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He turns and walks away. The two men release my arms as the four women move toward me.
I whip around, halting when my eyes land on the two men—my two guards—standing in front of the door, blocking my escape.
A woman locks a hand around my wrist. “This way now, miss.”
She yanks me toward the sunken bath, not giving me a second to agree or even follow. With two guards at the door, no windows, and three other women watching me with hawkish stares, I don’t resist. This isn’t a fight I’m going to win, and I need to save my energy for a bigger battle to come.
Like the one before the auction to sell me to the highest bidder.
Chapter46
Rune
Sloane Eddiswood lives in one of the city’s largest and oldest mansions, so directions weren’t necessary. We piled into my car, leaving Devin behind to watch over Hali and Nancy.
The sun is setting as we approach his towering white stone mansion. Ten years ago, he’d owned the city’s biggest newspaper until he sold it and turned recluse. Something must have happened at Dexter Pieter’s party because that event was the last anyone saw Sloane in public.
Kylian steps around me.
I grip his arm and squeeze. “Don’t kill him straight away.”
Kylian gives me the same easy, lazy smile he flashed at the guard at the entrance of Sloane’s gated community.
The guard had called Sloane, notifying him he had guests. Cian had been silent as he’d sat in the back with Della. Kylian had been waiting to kill the guard if he denied our request to speak with Sloane. Meanwhile, I’d been waiting to ram through the gate if necessary.
But the guard had placed his phone down and opened the gate before waving us through.
I don’t know why Sloane has agreed to meet with us when we’ve never spoken to the man or even seen him, but we’re about to find out.
Kylian raps on the front door far harder than he needs to. I understand his urgency. We all do.
All of us have the sense that time is running out for Everleigh. Lawrence abused her before she ran. How would he punish her?
And her heat is coming, if it hasn’t already arrived. She was so desperate to run from Lawrence that it’s a given she would not want to go through her heat with him. Whatever information Sloane has about this member’s club and about Lawrence Wentworth, we need it, and we need it fast.
A middle-aged, dark-haired woman in a gray knee-length dress and white apron swings the door open.
“We’re here to see Sloane Eddiswood,” Kylian says as his eyes drift over her shoulder.
She frowns. “Mr. Eddiswood is—”
“Expecting us.” Kylian flashes her a smile and gently nudges her aside before stepping inside.
I spot the bulge in the small of his back, under his black T-shirt. Sloane Eddiswood doesn’t know what’s about to hit him. Kylian has never been the most patient on a good day, but today? With Everleigh possibly hurting?
Today, Kylian won’t need much of an excuse to pull that gun, point it at the person who gets in his way, and blow them away.
The rest of us follow Kylian into the vast gray foyer that echoes when Cian pushes the door closed behind us.
It’s like a mausoleum. Cold, gray, and devoid of life.
“You know, don’t you?” A grayer haired version of the man in the photograph appears at the top of the staircase in a burgundy robe with a white trim. It’s the early evening, and he’s in a robe and slippers. I get the sense he’s been in it all day. Maybe even the day before.
I step forward. “What would we know, Mr. Eddiswood?”
He stares down at us with mint-green eyes identical to Everleigh’s. “Everleigh Wentworth went missing. And now—”
“Everleigh is no Wentworth.” Della steps forward, glowering. “She’s not a Jackson either. But then neither am I. Not anymore.”
