Page 125 of Torment Me Knot
But she’s down there.
Hurt. Alone. Waiting for us whether she knows it or not.
“We move,” I say.
Chapter Forty
Espie
Aubrey takes my hand with his before Kev even pulls out of the driveway, and neither of us lets go as the city slides past outside the windows. Lex rides shotgun with his window cracked two inches, staring at nothing. Ezra is on my other side, his scent burning at the edges.
Somewhere on the highway, when the city lights thin out and the highway beyond them turns black, Ezra puts his hand on my knee. I'm wedged between him and Aubrey now with a hand on each side, sitting straight, shoulders back, both feet flat on the floor as sweat drips down my back.
Kev glances at me in the rearview mirror. Checking on us. Always checking.
“She texted Levi before she went in,” Ezra says eventually. “Did I tell you that? Then she turned her phone off.”
“I'm going to strangle her,” Aubrey says, after a moment.
“You and me both,” I say.
Aubrey shifts, his hand coming over his abdomen as he swallows a pained groan. I face him, knowing exactly what he’s trying to hide when he shakes his head. I settle back because he wants to be here.Needsto be here, but I’m uneasy.
The rest of the ride is a blur before Kev pulls off the highway and into narrow streets. We pass houses then enter a business district of warehouses and the occasional truck laden with crates.
“If she's gone feral, she won't recognize faces,” Ezra says, not looking at either of us. “She'll recognize scent though. So don't rush her when we get to her. Give her a second to find you before you move.”
I know what he's telling us.
Sera's been away long enough that she might not know me when we find her.
I can't think too hard about what we're walking into down there. Every time I try, I stop before the thought finishes.
Like naming it might make it real.
The city thins around us as Kev drives deeper into the warehouse district. Streetlights smear across the windows. Empty loading docks. Rusted fencing. Long stretches ofdarkness between buildings. My thoughts keep skidding apart and reforming around the same thing.
Sera underground.
Hurt.
Alone.
Kev brakes hard enough to jolt me forward against the seatbelt. My pulse jumps straight into my throat.
“We're here,” he says.
We get out of the car surrounded by shadows.
“This way,” Kev says.
The alphas close around Aubrey and me as we move three blocks through the warehouse district, keeping to the shadows between buildings. It's silent here. No traffic. No wind. Nothing.
We round a corner and I spot massive males draped in tactical gear grouped at the base of a red-bricked warehouse. A shape emerges from the shadows to approach us. Ronan. He casts a hard gaze over me, giving nothing away before turning it back to Kev. “Ready?”
Kev nods. Ronan turns and Kev stops him with a grip on his bicep. “She's not to be harmed. No matter what we find. Do you understand?”
Ronan gives Kev a clipped nod. “We'll bring her back.”
