Free Protect Her: Part 11 by Ivy Sinclair

She’s got blood on her clothes, and her hair is really more of a rat’s nest right now.”
    “Thanks, Klein,” I said with a long sigh. I couldn’t help my run my hands through my hair. Rat’s nest? I looked down at myself. The blood on my jacket was from my earlier battles getting to the convent. The blood around the tears in my jeans was from the shards of broken china. Taking all of that into consideration, I guess I did look pretty rough.
    I saw Riley’s face. He wasn’t convinced, though. I pulled one of my knives out of my belt. Before Riley could stop me, I slid it across the lower part of my collarbone. I winced even as he wrestled the knife from my hand.
    “What the fuck are you doing?”
    “It’s shallow, and this way the blood is fresh,” I said. “I’ve had worse. It’s fine.”
    “Whoa, that was crazy,” Klein said, but he had a goofy grin on his face. I looked down and saw the blood oozing from the cut. It didn’t look that wicked since Riley had stopped me, but it was something.
    “Let’s go,” I said to Riley before he could change his mind. “I’ll keep quiet. You want to put some invisible bindings around my wrists?” I held out my hands in front of me. I could tell he didn’t want to, but then I felt the pinch of invisible rope on my skin. “Now, give me the bag.”
    Riley silently handed the bag to me. I cast my eyes downward and let myself settle into my role. I was a beaten shell of a woman who had been betrayed by her lover. Bruno thought that I was weak, and that was exactly how I would appear to be.
    I felt the heavy hand on my shoulder, and then the whisk of the wind as the scenery around us changed.
    “Whatever happens, whatever I say, know that it isn’t me. It’s a part that I’m playing,” he said low against my ear.
    I gave a short nod. I couldn’t afford to be distracted now, and the swirl of the changing scenery made my stomach roll. I closed my eyes until I felt the swish of the air settle around me. When I opened my eyes, I wanted to close them again. The stench in the air of blood and rank filth overwhelmed my nostrils, and I started to choke.
    “The prodigal son has returned.” It was the voice that I thought I would never have to hear again. I sank lower into my haunches and tried to make myself as small as possible. I was here simply in the event that if something went wrong, I could help Riley. Otherwise, I just had to play my part until it was over.
    “That little side trip to see your mother seemed to take much longer than you told me. I got bored, so I decided to get the fun started without you. I hope you don’t mind.”
    Riley strode forward, and I realized with a start that my feet were propelled forward because there was another binding on my body, and it was around my neck. Riley had leashed me to him like a dog. I felt a wave of anger inside, and I quashed it as quickly as possible. He was playing a part, and so was I. I had to remember that.
    “It’s because I found some old friends there,” Riley said. His voice was different. Colder. Harder. Less humane.
    I forced myself to dredge up the images that Klein had put under my nose over the last week. The images of all the places where Riley had been. The blood that had been shed. The stories of the missing and abused that we were certain had been tied to him and his passing through their towns. Riley unfettered and soulless was a terrible man. While that wasn’t the man I knew him to be, that was the man I had to believe him to be now.
    “Well, look at what we have here.” Bruno’s voice was closer now. It was almost as if it was in stereo. I had to steel myself to keep my eyes fixed downward on the burlap sack in my hands. I was beaten. A prisoner. Defeated.
    “Consider it a two for one,” Riley said. “She was trying to warn Alice that I was coming for her.”
    “Your mother. A nun. Oh, the sweet irony of it all,” Bruno said. Then he was there in front of me. My view took in a