Page 56 of Bound By Ruin

He clenches his jaw. “Yeah, that’s her.”

What was she doing outside?

We check for security before darting ahead toward our team’s setup on the far end of the lot, the two of us keeping to the shadows beside the building to avoid detection. A few cameras are mounted overhead, so we’ll have to remember to scrub the evidence and bribe whoever watches the feed.

“Do you think it was him?” I ask, ignoring the dread swirling in my gut. If it wasn’t our father, then there’s another cruel bastard kidnapping and murdering people in our area. Part of keeping bratva activities under the radar is monitoring your territory and its occupants; something as big as this going unchecked spells bad news for the Baranovas. “She’s really pale.”

Thanatos glances over his shoulder at her, his scowl deepening. “Yeah, she is. Check for track marks.”

I angle our bodies so that the light spilling from a nearby balcony falls across the girl in my arms, and we work together to check her for marks, finding over a dozen along her arms and between her fingers.

Scrubbing a hand through his salt and pepper hair, my elder brother frowns as he stares at Sara’s limp body. “Sakovia didn’t answer his phone, but Serena says they’re ready at the van. C’mon. We don’t have much time.”

My attention wavers as I stare at Sara. She looks close to a corpse with sunken eyes and dry, cracked lips. My concern doesn’t linger with the girl, however, quickly switching targets as Celia’s bright smile flashes in my mind. “How is Celia? Did she hear anything?” If she sees Sara like this, I’m not sure how she’ll react. Relieved that we found her? Horrified at the state she’s in? Or angry and ready for blood? It’s hard to know, but my body burns at the prospect of seeing it hit her all at once. Which one will dominate—the desire for revenge or the anguish from the loss of life?

We both fall silent as we cross the final stretch of lawn to our destination. I listen to what our brothers and Celia are up to now. Her microphone has been off since Thanatos disconnected her earpiece from his cell phone, but Rage and Rebel’s voices are clear. They’re trying to convince her to watch one of the shows. I can hear her asking for Thanatos in the background.

It must be killing him to ignore her.

“He was standing right there, and then all of a sudden, he looked at me and… ran off.”

“Maybe he had to peereallybadly.”

Thanatos visibly deflates at Rebel’s suggestion.

“Stop lying to me. I know that something is wrong.”

“I’m not lying,” Rebel says unconvincingly, his voice lilting at the end. He never was a good liar.

She turns her ire onto Rage. “My earbud isn’t working. What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything.” At least Rage can be honest about that. “Eat your salmon.”

“Tell me where Thanatos and Ruin are.”

The corners of my mouth curve into a smile. Hearing my name on Celia’s lips is quickly going to become a favorite of mine.

Once we reach the van, Than knocks loudly on the side window. “Open up.”

Using a cargo van as a mobile trauma station was Than’s idea, but Ezra was the one who approved the setup. It’s been gutted from top to bottom, save the two seats in the front, in order to transform into a discreet ambulance, complete with a stretcher, a dozen types of IVs, a monitor for displaying X-rays and vitals, a mini fridge filled with blood and other medical supplies, and a bunch of other shit I can’t name. All I need to know is that it’ll work.

I just didn’t expect to need it so soon.

The sliding door on the side swings open, revealing a red-faced Wren Sakovia. He wipes sweat from his brow before gesturing for Thanatos to bring Sara forward.

I raise an eyebrow at the flush across his assistant’s cheeks. Do they not know how to run the AC?

While Sakovia checks Sara’s vitals, his assistant notices my stare and gives it right back, giving me a once-over from head to foot. “You look good, considering.”

She seems familiar.

It takes me a moment to piece together where I know her from, finally settling on a memory of her tending to my burns during my latest stint in The Box. I grunt, not really caring for her opinion. I feel fine. Achey, with some skin irritation from the net scraping against my burns and reopening a few wounds, but good overall.

This is the best I’ve ever felt in my life.

Considering.

When the medic—Serena, I realize, spotting the embroidered name on a duffel bag hanging over the back of the front passenger seat—sticks an IV into Sara’s arm, College Girl doesn’t even flinch. “I didn’t numb the area,” Sara mutters to herself. “What’s she on? Where did you find her?”

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