“I don’t know what he did to you, but I know he did terrible things that no child deserves. He abused you in every way. This choice you’re making, to do this sick shit, is on you.”

“Boop.” He touched the tip of her nose with his finger and quickly stood up when she tried to bite him. “You care too much.” He took a step back to look at her. “You came for the whore of Babylon—” he said, jerking his head toward a limp Braithe “—because you couldn’t help your friend Sara, is that right?”

For the first time, she considered that this might not work. He might not—

Suddenly, there was a noise at the door. She heard the whoosh of air that left Ginger’s lungs as he heard the noise, too. He walked backward, keeping his eyes on the door. He lifted the hammer, swinging it around expertly. He looked sharp, tactical. Flattening himself behind the door, he waited, gun up near his face and ready.

Then door opened and she saw him. The man from her nightmares.

“Taured!” Rainy cried out. “He’s behind the door!”

As the hammer came down, Taured turned sideways, raising his arm to cover his face. He was taller than Ginger, larger. Rainy’s neck was turned as far as it would go as they struggled in and out of her line of sight. Their bodies twisted and she saw the look of shock on Ginger’s face when he saw Taured. It stalled him. The hammer caught Taured’s forearm and Rainy heard him grunt in surprise. His reflexes were fast, and he grabbed for the hammer with his other hand, but Ginger had already lifted it, ready to strike again, and it was coming down like an ax. Rainy waited for the crunch of metal on bone, but again Taured was too fast. Throwing himself backward, he hit the wall and the hammer swung through the empty air. Using the wall as leverage, Taured threw himself at Ginger, grabbing the hammer with one hand and Ginger’s throat with the other. They swung in a circle like they were dancing, the hammer still clutched between them as they stumbled out of her vision toward Braithe. Ginger had a gun; where was it now? If he used it to shoot Taured, someone would likely hear the gunshot in the hotel, even though this wing was under construction.

And then what, you dummy? He turns the gun on you and Braithe. She clanked her handcuffs against the table leg in a fruitless attempt to move the bolted-down table.

“Wake up, Braithe!” she shouted. Was it possible she was still alive?

Braithe was stirring, her head bobbing. And then she looked semialert, holding her head at a steady-ish angle.

Open your eyes, open your eyes! Rainy had a purely comical thought: The boys are fighting!