As we head down towards the basement, Rion keeps watch for anyone that may have followed us.
Kai rips open the large metal doors and pulls me inside, Rion following swiftly behind.
Once the door is shut, Kai places a kiss on my hand before letting it go. Giving me a smile before making his way over to Axel and the small wooden table they have pushed against the back wall.
Rubbing my hand and the spot Kai kissed, I move further into the small, cramped space full of loud hanging pipes and dust. An old pipe above us pops and hisses, making me wince at its screech.
“It’s not ideal, but it does the job,” Rion says from beside me, making me jump.
“Make yourself at home.” Giving me a knowing smile, he moves past me to follow Kai.
Looking around, I see crates of dusty boxes haphazardly thrown against the walls to make an open area for them to sit. A set of mismatched chairs and stools have been thrown together to make a small lounge area.
Luka, Jax and Luna are huddled together, talking. The affection in their eyes makes me envious of the love they share, knowing and feeling those same tender glances, once upon a time.
Glancing back at the door, I wonder if I could sneak out of here while they’re distracted. Then they could all forget about trying to help me and just focus on getting themselves and Luna away from here.
I’m more trouble than I am worth, carrying a truckload at this stage.
Edging backwards, I’m about to make my move when Luka spots me, alerting Jax to my presence.
“Kiarra!” Jax rushes over and envelops me into a tight hug. I deflate, as my plan crumbles to the floor.
He brushes his cheek against mine, making me feel safe and warm.
“We should never have let you go on your own.” He pulls back, checking me over for any injuries and relaxing when he finds none.
“I’m a big girl, Jax. I can look after myself.”
He shakes his head, a slight curve to his lips.
“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” He pulls back, moving a hand to the side of my face. The longer he looks, the bigger his frown grows. “You okay?”
I swallow hard, giving him a slight nod.
His frown deepens, not believing a moment of it.
“My turn.” Luka appears from behind him, pushing Jax out of the way and embracing me.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” he whispers in my ear.
I’m not, but I can’t tell him that, nor any of them. Once I convince them to drop their crazy plan to try to help me and get out of here, Kaladar will hunt me down, I’m sure of it. And that’s without what King will do when Kaladar tells him of my disobedience.
Keeping them far away from all that is for the best.
I couldn’t live with myself if I dragged them into my mess.
Glancing over his shoulder, I find Luna watching us with a hesitant look on her face.
Why couldn’t I just get my shit under control?
I try to pull away from Luka, to change the subject and hopefully the thick blanket of emotion in the air, but his grip tightens.
Pulling back slightly but not letting go, he gives me a confused look. Seeing something in my eyes, he gives me a soft smile. Gently squeezing my hand, he takes a step back.
Luna hesitantly steps forward. She looks much better, her eyes brighter and her cheeks rosy with colour. Moving closer she fidgets with her new dress. Blinking back unshed tears, she gives me a tender smile.
“Thank you, Kiarra. For getting me away from that cruel monster.”
I glance at Luka and Jax, not knowing what to say. How was this not weird?
Both were wearing warm smiles as they watch Luna express her gratitude. Maybe I was overthinking this? The girl just wanted to say thanks, that’s all.
I clear my throat, trying to look her in the eye without feeling guilty. “I’m glad I could help.”
Her tentative smile falls as she looks down. “Did he hurt you? After I left?”
The guy’s tense around me. The jovial mood in the room drops as they look me over for injuries they would never find, my ability healing all of my wounds by now.
Physically, I was in complete health. Emotionally and mentally, I was beyond drained.
Just a little longer.
“I’m fine.”
Rion and Luka narrow their eyes at my reply, neither confirming nor denying Luna’s question.
I give them a sharp look, telling them to drop whatever was about to spill from their lips.
Jax, oblivious to our little squabble, gives Luna a big smile before looking at me.
“Kiarra, we never got to properly introduce you to our cousin Luna.”
Time moves to a crawl as Jax’s words hit me.
