The double doors closed behind me with a clack. The locks engaged, right before panic descended. I stumbled to the wall, bracing myself as the hallway blurred. My breaths were hard, strangled fucking things that I forced out until the harsh, heaving rasp was all I heard.
What the fuck was I thinking?
She shouldn’t be here.
Not in this place.
Not with me.
I closed my eyes. I wasn’t me when I was here.
I was…someone else.
Someone dangerous.
Dangerous for her.
Goosebumps raced along my spine, until I remembered the cameras watching. Without lifting my gaze, I dropped my hand and straightened my shoulders, then kept on walking, forcing myself to focus.
I needed to keep her quiet.
Just until I could get this shipment of Daughters done…and out of here.
Because they were the only thing that mattered.
The only thing that’d lead me to Hale.
My cell vibrated. Jaw muscles bulged as I lifted the damn thing and saw the caller ID. Kane. “Not now,” I snarled, slipping the phone back into my pocket, and headed back along the hall to my office.
White painted doors.
The name they called me printed in black block letters.
The Principal.
I hated that fucking name.
Hated this entire business.
Still, I never let that show as I slipped the key into the lock and stepped inside. One quick scan of my office and I moved around my desk and eased into my seat. This room was bugged. That I knew, with hidden cameras and microphones. There were few places here hidden from prying eyes. One of those places had occupied my focus for the last two weeks, from the moment Hale’s body had been pulled from that river. A body I now knew wasn’t his.
I needed to return to that office, to keep looking for any hint of where he’d disappeared to…later.
Right now, I had a truckload of Daughters headed my way.
I reached forward, clutched the mouse, and logged into my computer, bringing up the tracking information sent to my email.
19 assets en route.
Assets.
I winced at the word. Something living, breathing…created for no purpose other than our whims, reduced to one simple term asset. That’s all these women were to men like Hale. And I was the one who made them that way.
My hand shook as I grabbed the mouse and clicked the link, opening up the GPS map. A red light blinked, moving closer to the compound not more than an hour away. An hour. That’s all I had.
A fucking hour.
I pushed up from my chair and glanced at the map one last time before I turned and walked out.
A fucking hour.
An hour before, the Daughters were here, and Harmon’s men with them. Men I couldn’t trust. My strides lengthened as I headed for the fucking place in this hell I needed to be, the only place I needed to be. Hallways blurred. Rage writhed under my skin like a serpent desperate to shed its skin. Maybe I was aching to reveal my true nature and murder every last one of them.
I slammed my card against the scanner, then pushed through the doors. How many times have I been here? Scouring through every fucking scrap of paper and file he’d left behind. I was so desperate to find anything that might lead me to the black site he’d kept hidden.
A black site he was now at…
And the one where he kept our sister hostage.
How many children had he forced her to breed?
How many familiar faces would one day stare back at me.
My steps faltered at the thought. I pressed my card against the scanner on his door, then pushed through. On the outside, the room looked perfect and neat. That’s what you were supposed to see. What you weren’t was the remnant of the fingerprint dust as I’d scoured every inch of this room.
Still, I’d come up with nothing.
No address.
Nothing I could use to track back to the one fucking person who could put an end to this.
Haelstrom Hale.
I strode around the desk, glancing at my watch as I logged in. There had to have been information sent to his email, a location where this shipment of women was headed…anything. I scanned Hale’s inbox, finding a few irrelevant emails about various houses he’d shown an interest in buying, but nothing else. Still, I jotted down the addresses, typing them out in a text message I sent to The Hunter.
If nothing else, it kept him moving, like a shark circling its prey.
We’d find him.
One way or another…then we’d find her.
I logged off and rose, wincing as my cell vibrated again. Kane’s name flashed across the screen. I hit the button to send it to voicemail as I pulled the door closed behind me. By the time I strode to the back dock and opened the door, greeting my head of security with a careful nod, thirty minutes had passed.
“Make sure they are secured as fast as possible,” I muttered. “I want no incidents.”
“Yes, sir,” he answered.
I pulled out my cell and texted the doctor on call. He responded instantly, telling me he was already on the way. 19 assets. That’s what we had arriving. Assets that would no doubt require medical care by the time we locked them in their cells.
Beep.
