“Third floor is where the women are,” he finished quickly.
“And the others not chosen for Damien’s fucked up mate assignments?” Dante folded his arms across his chest and glared at Elias.
Elias looked down. “There’s a door to the basement level across the courtyard. I was never permitted to go in there. Damien said it was for storage.”
“And you just took his word for it,” Tate scoffed darkly.
“I realize now how truly misguided he was,” Elias added.
“You didn’t realize that when he set up a nursery to take children from their mothers?” Rhodes chimed in, shaking his head.
Elias actually looked affronted. “These children were not taken from their mothers; they were given to the pack at birth for the Alpha to find them the best suitable match.”
“Tell that to Kit and Jayla,” I muttered. “Or Maren.”
Elias frowned at me. “Damien made a gross misstep when he started abducting young girls, but our pack has left mate pairings up to the Alpha for generations.”
“Still doesn’t make it right,” I snapped.
He started to turn away with a sigh of annoyance. “According to you. This is how our pack has operated for generations.”
“And the girls in the basement? Was that just for funsies?” I shot back, irritation spiking.
“I told you that I didn’t know—”
“Okay, enough!” Remy’s voice cut through all the dissent. “This isn’t solving anything. Right now we need to focus on freeing the women and children locked up in here. We’ll break into teams, and everyone will meet back here in thirty minutes. Got it?”
When we all nodded in agreement, he broke us into groups.
“Hey.” Remy grabbed my hand before I could go upstairs.
“I know,” I said with a tired smile. “Be safe, no risks, yell if I need help.”
He rolled his eyes. “You forgot one thing.”
“I did?”
He kissed me hard and fast. “I love you.”
“Love you,” I murmured, turning and jogging up the stairs with my father and Lulu. I was winded by the time we reached the fourth floor landing.
“Stay behind me,” Lulu told us as she opened the door to the fourth floor.
“If you insist,” I mumbled, closing the door gently behind us.
We walked silently through the hallway, checking inside doorways. I was shocked to find a few surgical rooms scattered amongst the offices and rooms full of filing cabinets.
We turned the last corner in the hall and froze as one when something dropped in a room ahead of us.
My father gently tucked me behind him as we slowed our approach towards the last door on the left.
“Dammit,” a low voice muttered. “Shit, shit, shit. Where is it?”
Lulu rounded the corner, slipping silently through the slightly ajar door. We followed her inside to where a person was crouched in front of a filing cabinet. It had been ripped open, like the three drawers above it. Papers were everywhere.
“Stand up slowly,” Lulu told him.
He whirled around with a gasp, shoving his hands out in front of him. Whatever he tried to do never happened, and he frowned, looking at us.
“You’re like me?” he demanded, his pale blue eyes jerking around the room.
“I am,” Lulu replied. “How about you put your hands down and we chat about what you’ve been doing here?”
“They all left,” he said, shaking his head. “They’re gone, and they promised to let us go if I did what they wanted.”
“Us?” I echoed, easing around Nikolai.
“My family,” he replied, blinking at me. His gaze sharpened with interest. “You’re one of them. Are you next?”
“Next?” I paused and Nikolai pushed between us.
“Next for the treatment,” the boy snapped impatiently. “They haven’t brought me a new girl in days.”
“They left days ago?” Lulu asked.
“I don’t need your help!” he yelled, glaring at Lulu. He advanced towards me even as Nikolai started growling. His steps were stopped when he promptly ran into an invisible wall. He pressed his hands to it curiously.
“What is this?” he whispered, gently poking the wall. It rippled every time he made contact and then smoothed back into invisibility.
“A shield,” Lulu said slowly. “What’s your name?”
“Jack,” he replied after a second.
“Jack,” Lulu repeated. “How old are you, Jack?”
He glowered at her and folded his thin arms over his chest. “Sixteen.”
“Why are you here?” Lulu’s tone was soft and lilting, trying to calm him down.
