Page 17 of Midnight Sanctuary

“Say it.” His voice is curt and robotic. Colder than ice. Nothing has ever been more emotionless.

“Polly and I were left in that cell for hours, maybe longer, before two men came down with food for us. They were Russian.”

He rolls his eyes and turns to leave.

“Wait! They had this conversation in Russian and I couldn’t understand it—but Polly could.”

Uri pauses, halfway turned toward the stairs. “Did she tell you what they said?”

I nod, desperately hoping that this information is going to help find her. “They were planning on selling her. Auctioning her off to the highest bidder.”

“And?”

I stop short.And?That’s it!Why can’t I remember anything else?My body heats up and my palms start sweating. “Th-that’s all she told me.”

He grinds his teeth together. “Did the Russians mentionwhothey were planning on selling her to?”

My heart sinks. “No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I… I can’t remember anything else. The drug… Dr. Popov said my memory would be hazy.”

“So what you’re telling me is that you’re useless right now.”

“Now that you know what they took her for, can’t you… narrow it down? Maybe…” I trail off when I see the murderous glint in his eyes.

He advances on me, huge and terrifying. “Do you know how many sex slave rings exist in the underbelly of this city? How many warehouses and empty buildings hide auctions of men wagering on scared, helpless women? How many doors I’d have to kick down just to get close, and how fast they move and scatter at the slightest sign of an intruder? By the time we narrow it down… it’ll betoo fucking late.”

Every single word he throws at me hurts worse than the last. I flinch against his anger—but I make myself stand my ground, because Ideservehis anger. I deserve his hate.

This is all my fault.

My fault.

My fault.

“Fucking hell,” he growls. “Coming down here was a waste of my time.”

He turns to leave again but I reach out and grab his arm. It’s a knee-jerk reaction that surprises me as much as it does him. He looks down at my hand on his arm before his gaze veers up to mine.

“Uri, please,” I say desperately, “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I—”

He rips his arm free. “What the hell do you want from me, Alyssa?”

I cringe. WhatdoI want from him? Those eyes of his are weapons in their own right. “I want… I want you to stay.”

For a moment, I think he’s trying to hug me. Then his fingers twist into the hair at the back of my head and I realize what he’s really trying to do. I wince as he yanks my head back and glares down at me.

“‘Stay’?” he growls, his face only inches from mine. I should be terrified but strangely, his proximity is making it easy to ignore my fear. “I can barely evenlookat you.”

My throat is a solid brick, every breath an agonizing effort. “I know this is my fault,” I whisper to him. “And I would do anything to make it right. I’d take her place if I could.”

Something ripples across his face. I barely catch it before his lips fall hard on mine. It’s the most violent kiss we’ve ever shared. It tastes like salt and desperation, like anger and pain. I lap it all up, absorbing it all, dreading the moment when it will end.

And it does end, a second later. When he lets go and glares down at me as though I just tricked him into doing what he chose to do himself.

“No.No.You’re not doing this to me anymore. You want to fuck something?” he hisses. “Go fuck your toys.”

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