Page 102 of Ravage
“Beautiful, please tell me you checked his schedule today to know where he was going to be at this time,” Kellan drawls with his hands on his hips.
“Wait,” Portia speaks up before I can find something to say that doesn’t admit to how that’s exactly what I didn’t do in my rush to get this done. She fingers along the ridge of one of the wooden panels below the bookcases. “There’s a small gap on this side.” She pushes against it and nothing happens.
“You’re thinking it’s a hidden door?” I ask and move to stand next to her. I can feel the small gap when I run my finger over it and shrug. “Kell?”
He cracks his knuckles and stalks up behind us. We move aside and he knocks on the wall. There’s a hollow echo behind it, which erases any doubt that it’s hiding something. “If anyone is in there, back up, close your eyes and cover your head.”
Singing starts up, and we all look at each other.
“Portia, can you make her stop?”
Her green eyes are worried. “I’ve never tried when I can’t see them.”
“Just give it a try and we’ll see what happens.”
She nods and touches her hand to the door, then leans her forehead against it and closes her eyes. “It’s okay. You’re safe with us. Stop singing.”
We wait a beat, but the singing continues, and my body grows heavy.
Portia tries again, “Stop singing. STOP SINGING.”
The girl’s singing doesn’t falter, and I pull Portia away from the panel, then give Kellan a nod to go ahead.
Kellan waits a few seconds and then his fist flies through the panel. His hand comes out bloody and battered, but it heals quickly enough and then he’s pounding more holes in until he can yank the false door off.
The singing crescendos, and we drop to our knees. Portia crawls through the opening and pets the girl’s hair until she looks up.
“Stop singing,” she commands softly.
The little girl’s lips snap shut. Portia smiles softly at her. “You’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you.” She offers her hand out to the girl, and she stares at it. We all wait without a word, and finally, the girl reaches out and takes it.
Chapter twenty-five
Raegan
“Thanks for your help,” I murmur to Kellan as we walk side by side out of the back of Hype and into the alleyway.
After the little girl fell asleep in Portia’s bed, we decided it was best for Portia to look after her while Aiden arranges for a trusted contact to come pick her up. Portia can keep her calm, if need be, until then. It also means I can avoid going to the safe house and having to face Aiden. Or Dane. Or Jackson.
Apparently, only Kellan is safe right now.
The thought makes me laugh at myself. None of them are safe for me. I’m in trouble with each and every one of them. In multiple ways.
Kell crosses his arms and eyes me like he can pry the secrets from me with one look. “We had to come all the way out here for you to thank me?”
“No, but I didn’t want to wake the girl up.”
“And the hallway wasn’t good enough?” he asks with a raised brow.
I shake my head. “I wanted privacy too.”
I can hear how weak that sounds when we both know that my room is right next to Portia’s. It would have been no trouble to go there if privacy is all I wanted.
But my apartment is still a mess from last night. Glass litters the floor, as does broken décor and whatever else had been on most surfaces in the living area. Then there’s the missing half of my headboard that would raise questions.
He doesn’t prompt me again with words. Just a look.
“You’re hiding something,” he accuses.
