Even rusty, Gaby caught the word for breakfast.
The guard nodded, pressed his thumb to the scanner, and pulled the gate open without a single question.
Gaby blinked as her eyes adjusted from bright daylight to shadow. It was quieter here, and cooler, but the floor was bare, the walls drab and plain, and the doors too many. She’d seen jails more uplifting.
When the gate clanged shut behind them, she twisted and looked back. Something about the ease of their entry didn’t sit right.
Then she understood. The guard and iron bars weren’t there to keep people out. They were there to keep them in.
“This is an island,” she murmured. “Where would they even escape to?”
In the dimness, she saw his gaze flick to the nearest window. Hers followed. Ornamental bars on the outside blocked much of the light. Like the gate, they were heavy, metal, inescapable. Beyond them, jagged cliffs dropped to rocks and the pounding sea below.
“Oh my God,” Gaby gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
“Fucking bastard,” Mateo muttered, his fingers tightening. “We’ll see that he pays for this, Gaby, but first we need to find Natalie.”
She nodded, more determined than ever to bring down this house of horrors and the man behind it.
They moved carefully, opening doors just wide enough to see inside. Some rooms were unoccupied—immaculate beds, untouched chairs. Others were not.
Young women sat or stood in silence. Some stared blankly. Some watched them with guarded curiosity. Others shrank back at the sight of strangers.
Gaby’s throat closed, wondering which version Natalie had become after more than three months.
She forced herself to keep moving. Near the end of the hall, she saw her. Natalie sat on the edge of a narrow bed, hands folded in her lap, staring at the floor as though she’d learned to look nowhere else. She was thinner, paler, less vibrant. The light in her had faded.
Mateo squeezed her arm, giving her the little nudge she needed to step through.
“Natalie,” she said softly, cautious, not rushing in to hug her tight as she wanted to.
No response.
She knelt in front of her sister, lowering herself into her line of sight.
“Natalie,” she repeated, lightly touching her cold hand.
Her eyes lifted, unfocused at first, then they widened. “Gaby?”
Smiling through a sheen of tears, she replied, “Yeah, sweetie. It’s me.”
Surprise turned to fear. “What are you doing here?” Natalie breathed. “Don’t tell me they took you too.”
Gaby closed both hands around hers. “No. I’m here for you. I’m getting you out.”
Hope crossed her face before settling into resignation. “No one gets out of this place.”
“We for damn sure are,” she said fiercely.
“We?” Natalie asked.
When she glanced toward the doorway, Natalie turned and froze at the sight of Mateo filling the frame.
“He’s with me,” Gaby said quickly. “He’s also a badass. And he’s not alone. I brought others.”
Natalie searched her face. “He’ll kill you for this.”
“Not if we get to him first,” Gaby replied, feeling a little badass herself.
