AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I couldn’t lose her—it wasn’t even conceivable, but if they weren’t on the other end of it…
I shook my head, trying to dislodge the spiralling thoughts.
The others weren’t thinking straight. We were all fucked up in our own ways, and this job was the only thing that kept us straight sometimes.
“It’ll get him out of your hair,” Ebony said smoothly, ripping me from my spiral. “It’s a scheduled event. If we don’t turn up people are going to start asking questions. We don’t want any press on this. When we get her back, I don’t want their attention, it’s not fair to her.” I could see the cold calculation in Ebony’s eyes. “We’ll go to Vex’s old place first thing tomorrow morning, see what we can find, then I’ll take him to the interview and make sure he shuts his mouth onanythingregarding her. You stay with Drake, make sure Leighton has everything she needs.”
I wrinkled my nose at those words, but held my tongue.
I’d never had Love look at me with such coldness. “Not one single fucking line of slander, Rook, or I’ll blow up the Dragon Hunters contract myself.”
FIVE
Hour 36
ROOK
“Where the fuck are we?” I asked as Drake scanned street signs before looking back down at the map on his phone. The four of us were making our way down unfamiliar, grimy streets. Not a single person who’d passed us by hadn’t looked shifty to me—though my judgement might be off, it had been over two days since I’d slept.
“Nowhere good,” Drake murmured, more tense than usual as he eyed the surrounding streets. I glanced at him, knowing he’d grown up in the Gritch District himself, but even he looked uncomfortable. “We’re five blocks further than the last street my mom would let us go near.”
We’d parked a few streets from our destination, since one road had been blocked off with yellow crime tape. Ebony had driven, since he’d caught a nap earlier, which was better than the rest of us could say, and we’d taken Drake’s van, as we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves. We were supposedly heading to Vex’s old pad—the place she’d been taken from all those months ago.
I felt that familiar world-numbing anxiety at the thought of her current circumstances, amplified by my fatigue.
Right now, we were all dressed as inconspicuously as possible. Ebony had his long hair in a ponytail, tucked into the back of his jacket, and both he and Love were wearing caps. I had my hood up and a pair of sunglasses on, similar to Drake. We might not last too long before getting spotted, but it was enough for a quick trip.
I didn’t know what we would find, but it had to be something.
This morning, one text had come through to Vex’s phone, words that still made me sick to think about: ‘Not very convincing’.
It was a single reply among the dozens of messages we’d sent by now. That we would make an offer. That we just needed to know what they wanted in exchange for her safety. Even, on Leighton’s advice, asking that Vex be kept safe during negotiations.
We were begging. Begging a pack with all the power in the world over us. And that was the only response we’d received.
It was my fault.
They must have seen the broadcast from the Round Table. I couldn’t swallow past the rock in my throat, and I shoved my fists into my jacket pockets. Shame, guilt and fatigue were my constant companions.
I forced my focus back to the alleys around us, a little flare of rage in my chest.
Why were we wasting time?
This literally couldn’t be right. We were in the Gritch District—I hadn’t even been here before. Mates were supposed to be compatible—there was no way Vex had set foot in a place like this, let alone lived here.
We left the main street behind, as Drake led us down an alley with towering walls that dimmed the sunlight overhead. Bricks were cracked and withered, with layers of graffiti across them, both fresh and faded. A foul stench wafted from a sewage vent with a dented top. I was tense, my aura on the edge of bursting free, and it felt like every shadow was watching, returning my anxious scrutiny with twice the intensity.
It was the kind of place that flinched with every movement, not nearly as barren of life as I’d first assessed. Movement down a smaller alley caught my attention, and looking closer, I spotted a makeshift tent between two dumpsters.
Love looked more off balance than I’d ever seen him. Ebony was expressionless, which was how he got when he was presented with something he wasn’t sure about. Pure intake. He was stripping every inch of this place down with that ice-cold gaze like the psychopath he was, as if he might be able to exact revenge on the street corner itself for existing near Vex. Knowing Ebony was in the bond with me didn’t usually bring comfort, but right now we needed him. She needed him, as much as it killed me to admit it.
I was fucking useless in this.
As we stepped deeper through grimy walls, I became even more on edge. My breath caught as what I’d thought was a pile of old rags shifted, then peered up at me with golden eyes as I passed. I found myself staring into the gaunt, wrinkled face of a homeless woman as she puffed on a pipe, huddled against the wall.
“There’s been a mistake,” I said again, hurrying over to Drake, who was still glancing from his phone’s map to adjacent numbers. He wouldn’t find the right one—I was sure of it. Vex hadn’t lived here—she wasn’t like any of these people. “Get Leighton to check again,” I demanded.
None of the others answered, but I noticed Love’s jaw was set.
