Free Hansel 2: An Erotic Fairy Tale by Ella James

like she failed me, and she didn’t. Not at all. I was in this shit before she made her offer. All me. My choices.
    So I can’t complain when Steven starts to talk, and my stomach clenches up. Our task is gruesome. Sick, even. It makes my head pound and my throat feel tight.
    He describes in detail what we do, and I wonder dumbly if I could maybe run.
    But no…
    He has a gun. We all have knives. The time for opting in and out has come and gone. I’m in this now.
    “When I open the door, she’ll be lying there with her arms and ankles tied. Go at her, one after the other. Raz, you’re first; then Bolly, Davis, Ham, and Luke. Be fast, get in, get out, and Luke, you’ll wrap things up.”
    Bile licks up my throat. I reach into my pocket, not for my knife, but for my phone. My mouth is so dry, my stomach so acidic, I’m sure I will be sick. My head spins.
    I can’t do this.
    This is horrible.
    I take a small step back, unplanned, just my feet trying to make decisions for me. Steven’s eyes fly to mine, and I fumble in my pocket, wondering if I can feel my way to 9-1-1. I wonder if I could ask to take a piss and call Shelly. Tell her she should call the cops. Do I know the address here?
    “Get with it, Luke.” A fist connects with my jaw, and I shove Steven’s chest. He’s in charge, but he likes it when we fight.
    I follow the others and we line up along a peeling, moldy wall in the back of the main room, where we’ve met all the times we’ve come here. Davis laughs at Raz, who’s moaning on the other side of the wall.
    I clench my jaw as Raz comes out. He’s laughing. “Steve, you’re sick, man.”
    Steven smirks.
    I fumble with my phone as Bolly and Davis take their turns. Steve hands me a knife, and right about that time, Ham starts to cuss and scream. My heart goes crazy, beating so fast I’m worried I might die right where I stand, as Steven goes inside, a gun goes off, and Steve and Ham come out.
    Both their cheeks are speckled with something dark. I know without asking that it’s blood.
    Steve comes up behind me, taps my shoulder. “You’re up. It’s gonna be fucking weird,” he says in a low, dark voice, “cause I already offed her. Bitch slashed Ham here.” He jerks his thumb to the tall redhead with braces that shine in the dim light. Ham holds up his hand, then shrugs.
    “So go on in,” Steven says.
    The other guys snicker, and I’m sure it’s because she’s dead already.
    I’m not fucking a dead woman. That’s fucking godawful. Fuck that. I’ll just pretend. AT least I don’t have to off her.
    Everyone crowds around me as I open the door. Steven is grinning, and so are the rest.
    I step inside, and Steve’s voice followed. “Remember she asked for this,” he says. “Came to papa threatening, treating me like a little bitch, and I’m a leader. See? You’ll see, man. You’re gonna see.”
    His voice gets louder as he leans into the room behind me. Above my head, a light comes on.
    I remember being surprised the warehouse had electricity. I remember noticing them all step in behind me as I stepped a little closer to the big lump in the corner, by the rusted sinks.
    I remember whirling around and slashing at them, screaming, fighting, breaking bones. I went insane. Steve fired all his rounds, clipping Ham and killing Bolly. I stabbed Steve in the chest about the time the sirens started wailing.
    Classic pull-out move. It was probably Davis that did it, that fucking pussy. Stick the crime on whoever’s still standing.
    But I wasn’t standing. I lay down beside her and I sliced my wrist.
     
    *
     
    “Hansel? Hansel?! What the fuck?”
    My eyes flutter, and I see her haze face above me: Leah.
    “Hansel?” Small hands grip my face as her beautiful face comes into full focus. “Are you okay?”
    I blink a few more times, realize I’m on my back and breathing hard.
    Fuck.
    I scramble up, but I can’t hide it. I’m still shaking really fucking hard. I look down at my wrist,