His head tilted to the side. “Is this a trick?”
“No trick,” she assured him. “We’re not like the others.”
His eyes narrowed again. “No. You’re different. Your magic is like mine but not. What are you?”
“A friend,” Lulu said calmingly, brushing off his question. “What were you doing here, Jack?”
He stared mulishly at us, his dark hair falling in his eyes. He was tall, but thin and young. But there was something about him that just seemed … off.
“Elias sent us,” Nikolai said suddenly.
Jack relaxed instantly and even smiled. “The doc? Why didn’t you say so?”
“Must have slipped our minds,” Lulu murmured.
Jack looked at me again. “Are you sure she isn’t for me?”
“Quite sure,” I spoke up. “I’m not here for … what are you doing?”
“Making them better,” he said plainly, innocently even. “I help them. And if I help enough, I get my family back.”
“Your family?” Lulu looked at him curiously.
Jack waved a hand behind him at the filing cabinets. “They’ve been gone for days now, and the doc longer than that.”
“So, they took your family to make you help?” I hedged.
He nodded. “Yeah. I thought maybe I could find my family in the files.”
“Why didn’t you leave with them?” Nikolai asked with a frown.
Jack laughed. “Because I’m a boy. They only took the girls.”
My back stiffened. “Took the girls?”
“I saw them through the window,” Jack added. “They used the vans.”
“Shit,” I muttered, meeting my dad’s eyes. “Who else would have taken them if Damien didn’t order it?”
“Women are a valuable commodity,” he replied softly, regretfully. “Perhaps one of Damien’s less ardent followers saw an opportunity. Maybe his beta?”
“I thought he was in Tennessee,” Lulu hissed.
My shoulders sagged as I realized we were too late. “Yeah, but he knew Damien was going to Windale. He would’ve been able to arrange it.”
“Or some of them went rogue with the Alpha gone and decided not to wait for his pathetic auction,” he agreed bitterly. “You should go tell Remy.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “You guys okay here?”
“I think Jack is mostly harmless, but he’s definitely confused,” he replied, frowning. “We’ll meet you downstairs with the others.”
“Okay,” I said, turning to go. I made my way to the stairs and headed to the second floor where Remy said he was going. It was definitely more chaotic here, and scared girls were starting to line up along the wall. They gave me curious stares as I walked by.
“Rhodes!” I called, spotting him and Larkin coming out of a room. Larkin was carrying a little girl who looked no older than three. She had her thumb tucked into her mouth and tear stains on her pale round cheeks.
“Where’s Remy?” I asked.
“Down the hall with Katy and Maren,” he told me, a dark look on his face. “They just left these kids here with some bottles of water and crackers. Some of them haven’t eaten since yesterday when their food ran out.”
I flinched, looking around at the many faces of the girls standing around before giving my attenti
on to the one in Larkin’s arms. “Is she okay?”
Larkin rubbed a hand down the girl’s back. “She will be.”
“You guys find anyone upstairs?” Rhodes questioned.
“Yeah,” I replied grimly. “But apparently a bunch of girls were taken from here at the last minute.”
“Fuckers,” Rhodes swore, snarling a bit.
The little girl jumped in Larkin’s arms, her wide brown eyes staring up at Rhodes with fear. She sucked her thumb harder.
“Rhodes,” Larkin hissed, shooting him a reproachful glare.
“Hey, I’m sorry,” he apologized sweetly, lowering his tone and bending his knees so he was eye level with the girl. He slowly reached out and brushed a blonde curl from her eyes. “Let’s go see what we can find for you to eat, okay, sweetheart?”
The little girl watched him with big eyes and then slowly extended her arms to him.
Rhodes stiffened, looking at Larkin. “What do I do?”
Larkin rolled her eyes. “Hold her.” She passed the toddler into Rhodes’s uneasy arms. He held her stiffly for a moment, but seemed to relax when she burrowed her tiny head against his chest and closed her eyes.
