Page 95 of Verses and Blooms
“We have to get one of the rescued girls to talk. She has to be somewhere else. She had privileges. This isn’t everyone. We’re missing something.”
“We’ll keep looking.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Rydell
Audrey seemed to have a problem with self-preservation. She’d gone to speak with the man who’d tormented her for years, learned information that would’ve rocked the foundation of most steady people.
Yet, here she was, ushering girls to safety and searching for the chief’s daughter like it was her job. Even thirty minutes later, we were still watching new groups of victims file past.
“I remember you,” a haunting voice said, startling Audrey. She spun around to face the omega.
She was a wraith of a girl. Her hair was so matted in the back it almost looked like an updo. Her features were sunken, and her eyes were the same shadowed hollows Audrey’s had been when she first arrived at ARC.
There was no recognition on Audrey’s face. That only infuriated the girl more. She had fire in her, I just wished it wasn’t directed at my omega.
“Figures you don’t recognize me,” the girl bit out with a scoff.
“What are you talking about? We’re here to help,” Audrey said, glancing at me for support.
I was two seconds from hauling the omega outside myself. We’d all been through shit, but you don’t blame the person trying to get you out of hell.
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already.” Angry tears streamed down the girl’s cheeks now. “You promised me that Sam would be okay. Said no one would touch her. She wasn’t okay, was she?”
Audrey swallowed hard, and I squeezed her hand. Every bit of color drained from her face.
“I couldn’t have known,” she whispered. “Sam fought back, and I couldn’t stop them any more than you could have.”
“Then you shouldn’t have lied.” The girl’s voice cracked as she screamed. “Everyone in this place is a fucking liar.”
She shoved past, letting the flow of traffic pick back up behind her. Audrey cried silently at my side, and there was nothing I could do to make it better.
“She’s just upset because she lost someone else,” a small girl said, eyes sad. “There was a girl who was always really nice to us. She’s older than you. They said her time was up tonight, made her go to the auction. She took it the worst.”
“Did anybody ever call her caretaker?” Audrey asked, voice suddenly frantic.
“Yes—” she looked confused now but Audrey was already moving, racing through the halls. My legs were long enough to eat the distance, so I ran beside her instead of letting her go alone.
Alliance guards still clogged the corridors, but nobody tried to stop us. Our tactical gear probably helped.
She wound through the hallways with practiced ease, following the same path she’d taken earlier to reach the auction.
“Have you checked everywhere?” Audrey demanded of the first set of soldiers she reached. “The girls said we missed something.”
“There’s one final door. We think it’s his office but it has an electronic lock. We’re waiting on Colt to unlock it,” one answered.
“Where is he?”
“Right here, fighter. Give me a second,” Colt said as he strode up behind us, amused. Audrey didn’t spare him a glance, planting herself in front of the door.
Colt didn’t seem fazed as he crouched, pulling out a set of tools. She watched closely, barely moving or breathing. Colt pried off the handle so the wires were exposed underneath. He swapped tools, digging around through the wires inside. After a few moments, the scanner beeped angrily before powering down.
Audrey lurched forward, trying the handle, but it didn’t budge.
“Calm down, fighter,” Colt soothed. “We had to make sure it wouldn’t backfire or blow up, but I’m not quite done yet. Men like Seamus would rather detonate the entire place than let anyone find their secrets.”
He looked at me over his shoulder, then jerked his chin at the door. “Think you can give me a hand, big guy? I can wait for them to crack it, or you can help me now.”
