Page 68 of Lay It Bare

Rei. Sevastyan hadn’t just had a slave. Pieces clicked over and locked into place inside Ellisandre’s mind. Sevastyan had had Rei, Jun’s long-lost member, the original leader of PentaNow. Sevastyan had gotten Jun off the mountain already knowing Rei.

The taller man growled in the back of his throat.

Rei’s eyes fluttered. He raised a hand towards Ellisandre. “Don’t hurt Lisa.” He switched to Russian. “Lisa, don’t . . . hurt . . . Ellisandre.”

“He’s going into shock,” Ellisandre snapped in the same language. “Cushions, now. We need to elevate his feet.”

The other slave, Lisa, or Fox, lurched up and grabbed cushions from the couch. His leg dragged and was shaking. Ellisandre frowned. From the look of the man, he’d taken multiple blows to the head, face, and torso. His balance was off. He fell as he approached, catching himself on one hand and swayed as he shook his head, blinking fast. Ellisandre took the cushions, pushing them under Rei’s legs. “Stay with him.” At least that would keep one injured man from hurting himself more by occupying him with the first. They needed to examine both men, but before that, if they were going to have a chance in hell of keeping this incident under the radar, they needed to move the bodies in the staircase.

“Medic.” Lisa tapped his chest.

“Do you have supplies?”

Lisa nodded. Now that he didn’t appear to think he was going to have to fight, he was dropping fast.

“Get started.” Ellisandre stood. “I’ll be back.”

They stood and went out the door, pushing call on Sevastyan’s number in their phone. Still no answer.

The bodies were heavy, and they were a couple of floors above level eight. There were cameras outside of Unit 2’s door to disable. Each moment was a risk. By the time Ellisandre had finished stacking the bodies in the living room, Lisa had crawled between the bedroom and the living room, returning with a first aid kit. He had Rei’s shirt off, revealing more burn scars down the shorter man’s side. The two of them were tending each other with a familiarity that spoke of experience, not just with each other, but with wounds. Now and then one or the other would close their eyes and lean in, gathering their strength.

Ellisandre pressed their lips together. The possibility of concussions for both of them were high. They checked the door and locked it, then approached the two men slowly, sinking down to one knee only when they were both aware of their presence. Lisa still had the knife on him.

“Sevastyan is not answering,” Ellisandre said.

Rei nodded, then straightened up. “He didn’t answer me either. That’s why I called you. He said . . . if I couldn’t reach him. If . . . if someone was coming for Jun . . . ” Rei’s voice trailed off. His eyes were wide and his breath was starting to come fast again. Lisa gripped his arm and said something in what sounded like Chinese. Rei grimaced and nodded, visibly getting a hold on himself.

Ellisandre fished out their phone and called Alice. The young woman answered on the first ring.

“I’m going to be out, possibly all night.”

“Everything all right?” Alice asked.

“It will be,” Ellisandre said. “I’m going to call in a team to take you home. You can finish with the curtains. It’s safe.”

“Okay.” Alice sounded hesitant.

“Later,” Ellisandre said. “Don’t go anywhere until the team is there. I’ll have the lead call you.”

“Understood.”

Ellisandre hung up.

“Are you Merchari?” Lisa asked.

“I hunt people like the Merchari,” Ellisandre answered. They shot off a text to call in a team for Alice and Dana. It would take time to get them on site. Until then, Alice and Dana still had the protection that was kept on The Residency twenty-four seven. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“No.” Lisa spread antiseptic across a cut on Rei’s cheek. The bruise was going to be deep and painful. “We’re Merchari slaves, not Merchari.”

So Lisa was a slave also. Ellisandre had guessed as much. “Is Sevastyan also your master?”

“He’s . . .”

Rei put his hand on Lisa. “We’re taking care of him.”

That “we” sounded suspiciously like Rei identifying with Sevastyan.

Lisa didn’t deny the assertion. He stayed focused on pulling the two sides of the cut on Rei’s cheek together with a butterfly bandage.