I hiss at the sting, and Marcus smirks. “Always such a baby.”
“I can still kill you, asshole,” I manage to say through gritted teeth.
“You love me too much to do that.”
Bella walks in just as Marcus starts to check the bullet wound on my leg, handing me my phone. Immediately, I open the contact to my source and send a message.
Details. Now.
The typing starts, but the bubbles quickly disappear.
I swear to every god I will kill you if you do not give me something, anything.
Re-education site, no location recorded. Give me a few days.
I hold back the urge to throw my phone across the room as Marcus stitches the second bullet wound in my leg. “Fuck.” Groaning, I run a hand over my face and close my eyes.
What will they do to her there?
For both our sakes, I’m not answering that.
I slam down the phone instantly. He’s really starting to piss me off considering he’s not giving me any information.
I’m coming, baby. Hold on for me.
I try to focus on the details I do know. They know she was slipping, that they were losing her, and now she’s being tortured to believe that’s who she is. They won’t kill her. As much as they will want to, if they lose her, it will be a bigger problem than losing anyone else. The girls rely on Darlia, and if she starts rebelling, the other girls will follow her lead.
She’s too important, and right now, I’m considering that a miracle.
There’re the old towns from before, but I doubt they would have her out there. It’s completely unguarded, and considering who Darlia is, they will have her somewhere with the most security possible.
I pick up the phone in the office, calling the one person I hate the most in this world. And much to my surprise, almost instantly the call connects. “I need your help.”
“Well ain’t this a surprise. Whatcha need, pretty boy?”
“I will cut your fucking tongue out. I need help, it’s Darlia.”
The silence on the other end is deafening. So they do have a heart. I can work with that; it means I have their attention. This asshole is the lowest of the low, even before the world turned to shit, but fortunately they worked for the government just before The Academy was introduced.
“Have you ever heard of re-education sites?” There’s a brief pause before the answer comes.
“No, the original plan was shoot to kill on any experiments that do not behave, why?”
“Because that’s where Darlia is. Can you find out where she is, or not?”
A soft gasp comes through the line, their words coming out shaky. “I can try, I make no promises, though.”
“Then try.”
I disconnect the call, turning to see Marcus standing in the doorway with two more of my men behind him, Luke and Weston.
“Her new order file was updated, they had to perform CPR after she drowned. They’re killing her, Cayden.” Marcus’s voice is careful. They’re afraid of telling me, but I need to know this, I know I do.
It makes my blood boil from rage. I close my eyes, trying to push out the mental image of Darlia being drowned. Her screams bounce around in my mind, haunting me, begging me to save her.
I’m coming, Darlia.
“Find out where she is. I want a kill order on all men in the building, and Darlia is to be protected with a 3-million-dollar reward for the person who finds her location. I want that everywhere, 3 million dollars instantly, no questions asked. And Marcus?”
