I didn’t like being split up from my pack lead, but the urgency I felt to get back to my omegas trumped that worry when the guards came to escort us back down the hall.
I nodded to Vandle, who we left in George’s room.
The walk to the holding cells was agony. Every step away from the office felt too slow, and the sterile white halls of the administrative wing made my skin crawl. It was too clean.
Too… orderly.
I wasn’t used to it.
Tension seeped through the whole bond as we stepped down the hallway in silence but for our footfalls.
I could still smell the tang of crimson blood that was drying on our clothing.
Finally, the guards pushed the door to a white-walled cell open—it wasn’t musty or damp like the ones in Anarchy, but it still itched at my senses to see them locked up.
The scent hit me first. The thick, cloying sweetness of Crescent’s heat, if more subdued now, mixed with the metallic tang of blood.
They were seated on the far bench, Crescent’s head resting on Sin’s chest as he stroked her hair.
I was in first, and as we entered, his head snapped up. Even with the contacts, the hollowness of his gaze was raw. “Karma?”
“Is she okay?” I crossed the room in two strides, dropping to my knees in front of them. She looked like she was half asleep.
“She’s been in and out, but that’s probably for the best,” Sin said. “Where’s Vandle?”
“Getting us out of here,” Phantom said from beside me. “We just have to keep it cool.”
Crescent’s eyes snapped to me. “We’re… getting out?”
“Yes.” Phantom promised, sitting down beside her and taking her hand in his. “Just have to hold on a bit more.
Her smile was bright, if weak, and she looked misty-eyed as if the drugs had slowed her mind to a crawl. “No more cages.”
“No more cages, Little Omega.”
53
VANDLE
I’d been clear on the phone call that I was in trouble.
The problem was, my history with the outside world wasn’t only limited because I was a victim of experiments. My memory was shot for almost all of it, from the experiments to the Vaults above Anarchy.
There was only one person—or pack—I remembered from before.
And they were part of the same experiments I had been. Luckily for me, they’d escaped, and their pack had quite a bit of prestige. That was clear, because after they’d spoken to George, we were freed of having to be in a cell, given coffee and jackets, and a few wipes so we could get rid of the most obvious stains of blood.
After a while, we were all escorted to the door to wait outside—away from the howls and cell walls. A guard still waited by the gate, but he was a distance away, and though I was sure he wasn’t alone, itfeltlike we could run.
Like we might be free of this place.
I stared, dazed, as the wind whipped Crescent’s hair into her eyes, Karma holding her close. Sin stared blankly through the trees to where we could hear the grey, churning ocean below.Phantom was watching the gap in the forest, through which we all knew a car would come.
One to take us away from here at last.
I was the only one who hadn’t put on a jacket. I needed the cold to keep me present. I knew, without a doubt, that without adrenaline, I would collapse. So I needed the icy wind, and the occasional pressure of my palm to the wounds on my torso, to keep me alert.
We weren’t safe yet, and I wouldn’t be going anywhere until we were.
