Page 50 of Echoes of Temptation

“Knox is smart,” I remind them. “Bitsy has been trained in self-defense and self-preservation. Sophia is stubborn as hell and has a deep understanding of evil people and Madaline has ways of making people feel safe, even those who aren’t kind.Those four know without a single doubt that we’ll be coming for them and will do everything in their power to stay alive. As much as it pains me to say this, we need to ignore our instinct to rage and focus on finding their location. The rage can be released once we have them away from danger. We must remain calm and clear-headed.”

“Listen to the man who kills for a living,” is whispered through the phone.

“Knox. Fuck. Are you okay?”

“My neck hurts,” he answers Blaze. “The airbags didn’t deploy when we were hit and my head got tossed around. Same for Bitsy.”

“Madaline and Sophia?” I ask with bated breath.

“Sophia thinks her right leg is broken,” he sniffs. “Maddy’s eyes are clouded and I think she may have a concussion. They didn’t have room to put their seat belts on because of the boxes of food.”

It takes everything I have to push the knowledge of Madaline being hurt to the back of my mind.

“Where are you?” I ask roughly.

“In the back of a semi-truck,” he says. “The idiots who took us released a gas into the car and didn’t wait but a few seconds before pulling us out. I told the girls to hold their breath for as long as possible. Luckily, these people aren’t very bright. Not even thirty seconds later they had us all pulled out and away from the gas. Then we pretended to be passed out.”

“Smart fucking boy,” Steel growls. “Good boy. Did you hear anything they said?”

“Only that they weren’t expecting there to be four of us,” he says quietly. “They were told to go ahead and take all of us and the other three would be dealt with. We were in my car. I think they were supposed to only take me.”

“It’s alright, Little one,” Blaze soothes. “We’re going to find you.”

“What if they get hurt because of me?” he sniffs. “This is all my fault.”

“Hush.”

The sound of Madaline’s voice has my knees buckling. Ghost tosses my arm over his shoulder and I’m grateful. Weakness isn’t something I hide from my family.

“Whatever happens to us is not your fault,” Madaline tells him, her voice not quite clear.

Madaline gasps and grunts in pain.

“Baby,” I call out. “Madaline, what’s wrong?”

“Her head hurts, King,” Knox says. “Talking seems to make it worse which is why she was supposed to stay quiet. I’m afraid she’s going to fall asleep.”

“Baby, try and stay awake for me, alright?” I say as calmly as possible.

“Viper, did you call my dad?” Bitsy asks.

“I did, sweetheart,” he tells her. “Michael is on his way here so we can get access to Knox’s systems. Are you alright?”

“I’ll survive,” she says. “I have bruising where the belt was holding me in place when the car was upside down, but other than that, I’m fine.”

“Sophia?” Venom asks. “Why is she being so quiet?”

“It’s dark back here, but she seems distant,” Madaline says. “Almost as if she isn’t here with us.”

“I’m fine, Maddy,” Sophia says. “Just trying to keep memories from overwhelming me.”

Sophia was held captive for over a year while she was raped. The people who captured her were having women raped to impregnate them only to sell their babies to the highest bidder. That was less than two years ago and I’m sure those memories are flooding back.

“You’re strong, baby,” Venom tells her. “Doc wants to know if you can feel your toes in your right leg.”

“Yeah,” she says. “But I don’t think I’ll be able to walk on it.”

“Alright. What about Maddy? Can you use the phone light to check her eyes?”

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