Page 198 of Beyond the Blue Horizon
Still, Theo’s expression went grim. “We could never take the measures required if we were.”
A shiver rocked through me as Theo continued, “Those monsters you just saw me end…”
Disgust spilled from his mouth.
There was no shame involved in this piece of his confession.
“One of them was Alicia’s husband. The other, I assume, was his guard. The bastard tormented her since she was a teenager. Groomed her from when she was fifteen then forced her into themost grievous, sick marriage. Hurt her again and again. We got her out.”
Horror rolled through his body. “Somehow he uncovered where we brought her.”
Theo leaned in closer, and his words started to rush. “He was here to destroy her, Piper, either by taking her life or forcing her back into the atrocities that he’d been inflicting. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I didn’t have another choice.”
My heart thrashed at my ribs, and my attention flashed back to where River helped Alicia back into the cabin.
A babel of motorcycles echoed in the distance, coming closer.
No question, the rest of the guys were on their way.
My chest heaved and shook as I tried to make sense of it all.
“And even if I did, I’m not sure that I would take it back.” Theo’s voice curled with the remnants of violence.
The man offering me his truth.
He was a killer.
I struggled to draw the air into my deflated lungs.
“This is…what you do.” It tremored out of me. I didn’t know if it was an accusation or a question.
“Yes. The Sanctuary is where we temporarily hide those under our protection until we can get them new identities and moved to their new homes. It’s where we allow them time to come to terms with the fact that they can never go back to their old lives.”
“How many?” Why was I asking this? Pressing deeper into the dark vapor that surrounded him?
Moonlit eyes whirled, sucking me down into his abyss as he slowly released my wrists.
As if he were asking me to trust him.
To understand him.
Toseehim.
“How many women and children have we gotten to safety or do you want to know how many fiends I’ve put in the ground?”
My insides trembled, and I forced out the sticky words. “Women and children.”
I couldn’t handle the other. Not with the way sickness roiled in my stomach and nausea crawled up my throat.
“A lot. Over a hundred and fifty at least, I would imagine.”
The din of motorcycles roared through the night.
Coming closer and closer.
A moment later, three of them came around the bend. They skidded to a stop in front of the cabin.
A small white BMW pulled in behind them.
