Oliver (Project Arma Book 7)

Pounding jackhammered through Tori’s head. She scrunched her eyes shut tighter as she curled her body into a ball to protect herself from the cold.

Groaning, she hugged her waist. It took her foggy brain a moment to realize she was touching bare skin. Was she naked?

At the sound of rattling chains, Tori’s eyes slowly slid open.

People stood around her, but she couldn’t quite work out who. They were a blur of shapes. She blinked a few times, trying to focus on her surroundings. To connect the shapes to people.

Finally, her eyes landed on someone familiar. Oliver. He was chained to a pole. His shirt torn and dried blood dotting his body.

A bolt of panic shot through her.

When her eyes lifted to his face, she noticed it was contorted with rage. A wild rage so much worse than anything she’d ever seen before.

Bits and pieces of her last memory began to filter back. Oliver pulling the camera from the ceiling. Adrien taking her. Taking Oliver.

Her breath caught as she swept her gaze across the room. When she saw Hylar, she suddenly remembered the last time she was in his presence. Recalled the man handing her Oliver’s file. Explaining her assignment.

The memory hit her full force.

She’d been so damn trusting.

Swallowing, she looked toward Adrien. He wore the same menacing expression on his face as every other time she’d seen him.

She glanced over at the two people on the side of the room. A tall man she remembered seeing on Wyatt’s computer stood there, but she barely paid him any attention. Not when she saw who stood beside him.

“Samantha,” Tori whispered her friend’s name, a strange mix of relief and terror inside her. Relief that her friend was alive. Terror at who currently held her, the state she was in.

Oh god, what have they done to you, Sammy?

Tori pushed into a sitting position, unable to look away from her friend.

Tears misted Samantha’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Sorry? Tori was the one who’d let her friend return to these psychopaths.

“Sammy?”

Before Samantha could respond, Hylar shouted, “Daniel.”

A second later, a tall man stepped into the room. Another man from the images on Wyatt’s computer. He held some sort of belt in his hands.

“Don’t even think about putting that on her.” Oliver spat the words at the man, his muscles bunching as he rebelled against his restraints.

“Unfortunately, Samantha hasn’t left us much choice,” Hylar said. “She destroyed all the chips she’d already made, as well as the memory drive where the information was stored. Thus far, she’s refused to rebuild any of it for us. This might change her mind.”

Despite the fear and desolation of the moment, Tori couldn’t help but be proud of her best friend. Her courage and strength were admirable.

Now Tori had to be equally strong. Because Hylar couldn’t get his hands on whatever Samantha had created.

Hylar’s gaze remained on Samantha for another beat, waiting for her to give in. When she continued to remain silent, looking unbelievably pale, Hylar sighed before nodding to Daniel.

The man walked toward Tori slowly. Every part of her wanted to pull back. To run away. But there was nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

Growls and curses tore from Oliver as he continued to struggle. They seemed to get louder with every step Daniel took.

He kneeled in front of her, strapping the belt around her stomach tightly, just below the rib cage. Tori didn’t fight him. It wasn’t a fight she’d win.

Once the belt was in place, Daniel headed back across the room, passing what looked to be a remote to Hylar on his way.

Samantha whimpered from across the room. The pained sound made Tori’s heart hurt.

Hylar fixed his gaze on her once again. Samantha’s gaze remained on Tori. “That high-voltage shock that went straight to your kidneys…that excruciating pain that you still have nightmares about…that’s what your friend is about to go through.” He paused. “You can stop this.”

Tori’s breaths shortened, fear she couldn’t ignore crawling up her throat. She twisted her neck, noticing the two metal prongs on the belt, positioned on her left side below her kidneys.

Swallowing, Tori looked back to her friend to see a tear sliding down her cheek. There was so much sorrow in her eyes. “Tori.” Samantha didn’t even sound like herself. “If I do what they ask, it’s not just us who will be in danger. It’s the entire country…the world. No one will be safe.”

Tori swallowed, fear now a living, breathing organism inside her, but she couldn’t let her friend see. She couldn’t allow Samantha to give this psychopath more power.

She whispered the words she knew she had to say. “Don’t do it, Samantha. Stand your ground. I’ll be okay.”

Without warning, a pain like nothing she’d never felt surged through her body. It almost felt like she was on fire. Utter agony pierced through her.

Tori tried to scream but all she managed was opening her mouth. The burning stole her ability to make sound. To breathe. Her body seized and convulsed. Her bones feeling like they were breaking.

Just when she thought it would never end, when she thought it might actually kill her, it stopped.

Tori dropped flat to the floor. Exhaustion weighing her body down, making it impossible to lift a single limb. Her heart pounded fast and painfully in her chest.

In the background, Tori heard Samantha’s sobs. Oliver’s growls and yells. The chains rattling loudly.

She didn’t have the energy to tell them she was okay. The truth was, she wasn’t. The pain had been out of this word. And the knowledge that there was more coming…it almost made her wish for death.

Anger, red and hot, raged through Oliver’s body as Hylar pressed that goddamn button for the third fucking time. Tori convulsed on the floor, her face frozen in anguish.

All the while, he was chained to a fucking pole.

Each shock lasted eight seconds. Each of those seconds felt like a lifetime.

The aftereffects lasted longer than the shock itself. Minutes on end. The incapacitation, the shaking…

He needed to end this now.

Tori’s shaking form had his entire body rebelling.

The asshole would do it again, too. Hylar didn’t care about her life. He only cared about getting what he wanted.

Oliver turned to Tori’s friend. She was the only one who could stop this. “Tell them you’ll do it, Samantha! Whatever it is they want you to make, make it. We’ll fix it later.”

