Page 104 of Silver Secrets

“In the kennel area, guys!” Courtney’s voice carried through the hallway.

They stepped into the room, but Courtney wasn’t there. One quick pass of the area and her heart sank. Sloane let go of Gage, dropping to her knees in front of the big fluff ball who was clearly in distress.

“What happened, sweetheart?”

“Let’s get him up and out to the car. Nash, can you grab us some blankets? There’s usually a pile behind the front desk.”

“On it.”

Gage stayed at the counter looking over the medications there while Sloane turned her attention back on Darius.

“It’s going to be okay, baby. We’re going to get you help.”

“Where the hell is Courtney?”

Sloane turned around to answer Gage’s question when her vision tunneled and her heart felt like it stopped beating. Because right behind Gage, straight out of her nightmares, washim.

“GAGE!” Sloane screamed, his eyes snapping to hers. She did the only thing she could think of. Pushing to her feet as fast as possible, Sloane tried to make it to his side, but as the silver glint of a needle pushed down into Gage’s neck, she knew she was too late. His eyes went wide as he tried to swing his body around. A second later, she watched as he fell, his head slamming against the counter before hitting the ground.

The masked killer turned towards her, and her heart broke as she turned away from Gage’s body. Her feet almost immediately caught on something. Darius! How could she forget he was right behind her?

Sloane’s body pitched forward as she lost her balance, her feet coming out from her as she crashed over Darius. A hand grabbed her hair, yanking her head backwards. The world went silent as she waited for him to end everything right then and there.

“Sierra.”

Twenty-Six

Sloane’s eyes rolled in her head. Everything felt distant. Disconnected. Foggy.

If she could just find something to hold on to… A sound. A sensation. She could pull herself out of the whirling darkness. But there was nothing around her. Nothing but cold. Nothing at all.

Shit.

A groan involuntarily left her throat. She couldn’t say how much time had passed since she landed back in the darkness, but her mind and body were starting to come back. To reboot from whatever had happened.

Had she been drugged? Sloane moved her fingers, and to her surprise, they responded. A good sign, even if the freezing cold was seeping into every nerve ending that was coming back online in her body.

Her arms pressed into her side, and she forced her body to follow her commands. To reach out and touch against her body. Fear seeped into her bloodstream, and as soon as her fingertips brushed against the bare skin of her thigh, it spiked so high the dizziness and disorientation came rushing back.

Sloane’s whole body trembled with shivers as she forced herself up against the wall. The rough texture screamed concrete blocks, and as her eyes focused more and more in the space, she began to understand that this time was different. She hadn’t been taken to a cave.

How the hell had it happened, again? He’d somehow gotten her. Taken her away from the shelter. Trapped her once more.

And just like before, she was stripped down to nothing. The back of her neck was damp, and when Sloane reached up, she found the cause: her hair. He must have stripped her clothes from her and dumped water over her exposed body. Left to get hypothermia just like she’d been fourteen years before.

Everything was dark. So fucking dark it was terrifying. She crossed her ankles and dragged her legs up towards her chest, laying her head down in her arms as she tried to curl into a tight ball to conserve what little warmth was leaving her body.

Sloane worked desperately to remember anything from the night. She could hear the panicked call from Courtney. And the conversation deciding that she would go to the shelter with Gage and Nash.Oh god.What had happened? What did he do to them?

She forced her eyes up, rapidly blinking as she tried to focus on the space around her. It was so damn dark she could barely see anything. Her hand moved out to the right, fighting to feel something other than concrete. As her gaze wandered to follow her hand, she saw it. Her vision was grainy with exhaustion and distorted from whatever drugs were trying to make their way out of her system, but there definitely was a body-shaped shadow a few feet in front of her.

Shit. She couldn’t tell if they were breathing. If they were alive. If it was Nash, or Courtney, or… her stomach pitched… or if it was Gage.

It took every ounce of strength she had, but Sloane moved her body until her ankle ached where the shackle was digging into her skin.

Her fingers reached out towards the person laying just a few feet away from her, but she couldn’t reach them. Their face was turned away, but one glance down at the arm twisted behind his back, where a special bracelet sat on his wrist, and Sloane knew Gage was there with her too. That realization made her eyes sting with tears. Because she knew what fate was coming for them.

Sloane knew she was going to be the reason why Gage died.

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