Page 105 of Rescuing Rebel

With that, he hauls me to my feet. When I stumble, he simply drags me along through Haven’s wreckage.

We pass flickering scenes of chaos. Blood smears on the walls, lifeless bodies sprawled around each corner. Kaufman pays them no mind, maniacally focused on one goal—staking his claim on me.

I drift in a daze, one foot stumbling in front of the other. What does it matter where he takes me? Kaufman’s path takes me to a place I never knew existed. This hall is unfamiliar to me.

I crane my neck as we stagger past several doors. Kaufman yanks me along heedlessly, but I manage to glimpse a faded plaque by the entrance to one of those doors:Surrogacy Intake & Assessment.

He notices the direction of my gaze.

“Hah, I may have kept some. Sadly, you looked in the wrong place, my savage Rebel.”

My heart leaps. He wouldn’t taunt me without reason.

New strength surges into my limbs. I stop resisting Kaufman’s pull, playing the exhausted, compliant captive again, but my mind spins with possibilities. I know where I must look for Violet’s trail. All I need is a chance to slip away and get inside that room.

Kaufman hauls me onward through the groaning facility. I can’t let him remove me from this place. Not until I search that room. Despair no longer weighs down my feet. I move with purpose. The next opportunity Kaufman gives me might be my last, but I will seize it without hesitation.

For you, Violet. No matter the cost, I will find out where they took your baby. Kaufman continues dragging me through Haven’s wreckage, but I’m done being led by him. Kaufman’s distracted. His guard is down, thinking I’m a broken doll.

That mistake will cost him.

When we reach a deserted corridor, I make my move. With a feral cry, I whirl and launch myself at Kaufman, fingers clawing for his eyes. He shouts in surprise and anger as I rake bloody furrows across his face. We crash to the floor, kicking and thrashing violently.

“You bitch!” he roars.

I go for his throat, but he catches my hands, flips me to my back, and pins me beneath his greater weight. His bloodied face twists in rage and madness.

“Still have some fight left? Good.” His grin chills my soul. “I’ll enjoy breaking you all over again.”

He wraps his hands around my throat, squeezing mercilessly. Darkness creeps across my vision as I gasp uselessly for air. This is it. After everything, I’m going to die here at Kaufman’s hands.

A gunshot splits the air. Kaufman pitches to the side with a scream, freeing me. I roll away, choking violently as air floods my starving lungs. Against the far wall, Kaufman clutches a mangled leg, howling in agony. I lift my blurry gaze to my savior.

Ethan strides forward, face carved from stone, pistol leveled at Kaufman’s head. He flips up the visor on his helmet and our eyes meet across the space, a hundred unspoken words passing between us.

He came back for me.

But then I see the Angels.

He’s not here for me. He’s savingthem.

Did I expect anything else? Isn’t that exactly what I told him to do?

My gaze lands on Iris, and she returns a soft smile. Despite everything I did to her and the others, she offers kindness. With ruthless efficiency, Ethan knocks Kaufman out with the pistol grip.

“Come with me. You can’t stay here.”

I swallow through my raw throat and shake my head. “The assessment room. I need to get there.”

Ethan turns to me, brow furrowed in confusion. “We need to get to the extraction point before this place collapses around us.”

He reaches for my hand to lead me away, but I stand firm. “You don’t understand. That room holds records of where they took her.” I meet his conflicted gaze steadily. “I can’t leave until I check. I may never get another chance to find her.”

Ethan hesitates, urgency warring with sympathy in his expression. He turns to his men. “Get the Angels out of here.”

“Boss?” Walt hesitates. “We have to get to exfil.”

“Take the Angels. I’m going with Rebel.”

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