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.Chapter EighteenNight Terrors Hey, Max, Dane spoke into the phone. What s up? His choice of words caused an inaudiblegroan to squeeze his throat.He was rather uncomfortable at the moment, his body in such a heightenedstate of sexual need. Has Abel been by my place tonight, by any chance?The anxious note in Max s voice dropped all thoughts of sex from Dane s mind. No.Why? He s&  Max hesitated then regrouped his words. He came downtown earlier to grab somestuff for dinner and rent a couple movies, and he still isn t home.Dane frowned. How long has he been gone? A couple hours, according to Devlin. I m assuming you tried to call him? He felt kind of dumb asking the question of course theywould have called him. He forgot his phone at the house.Dane rubbed his brow. Is Devlin worried about him? Yeah, Max said, then admitted,  So am I, actually.Licking his lips slowly, Dane asked,  Worried in what way? Like maybe he was in an accident? I don t know, Max told him,  After what happened to Angel and Maddy, I think all of ourminds are pretty adept at coming up with some ugly scenarios. Are you at the club? He didn t hear the usual club noise in the background, but if he was in hisoffice, it would be fairly quiet. No.I came downtown looking for him but so far, there s no sign.Surely it was irrational to think there was any kind of foul play involved.What had happenedwith Byrd had nothing to do with Abel or anyone else.There was no one with a vendetta against Abelor Devlin, or any of them for that matter.No cause for anyone to want to hurt Abel.Unfortunately notall violent acts were premeditated or had a personal cause attached to them.People were mugged orrobbed and killed every day in the city-What the hell are you thinking, for fuck s sake? Abel is fine.Don t go off the deep end. Where are you now? Dane asked, swallowing thickly, resisting any and all thoughts that Abelcould be a victim of any type. Devlin said Abel takes a specific route home from the downtown area, so I m following it.Maybe he broke down and can t get to phone Max went silent abruptly, but the line was still open, so the signal hadn t been lost. What? Dane asked anxiously. What is it? All the traffic is stopped, Max murmured,  I think there might be an accident up ahead.Somepeople are out of their cars, I ll see if I can find out what s going on then call you back. Okay, Dane s gut twisted. Abel is probably just caught in the backed up traffic. Yeah, Max reached for optimism, but fell short. I ll talk to you in a few minutes.The phone went dead and Dane stared at it, brow pinched hard, squeezing the skin between hiseyes.Please, God, we don t need any more shit in our lives.Just let him be okay.Angel wandered out of the bedroom when Dane didn t return right away.He was wearing a pairof loose, navy blue pajama pants and no shirt. Is everything okay? he asked,  I was kind ofexpecting you to come back. He started to smile then faltered when he noticed the troubled look onDane s face. What is it?Dane looked at him then drew him into his arms, needing the closeness and comfort. I m notsure, he murmured,  Maybe nothing, but&  he released a slow breath. Devlin and Max are havinga hard time locating Abel. What do you mean? Angel drew back. Are you saying& he s missing? I don t know, Dane whispered and began to feel sick to his stomach.f&Accumulated foamy saliva trickled out of Gabe s mouth when the strap around his head wassuddenly loosened and the mouth restraint removed.His cheek pressed into the blanket and he staredblankly at the wall, tears seeping out.The wall was bare but for a few strategically placed metalrings bolted in place, at different levels.His mind couldn t comprehend what they were for, though itfelt like he should know.The repeated shock of the Taser hadn t only fucked up his brain function buthad left his heart with an odd, erratic beat and his body weakened.Would the man continue to blasthim with volts of electricity until his heart just quit?The leather straps binding his arms were unfastened as well and his arms dropped loosely to thebed, no strength in them to move.No way to overpower the man and get out of here, save Abel.Heclosed his eyes as images of the boy floated through his head.He loved Abel, and on some level waseven in love with him.He and Cole both were.They had fallen in love with him that night at Abel sapartment when they d made love to him together, letting him experience real love for the first time inhis life.The same night he and Cole had begun to realize they were in love with each other as well.Gabe had already lost Cole in so many ways he couldn t lose Abel too.Not like this.But he was helpless.How many times had they swore to protect each other? But when it cameright down to it such promises were empty ones.Evil could find a person, whenever, wherever, anddo as it pleased and no one could stop it.All the love in the world couldn t prevent evil from takingaway a loved one.And when it caught a person& that person was alone, with no one there fight forthem.And the evil that had taken Gabe and isolated him from all who had cared for him would takeAbel as well.And no one had the power to stop it.Hands gripped Gabe s arms and rolled him onto his back.He stared up at the sick man whomight well be his executioner.The client avoided his stare as he d done in the limo, and went aboutsecuring straps to Gabe s wrists.As he leaned over the top of him, his cock head grazed Gabe sstomach and the fucker was still solid as a rock, even after coming twice in his ass, with the  aid ofthe Taser gun.If he d had even an ounce of strength in him, he would ve bitten the man s throat,punctured his jugular, anything to bring him down.But he couldn t even do that.His head felt loadedwith concrete and impossible to lift off the bed.The equilibrium of the room went haywire as he was hauled up off the bed and onto his feet.Hislegs were like hot rubber, knees buckling.But the man caught him and held him up.The motherfuckerhad strength to him, a lot more than one could tell by looking at him.He half carried, half walkedGabe over to the wall and fastened the wrist straps to the highest placed rings.It occurred to Gabethen that he had the rings at different levels because the people he brought here were of variousheights.The next set down from Gabe s& would those be the ones he strapped Abel to?A sob caught in his chest and his body sagged against the restraints when the man stepped back.Was this how Christ had felt nailed to the cross? Had he regretted his decision to die for such anungrateful, cruel species? At least the ones Gabe was suffering for loved him whereas Christ wastreated like shit by those who were supposed to be the most devoted to him, sent off to die with thescum of the earth.Gabe was in a world of hurt, but it wasn t those he loved with all his heart that hadput him there. Tell me his name, the man asked again.He stood before Gabe, gazing at him with that wondrous look.It was fucking creepy. I want to know what to call him when I ask him if it hurts.Gabe forced his head up and dropped it back against the wall, eyes glaring at his tormentor, tearsstreaking his flushed cheeks. Fuck& you. He rasped.Then a smile twitched his lips and he thoughthe might be losing his mind. You re gonna& die& motherfucker& when they catch you& there willbe& nothing left when they re done.He wasn t bluffing, or trying to  scare the guy; he was speaking true [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]