Page 143 of Pretty Savage: Defy

Another painful reminder of the promise I made and how quickly I failed to live up to it.

“Thomson,” I say while Bowey pulls my arms behind my back and secures the second cuff.

The position brings back Laurel fastening the restraints at Sinners. My arms were behind me then too, but those bonds were chosen, intimate, and temporary.

These cuffs are designed to keep me from reaching her.

“Call Father and our attorneys,” I say. “No one speaks to law enforcement until counsel arrives.”

Thomson nods. The fear and shock leave his face, replaced by the fierce intelligence I’ve trusted since we were boys.

“Get the names of every missing Sister and compare their phone records. Pull footage from every camera within twenty miles of Ashford House, including private security systems and traffic cameras. Find out whether any other electronics failed near the eastern tunnel when Laurel’s tracker stopped transmitting.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“Work on recovering the tracker feed. Check rentals, especially large vans or buses. If the Sisters left together, someone arranged transportation before the ceremony.”

Bowey turns me toward the door.

Thomson reaches for his phone. “Carrson.”

I look back.

“We’ll find her.”

“Damn right we will,” I answer, my fingers curling behind my back.

The agents lead me into the hallway. Nurses stop behind the desk to watch while the officers outside fall into position around us. Harris stays close to my right side, monitoring my hands, while Bowey walks half a step ahead and controls our direction.

The handcuffs prevent me from returning to the tunnel, confronting Jack, or putting a knife against Silas Creed’s throat until he tells me everything he knows. They don’t prevent Thomson from searching, my father from applying pressure, or our attorneys from dismantling whatever case the FBI has built around me.

The elevator doors open, and they lead me inside.

Laurel is missing because I let go of her hand when she told me to leave. I will carry that choice for the rest of my life, but I will not make it again. Duty, my father, The Order, the future they planned for me. None of it comes before her now.

The promise is written into my palm, and I will use every breath the fire failed to take from me to bring her home.

They made one mistake when they took her from me.

They left me alive.

Chapter thirty-five

Epilogue

Laurel

Someone is crying, their voice bordering on hysteria as they repeat, “No. No. No. Not again. I can’t do this again.”

Sunlight stabs me in the eye. My lashes flutter open. The sky above is a bright, cheery blue. There’s birdsong, the shuffling of leaves, the grit of dirt and stones under my body. I’m lying on my back outside. I let my eyes drift shut while my mind works through the details, but it takes effort. My thoughts are sluggish, almost drugged.

Why am I outside? Where’s Carrson?

There was a fire. I can smell the smoke clinging to my hair. I told him to go, released his hand. Flames at his end of the tunnel. Alarm surges through me, but when I try to lift my head, my body refuses the command.

“Laurel.” Sam’s voice comes from nearby. “Wake up. Please, Laurel.”

“I’m here,” I answer, forcing myself to open my eyes and slowly sit up.