Page 94 of Verses and Blooms
“He didn’t die,” Seamus rasped, his tone cold and emotionless.
“Why?” I pressed. “How were my parents involved?”
A twisted grin spread across his face. “Tell them to let me go, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Talk first,” I said. “Then maybe I’ll ask for leniency.”
We both knew his fate was sealed and I had no say in this regardless.
He smirked after a few moments of a silent stare-off. “Your mother cheated on me.”
I froze. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“That slut cheated. The only reason I kept her alive was because she promised to give you to me. Your life for hers.”
That made no sense. He wouldn’t know if I was useful to him for years.
“And if I’d been a boy?”
“Didn’t matter either way. If you’d been a boy, I’d have trained you. Either way, you’d have ended up here all the same. It was her life or yours. And guess what? That selfish bitch chose herself.”
My stomach dropped.
I turned and vomited against the concrete while Seamus laughed… until someone shut him up with another hit.
“Sanchez said he recorded that,” Ares said through gritted teeth. “Can we get him out of here now?”
“Yes,” I managed to choke out.
“Wait,” Rydell said, stepping forward. “One last message. This is from Audrey’s pack.”
Everyone but Ares turned away.
Rydell’s fist cracked against Seamus’s body, a brutal, wet sound. Seamus screamed as another blow hit. The sound of bones snapping was sickening, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop him.
“Okay,” Ares said finally. “Get him out of here.”
I waited until they carried him off to turn around. We moved past the cells. The Alliance was photographing the captured alphas, every last one. Some were silent, others furious. All of them guilty.
“I’m not talking to the girls until they’re gone,” I said, turning toward Ares.
He nodded. “We’ll handle it.”
It took hours, but once the building was clear, I finally let them lead me to the girls.
“I know most of you don’t know me,” I began, voice steady despite the chaos. “My name is Audrey. I was kept by these people for ten years. When I was dying, they threw me out, but I survived. They took me again, but my new pack found me. The Alliance saved us. These soldiers, they’re the good guys. They’ve cleared the auction and taken Seamus, the man behind it all, into custody. Let us help you. Please.”
Slowly, omegas and betas emerged from their cells. One by one, they stepped into the light on shaking legs and stared around with haunted eyes. It was like looking into the past at the girl who lost her mind.
As the guards led them out, I scanned each face, searching for the chief’s daughter.
“We have to find her,” I said to Rydell.
“Who?” he asked.
“The chief’s daughter. She’s here somewhere. She has to be.”
They let me walk the rows, searching every face and every cell, but my stomach sank with each pass.
