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She shakes her head. “We knew they wouldn’t be able to sneak them into the hotel. Too risky. They’re transmitting the feed from somewhere in the city, though. I just can’t narrow down the location.” She switches to another monitor that shows the signal bouncing around the city. “It’s practically pinging every tower.”
I exhale heavily. “Jefferson, take over tracing the signal.”
“On it.” He moves into position and intercepts the keyboard. Turns out, the driver has some skills to come in handy, after all.
“Bonds, zoom in on the screen. See if you can clear up the image.” I squint at the monitor. “It’s dark, but looks like a warehouse. There’s a roll door in the background.”
“Might be the same place Avery was taken to,” Sadie says, and I glimpse the worry in her eyes.
If all goes to plan, it’s where Avery’s about to be taken again. Dammit. I hate it, but Colton’s right. Avery is the strong one here. She didn’t have to do this, and yet, she was the first to step forward.
I ease back in my chair and bring out the picture from my inseam pocket. Avery’s dark eyes and bright smile. A picture capturing a moment in time when Avery knew nothing of suffering and pain—not like she does now.
A deep ache burrows beneath my chest. That woman still exists somewhere below all her pain, and she’s desperately trying to find her again. Avery’s putting herself on the line, risking it all, in order to end the threat and bring herself back.
None of this is black and white. There’s no right or wrong. In this world, there are only people who cause pain, and the recipients of that pain. Avery was swept into a dark storm, unaware, and she’s been treading the downpour ever since.
I wanted to be her hero. But she’s the hero of her own story.
Even heroes make mistakes.
And now, she’s putting herself in danger to correct them.
“Wait—what’s that?” Sadie zeros in on the masked man restraining the girl. She’s shivering and crying, and where Sadie enlarges the angle, I see a syringe in his hand.
Shit. I swivel my chair around to face Colton. “Earpiece?”
His eyebrows hike. “I guess it’s safe to give it back to you now.” He digs into his pocket and produces the earbud he jacked when I lost control. Maybe it’s best he did. Once this is over, I don’t want the memory of Carson’s hands on Avery…or anything else that transpired.
It’s already going to be hard enough to curb the impulse to break Carson’s face every time I see him.
I stuff the bud into my ear just as a high-pitched whine bleeds into our feed. We rear back from the feedback. Then, a deep, garbled voice booms from the main speakers.
“Thank you for joining me this evening.”
Sadie and I exchange glances. “The Alpha,” we nearly say in unison.
“We’re still recording?” I ask.
She confirms before the distorted voice continues. “I pride myself that this is much more than the average auction, and I’m prepared to demonstrate this fact.”
On the monitor, the masked man raises the syringe and inserts the needle into the thrashing woman’s arm. Within seconds, she’s calm. Docile. Accepting her predicament. My stomach roils with vitriol at the display.
“Trifecta, gentlemen,” the Alpha says. “With every purchase tonight, you’ll receive a sample, and the means to set up a year’s supply of this revolutionary drug that’s going to change the industry.”
The camera pans closer to the woman, deliberately highlighting her rapid-changing demeanor. I’ve seen this before. I experienced it with Avery. And fuck—I want nothing more than to punch through the monitor and rip the Alpha’s throat out.
The woman touches herself, her moan sounding pained. She grinds against the masked man and claws at his jacket. She strips her panties away and begins gratifying herself…
I look away.
“What would you pay to own a never-sated slave? Hungry for you every second of the day?” The Alpha pauses for a beat. “As you can see, a drug in such demand couldn’t possibly have a price tag. It’s simply priceless. But everything must have a price. Choose yours.”
Then the Alpha’s robotic voice fades out, and all that remains is a victimized woman on the screen.
Immediately, the buyers start to bid. Below the projection screen, an underscored box lights up with numbers rapidly ascending into the thousands.
“Hell.” Sadie’s breathless curse conveys exactly what we’re witnessing. Hell.
