Page 102 of Lock Up the Darkness

Asher threw one of his glares.

“What recordings?” I asked, eyeing him.

He reluctantly looked away from Killian and told me, “The notes from Lance’s time as my father’s captive.”

“You said those were from your recollection, you listening in—with your ears, not a device.”

“It was for the best. All the necessary details were included.”

“And what unnecessary details were left out?”

He glared at Killian.

“If we’re going to do this safely and smart, she needs to know the whole deal, especially what we’re actually up against, what could happen to her if we fail,” Killian insisted.

“He’s right, Asher,” Jonah said. He warned me, “It’s gonna be brutal to hear, firecracker.”

A grunt came from Asher and the next thing I knew, he was slapping a small device into my palm. “Fire it up.”

I stared down at it for a moment, then slotted it into my laptop.

There was a single folder on there. It had no real label, just left as New Folder. I opened it to see a half dozen sound files inside. “These are… these are of my dad while he was in that hell place?”

“Him and Carson. Anything that was spoken in that building by either my father, yours, the guards, I recorded it all, the entire time he was in there. Obviously, there’s not just words, Aurora. There are certain… sounds. They won’t sit well with you and it’s why I kept it from you.”

“These sounds, words… they’re the last time my dad was technically alive, the last of his voice.”

“You don’t want these to be the last you hear of him, believe me.”

“That’s not your choice to make. Not everything is, Asher.”

He blew out a breath. “Fine. Have at it.” He slumped back in his chair. Killian was perched on the edge of his, on tenterhooks. And Jonah slid his ass onto the end of the table, looking on.

I selected all the files and set them to cycle through one after the other.

And then I pressed PLAY.

A voice I recognized as Carson’s from my research reached my ear first.

Vicious, callous, and sadistically playful.

I swallowed down a shudder as I listened to his threats.

And then… then I heard my dad’s beautifully familiar voice.

“This was when he first brought him there?” I asked Asher.

“Yes.”

“Before the torture,” Jonah added, clearly wanting me to brace myself. Or to forgo doing this altogether.

I couldn’t.

I had to know.

I had to hear it.

I had to hear him.

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