enrique. Tell us what we want to know.”
Enrique squirmed, trying to speak but unable to while Luke held his tongue out. But the jaguar soon stilled when Tate aimed his claw just right, ready to slice through the appendage.
“No!” Gavin burst out. “Stop! You’ve hurt him enough!”
“We wouldn’t have had to hurt him at all if he’d just answered Tate’s question,” said Havana. “When you think about it, he did this to himself in a roundabout way. But there’s no reason for it to go on any longer. It can all stop right now. Providing somebody tells us where Gideon lives.”
Tate hummed. “I don’t hear anyone talking.” He signaled at Alex, who lifted his claw ready to slice right through Enrique’s tongue and—
“We don’t know!” Gavin shouted.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” asked Tate.
“No one knows where he lives,” Gavin swore. “He doesn’t trust anyone with the information. He’s paranoid that way.”
“You’re telling me Gideon is still underground? That he keeps himself secluded?”
“No, he isn’t in hiding anymore.”
Panting, Enrique shook his head. “Gavin, stop talk—” He slumped in his chair as Alex dealt him a knock-out blow to the temple.
Gavin’s head whipped around, and he gaped at his friend.
Tate clicked his fingers. “Don’t look at him, Gavin. You need to pay attention to me right now. I need you to focus. You can do that, can’t you?”
His chest heaving, Gavin raised his eyes to Tate, looking lost and dazed. “You … He …”
“I know, he’s a bit of a mess right now,” said Tate. “But things didn’t have to go down this way. All I want is answers. So let’s get back to what you were saying before. You said Gideon isn’t in hiding anymore.”
“N-no,” Gavin stuttered. “H-he doesn’t go out a lot in public, but he hasn’t isolated himself. He changed his appearance. No one who’s seen him at the auctions has ever guessed he’s Gideon York. Or if they did, they never said.”
Tate narrowed his eyes. “He attends the auctions?”
“He hosts them, just like the one tonight.”
Tate stilled, his pulse quickening. “There’s an auction happening tonight?”
“Yes.”
“And Gideon will be there?”
“Yes. He’s always the auctioneer.”
Anticipation once again pounded through Tate. “Where will it be held?”
“I …” Gavin snapped his mouth shut, his face strained. “If I tell you, you’ll go there and kill him.”
“Fuck, yeah, I will. And I’ll free all those loners who did nothing to deserve what’s happening to them. He deserves what’s coming, Gavin. He’s had it coming for a long time. How you can’t see he’s one sick puppy, I don’t know. I’ll just bet he gets off on the power that comes with taking bids and declaring who is sold to whom.”
Gavin frowned, shaking his head. “Gideon isn’t like that.”