His breath smelled like peppermint and cigarettes.
I stopped breathing through my nose as he glanced up and down my body.
“All you pretty butterflies get caught up in my web…”
He trailed one finger down the length of rope connecting my wrists to my ankles.
“Some of you think you’re brave…think if you beat your wings hard enough, you’ll free yourselves.”
He tsked, and I flinched.
“You only end up destroying your wings.”
He sighed. “That’s the thing about pretty things like butterflies…they’re so delicate. Fragile.” He licked his lips. “So easy to crush.”
45
Roman
Theabandonedfactorywasa dark, shadowy monstrosity in the night. It had once been part of the Hawthorn agriculture business and had manufactured farm equipment, but had been out of production for years. The building didn’t have any electricity, but that didn’t matter. Thanks to our thermal imaging, we knew exactly where Anderson had Palmer. And thanks to Fox’s hacking abilities, wehad gotten the blueprints to the factory and knew exactly how to get there.
We just needed to do it, and all in the right timing.
For now, we were forced to follow his exact instructions until we could take back the control.
The beams from our flashlights cut through the blackness as we made our way toward the one specific door Anderson had indicated. Old gravel crunched under our feet; the blacktop was crumbling into dust. We were in the middle of nowhere, about twenty minutes outside of Ember Hollow, and nothing surrounded us but barren fields and patches of trees.
My brothers at my side were the only things keeping me calm. We had spent every one of those forty minutes planning for this moment. We had done everything we could to get a good outcome out of this.
For me, there was no other option.
I flexed the muscles in my arms, stretching out my neck as we walked up to the door like I was preparing for war.
It felt like war.
August led the front, and he reached for the metal handle. My skin hummed with anxiety and anticipation.
It was locked.
His hand dropped to his side, and he glanced up at the battery-operated camera mounted above the frame.
We weren’t standing there long before my phone went off.
I took it out of my pocket and put it on speaker. “Palmer better be okay,” I growled into the phone.
Anderson chuckled, the sound as pleasant as a blade on glass. “Don’t worry,” he said. “She’s in pristine condition.”
A chill shot down my spine. I didn’t like the tone in his voice. He sounded too pleased.
“You gonna let us in, Amos?” August cut in. “Or would you rather we break down this door?”
Any amusement vanished from Anderson’s voice. “You need to strip first.”
August’s hand clenched around his flashlight. “It’s freezing out,” he snapped. “We aren’t here to play games.”
“I’m not playing,” Anderson said. “Not yet, anyway. It would be unwise of me to let you in if you have weapons.”
He clicked his tongue, and I gritted my teeth.