Her face was red from crying. Tears still streamed like a river down her cheeks. She almost looked like she was ready to give in. She opened and closed her mouth. Yet those words he needed to hear, the words Hylar needed to hear, never sounded.

“Samantha—”

“Don’t do it.” Tori’s weak voice cut through Oliver’s. Her words almost unintelligible. “Don’t, Samantha.”

No!

Oliver almost yelled his next words, wanting to drown out anything else Tori might say. “If they keep doing this, her heart will give out! She could die right here in front of us. Do you want to watch your friend die? Do you want that on your conscience?”

The torment that flashed through Samantha’s eyes was exactly what Oliver needed. He needed her to feel the heartache of losing Tori. The guilt. It was the only way.

“Don’t be the reason your best friend is murdered.”

He was being an asshole. But he had to be. Oliver couldn’t let this continue for another second.

“Sammy.” At the sound of Tori’s whisper, Samantha turned back to her. “Don’t.”

A look passed between the women. Words were spoken without being voiced. A silent agreement that Hylar wouldn’t be getting what he wanted.

Fuck! Oliver wanted to punch something. He wanted to tear down the entire damn building.

Oliver switched his attention to Hylar, hating the way the guy’s thumb hovered over the button. “She’s not going to agree, Hylar. You need a new plan. Electrocute me instead.”

The asshole almost seemed amused by the suggestion. “Why would I do that?”

“Because Samantha will only listen to Tori—and Tori loves me.” She hadn’t said it. But he loved her, and he was pretty damn sure she felt the same. “Zap me until I’m on the brink of death if you want. Tori will convince Samantha to build your microchips.”

There was a small whimper from Tori. The softest cry. “No…”

Hylar was silent.

Good. The man was thinking about Oliver’s words. Considering them. Oliver needed him to say yes. Needed to take away Tori’s pain and redirect it to himself.

Oliver straightened his spine. “You want to control me? This is your chance. Hurting me hurts her, way more than torturing her ever will. Electrocute me, waterboard me, fucking stab me in the gut—the worse, the better.”

He could hear Tori’s ragged breaths. Her accelerated heartbeat wild in her chest. He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t handle the pain that was no doubt on her face.

Finally, Hylar turned to Daniel and nodded.

Air whooshed out of Oliver’s chest. The relief was so intense if he hadn’t already been on his knees, his legs would have given out.

Daniel kneeled in front of Tori and removed the belt. Her hand lifted slightly, only to fall straight back to the ground, like she wanted to stop him but was too weak.

It’ll be okay, baby. I’ve got you.

Oliver wasn’t scared of pain. He’d felt enough of it in his life.

Usually, he would internalize his pain. During his time as a SEAL, he’d learned to switch off that part of his brain when he needed to.

He had no intention of doing that right now.

No. He would be showing every single emotion. He needed Tori to be worried. To convince her friend to stop this. Scream at her.

Because if this didn’t work, if Tori didn’t convince Samantha to do as they asked, Hylar would turn his attention back to her eventually. And the next form of torture would be worse than this one.

Daniel strapped the belt below Oliver’s ribs.

Carter laughed. “This just keeps getting better. No need to wait in between shocks, Commander.”

Hylar sighed. “Remember, son. You asked for this.”

Then his finger pressed down on the button.

An intense shock ran through Oliver’s body. It felt like his organs were being squeezed in his chest.

Tori’s cries echoed through the room. She sounded just as pained, if not more so, than she had minutes ago.

Oliver gritted his teeth and allowed the cry that was on his lips to unleash. He kept his head up, needing her to see what was happening.

Endless minutes ticked by. Every one of them riddled with red hot pain.

When the shock eventually stopped, Oliver’s head fell forward. His limbs continued to shake.

“Maybe we’ll dampen his body.” Hylar’s voice just penetrated Oliver’s pain fuzzed mind. “Test whether his organs can withstand the combination of water and electrocution.”

Shit. That could kill him.

Tori sobbed. “No…please, god, no! He won’t survive.”

Oliver hated hearing her panic. Other than sheer exhaustion, sorrow for Tori was all he felt.

The asshole chuckled. “Maybe. It would kill any normal man. We’ll try this another time first, shall we?”

Tori screamed when the electricity returned to his body. Oliver arched, throwing his head back. The pain was out of this world. Breaths were no longer making it into his chest.

“Please stop! You didn’t even give him a minute of rest! You’re going to kill him!”

“Tell Samantha to do it.”

Oliver could barely make out the conversation around him. The haze of torture continued. He began to wonder if two shots in such close succession would in fact kill him…

“Samantha, do it! Please! I can’t watch him die. Oh god, please!”

Finally, the electrical blast ended. But the pain remained. The involuntary spasms now so intense, the metal chains rattled against the pole.

“Let’s get some water in here.”

Footsteps and Tori’s hysterical cries sounded.

Before the water arrived, Hylar hit the button again. Oliver didn’t have time to tense before the electricity returned. He actually felt like his body was beginning to shut down. The pain wasn’t registering quite so much. An odd fog had begun to seep into his mind.

The eight seconds felt like time stood still, then dragged out bit by bit.

He was vaguely aware of the agony almost bleeding from Tori. She was begging her friend.

This was what Oliver had wanted…yet his world of hurt was too intense to appreciate it.

When the electrical wave finally ended, Oliver’s head fell forward once again. He was bent at an odd angle, unable to hold any of his weight.

“Samantha…please,” Tori sobbed. “I can’t lose him. Trust him to fix this later. Trust his team to save us. They will. I promise! Please.”

There was a small pause. Someone entered the room, the sound of water sloshing in a bucket.

Tori whimpered. “Please, Sammy.”

Then, in a low, almost regretful voice, Samantha said the words everyone was waiting to hear. “I’ll do it.”