Page 45 of Vows of Ruin

“One of them is the man who was here with Sebastian,” Hunter says. “The other one says she wants to talk. Says you’ll know her name. I don’t think she’s wrong.”

I step forward, my voice cold steel. “Put them in the basement. Secure them. No one else gets access.”

“Yes, Miss Wrenley,” Hunter says. “See you soon.”

The line goes dead. Liam pockets the phone. Elias is already closing laptops, Margot muttering something sharp under her breath as she pulls up security feeds.

I glance around the room at my people, my family. “We leave in twenty minutes.”

Chapter Nineteen

Reaper

We file into the basement like a storm front, silent, heavily charged with everything we’re holding back. The concrete walls are cold, but it’s not the temperature that makes the space feel brutal; it’s the memories. I clock the steel chairs, the chains, the blood that still stains the floor from last time. And the two waiting for us, who look like they already regret everything.

Max leans against the far wall, arms crossed, a jagged tension radiating off him. Torque, Wrecker, Elias, Riot… they’re all here, forming a perimeter like wolves circling prey. It’s Wrenley who commands the room. Her presence cuts sharper than the dagger spinning lazily around her fingers. She hasn’t said a word yet. She doesn’t have to.

The man in the chair tenses as I step forward and crouch in front of him.

“Remember me?” I ask calmly. He nods. I tilt my head, nodding toward Wrenley. “Remember her?’

His eyes dart nervously toward her. She doesn’t blink. She doesn’t even flinch. Just spins the dagger faster.

“You say anything she doesn’t like…” I lean in, letting the promise settle between us. “Well. You know how that’ll end.”

The woman seated next to him, barely more than a girl, looks like she might piss herself. I glance at her next. “Use your imagination.”

She nods, eyes wide and glassy.

I step back and let Wrenley take her place in front of them. She’s a queen wearing the weight of war in her bones. No mercy. No hesitation.

She plants herself in front of the man. “Name.”

“Matthew,” he answers quickly.

Wrenley shifts her eyes to the girl. “And you?”

“Jessa,” the girl whispers.

Wrenley nods once and tilts her head, a slow, terrifying smile creeping across her lips.

“Good,” she says, low and dangerous. “Now let’s talk about why you decided to walk into my world.”

Matthew clears his throat. “Look… when Sebastian approached me, I thought it was about money. Said his sister stole from the wrong people, and he needed help making it right.”

Elias snorts from the back. “Clearly, you’re not very good at this. Your forgery work is amateur.”

Matthew winces. “I was sloppy on purpose. Once I started seeing what he was actually about, what he really wanted, I left a paper trail. I’ve been waiting for you to find it. If you hadn’t found all of that, and the questions it raised, you wouldn’t have let me in here. You would have killed me on sight. But you want answers, and I… I need help.”

Wrenley eyes him carefully. “Hmm.”

I move again, stepping toward Jessa. “And you?” I ask. “Where do you fit in?”

Her voice trembles. “I was… I do work at the House of Silk?’

Wrenley narrows her eyes. “And what does that mean?”

Jessa takes a shaky breath. “It’s not just a brothel anymore, not since Sebastian came around. It’s a breeding and sex slave house. Rich men go there… not just for sex, but to create offspring. They pick girls for their looks, their intelligence, and their family lines. It’s…sick. It’s about control. Legacy. And…” her voice trails off.