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That left one.
Just one.
I moved toward the back of the place, finding those windows partially boarded up from the inside with cardboard, of all things.
When I walked toward the far side of the building that had a narrow alley between it and the next empty building, though, there was a gap in the cardboard that allowed me to see.
And what did I see?
Something that made all the blood rush out of my body.
Because there, dangling by the wrists from the ceiling, was a bound, shirtless, battered Valen.
My own breath caught in my chest as I watched him, waiting to see him pull a breath in.
When he did, I didn’t even pause for another minute, didn’t even try to find the final missing guy.
I thrust my hand through one of the broken windows, reaching up to find the release lever, disengaging it, then yanking the window open, only taking a second to cringe at the grinding sound it made thanks to years of disuse.
Grabbing the windowsill, I hauled my body up and over, finding myself grateful to Lo and everyone else at that gym I spent so much time in when I was growing up. Because they turned me into someone who knew the importance of being able to lift and hold my own weight if it was needed. It was a vital skill that had saved me a lot of times in the past.
The second my feet hit the ground, Valen’s body jolted violently, likely expecting one of his tormentors to come back and fuck with him some more.
It seemed their scheme was just as psychological as it was physical, too, because there was a slab of wood set out on some old saw horses. And on top of that wood was a neatly arranged supply of things to torture him with.
There were the typical blunt and sharp objects—hammers, knives, and a piece of pipe. But there were also some more unconventional things. Like screws. And a cordless drill to drive them in with. Like some sort of battery. And pliers.
Fuck, the pliers.
Not much made my stomach turn over quite like the idea of someone’s teeth being pulled out of a living person’s mouth.
Dead was different.
I’d done that many of times.
But there was no way I had a steady enough gut to do that to a fellow human being when they still had breath in their lungs.
I forced my attention away from those tools, away from the bloody rags, and toward the man who was worth walking into a death trap without backup for.
He looked rough.
Someone had clearly managed to at least get to blunt and sharp on him before they needed a little nap.
But he was alive.
That was all that mattered.
Everything else could be fixed.
Taking a steadying breath, I moved out from behind him, watching as his eyes went round when his gaze fell on me.
With my free hand, I pressed a finger to my lips, getting an almost immediate nod from him as I looked up at the chain he was dangling from, trying to decide the best way to get him down.
“Shit,” I hissed under my breath, looking at it latched through a hook embedded in the far wall.
I would need to lower him.
It wasn’t the weight that concerned me. Adrenaline could make a mom stronger than a car. It could make me stronger than Valen.
