Page 106 of Inextricably Tied

It’s why she’d thought they switched seats upstairs. The table showed her Diction at the head, until suddenly, Char was there instead.

What the fuck have they stumbled into? Harbinger grapples for Agony again, but the connection is submerged, only bubbles screaming to the surface.

“It wasn’t Vesta’s pack using the girls to get stronger,” she pants. “It was the Broadleafs. We have to get out of here.”

“Harbin…”

Sensations pound through her. Every part of her is trapped: her body, her mind, her senses, forced to reckon with new horrors and haunting memories.

“Harbin…”

She jerks against the chains. Panting, straining until her body gives out under the reality of where they are. What this means.

What happens next.

“I’m sorry…” A tear slips down her cheek, splattering against the dirt. “I made us do this. I should have —”

“Harbinger.” Flint’s voice is the only steady thing she can cling to. “You are not going to die here. We will get out. Agony will come.”

She wants to believe it so badly, to trust that they’ll make it as they always have. All that reckless energy burns straight out of her at seeing Flint trapped like this. She wishes she could reach him, slip her hand in his, squeeze him tighter than she ever has. Desperate for the weight of his body against her, his solid pulse under her fingers. “How can you know that?”

There’s a long moment before Flint answers. “Because I trust him. And I trust you.”

It must be night by now. Every passing moment makes her shiver, cold seeping into her bones as the chains jitter. Above them, the lock clinks against the doors. Harbinger digs her fingers into the dirt and tries to stop her body from shaking.

A shadow appears. Harbinger’s heart leaps — but it’s just Char with a lantern, clicking on the cellar light again.

“Rise and shine! Hate to cut this short, but…” He tugs a tarp from the corner shelf. Harbinger’s stomach turns. “We’ve got other shit to do.”

“Killing more girls?” Flint’s tone has no levity. It doesn’t stop Char’s smile as he deposits the tarp next to Flint.

“If it makes you feel better, we weren’t the ones taking them.”

“That was Reid’s contribution, huh?” Harbinger fights down the fear souring her stomach. “I don’t get it. You have such a hard on for power, and this is the best you could come up with?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Char yanks another tarp from the shelf, nudging it toward her with his foot. “This way, we all win.”

“Except the fucking girls.” Harbinger’s chains clink as she struggles. “Except Diction and every other member of your pack that didn’t get on board with murdering people. Children.”

Char stops rolling out the tarp beside Harbinger. “You know about that?” He considers it, setting a vial of phoenix fire on the shelf. “So they were right about your little power.”

His grin crawls under Harbinger’s skin. “Who’s ‘they’?”

“The Broadleafs he sent to keep an eye on us.” Flint’s voice is dark. Char unrolls the tarp past Harbinger’s body. Her mind whirs, but Flint looks certain. “You set Reid’s house on fire.”

“We should’ve done it sooner.” Char lifts Harbinger’s torso as he tugs the tarp beneath her, avoiding any attempts to land her teeth in him. “The OID had already cleared the house when we got there. We knew they’d fuck up the investigation, but they kept eyes on Reid’s place for a couple months. They didn’t find anything with their tools, but then they called you in as reinforcements.”

The tarp beneath Harbinger extends in all directions. Char catches her looking. “For the spatter,” he explains.

Flint fights against his chains. They don’t budge, kicking up dirt around him.

“Those held an Alpha,” Char calls over his shoulder. “Don’t think you’re getting out of them.”

The tarp crunches under Harbinger, a new layer of cold that makes her teeth chatter. Where is Agony? Her bare face touches down against the tarp, a memory spreading out before her.

“I’m just a little confused.” Reid stands by the stairs in the cellar as Char packs tarps onto the shelf. Dust stirs at the movement. Reid cleans his glasses on his shirt. “You said if I brought the girls, I’d be your new Alpha.”

“And you will.” Char doesn’t bother to look at him. “But we have to get the pack in fighting shape for you. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Bring the girls, we’ll bond them, and once the ties are solid, you can kill them. You get to satisfy your urges, and we get a stronger pack. Everybody wins.”