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Chapter Six

Thana wanted to rip the metal open with her bare hands, fast. She inhaled, smelling humans without the metal blocking her senses. Whoever placed them inside had used a spell to block their scents. Shit.

“Savage, there was a spell on the container,” she gasped. Her nerves stretched taut.

“I had a feeling there was something fucked up going on,” Savage muttered.

She spun, dropping the flashlight. “Holy shit. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“No, but you’re trying to get my dick put in timeout if you pull this kind of shit and I leave you on your own.”

Thana turned her head to hide her smile. She imagined Aurora grounding Savage, their Boss, from sex and the agony he’d be in for all of a day at most because they all knew Aurora couldn’t go without either.

“Let’s get these humans out and see what the fuck we’re dealing with.” Savage motioned for Scepter and her brother to move forward.

Shit, her brother came, too. She breathed a long sigh. “Let’s do it then.”

She felt their fear wash over her. Once the opening grew and it became clear they were being rescued, not harmed, that fear released, like a fist letting go of cold metal.

Thane placed his hand on the back of her neck. A brotherly gesture of love, letting her know he was there.

Once they widened the gap enough for a body to slip through, Savage went inside, followed by Scepter. She moved behind them, glaring at the hand Thane raised to stop her.

“Brother, I am not a weakling that needs to be put behind guards, dammit.” She stepped around him.

“Motherfuck. What did they do to them?” Thana asked on the Family’s mental path.

“I’d say they sealed them inside with just enough supplies to provide for them through their journey and a possible delay. Something must’ve happened that kept them from extracting them. Or—” Savage trailed off.

“Or they decided to cut bait. Don’t they fear discovery of what’s inside here by authorities at some point?” Thana asked. Angry at the actions of men.

“Mmm,” Scepter agreed as he knelt by one of the lifeless bodies.

They worked to move the females out of the cargo container. Scepter used his mental shielding ability to hide what they were doing so they could work faster. In total, they saved nine women and two teen girls, while three young women died during their captivity. Thana’s heart ached for all of them, knowing they’d carry scars from being trapped inside the small, dark space with the deceased women. From what she could tell, one woman died over a week ago, while the other two hadn’t been gone for more than a day.

“If only we’d found them earlier,” she whispered, swiping at a lone tear.

Thane stroked his hand down the back of her head, as he’d done since they were children. He sometimes acted more like a father figure than a brother born minutes before her.

“If we played the ‘if only we’ game, we’d all have different lives, deirfiúr beag,” Thane said gently.

She smiled at him. “You’re always so noble, Dearthair.”

Savage stepped beside her and tilted her chin up with a finger. “Go home. We got this. It’s almost done.”

“Almost is not close, Savage. I will stay until everyone is secured somewhere we feel they’re safe. Have you figured out who sealed them inside?” Like the rest of them, she was skilled at reading minds but couldn’t make herself look inside any of the females’ heads.

“Savage is working through a maze of shit in their heads. I’ve never seen anything as complex as what they had in their skulls.” Scepter kept his voice low, so only she and those of their kind could hear.

“Then you haven’t seen much in this world, Beathach,” a young voice muttered.

The girl called Savage a beast as she listened to their conversation, showing not a single ounce of fear. “Girl, if you can speak, then tell me who took you and why.” Savage crouched down beside her. His sheer pressure made it hard to breathe.

“I don’t know his name, but they called him Cop or something like that. Can you tone down the juice?” She pressed her hand down.

“You mean Capo?” Savage asked.

Thana smirked at how the big Boss pulled back his oppressive aura to appease the teen girl. Red eyes glared at her as if he could feel her amusement. “Don’t,” he said in a steely voice.