Free Gregory's Rebellion by Lavinia Lewis Page B

his scar. He barely noticed, too lost in the painful memory.
    Hayden drew in a shuddering breath and continued. “Ramon said he was picking up a load the next day and that he could take me as far as Denver. I’d travelled with him from Indianapolis, and I didn’t like him. There was something…off about him, but I couldn’t work out what it was. He was quiet for the most part but he had these black eyes and when he trained them on me, they left me feeling cold. I was pretty desperate to get back to Independence, though, so I said I’d go with him.”
    “Independence?” Gregory questioned.
    Hayden attempted a wobbly smile. “I used to like to shift and hunt in Kings Canyon, but…I never made it there.”
    Hayden felt tears sliding down his face, but he didn’t acknowledge them. Gregory leant forward and pressed a kiss over his scar and Hayden couldn’t help flinching in response. It was an involuntary action that would take a long time for him to overcome. If Gregory had noticed, he didn’t acknowledge it.
    “If this is too difficult for you, you can tell me another time,” he offered.
    “It’s okay,” Hayden shook his head. “I’d rather get it over with.”
    Gregory nodded. “If you’re sure.”
    “I left him that night so I could shift and hunt then met up with him the next morning. We headed south to Kansas City, which I thought was an odd direction to take but he said the I-70 was a better road to travel on than the I-80. I didn’t know shit about roads so I went along with it. Not like there was much I could have said anyway—he was the one driving. Anyway, we got to Kansas City, and when we pulled up in the truck stop Ramon said he needed to call a friend and to wait for him outside the store.
    “When he came back there was an even darker glint in his eyes and his mood had changed. He seemed…excited, I guess. He said he hadn’t seen his friend in a while and that he was going to meet up with us so we could grab a drink together. He knew how old I was but he said he knew a bar where the owner wouldn’t ask any questions and he’d buy me a couple of beers. I didn’t like the idea all that much but I didn’t have anything better to do so I agreed to go.
    “His friend showed up and he seemed all right, at first. His name was Mario, but I didn’t catch his last name. To be honest I didn’t have any feelings about him one way or another. We went in his car. I thought we were going straight to the bar, but Mario said he needed to stop at his house because he’d come straight from work and he wanted to grab a shower and change his clothes.”
    Gregory raised his eyebrows and Hayden nodded. “I know. I can’t believe I was so stupid, so naive. As soon as we got inside the house, I knew something was up. It was obvious they’d planned it all along. Mario started making comments about me to Ramon, saying things like he thought I was pretty and that he’d always liked twinks. The comments were harmless enough at first but they started to get more lewd. He said he hadn’t been laid in ages and maybe I’d like to help him out.”
    “Why didn’t you leave?” Gregory asked. “As soon as you became suspicious?”
    Hayden hung his head. “By the time I realised what they had planned, it was too late. I started backing out of the room but Ramon was blocking the door and then Mario pulled a gun out of the drawer and pointed it at me. I guess I could have still run—I knew that if I got shot, chances were I’d heal from it—but it took me by surprise. The next thing I knew Ramon hit me over the head with something. It must have knocked me out cold because I don’t remember anything after that except waking up in a chair with my hands tied behind my back.”
    “Oh, God,” Gregory breathed. He took hold of Hayden’s hand again and held it firmly in his own. Hayden could feel the suppressed rage inside Gregory. His hand was trembling violently, his jaw set tight.
    Hayden wished there was