The agent’s scowl doesn’t shift as he shoves me back into line, forcing me out of the main entrance and toward the flashing lights of the waiting police cruisers. “A vehicle was reported speeding away from the building during our raid. We have cars searching the area.”
His uncaring tone belittles the words that slam into me like a freight train. I suck in a breath that doesn’t feel like enough, my knees nearly giving out beneath me. They got away.
The others are herded outside, their faces grim and their bodies stiff with the same tension overriding my bones. Garrett is supporting Axel, flanked by officers on either side. Huxley moves like a ghost, his usual sharpness dulled, his expression muted. We’re crowded in the parking lot, much less monitored than those who actually had guns on their person.
Someone is talking to me, one of the officers maybe, but their words barely penetrate the buzzing in my skull. My fingers twitch at my sides. Every nerve in my body is screaming to move, to do something, and to tear through the city with my bare hands until I find her.
But instead, I’m stuck here, standing in the center of a crime scene, corralled like a fucking bystander while men with badges pretend they have control of the situation. The static of several walkie-talkie buzzes, abrief report coming in that the car they were searching for has gotten away.
We’re out of time. Then, past the flashing red and blue, past the rows of uniforms and the cordoned-off entrance, like a freaking angel, I see Thiago. He’s standing just beyond the yellow crime scene tape, his pale eyes scanning the parking lot until they lock onto mine. The moment our gazes connect, he lifts a hand and waves me over casually, like this isn’t life or death, like I’m not already teetering on the fucking edge. I don’t think. I just move.
Before I can take two steps forward, a hand clamps around my bicep, yanking me back. “Where do you think you’re going?” The officer barks, his grip tightening on my shirt like he expects me to start running. I turn sharply, my teeth grinding.
“I can help find the girls.” He chuckles and shoves me back into Dax and Hux.
“You need to stay here until we’ve sorted everything out.” He says dismissively. “Leave the searching to the professionals.” He strides away before hearing my snort, putting his younger colleague in charge of watching over the five of us. Rage flares in my chest, but I force it down because wasting time arguing will only keep me here longer. Turning to our new overseer, I speak slowly, keeping my temper in check.
“You don’t understand. I can track them.” His brow furrows, suspicion flashing in his eyes.
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” I exhale sharply, my patience wearing thin.
“Look, I have a confession that I shouldn’t be telling a cop, but if it saves their lives, then so be it.” The Souls move in, gathering around with their ears pricked.
“What is it?” Dax raises a brow, and at my slight hesitation, Garrett sighs dramatically.
“Spit it out, Riot. Nothing you do shocks us anymore.” I scrub a hand over my face. Might as well get this over with.
“Avery has a tracking chip in her.” A thick silence follows until Garrett lets out a low whistle, shaking his head with the kind of exasperation that tells me somewhere between he’s impressed and mortified.
“Well, fuck me. You do still have that shockability factor.”
“Whereabouts?” Dax asks, keeping his composure. Axel’s head is hanging forward, quietly absorbing the conversation around him.
“In her neck.”
Huxley completely loses his composure, choking on an outraged laugh, his features with disbelief and fury.
“You tagged our girl?!”
“I did it when I drugged and took her,” I admit, my voice flat as I let the truth settle. “While she was unconscious in the back of Hux’s car.” The cop glares, but to his credit, he doesn’t pull out his notepad and start taking notes. He listens, hopefully understanding my involvement is secondary to the current situation. He can take me to the station when Avery and Meg are safe with the Souls.
Huxley runs a hand down his face and then turns on his heel, walking a short distance away like he needs space to process. Axel’s jaw ticks. There’s no shock in Gare’s expression anymore, just a reluctant acceptance that, yeah, I did something this fucked up.
“Fucking hell,” Dax mutters under his breath, shoving his hands into his pockets and staring off into the distance.
“Explain,” Axel suddenly demands. I sigh, impatience flaring despite myself. Of course, Axe wants to know all of the facts before deciding how he feels about it.
“When Fredrick told me he was going to take Meg, I wasn’t foolish enough to think he’d suddenly leave Avery alone.” I force my voice to stay level, my gaze shifting between them all. “So, on the way back to the house, I stopped off at the dorms. There were rumors about a kid in bio-chem acquiring sedation drugs and other unsavory items. I paid him a visit, bought his entire stock, and disposed of everything except for one sedative syringe and a tracking chip tagger.”
Axel exhales through his nose, nostrils flaring slightly, but otherwise remains silent. His hands curl into fists at his sides. Dax is still watching me carefully, his expression unreadable, while Garrett just shakes his head like he can’t decide whether to strangle me or thank me.
“I thought it would be best to be prepared,” I continue, quieter now. “I just didn’t think I’d have to use it on her that very night.”
A thick silence follows. I wait for the shouting to start—maybe a punch in the face—but Hux doesn’t return to deliver it. Axel exhales a long, slow breath that does nothing to ease the tension in his frame.
Then, finally, Garrett breaks it, dragging a hand through his hair with a dry laugh.
“We are going to have a serious talk about boundaries later,” Dax crosses his arms. I meet his gaze, a scowl deepening at the corners of my mouth.
