"I was just trying to get your baby daddy here to tell me what you two were up to." Anne knelt beside him and lifted his bare foot, fitting the wire shears over his little toe. "You wouldn't want me to maim him any more than I already have, would you? Why don't you spill it?"

Bella lifted her chin and looked away in casual defiance.

"Why should I? You will kill him anyway."

Good girl, Max thought, digging his fingers—the whole ones—into the leather cuffs as Anne snipped the toe away. He didn't want to scream in front of Bella. Hell, he hadn't wanted to scream when it was just him here. But it was a losing battle. He didn't scream now, but a low, shuddering whimper escaped him, possibly more pathetic than crying out.

"Stop it!" Bella shouted, again trying to rise. The vampire behind her pushed her down, striking her across the face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Anne threw her implement of torture down and stalked toward Bella.

"Stay away from her," Max shouted, but he wasn't entirely sure how he'd back up that command, with his hands tied and blood leaking out of him all over the place. Still, if she was going to do something to Bella… He pulled on the restraints, wincing at the pressure on his mangled digits. His hand slipped down a fraction. The brutal, agonizing pain put a damper on the tiny victory.

Ignoring him, Anne confronted the vampire behind Bella. "If you touch her again, you'll fry right along with him."

At least Anne didn't seem interested in hurting Bella. That took a load off Max's mind. Anne was very, very good at hurting. The thought of Bella learning that firsthand… Jesus, he had to get her out of there.

"Speaking of frying, when does that happen, exactly?" He jerked at the gauntlets again, half praying he'd get free and half afraid of how he'd fight two vampires when he wasn't exactly in fighting shape. "I mean, this is getting kind of boring."

"Oh, this is boring you?" Anne returned to him spinning him to face away from Bella. Anne went to the table and rubbed her hands together like a kid looking at a dessert cart. "We can move on to something else. Like… this?"

She came forward with the cordless drill, giving the trigger a few experimental squeezes. "How about it?"

"I'm not telling you anything. Obviously, she's not." He jerked his head to indicate Bella. "So, I guess if you really want to torture me, go ahead, but you're wasting time."

Anne grabbed the rope securing him and gave it a tug, pulling him up so his feet had no chance of touching the floor. "I'll decide whether or not I'm wasting my time."

"There has to be something left to burn, when the boss gets here," the other vampire warned. "Or I won't be here when she does."