“What now?” he whispered, eyes huge as they swung from Larkin to me and back.
“Don’t drop her,” I suggested, going in the direction he said Remy was.
“Not funny!” he yelled at me as I walked away.
“Not trying to be,” I retorted as I headed down the hall in search of Remy.
I found him in a room with Katy and Maren and half a dozen girls ranging from preteen to early teens. One of the girls was openly sobbing and Maren was trying to comfort her while Katy was trying to pick up another girl who was literally at Remy’s feet, her hand on his ankle.
I growled softly, not liking anyone touching my mate. I tried to shove down my wolf’s need to stake our claim on him until the girl lowered her damn forehead to his shoes in reverence. He gave me a helpless look, his hands outstretched on either side, not touching her or encouraging her.
“Okay,” I said sharply, helping Katy pull her away. “That’s enough.”
The girl stared at me in confusion, her frustration turning to fear as Remy pulled me against him like a shield.
“I was only trying to say thank you and welcome,” she whispered, head down.
“Say it with words,” Katy told her grumpily.
The girl whimpered at Katy’s tone and shrunk deeper into herself. “Men need to be shown appreciation and respect. The deferential touch of a female is supposed to soothe them and display our need of him.”
“And you need to learn not to touch what isn’t yours,” I replied curtly, ignoring the cult-like way she explained her behavior. “Touch my mate again without his permission and we’ll have a problem.”
She flinched. “You can’t say that. A male owns his mate. She does not own him.”
Remy and I exchanged baffled looks.
“Go wait in the hallway with the others,” Katy ordered, snapping her fingers and pointing to the door.
The girl stared at Katy in horror, her violet colored eyes wide on her pale face. “You can’t speak that way. He’s an Alpha. He, or his men, give commands.”
Katy gave her a look. “He’s my brother. And I’m about done with you.”
“Katy,” Maren said, tugging at her arm. She looked at the girl. “It’s okay, Quinn.”
Quinn turned her worried eyes to Maren. “We were told to stay here. If we leave, Alpha Damien will be angry.”
“Alpha Damien is gone,” Maren told her gently. “Remy is the Norwood Alpha now.”
With a gasp, Quinn dropped to her knees, head bowed once more.
Dropped. To. Her. Knees.
“Forgive me, Alpha Remy. Forgive us all for not showing proper respect.” She slowly outstretched her hands.
“What is she doing?” I asked quietly.
Maren blinked back tears. “She touched her pack Alpha without permission. She’s waiting for punishment.”
“Punishment?” Remy repeated, the word strangled.
“Usually a broken hand for a touching offense,” Maren murmured, her mouth turned down. “Damien enforced high protocols in his pack with females.”
I stared at Quinn. She wasn’t even fighting what she assumed would be punishment. She was simply resigned to it.
“Jesus,” Katy muttered, turning away with barely veiled rage.
“Get up,” Remy told her kindly.
Quinn looked up hesitantly.
“Go wait in the hall,” Remy added, his tone still gentle.
Quinn got to her feet and walked away with a bewildered look.
“That was awkward,” Remy grumbled.
I turned and arched a brow. “Yeah.”
Maren turned to us. “She was from Norwood. She’s been raised here since she was a baby. Her ultimate goal was landing an Alpha or someone on the council. It’s what they’ve drilled into her head.”
“I get that,” I replied, my tone softer, “but she doesn’t get a pass for groping Remy without consent.”
“What Skye said,” Katy agreed.
“Besides, we’ve got bigger problems,” I sighed, looking at Remy. “We found the other elemental. He’s a kid, but he told us that they used vans to take away a group of the girls here a couple days ago.”
Remy turned his attention to Maren. “Did you notice anyone from here missing?”
“Jayla,” Maren answered. “She should have been in here with these girls or across the hall with Kit. She wasn’t in either room.”
“Could she be in one of the rooms upstairs?” Katy asked.
