Page 52 of Resolve
Standing, I pretend my leg is injured and drag my foot and hop over to the cell, gripping the bars and wishing I was in there with them. But this is for the best. I’ll find a way out and then come rescue them this time. “I’ll see you guys soon, okay?” I slide my boot to the edge of the cell as I talk, leaving the key against the wall just behind the thick edge of the cell wall before the bars begin.
I’m not sure what good it’ll do while they’re restrained as they are, but if there’s any chance they can get out of those and I can remove one more obstacle, then it’s worth it.
“Hurry up,” one of the agents grunts, grabbing my elbow and pulling me away.
“Don't touch her,” Aiden demands.
“We’re killing anyone who lays a finger on you, beautiful. Let everyone know that.”
I yank my elbow from the agent, and he doesn’t try to touch it again. I walk awkwardly with them to the door, keeping up the charade of my injured leg, then look one last time over my shoulder.
Jackson’s blue eyes are as dark as the deepest ocean, a terrifying gleam in them as he watches me leave.
The agents lead me down hallway after hallway lined with concrete walls and fluorescent lighting. I try to keep track of every turn, counting my steps and the hallways, but they all look identical.
We go down a couple flights of stairs and the hallway changes to tile flooring and white walls. There’s an odd smell here, some sort of chemical that reminds me of the hospital. They unlock the fifth door on the right and stand back for me to enter.
The room reminds me of solitary back on the island when I was little.
A single cot, toilet, and a six-by-six area of hard walls and floors. The only upside is that there’s light in here. The downside is that there’s no switch on the wall for me to control it.
Please don’t leave me in the dark.
Just looking at this room has my skin crawling with the suffocating need to get out. To turn and run, even if it means he kills me for doing it. My chest grows tight, oxygen suddenly feeling limited in this small space while I try—and fail—to convince myself it’s all in my head.
Knowing it isn’t real doesn’t stop my body from reacting like it is.
I linger in the doorway, too scared to take the final steps in and commit to being here.
Charles appears out of nowhere behind me, startling me forward the last steps into the room and reminding me he can teleport anywhere he wants in whatever hellhole this is.
“Welcome to your new home. It has all the amenities you need. And privacy, of course. An upgrade from the last room, wouldn’t you say?” He chuckles softly to himself as if he’s enjoying his own joke. Then he lifts his hand, and pressure shoves me up against the wall. “You really are like a cockroach, Raegan. I’d love nothing more than to snuff out your life here and now to be done with you, but your Guild Master’s Hail Mary has promise. Even with the Guild aside, I’ve seen what he and the other two in that cell can do, and they’d be great assets to GE. All I have to do is keep you alive, brush you off every now and then, and show you to them. That said...”
He smiles, and his hand twitches. The pressure increases, and I’m squished against the wall, the force making my head throb and my body ache like I’ll pop if pushed much more. “I’m a businessman first. And we don’t like to waste resources by letting them stand around. You and your friends have cost me too much with all the facilities you’ve destroyed, dead employees, and stolen assets. You and the others are all going to earn your keep until that debt has been repaid.”
Charles stretches his other arm to draw his sleeve back, then peers at the watch. “You’re ahead of schedule, but I can be flexible. We’ll put some of the Guild members to work right away once I’ve brought the rest of them here. Maybe I’ll be kind enough to let you watch.”
I don’t know if it’s the threat ofwatchingsomething happen to the others I’ve grown to care about or that his gift is making it hard to breathe, but the room begins to spin, and I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling woozy.
He laughs as if he’s enjoying seeing me this way. “Fight me again, and you won’t just watch. You and those boys will be participants.Don’t test me, Raegan.”
Slowly, I force my eyes open.
“As for you...” He scratches his chin. “I was unable to try again with your mother, but perhaps I could hand pick some agents who could be a good match with your gift. You can make me grandchildren who actually listen. Little terrors of destruction, can you imagine?”
Charles chuckles. “In any case, don’t cause trouble, and I’ll maintain my word of keeping you alive and well.” He drops me, and I crash onto the cold tile floor. Pain flares in my left arm and knees as something cool snaps around my wrist. “Your shackle, daughter. To keep that dangerous gift of yours contained.”
His heeled dress shoes click on the tile floor as he walks out.
The door shuts—no knob or handle on my side—and a lock thunks into place.
Panic rises like bile from my gut, choking me as I squeeze my hands and eyes shut.
“Whatever you need, I’m here. I’ve got you.”
Dane’s voice echoes in my head from memory, and I latch on to it, pretending he’s right next to me, holding my hand and talking me through it.
And I pray he’s okay, wherever he is.
