Page 45 of Dark Sold Mate

“At what cost?” Silas demanded. “Her sanity? Her wellbeing? And how many times do you plan to make her experience her trauma over and over again before you feel satisfied?”

“As many times as it takes!”

The room went silent. Even Javi appeared to be surprised at what he had said.

Before anyone could do anything, Silas's fist connected with Javi's jaw.

Javi stumbled back. He touched his split lip and stared at the blood on his fingers.

“Silas!” Rael stood up, immediately placing himself between his brothers.

Silas walked towards Javi, his wolf barely contained beneath his skin. “Say that again. I dare you.”

Javi straightened, his own wolf rising to meet the challenge. “You want to fight me? Fine. Let's—”

“Stop it.” Rael pushed Silas back and turned around to face Javi. “Both of you, stop it. This isn't helping.”

“He wants to use Elle as a tool,” Silas argued, not taking his eyes off Javi.

“You protect her, and our pack collapses,” Javi replied.

“Trust me, I want to save everybody,” Silas growled. “Including Elle. Or have you forgotten that this was all about protecting everybody and not only to cover up the reputation of our pack, but to protect and save the women who are trafficked? When did we lose sight of that?”

Javi's jaw worked. “We haven't lost sight of anything. But we cannot do anything unless we can locate them.”

“And we cannot find them by destroying Elle in the process.”

Rael held up his hands. “Enough. Both of you, sit down.”

Neither brother moved.

“I said sit down,” Rael repeated, his voice piercing the tension. “We're a team, and we work together.”

Silas slowly sat down next to Elle, and Javi dropped into his chair after.

“Let's approach this rationally,” Rael said. “Elle, you have magic. The magic of getting visions, from what you've described. That's valuable information. But forcing you to use it before you understand it could be dangerous, both for you and for the accuracy of the information you provide.”

Elle nodded, looking grateful for Rael's measured approach.

“So here's what I propose,” Rael continued. “We leave Elle to discover her magic herself. No pressure. No compelling her to go to traumatic places. When she feels ready enough to try to use her visions to assist with the investigation, she will tell us.”

“But that could take weeks,” Javi objected. “Months, even.”

“Then so be it. This operation has been under investigation for half a year. We can afford to be more patient.”

Silas felt the tension in his body ease a bit at this. Trust Rael to find a middle ground.

“In the meantime,” Rael continued. “We will make use of what Elle has told us. The way the handlers look, the description of the warehouse location, the vehicle's half license plate number. That's more than we had before.”

August, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up. “I think it's important to be clear about this. Elle has already done a lot. She owes nobody anything.”

“I know that,” Javi turned to face him. “I'm not trying to use her. I'm just trying to save people.”

“You mean save them and break Elle in the process?”

Javi glanced at Elle and noticed the tiredness in her red-rimmed eyes and how anxious she looked.

“I'm sorry,” he apologized. “I pushed too hard. Again.”