What?
“Cousin?”
Luka gives me a strange look. “Yes, Luna is family.”
Jax pulls her into him. She swats him away playfully. “Can’t you see the resemblance?”
My shocked expression must have said no.
Luka frowns, glancing from Luna to me before something dawns on him. “You thought…”
Clearing my throat, I cut him off before any further embarrassment is revealed. Jax looks between the two of us, questioning what’s going on.
“So, what are you guys doing down here?” I say it loud enough to draw the attention of the rest of the guys over to us.
Kai, Axel and Rion make their way over to us, cutting off whatever Luka was going to say next.
Luka’s eyes narrow, taking a step closer. Leaning forward, he whispers just loud enough for us both to hear.
“We’ll talk about this later.”
Clearing my throat, I look away, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks. I would rather take a punch to the head than have that conversation. The humiliation of it alone, making me cringe.
“Kaladar hasn’t just closed off the hotel, he’s placed the whole city on lockdown. No one is allowed in or out.”
Kai’s little reveal dismisses any embarrassment, reminding me of the threat at hand. Only Kaladar would take it a step further and lock down the whole damn city.
Jax and Luka start stressing out. “He’s going to find Luna if we don’t get her out of here soon.”
Jax tucks her further under his arm, as if holding her close enough will keep her safe from any harm.
“How were you originally getting her out?” I ask.
“We were going to say we had to leave early, and she was going to come back with us when we left.” Luka shrugs.
“Not the best of plans, but after the… agreement was complete. We… em… would have no reason to stick around.”
“So, you were going to fuck me and then… leave? Nice.” Fucking boys. But the best option for all involved.
Luka cringes along with the rest of the guys, realising what he was admitting. Axel just rolls his eyes like the dick he is.
“That was befor—”
“Forget about it, it’s not like I haven’t had a one-night stand before.”
Anger spears through the room as their glares narrow on me.
Ignoring their little temper tantrum, I focus on finding another way out for Luna.
“Would that not still work? Say you have to leave, something important came up back home and then sneak her out?” It shouldn’t be too far-fetched with them only taking over.
Kai shakes his head, still looking pissed. “It would bring too much suspicion to us. Wanting to leave when they’ve just gone into lockdown? No, we’ll have to come up with something else, and fast. We don’t have much time.”
Luna looks up at Jax as her body trembles.
“I can’t go back, please?” Luna desperately pleads to him, as she begins to cry.
Luka pulls her from Jax, enveloping her into a hug.
“We need to get her out of here.” He gives each of the guys a determined look.
Luka’s right. If Kaladar finds her this time, she would be lost forever. He doesn’t take too well to his possessions being disobedient. She’d be dead within the day.
Just as Luna reaches up to wipe her face, my heart drops to my stomach as I spot the small triangle that has just made this clusterfuck a whole hell of a lot worse.
“Fuck.” The whispered word slips out of my mouth, making the guys freeze.
“What is it?” Kai demands as Axel and Rion look around for any trouble.
I run a hand down my face, thinking of the implications of this. Any plan they might have had to get her out is ruined. There’s no way she’s going anywhere with King’s trace on her.
“He’s tagged her.”
The guys share a puzzled frown. “What the fuck is a tag?”
Stepping forward, I hesitantly reach out, aware of how moving too quick could cause a trigger from the trauma she’s endured and hold up Luna’s arm.
Giving her a reassuring smile, I gently turn her, showing the guys the small red triangular like tattoo just above her elbow.
“What the fuck is that?” Axel’s voice raises, making Luna jump.
“Luna?” Luka questions her softly.
“I… I… don’t…” Luna looks completely lost. She probably didn’t even realize she had it.
“He more than likely did it when she was unconscious.” This makes the guys angrier, a flash of rage burning through the room.
I continue, ignoring their animosity, knowing it’s not directed towards me. “If she tries to leave the city borders, she’s as good as dead.”
