Ramshackle (Raegan of Ruin #3)

30. Raegan

Chapter thirty

Raegan

The lead Aiden received on my father brings us to another island. We split into two teams again, following the same protocol as the last mission, but this time the gifted kids aren’t sleeping soundly in bedrooms.

The prisoners here are cuffed to beds and hooked to various medical bags and machines in an open room. There are no curtains. No privacy between them as their lives are slowly sucked away from them.

I look on in horror at what Gordon had once threatened me with. At what others have had to endure for however long they’ve been here. The ages range from preteen to adult. The ones who couldn’t be controlled or brainwashed were sentenced to spend the remainder of their life experimented on for GE’s pleasure.

It’s sickening.

Tinsley releases another sob into Reid’s chest, clinging to his shirt and hiding away from where he probably would have ended up if they hadn’t escaped.

Reid lifts his gaze to mine over her head, our eyes connecting with knowledge and understanding. Somehow, he must have found out about this because while we’re horrified by what we see, we’re also not surprised like the others.

“What the hell is this?” Kellan growls at my side.

He and Reid were supposed to have moved on to seek out threats in the building, but we’ve all been frozen in the doorway of this room.

“It’s where the non-compliant wind up,” I murmur, my voice fighting to remain stable.

“Is it safe to move them?” Evie asks solemnly.

“Safer than leaving them here,” I reply. I walk to the nearest bed, eyeing the IVs and machines and then the girl asleep on it. None of them have stirred since we entered. Are they tired from what they’re going through or in some sort of coma?

The girl looks like she’s in her early teens. Her dark hair is cut short below her ears in ragged and uneven lengths. Like someone took a pair of scissors to her hair while she was lying here.

Jackson inspects one of the bags on the other side of the girl’s bed. “Propofol,” he reads aloud.

I frown. “What is that?”

“It’s a general anesthetic,” Reid answers instead. “It puts them to sleep.”

“Bring the tub in here, Evie.” Kellan surveys the room. “Shrink them and put them in the tub as they are. Cassandra and Claudia can figure out what they need from there.” He turns and puts his hand on my arm. “We’ll figure out who everyone is once we’re back at the bunker.”

Right.

My father might be one of the people in this room.

I scan the room of unfamiliar faces. I wouldn’t recognize him even if I saw him. They’ll have to be identified or wait until they’re awake to ask if there’s a Charles Whitmore here.

If Aiden’s lead is right and he is here, then how long has he been trapped like this? How long can someone survive it?

“Reid, let’s go. Jack, make sure this floor is clear.” Reid follows Kellan out the door to the hallway as Evie and Tinsley get to work. Evie shrinks a bed, and Tinsley uses her speed to pick them up and put them in the tub.

Jackson stops next to me. “I’ll be right back,” he promises, and I nod once before he leaves.

There’s a high likelihood that there are others in this building aside from the guards we’d taken care of outside, but I’m not worried. If any goon tries to enter this room, I’ll take care of them. Evie and Tinsley already have the evacuation under control between the two of them, so I decide I’ll be their guard and keep this room secure.

I stroll the perimeter to keep out of their way and to get a clearer idea of the exit and entry points. Aside from the door we came through, there are three long exterior windows and two more doors.

I pause in front of the window on its own wall. This wasn’t a corner room. How can there be a window here? My fingertips press against the coolness of the glass that overlooks sand and palm trees on a dark night. The fronds sway in the sea breeze as waves roll and crash upon the shore.

I knock my knuckles against it, but it sounds like any other window. There’s no echo or hollowness to it.

Still…

Stepping outside of the room, I check both directions of the hall and walk down the side to where that window is positioned. The wall continues beyond it to another door.

I settle one hand on the grip of my gun in its holster, then reach for the knob and turn it, swinging the door open wide.

Wheels squeak and roll over laminate flooring and a chair crashes into a high counter. My gun is in my hands in an instant, pointing at the room as I search for who is inside. One wall looks into the room where Evie and Tinsley are still busy at work. A one-way glass.

I step into the room, swinging my gun to the left and freezing when something hard and small taps my back.

“Are you seriously wearing a bulletproof vest?”

I peek over my shoulder, and Vera draws her gun up to point at my head instead.

“Where’s Dane?” she demands.

I’m really getting tired of her threatening me. The only reason she’s so confident against me is because of my promise to Dane. The promise that I no longer have to abide by, according to him.

“Not here,” I snap out.

It’s not a complete lie. He’s not here. He’s somewhere else on the island with Aiden and the others.

I lower my gun so my hands are hidden in front of me, releasing one hand and calling on my gift. It settles like a warm tingle of nerves beneath my skin.

“Liar,” she snarls and presses the gun harder into my skull.

I spin and throw my gift-filled hand at the gun, grabbing and pushing it away from me. A gunshot fires, and my muscles tense.

The gun disintegrates in my hand.

Holy fuck. She was really going to shoot me! My heart hammers in my chest as the sound of gunfire continues to ring in my ears.

That was too fucking close.

Vera gasps and stares at the gun I’m now aiming at her. Her eyes slide to mine. “I knew you weren’t serious about that promise.”

I cock my head at her. “I haven’t broken it. Are you hurt? Or am I the one who almost got shot just now?”

“That was your fault for surprising me!”

“Maybe I wouldn’t have had to surprise you if you weren’t holding a gun to my head!”

“And what is this?” She gestures wildly at my gun. “Don’t act like you’re any better than me. I thought you said you wanted to save me.”

“I do. This is called self-defense because I’m not an idiot. You were ready to blow my head off just like that. If anyone in this room can’t be trusted right now, it’s you.”

