Page 21 of Shattered Love

Emmanuel’s dark features looked ashen under the moonlight as he realized the truth of Murphy’s words. He hadn’t thought this through.

“I am so sorry,” he whispered once more and the remorse on his face was clearer than a sunny day.

But no forgiveness lived inside of me. Not when the people I cared about were now in the hands of the people that haunted my dreams.

Chapter Eleven

Warner

We were idiots. But I blamed myself more than the others. I had spent months in that camp, ever since the first day of fires. And I knew they wouldn’t just let us go. They had probably been searching for us, specifically Alessia, since the moment we crossed those gates.

Four bodies were slumped against the walls of the bed of a truck, still dozing from whatever they had shot us with. Considering I was a head taller than even Rainer, I wasn’t surprised the dosage hadn’t been strong enough to keep me down for long.

We hadn’t been expecting them. The others too busy sharing stories of their lives before. I hadn’t participated. I didn’t have anything to share about the shit that was my life before all this.

They had been stealthy in their approach. And since we had been drinking, all the guns were left inside. No one needed a misfire. What a stupid fucking idea. Getting drunk when we were constantly in danger.

The gates of the camp came closer, people milling about in the early morning sun. Guards were stationed at the front like before, but their numbers had doubled. I couldn’t help but smirk at that. Guess my little badass had shaken them.

Not that she was mine. In fact, I was pretty positive about why she and Murphy had been gone from the fire for so long. Although, no one else had seemed to notice. Except maybe Rainer, given the way he had been frowning toward the tree line.

But when I had her in my arms, she felt like mine. When she was reckless and stupid, running into the building where she was tortured, I couldn’t help but follow her bravery, wanting to drink in the vibrancy that surrounded her.

Rainer and Aiden jostled awake, blinking the haze from their minds. Although, the haze from the alcohol still dizzied my brain. Hopefully, that would fade soon. We needed to be prepared for whatever awaited us.

“Where are we?” Rainer ground out, groaning as he pressed his hands against his temples.

Aiden searched around, his eyes landing on the gates. “Fuck.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I said, slouching against the side of the truck.

There was no use in trying to escape now. They would chase us down in this truck, and I knew they were armed. I may be willing to follow Alessia’s reckless ideas, but that didn’t mean I had a death sentence.

“Where are Murphy and Alessia?” Rainer asked, glancing at Mina and Sasha, who were still slouched together.

Shrugging, I responded, “Probably left behind.”

“And how did they find us?” Aiden asked, and I simply arched a brow. He was an intelligent man, surely he could piece it together.

“Fuck,” he said again. “He sold us out, didn’t he?”

Again, I shrugged. That was the most logical explanation. He had been shifty since we arrived at the cottage. And he had been gone all day yesterday. I should have said something. Called the old man out. But I wasn’t one for action, I enjoyed watching.

Unfortunately, I had been watching for too long. Waiting for the moment when I could catch him doing something shady. Again, I blamed myself.

The truck came to a stop, jostling Mina and Sasha, whom Aiden steadied. The masked men that had intruded on an otherwise happy night rounded the back, not in the least bit shocked to see us awake.

“Out. Now,” the man in the front instructed, opening the latch of the truck.

I stepped out first, holding out my arms for a still passed out Sasha. Aiden stepped down next, Rainer placing Mina in his arms before jumping down.

“What should we expect?” Rainer whispered to me as we followed the guards, his hand ghosting over his waistband, searching for the gun that was no longer there.

“Probably some warm tea, maybe a five course meal.”

Rainer sneered at me, huffing before stomping ahead to walk beside Aiden. His gruff attitude didn’t bother me. What did he expect me to say? I had no clue what to expect, but it wasn’t about to be good. He knew that.

The guards at the front gate opened the door, and I counted their numbers. Not only doubled, but tripled, there were now six standing post. Each had a hand on their holstered gun, a flat look on each of their faces.

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