If they try to put me in their prison, Logan is waiting outside for my signal to hijack whatever vehicle they use to transport me there.
I’m desperate to see her, and to beat the shit out of that bastard. And here I am, stuck in the security cabin at the foot of Matleon’s hill.
I check the clock on the wall, three more minutes until the half hour is up. The guard in front of me rises at the sound of an approaching car.
“He’s here.”
I rise and step out of the cabin ahead of him. Ten SUVs are lined up at the gate.
The back door of a black SUV opens, and Matleon’s voice comes from inside. “Get in.”
I walk to the SUV and climb in. It moves again as soon as the door closes. Matleon sits beside me. The usual smirk is gone from his face.
“I didn’t know it was possible to fuck you this hard, Il Macellaio di Napoli.”
My brows draw together.
“Wondering how I know?” He tilts his head forward as the vehicle stops. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
I get out and walk into the mansion with him. He takes me upstairs in long strides. We cross the long corridor and stop outside her room.
I grow more anxious with each passing second. I don’t know what’s causing it, but the clench in my gut tells me something isn’t right.
Matleon opens the door, and I follow him inside. Five women and three men are gathered around the bed. They’ve surrounded it so completely that I can’t even see her. I don’t like the fact that there are so many people crowding around her.Is she sick?
I get my answer the moment I step closer and finally see her. All eyes in the room are on me, but mine are on her.
My mind goes blank. I don’t think, or process anything. Then, all at once, everything comes rushing back. I stumble backward. The horror in front of me merges with a flood of images: her lifeless face, and another woman’s. Now I know they’re fragments of my memory. What I used to believe were creations of my imagination were real all along.
I force myself forward. When I reach her, I extend my trembling hand and press my fingers to her nostrils.
A single memory grips me. She’s in my arms, her face blue, her eyes lifeless.
“You’re the morning after all my darkest nights. God can’t be cruel enough to take you away too.”
He isn’t. Not yet.
She looks dead, but she’s not.
“She’s been drugged,” says a woman I don’t bother looking at. “Multiple times. She’s in delirium, with some...” She stops, so I look at her. It’s Matleon’s wife.
“Some what?”
Her eyes well up. “Some neurological injuries.”
I don’t know the extent of any of this. I’ll find out, but first, I need to know one very fucking important thing.
“Who did this?”
“That fake Salvario.”
I turn to Matleon, rage thrumming through every inch of me. “Where is he?”
“In the cell. You can—” He doesn’t finish. A loud shriek echoes through the room.
Elowen
“Hunter.” I call for him again as the monsters crawl closer.He promised my dad he would always protect me. Why isn’t he doing it now?
