Page 27 of Ramshackle
I reel back. Ruined her life? The one with GE she’s trying so hard to get me to join? And does this mean I’ve accomplished nothing in her time here? She’s just as determined to go back to GE as she was the first night here.
Everything Rae is going through…for what?
“I don’t have time for this. Raegan needs me.”
I shove past her to the door. I’m not getting anything more out of her that’ll be useful to us. I have to save Rae and do all I can for her while I still have the chance to.
I try not to think about how it may be too late for my sister.
Aiden’s waiting for me outside the door and grabs the handle before Vera can try to follow. He melds the handle and lock into the wall until there is no door anymore. Then bars come down over the window in the door and the high windows around the rest of the room. She’s in a metal cage now, where she’ll wait for our judgment when we get back.
Vera reaches for the door, and her face snaps up to us when she realizes what we’ve done. “Let me out! You can’t keep me in here!” She bangs on the window, but the bars are still there to keep her from using it to escape. And there’s nothing left of the metal door except more of the same wall.
I spin on my heel and storm back to the main building when Aiden grabs my arm. “Wait, Dane.” I stop to look at him. His face is drawn and tight, but his dark brown eyes look obsidian now. Black with a strange light to them that promises nothing good.
So, he heard then.
“You can’t tell the others. Not yet.”
“Why?” They deserve to know. We all do, now that Aiden and I know. I get why she didn’t want to say anything to us, but I wish…no, I’ve already asked too much of her. I just wish we could go back and fix things. I wish we could have stopped them before they happened.
But wishes for changing the past are a waste of time now. We need to be getting her back. Then I can worry about making it all up to her.
“I want them focused on getting her back.Noton revenge. If we can get Gordon while we’re there, then even better. But our priority is bringing her back and…whatever that involves.”
Right. She could be brainwashed. Broken.
FUCK.
“Fine. After we have her back. Is everyone ready?”
“Jackson just got in before I texted you. I was going to give him an hour to rest, but I’ll get him up.”
I nod, relieved. Because every hour, everyminute, counts right now. And we need to get her back from that son of a bitch before it’s too late.
Two months, she’s been with him. Please. Don’t take her from me, too.
Chapter eight
Raegan
“Time to go towork, pet,” Gordon says from behind me. His hand strokes down my hair.
Disgust churns in my gut at his touch before it quickly dissipates behind the barrier of emotionlessness I’ve built to keep myself sane. Numb.
He removes the collar from my neck and I move forward to do as he instructed without a word.
Holt is here in the training room with us, guarding Mallory as the constant threat that’s dangled in front of me whenever Gordon requires me to do something he thinks I may push back on. She looks at me like I’m the monster that lurks under her bed, leaning into Holt for his protection. I ignore them both, following Gordon’s direction on autopilot while my mind tucks itself away to the safe place I’ve been using to get through my latest sessions.
I think about all the help Elias has given me. His unwavering faith and trust in me that still feels undeserved.
I remember eating Chinese food with Portia as we shared our stories without holding back, and she continued to stand by me as the greatest friend I could ask for. Or the way her smile lights up any room she’s in, immediately uplifting the mood.
Mostly, I go back to my time at Old Red with the guys.
“I have always loved you, and there is nowhere you can go where I won’t follow…”
“You don’t get to run from me, beautiful…I’m yours whether you want me or not…”
