Page 68 of Silence and Surrender

We continued to descend in silence, using the elevator cables. My arms burned from exertion, but my training took over. Every pull, every movement brought me closer to Isabella.

The basement level was cold, the air stale. Climate control, keeping the captives docile. The thought made something dark twist in my chest.

Stryker took the first guard from behind—quick, efficient, and silent. Cooper handled the second with similar ease. Trained killers.

I was one of them now.

“Cell block’s through here,” Cooper gestured left. “But they’ve got—”

An alarm blared overhead. Lights shifted from white to red.

“Company,” Stryker finished. “Move. Now.”

We ran, all pretense of stealth abandoned. Gunfire erupted behind us—more guards responding to the alarm.

“Here!” Cooper kicked open the heavy door. The cell block stretched before us, all concrete and steel bars, emergency lighting bathing everything in a hellish shade of red.

I saw her immediately, and the sight drove the air from my lungs. Isabella lay curled in the corner of the last cell, completely naked and shivering violently against the concrete. Her skin, once creamy and vibrant, had turned a sickly gray-white from two weeks without sunlight and proper nutrients. Every rib was visible, her hip bones jutting sharply through skin that had grown paper-thin from malnutrition. Her collarbones created harsh shadows, and her once-elegant shoulders had become skeletal. The change was absolutely horrifying. I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for how much weight she’d lose in such a short time period.

Her dark hair—hair I’d run my fingers through—hung in filthy, matted tangles around her face. Dirt, grime, and worse things covered her body. There was an open sore on her hip and shoulder where bone had rubbed against concrete. Her wrists and ankles were rubbed raw and bleeding from metal restraints, the wounds infected and swollen. Needle marks dotted her arms.

They hadn’t even given her a blanket. Nothing to preserve warmth or dignity. Just naked flesh against the cold floor, like she wasn’t even human anymore.

Something in me shattered completely.

“Bella.” My voice broke on her name.

She looked up with agonizing slowness, each movement clearly causing her pain. Her face was gaunt, cheekbones too sharp under bruised skin. Her lips were cracked and bleeding from dehydration. But it was her eyes that gutted me; those clever eyes that had once sparkled with intelligence when analyzing artwork were now sunken and dull, barely focusing as recognition flashed in their depths.

“Can you hear me? Isabella, please. It’s me.” I reached for her through the bars, but she jumped before she recognized me.

“Colton?” The word was barely a whisper, her voice destroyed from what I feared was screaming. Her throat bore marks of hands that had gripped too tightly. She mumbled, but her voice was too hoarse and low for me to make out what she was trying to say.

Finally: “Real?”

I swallowed down the emotion threatening to overtake me. “Real. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Cooper was already working the lock, his skills finding deadly purpose. I stripped off my tactical vest, needing to cover her, to give her back some shred of humanity.

“Later,” Isabella managed. “Just...get me out.”

Stryker and Cooper cleared our path back to the elevator shaft. The door at the end of the hall opened, and a man wearing an expensive dressing gown stepped forward.

Her owner.

My shot was precise. The bastard hit the ground before he could even open his mouth.

More guards came. More fell. I’d become a cold-blooded killer.

But I didn’t give a fuck.

“Up is going to be interesting,” Cooper said as we reached the shaft. “They’ll have the upper levels locked down.”

“Good thing we’re not going up.” Stryker produced what looked like building plans. “Maintenance tunnel. Runs under the whole complex. Comes out half a mile away.”

Isabella trembled in my arms, either from cold or fear or both. I held her closer to my body, trying to share warmth without hurting her.

“Stay with me,” I murmured. “You’re not alone anymore, my darling. Never gonna let you go again.”

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