Page 128 of Depraved Desires

I took a step back, momentarily stunned by this new side of Monroe. He’s worked at the academy since I started going to school there. I’d always thought he was just an asshole with a stick wedged up his ass. He had a hot wife, knew how to fight, and taught history. But despite being able to throw down, I’ve never seen the unhinged look in his gaze that was there now. The way he was looking at the guard was similar to the expression Myles used when he got toplay—as he liked to call it.

The guard stared back at Monroe, blubbering like a petulant child. “It’s 0716.” His shoulders dropped in defeat.

Myles’s eyebrows rose, a flicker of confusion flashing across his face. “Why is Aspen’s birthday her password?” he demanded.

“Who’s Aspen?”

I rolled my eyes. “Violet.”

“I don’t know. All of the guards know her password except for the new recruits. She never told us why she chose that specific one.” He blubbered, snot running down his face. “Please, just let me get back to my family. I’ve told you all I know.”

Myles took another step toward him, a hard look etched into his features. I know what that look meant. He didn’t intend on letting this guard leave here alive. But my stomach twisted with the thought of him being massacred right here, leaving his children and lover behind. I subtly shook my head, drawing my best friend’s gaze. Maybe I really was weak, but I couldn’t let him do it. I’ve already made a number of mistakes when it came to following my friends blindly.

The door opened again, drawing our attention. Hunter and Rocky strolled in, kicking the door closed behind them. “It’s taken care of,” Hunter supplied.

Myles nodded, not moving his gaze from the stranger for even a second. “What are those vans parked in the garage for?” he asked, absentmindedly stroking his forefinger over the snout of the gun in his hand.

The guard’s face paled, and he started struggling against Monroe, but he just tightened his grip in the man’s hair. When he realized there was no escape, his body started shaking with despair. “Talissa owns a trafficking organization,” he confessed. “The girls she had no use for in the club get taken there. The ones who don’t bring in enough money, or the girls that are extremely popular and guys want to buy.”

Acid burned the back of my throat at the realization that this just got a lot more complicated for us. Talissa was a fucking pimp. That’s what the sex rooms were for. Guys sampling the goods so she could sell them without their knowledge.

“Was Violet going to be sold?” I couldn’t help but ask.

The guard’s gaze flicked over to me, his throat moving as he swallowed. “She had a potential buyer. He was going to come see her tonight and make his decision.”

“And you did nothing to stop it,” Rocky accused, anger radiating off him.

“I couldn’t! Not without being killed. I have a family to think about.”

Myles clenched his jaw, clearly unsatisfied with his response. “If your daughter ended up in Talissa’s clutches, would you have just let her get taken?” he demanded.

The guard sobbed, the sound ugly to my ears. “Of course not.”

“Didn’t think so.” Myles looked up at Monroe, motioning for him to step away. Once Monroe released the guard and moved,Myles pointed his gun at the man’s forehead and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was loud in the quiet space, making my ears ring.

He placed the weapon on the desk before rounding it and slipping back into the seat. He typed in the password, his lips curled into a smile when it worked, and he started scrolling. I made my way over to his side, peering down at the screen. The first place he went was the video footage. It was a video from the room we’d been in earlier. Foster and Myles were standing there, their voices echoed through the speaker of the computer. Myles fast forwarded a few minutes to see Talissa whip out a gun and point it at Aspen. My stomach coiled with fear at the sight, and confusion tore through me when Foster stepped in front of Aspen to shield her. A guard grabbed Aspen from behind, tearing her from Foster, and putting her in the line of the bullet again. My friend rushed at Talissa, and she pulled the trigger, the bullet tearing through him. He collapsed almost instantly, his breathing going calm. And this was all because ofme. Because Aspen refused to adhere to her fucked up requests.

Aspen was screaming, calling Talissa every name in the book and telling her to go to hell, but what really shocked me to my core, was when Talissa told Aspen that she was her mother.

“Holy shit,” Hunter murmured. I hadn’t even seen him approach, but he was standing on Myles’s other side, staring at the screen with disbelief.

The guard scooped an unconscious Aspen off the floor, throwing her over his shoulder before heading for the garage. When he came back, he did the same to Foster.

“What’s the plan now?” I asked.

Myles looked over at me. “We find them. And we kill ever last one of them.”

CHAPTER TWO

Aspen

Darkness enveloped me as my skin pressed against something hard and cold. The sound of a faucet dripping nearby echoed around my skull, causing my head to pound even more than it had been. For a moment, I wondered if I was dead—trapped in some eternal hell that promised payment for all the sins I’d committed. I remembered being young, not having a care in the world as I clung on to my sister, my lifeline. She was always so much more outgoing than me, but only around people she trusted. I also remembered losing my virginity and how terrified I’d felt in that moment. Myles wasn’t gentle, but now when I thought back on it, there was no more pain at the memory. Being gentle wasn’t in his nature. He was sadistic, cruel, psychotic, and selfish. But those were traits that didn’t bother me anymore.

Hunter was still a closed book, choosing to keep his distance. It made me that much curious about him. Collin was so back and forth that it gave me whiplash and I never knew what to expect as far as he was concerned. I’d chalked it down to abandonment and commitment issues. Foster showed me a side to him that I didn’t even know he had. For once, his rage hadn’t been directedat me. He’d somehow became a safe space, and then he trusted me with his body. Rocky was a new addition, who seemingly saved me alongside Monroe, whom I was still getting to know. My feelings toward all of these guys were still being worked through, and now, I’d never get the chance.

My eyes slowly peeled open, a dim light shining down on me from above. Suddenly, everything came back, crashing into me like a hurricane. My heart was racing as image after image flashed through my mind. Foster. He’d been shot trying to protect me. My chest constricted, and I planted my hands against the cold cemented floor to push myself into a sitting position. My head spun, distorting my vision momentarily before things slowly started coming back into focus. The first thing I noticed was that I was in some kind of cage, similar to the one the guys had thrown me in back at the academy. I couldn’t see anything else. Nothing but darkness staring back at me through the bars of my prison.

My tongue darted out, sliding across my cracked lips. I needed to get to Foster, to know if he was okay. With as much strength as I could muster, I forced myself to my shaky legs before stumbling toward the bars. My fingers curled around them, the cold seeping into my palms.

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