Audrey POV:
The rusty needle hovered inches from my eye. My breath hitched, a pathetic, broken sound trapped in my throat.
Then, the world tore open.
A deafening roar ripped through the basement. The heavy iron door didn't just open; it disintegrated. The shockwave hit me like a physical blow. My body violently convulsed against the nylon straps. The sound took me straight back to the screeching tires and crushing metal of the car crash years ago. I couldn't stop the violent tremors shaking my bones.
Through the thick, choking cloud of C4 smoke, a figure stepped into the dim light.
Elliot.
He wore a tailored black trench coat. His expensive leather shoes crunched over the concrete rubble. It sounded like a countdown to an execution.
The guard who had been holding the needle was thrown against the load-bearing wall. He groaned, scrambling to pull a gun from his waistband.
He never made it.
The heavily armed bodyguards flanking Elliot opened fire. The shots were deafening in the enclosed space. The guard’s wrist exploded in a spray of crimson. He let out a piercing, pig-like squeal. Hot blood splattered across the concrete, landing inches from my bare feet.
I didn't blink. I didn't even flinch. I just stared at the red droplets.
Elliot’s cold eyes swept the room. They locked onto me. He saw the horrific acid burns covering my back. He saw the crude, swollen stitches on my face. He saw me strapped down like an animal waiting for slaughter.
His pupils shrank to pinpricks.
He crossed the room in three massive strides. He didn't bother with a knife. He grabbed the heavy-duty nylon straps binding my wrists and pulled. The veins in his hands bulged against his skin. The thick material snapped under his raw, violent strength. He had promised me years ago that he would never let anyone hurt me. I saw the absolute, devastating guilt in his eyes. He blamed himself for letting me walk into this marriage.
Without the straps holding me up, my ruined body pitched forward.
Elliot caught me. He gathered me into his chest, his movements incredibly gentle, treating me like fragile glass.
My empty gaze drifted over his shoulder. I stared at the bloody suture needle abandoned on the floor. My throat worked, but the only sound that came out was a hoarse, meaningless wheeze.
Elliot stripped off his trench coat. It was still warm from his body heat. He wrapped it tightly around my shivering frame, hiding my broken flesh from the world.
By the back door, the second guard tried to crawl away. One of Elliot’s men stepped forward and drove a combat boot through the man's knee. The bone snapped with a sickening crunch. The guard collapsed, screaming.
Elliot didn't even look back. "Break their hands," he ordered, his voice devoid of mercy. "Both of them."
Outside the basement, heavy footsteps echoed. The asylum's maximum-security red alarm finally triggered, shrieking through the halls.
A voice crackled over Elliot’s earpiece. The pilot. The roof extraction route was clear.
Elliot lowered his head. His lips brushed my ear. "The nightmare is over, Audrey," he whispered, his voice vibrating against my skin. "I've got you."
A single tear, mixed with blood from my cheek, slid down my face. The last ounce of my adrenaline vanished. The darkness rushed in, and I surrendered to it.
***
Jack POV:
The engine of my Aston Martin roared as I pushed it past a hundred and twenty miles per hour. The rain lashed against the windshield.
My car phone was connected to the asylum's security feed. The blaring sound of the red alarm echoed through the luxurious cabin, drilling into my skull.
I slammed my fist against the steering wheel. A suffocating, crushing panic gripped my chest. I couldn't breathe. Audrey was my caged canary. She was supposed to be sitting in that basement, learning her lesson. She couldn't leave. She belonged to me.
The asylum gates loomed in the headlights. I didn't hit the brakes. I rammed the heavy iron gates, the metal screeching as my car tore through them. The tires burned against the wet asphalt, filling the air with the stench of scorched rubber.
I threw the door open before the car even fully stopped.
The courtyard was a war zone. Security guards writhed on the ground, groaning in agony. Every single security camera had been blown to pieces.
I shoved past the chaos. My expensive leather shoes hit a puddle of bloody water, and I nearly slipped. I stumbled down the concrete stairs, my heart hammering against my ribs, rushing toward the basement.
I froze in the doorway.
The iron chair was empty.
Shredded nylon straps lay on the floor. Beneath the chair was a massive, blindingly bright puddle of fresh blood.
My eyes darted frantically around the room. They landed on a small, metallic object in the corner. A suture needle. It was coated in blood.
My brain completely short-circuited. A high-pitched ringing drowned out the wailing alarms. The world tilted on its axis.
I lunged forward and grabbed the collar of a guard bleeding out on the floor. His hands were a mangled mess of crushed bone.
"Where is she?!" I roared, my vision swimming with red. "Where is my wife?!"
The guard's eyes rolled back in pain. "Armed... armed men," he choked out, spitting blood. "They took her."
I hurled him back onto the concrete. The sheer, overwhelming powerlessness mixed with explosive rage. I turned and punched the concrete load-bearing wall. My knuckles split open. Blood dripped down my fingers.
I looked at the blood on my hands. The metallic smell of the room hit my throat. My stomach violently revolted. I leaned against the wall and dry-heaved, gasping for air.
My assistant ran into the basement, sweating through his suit. He held up a tablet. "Sir! An unmarked helicopter just took off from the roof!"
I snatched the tablet from his hands. I stared at the blinking red dot moving away on the radar screen. My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached.
"Contact the FAA immediately. I want this airspace completely locked down!"
