“No way she survived that, man,” Lion said gently as they reached the basement and headed for the hidden door that led to another flight of stairs that would take them down to the underground cells.
Those cells weren't there when Eagle originally set them up with this place. The six of them had built them after moving in, although they’d always been intended for Ridge Gardner and the men and women who worked with him. Not someone as small as Rose, so there had never been any consideration that anyone would try to escape through the ventilation system.
The underground cells were deep. It had taken them almost a year to dig out enough space under the building, while ensuring the mansion didn't collapse because of it. If it had occurred to him that Rose wouldn't be safe down there, he would have locked her in a bedroom.
Damn woman probably would have tried to throw herself out a window, though.
“Whoa,” Voodoo murmured as the rest of his team joined them at the bottom of the stairs.
Rose’s cell had been the one closest to the stairs. There were another eleven down there, then the room down the end. The torture room where they’d strung the little ladybug up and whipped her.
At the bottom of the stairs, a pile of concrete lay where the corridor leading between the two rows of cells should be. Therewas no way to know how bad things were because the concrete was completely blocking their entry.
“Find her,” Steel ordered as he began to grab chunks of concrete and toss them aside. Never in his life had he been as glad for his superior strength as he was in this moment.
At first, after they started the trial with Dr. Gardner, the extra strength had been kind of cool. Until he and his team started becoming consumed with rage and suicidal thoughts, and they learned that enhancing their skills wasn't the only thing Dr. Gardner had done. Then he’d resented the changes because they’d been lied to. If he’d known the extent of what the doctor had planned, he never would have agreed to be a guinea pig.
Now their skills could be the only thing that saved Rose’s life.
The little ladybug wasn't dying minutes before he was going to feed her, knock her out, and return her to her home.
“She’s got to be dead,” Dragon announced, and Steel spun on the man. Dragon was his friend, his brother in every way that mattered, but he was also the only one who had wanted to keep torturing Rose in the hopes that they could lure her brother in.
“You want her dead, don’t you?” He snarled as he shoved his friend up against the closest wall. His hands clamped around Dragon’s neck, and while the other man was strong, no one was a match for Steel’s enhanced strength.
“Don’t care one way or the other,” Dragon rasped, the words barely able to pass through the tight hold he had on the man’s neck. “You shouldn’t either.”
“And if it was Cassandra in there?” Voodoo asked, and Dragon’s dark blue, almost violet-colored eyes all but shot daggers at him.
“That’s what I thought. Is Steel falling for Rose Gardner inconvenient? Sure as hell it is. But it is what it is. Deal with it. Not like the woman has done anything wrong. She’s only twenty-three, which means she was only thirteen years old when her brother turned us into monsters,” Voodoo ranted.
Defiance still danced in Dragon’s purple eyes, and Steel was sorely tempted to tighten his grip just a tiny bit more and snap the man’s neck.
It was like he was possessed, protective rage consumed him, and he deemed anything that wanted to get in the way of him and his little ladybug as a threat. Even one of his men.
“I hear something,” Blade announced, and Steel threw Dragon to the side, pleased when he heard a thump and a grunt of pain.
“What?” he demanded, striding over to where Blade was standing at the top of the small opening Steel had made by throwing chunks of concrete out of the way.
“Breathing,” Blade replied.
“She’s not dead.” Steel wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement, but it was all he needed to push past his friend and begin throwing more concrete out of his path. If Rose was still alive, nothing was going to stop him from getting to her.
The others all began to help. They might not have his strength, but they were still men who worked out hours a day and had the bodies to prove it.
Each second felt like an hour.
Each minute a day.
“There,” Lion suddenly called out.
They’d all been clearing away the debris from where Blade had indicated he could hear Rose’s breathing, now they hyper-focused on that area.
“You can still hear her?” Steel asked Blade, who nodded. “And you’re sure that’s where she is?” he asked Lion, who also nodded. When he looked at Dragon, the man huffed, but gave a single, sharp nod.
“Yeah, I can smell her blood, and it’s coming from right where they said,” Dragon said, although he didn't sound pleased about it.
Steel, on the other hand, found himself more than pleased to see a small amount of blood streaking his friend’s face.