Maren shook her head. “No. Only adults were on the third floor.”
“So, people are still missing,” Remy groaned, shaking his head in disgust.
“Yeah,” I replied softly.
“Maybe Elias has a list of all the people who were here?” Katy suggested. “We can see who’s missing.”
“Not a bad idea,” Remy replied as his phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned at the screen. “It’s Dante.”
He tapped the answer button and lifted the phone to his ear with a short, “Yeah?” He listened for a few seconds and then added, “Okay. See you in a few.”
“What’s up?” I pressed as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.
“Dante found the basement,” he answered quietly. “There’s quite a few people in there. He’s bringing them up, but … it’s more than we thought.”
“Sierra?” Maren asked.
Remy nodded. “He said she’s there. She doesn’t look so good. Apparently they were left without food and water when everyone packed up a few days ago. We need to finish up and get everyone out of this place.”
“I’ll find Elias,” Katy said, giving me a tight smile and leaving with Maren.
“What are we going to do with all of these people?” I asked quietly, looking out into the hallway where girls were lined up, waiting for more instructions.
“I don’t know,” he replied honestly, “but we’re not leaving them behind.”
“Some of them might want to go home to their families,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but some of them came from families who handed them over to this place when they were infants.”
“Who could do that?” I wondered quietly. “Who could just give up their child?”
“I don’t know,” he said again, this time sadder. He reached for me and pulled me against his side. “But we’ll figure it out.”
“We always do,” I added, leaning into him.
58
Remy
Sixteen girls were still missing by our count when we left Norwood. We’d arranged for a lot of the girls and women to go home to their packs, but we still had a lot of girls who didn’t have a home.
Bringing them back to Blackwater with us was really the only option for the time being.
Since none of the females had any kind of identification, we
brought them back on our private plane. After a six hour, cross-country flight, the smell of their fear and anxiety was grating on my nerves.
Skye’s hand smoothed across mine as the plane touched down in Blackwater once again. Hopefully we wouldn’t need the damn plane again for a while; I was sick of it.
“We’re home,” she murmured softly, her eyes scanning the small crowd waiting for us.
“Finally,” I muttered back, already unbuckling my seatbelt. My wolf grumbled, unhappy as the overpowering scents of fear reached a new height.
“They’re scared,” Skye said, giving me a small smile.
I nodded. “I know, but …”
“But the Alpha in you hates not being able to make them feel better,” she deduced with a soft laugh.
“Maybe this was the wrong call, bringing them back here.”
“You gave each of them a choice, Remy,” she pointed out, squeezing my hand as we stood up.
“I know. But some of them are just kids.” I glanced around at the new faces.
We’d brought back thirteen girls and women who had nowhere else to go after we raided the compound and set everyone free. The oldest was my mom’s age and the youngest was maybe two years old.
But one face was missing in the group I had hoped to bring home.
“You couldn’t force Sierra to come with us,” Skye whispered sadly. “She wanted to be on her own.”
“Her parents would want her back,” I replied.
When we’d found Sierra in the basement of the building, she’d looked nothing like the girl who used to flounce around Granite Peak Academy like she owned the place. Her long blonde hair had been hacked into uneven strands that hung limply around her blank blue eyes. Her skin was sallow and pulled taut over sharp bones, enhanced by a clear lack of nutrition.
Sierra had made my life hell at one point, and she definitely wasn’t a friend to Katy, Larkin, or Skye, but the need to protect her was still strong. She looked utterly beaten down.
The only fight she had shown was when I said I was taking her home. She was adamant about not going to Blackwater, and she wouldn’t even look at Skye or me.
Skye and Katy had convinced me to leave her alone. She was eighteen now, and if she wanted to be on her own, then that was her right. Even if I wanted to force the issue, it was taken out of my hands when she managed to slip away during the chaos of corralling everyone and contacting packs and parents to collect the people we’d found.
Legacy (Blackwater Pack Book 3) Page 49