Page 6 of Ravage

"I'm not leaving her down there for a few days," Theo snaps.

Putting the laptop on the desk, Damon throws him a quick look. "I'm not suggesting we do." Tapping a few keys and clicking the keyboard, a document pops up on the screen. "According to our previous calculations, they generally have a testing time of four to seven days maximum. It depends on variables."

"What do they do with the patients afterwards?" Theo asks.

"That's the variable," Damon murmurs quietly. "Sometimes they come back—particularly if Arthur announces them as merely missing. They are usuallymiraculouslyfound. Or sometimes we are told they were in solitary confinement."

Theo narrows his eyes. "And if he announces that they are dead?"

He's a quick learner, I'll give him that.

"They don't come back," Damon answers coldly.

The room falls silent, Theo's face rapidly changing as he processes the information.

"What do they do with them afterwards?" he asks dangerously.

Damon straightens up. "We don't know," he answers honestly. "All we know is they aren't seen again."

"I'm not going to let that happen to her," Theo promises. "I'll do this with or without you."

"With us," I say quickly, making them all look toward me. "We're in this together—for Avery."

Theo nods at me. "What do you need me to do?"

This time, I look to Damon for direction. I might be mad at him, but this is still his call. This is what we planned for, what we trained for—this is our sole purpose. If we have any hope of getting her back, it's because of him. Damon isn't justinCirque des Morts…

He is Cirque des Morts.

The society is everything to him and right now, he's our only chance. And that's why I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"I need you all to go to classes as usual. We wait for Arthur to make his announcement so we know what timeframe to follow. In the meantime, we wait a few hours until we make our move. Let them lower their guard down and get cocky. Keep a listen out for information—see if anyone saw anything, if the staff or guards know anything. Gather anything and everything possible.Jillian and Byrone, keep working on the decryption coding. Grey, go and find Leighton and Jemison. Get them to go over the blueprints to see where a relocation could have been moved to. We meet in the library after dark—spread the word."

I nod slowly, fighting the frustration of having to wait to get my girl back. "What else do we need?"

Damon looks at me with a serious expression. "It's time to break out the gear, Grey."

Chapter 3

Avery

My teeth have barely stopped chattering when I'm thrown into a tiny, padded room. The walls are spongy and white—exactly what I'd imagine a mental asylum to look like.

The Lilydale rooms remind me of prison cells, but this? This isactuallyan asylum—go figure. All I need now is a straitjacket to restrain my limbs. Given how cold I am from the ice bath, it would be almost welcoming, if not for any reason but the extra warmth.

"We'll bring you some food shortly," Dr. Cromwell says softly as she watches me stumble to catch my footing. I swing around, glaring at the two men who disappear out of sight behind her.

"Don't bother," I snap. "I don't think I'll be staying long."

It's the only thing that got me through the torturous freezing water—knowing that the guys will notice I'm missing. Someone will sound the alarm and they will come looking for me. I can feel it in my bones. We haven't come this far for them to give up on me now. I just have to make sure I don't give up too.

I'm not sure what these sadistic creeps are planning but I have no doubt this is just the beginning.

I wish I could say I'm not scared or worried, but that would be a lie. I know the danger I'm in. It doesn't make sense, but I have to stay focused.

This place has to be connected to Lilydale—Whittingham made that clear by showing his smug, disgusting face before I blacked out. Plus, Dr. Cromwell said it was the Emerson lab. That was her name, right?

I knew Lilydale was too good to be true. In what universe would a bunch of strangers have any interest in rehabilitating unhinged youths? They treated us like scum—prisoners. I was right in thinking we were a cash-grab for them, I just didn't realize to what extent.

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