Page 91 of Dark Sold Mate

Silas gave Carter a squeeze on the shoulder. “So what do you say? Will you help me find her?”

“Yes.” Carter nodded. “Yes, I’ll help.”

“Good. Then let’s move.”

Rael and Javi came back, empty-handed, as Silas had expected. “He got away. He was a professional. Knew perfectly where he was going.

“Then we leave him, in the meantime,” Silas stated. “Our priority is Elle.”

The bond lingered at the back of Silas’s mind. Elle was far away now, much farther than she should be if she’d just wandered a short distance from the clearing.

And underneath the distance, Silas felt something else. Her magic was focused on something that grabbed all her attention.

“She is following something,” Silas stated. “Her power pulled her away from here. Following some sort of trail.”

“What kind of trail?” August asked.

“I don’t know. But we need to find her before something happens.” He turned to Silas. “Where is Northeastwards?

“Around a hundred yards away. But there is a path through the thicket of the forest that leads to an old industrial building.”

“Why does it all have to be fucking industrial?” Javi muttered under his breath, walking alongside Silas as Carter led them into what seemed like more and more unknown land.

“There is something you should know,” Carter said, after ten minutes or so of walking. “About the building we’re heading to.”

“What about it?” Silas demanded.

“My father... he said there are occasions when buildings are used in the operation. For storage. For...” Carter swallowed hard. “To keep women before they’re moved to another location.”

Silas’s blood ran cold. Elle was on her way to one of the places that the trafficking operation works from. Alone. Most likely, going into danger without support. “Let’s move faster.”

They moved with enhanced shifter speed now, Carter struggling to keep up until August simply picked him up and carried him. The boy directed them through complicated shortcuts that shaved precious minutes off their travel time.

And all the while, Silas felt Elle getting closer. Not because she was coming back toward them, but because they were catching up to where she’d gone.

The bond pulsed stronger. Silas felt her shock, fear and determination. He knew that she had discovered something important.

“There,” Carter pointed. “The building is right behind these trees.”

They walked into the trees, and Silas’s worst fears came true.

A large warehouse lay in front of them with a number of buildings, some in good condition, others in poor condition. There was one building, the biggest, the one at the center, which had blacked out windows.

There were also dozens of cars around. More than required for a simple industrial area.

“It is an auction,” Rael spoke.

Silas growled low. It was the largest group of traffickers that they had ever seen, and Elle found it alone.

“Where is she?” August asked, his eyes looking around.

Silas shut his eyes and focused on the bond. Elle’s presence was so powerful that he could nearly feel it.

“She is there,” his eyes flickered open, nodding at a spot close to the main building. “She is on the west side.”

They all went closer, relying on the darkness and their training in order to go unnoticed. They took another step closer, and after a moment, Silas was able to see her—Elle, cowering behind a dumpster looking directly at the entrance to the building.

The relief that filled him was so great that it almost knocked him down. She was alive. Unharmed. Safe.