Page 94 of Tortured Soul
“I promise I’ll be back in under five days and that the prison will be left in ashes.”
“Three days.”
He arched a brow, his smile widening.
“I know I’m powerful, but you might be overestimating me.”
“Three days,” I insisted. “Three days and you come back with the coordinates, without taking care of it yourself. That’s what we agreed on.”
He tilted his head to the side, his hold tightening around me.
“Are you worried about me?”
I swattedat his chest.
“Of course I am, you smug idiot.”
His fingers grabbed onto my chin, lifting my head further up to brush my lips with his.
“Don’t be,” he whispered. “I’ve got this.”
Even after Carrie came to fetch us and Dimitri had disappeared well beyond the safety of the barrier, my heart was still pounding anxiously in my chest.
Something felt off.
Chapter 27
Lola
“What’s wrong?” Ann asked from her armchair as I cursed at the computer.
No matter what I did, that damn thing was unresponsive.
“This day is getting worse by the second.” I groaned, throwing my back against my chair.
Ann dropped her empty cup on the coffee table before it vanished. She murmured athank you, and placed her elbows on her thighs, resting her head on her fists.
“I feel like I need to explain what happened there,” she said, nibbling on her bottom lip. “Itisstandard protocol to place a tracking device under our scouts' skin. It has been for about six months.”
The room was quiet around us, Margaret gone somewhere to do who knew what. To say that I wasn’t at least a little bit upset about what happened in that room would be a lie. But, was I mad at Ann? No. She was obviously there to oversee the medical side of the shitshow, only following Jeremiah’s and Arc’s orders.
“We’ve lost so many people over the years that we needed to do something to ensure that we could find them, even when it’s too late. You have no idea how many dead Earthwalkers we found months after they disappeared. With these chips, we can find them right away and bring them back. Sometimes, we’re quick enough so that we can save a few.
“Arc’s insistence was only out of concern. The couple of scouts who refused to get the tracker after it was implemented were asked to resign and find something else to do. Marcus has one. Francesca and Savi too. Wouldn’t you be upset if Dimitri were to disappear?”
The idea of Dimitri vanishing without a trace or ending up hurt made my chest feel too tight. His absence the last few decades had beena nightmare, only made better by the few times I felt him around, like he couldn’t help himself from checking up on me once in a while.
But I had to be realistic.
Dimitri would never be overpowered by anything or anyone. He’dneverget hurt by some random humans.
No, he was too smart and cunning for that.
“Of course I’d be upset. But it will never happen,” I said, focusing back on my useless computer. “Dimitri is powerful. Way more than any other Immortals I’ve ever met.”
She forced a smile.
“Probably not as powerful as Arc. And yes, what happened in the tower was impressive but—”