I glanced at the message from the doctor advising he and his medical team were on standby. Fuck, I hated this shit. “Get ready with the trackers,” I muttered as the call cracked over the two-way.
They’re pulling through the gate now.
My pulse raced as all thoughts turned back to the woman locked in the cell. The woman who had no place being somewhere like this, or with me, for that matter.
As the crunch of tires and the low rumble of the truck’s engine sounded, my cell vibrated once more. I didn’t even look at it this time, just stared straight ahead, sinking into that cold, empty pit inside me. The truck pulled in, then swung around, back-up lights washing over me.
Two black Explorers pulled up alongside the truck and parked before the engines died. Men with guns climbed out. I focused on the passenger-side door of the first car, on the one who didn’t seem to carry a weapon. No, he looked like he was the weapon.
He looked at the building as he adjusted his jacket, then turned and spoke to his men. I didn’t care about what he said. It was his eyes I focused on and the way he moved. Thick shoulders bunched under a tailored jacket as he turned and nodded.
His men moved instantly, like a SWAT team swarming around the truck as it reversed again and braked to a stop. I expected him to head toward me, to at least give me a goddamn name. But the bastard never even looked my way. His men stepped up to the loading dock, pushing past my men with snarls and savage stares.
Walker cut me a look of rage as he was forced aside. I gave a shake of my head as the head of their outfit climbed the stairs, glancing at the truck as the rear door opened. I cleared my throat and straightened my spine.
“Astor, get them inside as soon as possible,” he commanded, staring at the Daughters as they were unloaded one by one.
Their faces blurred into one.
Terrified.
Pale.
Hands clasped, tied in front of them.
19 assets were unloaded by four guards and told to stand in front of us.
I waited for Harmon’s man to look my way, to at least give me his attention for a second. But the bastard never even acknowledged I was there, not until he took a step toward the locked external doors and turned, meeting my gaze. “I’ll require keys.”
I kept my face stony. “Walker will assist you with any access you might need during the checking-in process.”
He scowled, then stepped closer. “You’re not understanding me. We’re not here to offload the cargo and leave. We’re here to take over.”
What the fuck? Rage plunged all the way inside. “Under whose authority?”
He just gave a chuff. “Mr. Harmon’s authority. Would you prefer I call and confirm this with him?”
Harmon’s warning rose to the surface. I still believe you’re an asset, Riven…don’t cause me to think otherwise.
So, this was it?
This was him making sure I ‘got my shit together.’ I stared at the unflinching bastard and felt the ground at my feet tremble. My standing here was fragile indeed…more now than ever. “Walker,” I said, staring into the bastard’s eyes. “Give—”
“Coulter,” he answered.
“Give Coulter here your keys until you can provide him with a set of his own.”
“No,” Coulter responded, searching my stare before he lifted his hand. “I’ll take yours instead.”
I clenched my jaw as the Daughters shivered, clinging to each other as they wept. Their whimpers were all I could hear. His lips curled as I reached into my pocket and pulled my set free, handing them over.
He enjoyed this.
Let’s see how long that’d last. I watched as he turned and motioned to his men, ushering the Daughters inside. I waited for them to disappear before I spoke to Walker. “I want him watched like a fucking hawk. The moment you sense anything I can exploit, I want to know about it.”
“Will do,” he answered, leaving me as he followed them inside.
It wasn’t just Harmon I needed to be wary of now. It was everyone…everyone who wasn’t my blood…or…her.
Dark brown eyes filled my mind, until a weight dropped on my chest. Fuck. She was here…and now so were Harmon’s men.
I strode forward, pressed my card against the scanner, and followed them back into the bleak halls of The Order. Footsteps thudded as doors were opened and locked. Walker strode ahead, catching up to them and motioned to the far east wing of the building.
Their cries echoed.
A chill raced.
It was the same all over again.
All these women.
To be trained and used.
How the fuck had we gotten here?
I hung back, listening to Daughters cry out as one by one they were separated and forced into cells. They should be used to it after coming from the orphanages. But they never were. They still fought and cried, and planned to escape. None of them made it…
Not until that Banks bitch…and London’s whore.
Fuck him.
