Page 117 of Savage Little Queen

She lifted her head, and we were met with the most brilliant blue eyes I’d ever seen. She looked familiar to me, and I frowned, taking her in. She wasn’t terribly old. Late thirties. Early forties. It was hard to tell because of how dirty she was. And how bruised.

An ugly scar ran down her cheek, and her lip was split. A brand was burned into her bare shoulder. A ‘U’ with a number in the center.

“What’s your name?” Drake asked again, his brows crinkled as he took her in.

“No name here. No name anymore.”

We both stared down at her, probably thinking the same thing. She needed to be freed sooner rather than later because she wasn’t going to make it for long if she remained here.

“Come with us,” Drake finally said.

She jerked away from him and huddled deeper into the corner.

“No. No. Please. My children.”

“Where are they? Are they here?” Drake asked, looking behind us as a loud bang sounded out.

What the fuck was happening now?

“Find them.Please.Come get me when they’re safe. Save my babies first.”

Another bang. Shouts.

“We need to go,” I said as Drake snapped a picture of her.

“I don’t want to leave her.” Drake reached for her, but she let out a wild shriek and sank her teeth into his hand. He jerked away, cursing, and stumbled to his feet.

“Does every-fucking-thing here try to eat people?” I growled, pulling my gun out.

“Fuck it. Let’s go. We need to make sure Anson hasn’t gotten himself killed.”

The woman shrieked again, tugging at her hair, before stumbling to her feet, teeth bloody from biting Drake.

We slammed the door before she could attack again and booked it back up the stairs amid more bangs and shouts. By the time we’d reached the first level, it was to see men lining up prisoners.

We stopped in our tracks as one of the men shot a man on his knees in the head before moving on to another person.

“Jesus fuck,” I snarled.

“Dinner time,” another man cackled.

“Fuck this.” Drake stormed forward and pulled his gun from his jacket.

Looked like we were doing this.

He took aim so fast and cleared the room before I could get a shot off.

“The fuck?” I snapped at him. “What the fuck are you doing killing people?”

“I didn’t want to take the chance that we’d not make it the fuck out of her, Seeley. In case you missed it, this isn’t exactly fucking paradise.” He stormed forward and quickly untied the remaining three people on their knees. A woman and two men.

“I don’t know if you’re sinners, but if you can make it out of here, I suggest you do it now,” he said quickly.

We rushed out to the main level of the mansion, the prisoners behind us. They darted off once we stepped into the hall. I had no idea if they knew how the hell to get out of there or not, but I honestly didn’t care. I wanted to escape too.

“Anson,” I barked, storming back into Everett’s office.

Everett looked at us from the floor where Anson had him pinned down. Anson smiled at us.

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