They needed to know the implication of their actions should they try to leave now. Luna’s life was on the line, after all.
“Fuck!”
“How do you know this?” Axel demands, still ever suspicious of my motives.
I shrug like it’s an everyday thing to know, but the guys don’t live in the Cardinal Three. They don’t know how King rules with fear and the threat of torture, should you defy him.
“Everyone in the city has one.”
“That has to be illegal?” Luka asks.
Jax shakes his head. “It’s fucked up, is what it is.”
I shrug. He’s gotten away with so much worse. “It’s his city. King likes to keep an eye on who comes and goes.”
Kai steps forward, his lips taut with a look of fury in his eyes. “You mean including you? Is this similar to how you’re tied to the building and why you can’t leave?”
“Tied to the what?” Luka asks, looking baffled.
Jax’s head whips from Kai to me. “What do you mean you can’t leave?”
Rion’s eyes turn sad, his shoulders dropping as if realizing something.
“She’s tagged as well, aren’t you? But instead of just the city, you can’t leave the hotel. You’re trapped here.”
I open my mouth to reply, but no words come out. Hearing someone else tell me my caged status hits me hard.
“How long have you had the tag?” Jax asks, a frantic look in his eyes, but I don’t know what to tell him. The truth would only hurt more.
“Jax—”
“No…” Luka steps back, his eyes wide in horror that quickly turns to devastation.
Their shared anguish rips through me. I never blamed them. It was never their fault King took me and trapped me here. I was just glad they were safely away from him.
“It doesn’t matter, none of this matters.” Hashing up things from the past wasn’t going to help anyone. We still needed to get Luna out and Alan—
“HOW LONG?” Jax’s roar vibrates around me, making me wince at the pain in his voice. He stares at me with so much rage, I can see the flames alight in his eyes. His breaths ragged, his eyes wide.
“How long?” he asks again, softly this time, but it’s deceiving, the rage in his eyes still full of promised chaos and destruction.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I give him his answer. “Since I came here… six years ago… right after I… left.”
Well, after I was kidnapped, but considering their reaction, adding that little titbit wouldn’t go down too well.
A bomb could go off and I didn’t think the guys would notice. I open my eyes finding each of them wearing a variety of shock and despair so heavy, I could feel it in the air around us.
Luka moves over to the dusty grey sofa, plopping down. His head falls into his hands as he grips his hair tight.
Jax’s rage builds and builds until he looks more beast than man, his face shifting and contorting, threatening to let his wolf take over.
Kai and Rion share a look of sadness so swift, it looks like someone had sucker punched them.
And Axel. Axel’s expression shocks me most of all.
His face is drawn, his eyes holding years of torment in a single glance.
“You said you had a way… a way out?” Kai asks me, his words drawn out as he avoids looking me in the eye.
Jax freezes, his beast holding off for the moment. “What way out?”
Luka looks puzzled. “And you haven’t used it?”
“It’s—”
Axel whips out before I have a chance to finish. “Don’t say complicated. I’m sure we can keep up.”
I release a tired sigh. “I’ve been working on it for a while. A way to… detangle the spell he used. I get one shot at it and that’s it. The ingredients alone were extremely hard to find and took me months to get hold of.”
“You said Friday?” Kai confirms, finally looking at me.
I nod. “I have everything in place for then.”
“Good, you’re going to go ahead with your plan and get the hell out of here.”
“What? No! What about Luna?” I look at him, like he’s crazy because if he thinks I’m going to just up and leave Luna here, he really doesn’t know me at all. None of them were tagged. They could leave anytime, but Luna no longer had that choice.
“We can hide out somewhere, wait until the heat dies down and then figure out how to remove the tag.”
I shake my head. “That’s not an option. There’s not a place in this city Luna can hide without King finding her. Once he gets back and Kaladar gets to him, she’ll be found in seconds. She needs to leave as soon as possible.”
