Page 16 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 2

“Is that why you went out on that run the night he arrived?”

“Yes. I knew he was coming. There was a part of me excited to see him but also a part that was repulsed and so angry at the idea. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“I know.”

“I mean it, Lachlan. You’ve been good to me, and if you’re Tilly’s mate then that makes you family.”

She sobbed when she said her sister’s name.

I pulled her into my arms and just held her while she cried.

“I’m going to find her,” I promised.

“What if. . .”

“No. There are no what ifs. I am going to find her.”

“She’s lucky to have you.”

“You’re wrong. I’m the lucky one.”

Tilly

Chapter 6

“What do you think is going on? Why would they put just the three of us in here with real beds and all?”

“Because we’re very interested in your brother,” a voice said through an intercom.

Aaron discreetly pointed to the camera in the corner of the room. They were watching us. It gave me the creeps. And what did they want with Gazza?

My confusion must have been evident.

Maxine hugged me and dropped her voice into an octave human ears couldn’t pick up.

“He means Lachlan. They think you’re Hannah. Let’s keep it that way.”

Louder she said, “It’s going to be okay, sweetie. Just do what they say and we’ll get through this.”

“Listen to your mother. She’s a smart woman, or whatever she is.”

“We weren’t given breakfast with the others this morning. Are you planning to starve us now?” Aaron asked the intercom.

We all turned at the sound of the lock clicking open. A woman dressed in blue scrubs wheeled a cart in filled with food. The smell of it made my stomach rumble with excitement.

“That’s a lot of food.”

“Consider yourselves our special guests,” the woman said on her way out.

“Special guests, huh?” Aaron said.

“I think they’re trying to fatten us up or something,” I joked, but I wasn’t certain there wasn’t a bit of truth to it.

Having Maxine and Aaron there with me helped a lot. I missed Lachlan so deeply it was terrifying. He was never far from my thoughts. Was all this special treatment stuff really because of him? It didn’t make any sense. I knew he was part of Westin Force and that they were trying to take down the Collectors, so why would they be giving us special treatment?

“This is really good,” Aaron said appreciatively as he ate a second piece of bacon.

“Eat up while the foods plentiful. In a place like this there’s no telling when our next meal will be,” Maxine said.

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