Page 58 of Ramshackle
My heart drops like a rock. I straighten and pull away from him. “What? I need to call her. Now. Where’s your phone?” I demand, trying not to panic. Elias said she got her memories back. Is that it? Is she upset that Elias found her?
I wish I had my phone so I could call her directly, but Aiden’s will have to do if I can at least talk to Elias.
Aiden sighs and hands me his phone—from wherever the hell he was keeping it—and I snatch it when I hear it ringing already. The screen readsThorton, and I cling to it while waiting for him to answer.
After the tenth ring, there’s a click, and then Elias’s voicemail answers.
“Elias? It’s Rae. How’s Portia? Can you have her call me? I lost my phone, so call Aiden’s number until I get a new one. I hope you guys are doing okay.” Fuck, I’m terrible at this. “Bye.”
I end the call and glance at Aiden.
“Was that your first voicemail?” he asks dryly.
I smack the phone into his chest and whirl around, stalking through the wreckage to my room. “Shut up, Aiden!”
Because, yes. Yes, it was.
I dig my arm into the back of the drawer, scrambling along the seams and then the middle until my fingers roll over something small and hard. Pinching the item, I bring it out and smile. “Found you!”
“Please tell me we didn’t come all the way here for that.” Aiden’s arms are crossed as he leans casually against the doorframe.
My hand closes over it to block the butterfly clip from view. “We did. I’m not going to bother explaining why this is so important because you wouldn’t understand.” I slip it into my pocket. “We can go now. I told you—What?”
Aiden stiffens as he looks down the hallway. His arms snap to his sides, and blades drop into his grasp. “GE.” He checks the other side of the hallway and curses.
I peek around him, and there are GE goons pouring out of a portal on either end of the hallway. “Shit!”
“Get back in the room,” he orders, then something catches his eye. “Go out the window and call for Jack.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be right behind you.” Aiden changes one sword into a shield before the first attack strikes.
I run to the window and throw it open with a gasp. “There are more of them outside!”
Fuck! We’re surrounded!
How did they know we were here?
Vera was here. Did she plant cameras or sensors before she left?
“Get Jack!” Aiden shouts. He’s fighting off three of them in front of the doorway, his whip sword sailing down the hallway and leaving pain-filled cries in its wake.
I grip the windowsill, leaning my head out, and then take a deep breath to yell. “Ja—AHHH!” I scream when fingers dig into my scalp and yank me back into the room by my hair.
“Raegan!” The sound of metal on metal and yelling intensifies, but something else steals all my attention before I can wonder if Aiden is okay.
A voice I’d hoped to never hear again whispers harshly against my ear. “Did you really think I’d let you go again,pet?”
Chapter seventeen
Raegan
Fear grabs me ina chokehold.
I can’t breathe. I can’t move. My body begins to shake uncontrollably.
No. I can’t go back.
