“Your mouth will get you in trouble, little girl. It’s not wise to taunt me.”
“I’m tied to a pole, in a secret place Stefan doesn’t know about, awaiting some loser in a cape to suck all my blood out. I’m already in trouble. But seriously, I can’t believe that guy wears a freaking cape! He reads way too many comics.”
Andris slapped my face, the sound ringing out through the room. As my head painfully ripped to the side, he said, “Put her in the cage.”
*****
“Boss!” Charles limped into the Planning Room, his body fried from head to toe. He’d had to cut his way out of that damn box, searing himself halfway to the burn ward to do it, but damned if he would stay out of this fight. They’d taken Sasha out from under his nose. He’d rip their whole world down to get her back.
The Boss turned at his voice, dark eyes assessing the quickly-scabbing carnage. “If you would’ve held on, I sent trackers to find your location.”
“I didn’t know that, nor did I plan to hold on. Andris was in charge of the extraction.”
The Boss nodded thoughtfully. “I figured as much. We don’t know where they’ve taken her. I know their general area, but it’s within our territory.”
“How do you know her general area?”
“She has always acted as a sort of homing beacon to me. Since the blood link, it is now more precise. The problem is, we don’t know anything about this location—the defense, the number of guards, nothing.”
“Send me in first. I’ll figure it out and report back.”
Stefan shook his head. “We don’t have the time. We’ll go in strong and cut our way through. We’ll have to think on the fly.”
“No problem.” Charles hefted his sword. “I’m good at thinking on the fly. I’ll go suit up.”
“One more thing—“
Charles turned back to the still figure, a rock among crashing waves, immovable and solid despite what he personally faced.
“Get Jonas. I’ll need him for this.”
Calling in the big guns. Although, Charles wasn’t sure it was the best move. The Boss had always trusted the man, but he was often the only one. Plus, Jonas hated Sasha. Hated her. It would be a bad day to find out the Boss’s trust had been misplaced…
*****
An explosion rocked my cage, deep and distant. Everyone in the room—only moments before lounging and waiting like robots on sleep mode—hustled to the doors, peering out. Another explosion on the opposite side of what seemed like a large campus. Through the link poured determination and cold vengeance.
Stefan had shown up.
A surge of sweet gratitude and deep rooted love welled up in me. I could’ve cried. I wanted to, in fact, but a part of me said to stay strong. Stay vigilant. To help Stefan with the rescue as much as possible, however possible.
An outpouring of men burst through the double doors—my dear friend, Andris, with some stern-eyed fighting men, nearly head-to-toe covered in glowing orange and red tattoos. They headed straight for me, Andris’ eyes burning a hazel fury.
“How did they find us?” he yelled, ripping the door to my prison open and yanking me out by my hair.
Pain flared as I squinted up at him. “You forgot to paint the outside in camouflage? Let me guess, the building is white…”
He shook me and flung me to the ground. Another crowd stormed through the doors, holding a scantily clad man fighting for his life. Guards dropped him to the floor, aiming three well-placed kicks to keep the man down.
My heart wrenched. It was Jessiah. His wild eyes gaped out of a black-and-blue face, fear running rampant. This is what happened when you sold yourself to an enemy for a bartering chip that could be taken from you. Once you proved yourself a traitor, with nothing to sit on after the deal was done, you made yourself expendable. I shouldn’t have felt compassion for what he’d done to me, but it was hard to look at him without it.
“How did they find us?” Andris repeated, staring at Jessiah now.
“I-I don’t know. The Boss has been trying to find this place for months. He’s never been able to.”
“Unless he sent in a spy…” Andris turned back to me. “Did you let yourself get taken, little girl? Are you smarter than you seem?”
“Smarter than I seem? Hell, I’d have to be pretty dumb to end up in this situation, hmm? Which makes me wonder how dumb exactly you think I am…”
“A smart mouth at a time like this? You will lose your cool when the White Mage—ah, here he is now.”
Cape billowing behind him, the runt of the litter came marching in, his face a terrible mask of fury. His eyes found Jessiah first, hard and cold, staring down at the once-attractive man with that shrewd gaze. “You’ve been holding out on us. How did he find this place? Only you or the girl could have told him. You are the only traitor of the two, so…”