Fuck all of them who weren’t blood.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Doors to each cell were closed and locked. I risked a glance at Coulter as he watched his men before I turned and walked away. My head was thundering. My panic was out of control. I needed a tether for this madness…a connection for my tainted soul.
I needed her….
I slammed my card against the scanner and pushed through the door. Step by step, desperation grew inside me, until it was all I could do to stop from running. Boom. Boom. Boom. My pulse was a beast roaring in my head as I shoved aside the next set of doors, then turned.
The wing where I’d put her rose in the distance. I hurried, driving my card against the scanner and pushed through. Get to her. Get to her. Just fucking…get to her.
My hands clenched. My jaw was a fucking vise as I lifted my gaze to the locked door at the end of the hall. Please be there. Please, I need…I need you.
I slammed my card against the scanner, then bore down on the handle.
Thud.
I stopped.
Thud.
Staring at her as she rose from the bed and took a tentative step closer before she stopped, then scowled. “Riven?”
In a rush, I went to her, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her against me. “Fuck…I…” I closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of her hair.
Her hands fluttered against my shoulders. Still, she didn’t pull away. That was something.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I couldn’t speak, not for a long while. All I could do was hold her, pulling her all the way down in the filth of this place with me. I was destroying her, risking not just her life but now mine. Fear lifted its head. The kind of fear that made me feel unhinged. Just like I was when I was around her.
I opened my eyes and pulled away. “Nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing.” She searched my gaze. “Something happened, didn’t it?”
She saw more than I wanted her to.
More than she should…for her sake.
“There’s been a change around here. Those other men I spoke about…they’re not leaving.”
She jerked her gaze toward the door. “They’re staying?”
I gave a careful nod.
“Then you’ll need to be careful.” She met my gaze. “And ruthless.”
Ruthless. Yes, that’s exactly what I needed to be. I scowled, searching her eyes. She shouldn’t be this calm. She shouldn’t be this…controlled. An icy whisper of fate filled me. There was chaos all around me…and in the middle of it all…was her.
I reached out and clasped the back of her neck. My breaths deepened as I fell into her eyes. “Yes,” I answered. “Ruthless I can do.”
She swallowed hard. “Yes, you can.”
I felt steadier around her, more in control. That same hunger burned between us. I knew she felt it too. She grazed her bottom lip with her teeth, pinning the soft flesh in place. If I had more time… “I’ll come back tonight,” I said carefully.
“I’ll be right here.” She forced the words through clenched teeth.
I forced myself to turn around, because if I didn’t, I’d have her up against the wall…whimpering like the good fucking whore she was.
My cock hardened at the thought.
Fuck, I wasn’t doing myself any favors around this woman. My senses screamed, howling for me to turn around as I walked out of her room. I closed the door, listening to the lock click shut. She stood in the room, waiting for me. I met her stare through the glass before I was grabbed…and turned.
Rage.
Dark, barely controlled rage.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Kane snarled, shoving me against the wall.
Panic roared through me, turning me dangerous. I swung my brother around, fisting his shirt before I shoved him against the wall. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
He punched my shoulder, pushing me off. “You don’t answer your fucking calls?”
No. Not when they weren’t important.
“There were men…men who tracked us back to the rectory.”
Everything else fell away. “What? Who?”
“I don’t know,” he snarled. “We didn’t hang around to find out.”
Realization hit me like a blow. “So you came here?”
“Where the fuck else were we supposed to go?”
He scowled, searching my eyes, then glanced along the hallway. “Why are you here? This wing is closed.”
My pulse skipped, then sped. “Nothing.”
He scowled even harder. “Don’t nothing me, Riven. I know you too well.” He turned his head, glancing at the closed door.
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Don’t,” I warned.
He just shot me a glare before he moved. I lunged, grabbing his arm. “I said don’t.”
But it was too late as he slammed his card against the scanner and bore down on the handle…shoving the door wide.
“Wait!” I hissed.
He stepped inside. I had no choice but to follow. Helene was there, turned around, her back to us.
“Who the fuck is this?” Kane snarled.
Slowly, she turned around and met my brother’s stare.
The world stood still. I didn’t know what to do. Thoughts of knocking my brother out rose before I pushed them away. “It’s not—”
“Helene?” His eyes widened with terror. “What the hell are you doing here?”
