Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

I slowly turned my head, aware of the thunder of footsteps out in the hallway. Riven straightened. His fingers, that seconds ago had been coated with my come, were now covered with blood. A scream of desperation came from outside the door.

Riven just turned and strode toward the door, stopping to reach behind a cabinet and pull a gun free before striding out of the apartment. The booming of my pulse smothered the sounds…

Until.“No…No! NO!”

Crack!

A shot sounded, leaving nothing but emptiness behind. Terrifying emptiness.

Slowly, Riven walked back inside. He never looked at me as he walked to where I lay, just bent in front of me and grabbed the cell from the floor. Flecks of blood covered his face, macabre and breathtaking. He pressed the button on the phone, scowled, then lifted the gun.

No!

I waited for the muzzle to aim at my head. But it didn’t. He just turned and hurled the phone across the room.

“Shit!”he roared. “SHIT!”

I jumped at the sound. He retrieved his own cell, his frantic fingers moving over the screen until he lifted it to his ear. “It’s me. We have a problem. I received a message. Yes…yes and no.”

Only then did he lower his gaze, those cruel eyes meeting mine. “Cleaners were sent here. No, because I killed them. Yes…yes, that’s right. I don’t know. I’ll make some calls, find out what I can. You need to get ready to move. Yes,now.”

He lowered the cell and ended the call.

His silence was more terrifying than his screams.

“I said you were trouble,” he said finally as he stepped back around the sofa, disappearing from view.

Only when he stepped back around, he carried a syringe and a vial.

One I’d felt the sting of too many times.

“No!” I bucked as he lifted the vial, piercing it with the tip of the needle.“NO!”

He gripped my arm, holding me as he leaned down.

I reacted on instinct, drew my head backwards, and with a scream, threw my head forward, slamming into his.

He stumbled backwards, his eyes widening as his knees buckled. I flung myself sideways to fall from the sofa onto the floor.

A low moan came from him as I jerked my gaze to the bag sitting on the floor, then inched toward it. My ass skidded against the tiles before I yanked the bag, toppling it on its side. A knife spilled free, clattering to rest near my hand.

“Get the fuck back here,” Riven warned.

I didn’t stop, just grabbed the knife and yanked it against the tether on my right side, slicing it in two. My left side was next. I scanned the contents of the bag as I yanked the tethers loose. But there was no gun. Just the knife, tape, and some tools. I gripped the knife and shoved against the floor, lunging for the open door.

“No!”Riven roared.

Panic filled me as I stumbled, my feet slow to move.

Blood splattered the closed elevator doors. The dead cleaner lay on his back, arms out wide. I jerked my gaze to the keypad outside the elevator, a keypad that needed a code for me to access.

Fuck!

I spun, scanning the rest of the empty hall that ended on the other side of the building, then narrowed in on the fire exit…one that had a lock.SHIT!I lunged, my mind racing.

Red.

Red against white.