The gravity of the situation hits the guys at once, turning them silent. Luna sniffles, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s all my fault. I am so sorry. You should go and leave me. I can handle it.”
Jax’s reply is heated. “No fucking way are any of us leaving you here, Luna. Cut that shit out!”
“But he’ll find you the longer you stay.”
She wasn’t wrong. Kaladar would soon find them.
“We can take care of ourselves,” Luka tells her, avoiding looking at me.
Luna looks desperately to me. “Maybe Kiarra has a way to also take off my tag?”
Her face is full of hope, making me pause. Maybe…
“Luna… she can’t…” Luka glances from me to her. But she’s not wrong. I could ask Jazmyn.
“Of course… I’m sorry for asking…” Luna dips her head, walking away to curl up into a chair. My heart dips, seeing her hopeful mood turn sombre.
“The spell should allow for another person.” I mean, it definitely allows for two, but it might allow for a third. I’d have to ask Jazmyn, but it could work.
Luka gives me a revered look that makes me uncomfortable. He shakes his head, a small smile playing on his lips.
Jax storms over. “No! We shouldn’t even be asking this of you. It’s too much. Especially after what we…” The anger falls from his face, turning to one of misery.
“After we left you here. Luna has spent a couple of weeks and look at her. Kiarra’s been here for six fucking years!”
“She hasn’t a scratch on her.” Axel frowns, looking me over.
Jax’s eyes glow as his wolf fights to be free once more. “You’re blind if you can’t see the pain in her eyes. We have no idea what she’s been through.”
The guys look at me, searching for any hint of pain or darkness. But they wouldn’t find it, not on the surface. It was mine and mine alone.
“We have no right to ask anything of you.”
“Jax, I’m fine.” I force a small chuckle trying to make light of the situation.
“I’ve basically just been grounded for six years.”
“Don’t lie to us or yourself.”
His words hit harder than if he had slapped me.
“I’m—” I shake my head, more at myself than them. What was I supposed to tell them? That I was broken beyond repair? That King had left scars much worse than the physical torture I’d endured?
I didn’t want to see the pity in their eyes when they found out the truth, or the guilt for blame they didn’t own.
“Look, forget about the past, it doesn’t matter—”
“Like hell—” Jax starts, but we’ve wasted enough time here. Finding out Luna was tagged changed everything. I needed to get to Jazmyn as soon as possible.
“I have to go. I can ask my contact about adding Luna to the spell.” I give Luna a warm smile.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Be ready for Friday.”
She smiles, thanking me.
I turn toward the door when someone reaches out and grabs my arm from behind.
“Where are you going?” Jax demands. The guys are right behind him, their furious eyes asking the same thing.
“I have a couple of errands that can’t wait.”
“Stay here, it’s safer, or let us go with you,” Luka pleads with me.
“I can’t hold up here. If we’re leaving Friday, I have things I have to do before then.”
“What if Kaladar finds you?”
“He won’t. I’ll make sure of it. I know my way around this building like the back of my hand. I’ve been here long enough.”
Guilty expressions are mirrored on the guys’ faces.
“Let us help you,” Luka pleads.
“No need, I have it sorted.” I give him a reassuring smile.
“Kiarra, come on?” Luka pleads again.
“Once we get her trace sorted, you can all leave.”
Kai’s eyes narrow. “With you, you mean? I told you, we’re not going anywhere, not again.”
“Kai—”
“Go do what you have to and be careful,” Kai says, ending the conversation.
“You’re our mate, Kiarra. We’re not going to leave you in this hellhole,” Luka says.
I swallow the hard lump in my throat, not able to reply to their declaration. Turning around, I quickly make my way out of the basement, not looking back. Knowing if I did, I wouldn’t want to leave.
Luna now depends on me. Getting her and Alana both safely out of the city is my main priority.
I need to stay focused. We’re so close to reaching the end of that dark tunnel.
The thought alone of us all being free from King’s grasp gives me so much more than a future.
It gives me hope.