She raises her hands and shakes them with a frustrated yell. “God, I hate you so much! Stop acting like you’re so innocent and better than me. You killed me . You’ve killed more people than I have! You were the one who strung my brother along with his friends for years because you were too greedy to pick one! And I don’t know what lies you fed them this time that they’re still drooling over you. Apparently, your pussy’s laced with drugs because even my own brother cares more about his sister’s murderer than me. He was more worried about you being gone than having me back! Do you know what that was like?!”

Her words are like knives, slicing me with invisible cuts.

Vera’s voice cracks, and hearing it breaks something in me, too. But she doesn’t cry. I don’t know if she can. It sounds like she would if she could, but her face remains dry through her choked words.

“I hate you more than anyone. If I put a bullet in your brain, I’d be doing the world a fucking favor. Then you could stop haunting me. Stop showing up and interfering with my brother. You ruined what I had with Gordon and Dane. With the only people I really cared about. Even Gordon is obsessed with you. He liked me first, and now all he wants is you!”

The gun shakes in my hands.

Don’t let her get to you .

Easier said than done.

I have killed a lot of people.

And I had no idea about what Dane was like with her when I was gone. I assumed he’d been working hard to rebuild their sibling bond.

Was he that worried about me?

As for Gordon…

“You’re better off without Gordon. He’s a manipulative and abusive piece of shit. Stay away from him.”

Her face tightens. “He was different with me.”

“Oh, really? Is that why I heard him hitting you that night I found you two?”

Vera looks away. “That was…it was my fault. Things got out of hand, but that was the only time.”

Or it was only the beginning, considering she’d died that week.

“It doesn’t matter,” she snaps, though it sounds like it’s more to herself than me. “The point is that you took them from me. I even tried to warn Dane away from you by telling him what Gordon did to you.”

I stop breathing.

She did…what?

“He knows what happened on the last island. He knows that Gordon was trying to make you into his personal pet. So, why? Why did he leave me for you?”

Shame and self-disgust twists in my chest. I never wanted any of them to find out. What does he think of me?

But…if she told him before they rescued me…

“I don’t deserve you in my life, but I’m a selfish fuck, and I want you anyway.”

Why would he say that if he knew?

“I don’t know,” I reply honestly, my throat thick with emotion. Why would he leave his sister behind, the person he’s been desperate to have back in his life again, after hearing that I was used and broken by Gordon? Trained to be his pet and do his bidding, just like the guys all thought I’d been doing for so long.

Vera scowls, clearly pissed with my answer.

“Why didn’t you kill me at the library?” I ask, switching topics to something that might get us somewhere.

She hesitates, then shrugs. “I didn’t feel like it.”

I narrow my eyes. “Bullshit.”

We stare at one another, challenging the other to break first.

Her eyes dart to the side and then widen. “Get in the closet.”

“What?”

Vera sprints to another door in the room and throws it open. “If you want the answer to your question, you’ll get in here and shut the fuck up. He’s coming.”

“Who—?” I start, but she storms past the gun and pushes me from behind toward the closet.

“Hide these.” She shoves something in my hands, but I’m distracted by the air shimmering to my right.

Fuck. A portal? Is it Gordon?

I run the last two steps to the closet and close the door, leaving a crack of space open for me to peek through. Whatever she handed me isn’t sharp from what I can feel, so I tuck it up my back between my shirt and the Kevlar vest to hide it.

A man steps from nowhere into the middle of the room. He’s tall and angular, his joints sharp and narrow like he’s devoid of muscle. His clothing is dark and covers nearly every inch of him. From his turtleneck and gloves down to his slacks and shiny black shoes, I wonder if there’s nothing but bone underneath. His profile reveals a pointed nose and chin beneath an old-style cap.

He stares through the window to the patients being evacuated and clicks his tongue, but ignores them in favor of Vera.

“I thought I told you to leave already,” the man says, his voice chilling and bleak. I’ve heard him before. “Or did you think you could run off with them again?”

Vera scoffs and turns away from him. “I was trying to pack up the last of the samples. Or do you not care about saving all my hard work here?”

She stiffens. Her body jerks forward awkwardly, and she grabs something, lifting it and then slamming it on the counter. Whatever it was shatters. Vera lifts a piece of it and holds it to her eye. “Wait! Don’t—”

Her words cut off, even though I don’t see anything blocking her mouth. Her lips just…close.

The man—Royce, I realize from his voice and Vera’s strange behavior—raises a single finger to his lips. “Shh, shh. No excuses. I’m growing tired of your rebellious streak. I call, you answer. I tell you what needs to be done, and you do it. It’s quite simple.” He moves slowly around the room, his gloved fingers raking over items on the counter and knocking them down. “I never asked you to return here. You’re to find the location of the Guild. That’s the one— and only —task you have. If you can’t manage that, then it’s my turn.”

“Mmmy b-bruh—” she forces out until her lips press shut again.

“You had your chance with him, and you failed. He’s to be killed like the rest of them and brought back to me.” He stops in front of her and pinches the hollows of her cheeks. “You should thank me. I’ll be reuniting you with your brother.” Royce pats her face mockingly. “Don’t look so upset by my gift. It won’t be today, but I’ll bring him to you soon. The president has a specific timeline for these things now.”

The necromancer might be the key to getting to the top if he’s so close to the person in charge of GE.

What should I do?

They’re still busy talking, so I draw my gift to one hand in preparation. My hand heats and tingles, and I leave it hanging at my side while I consider my options.

Royce’s head snaps my way, and I jump back from the opening.

Did he hear or see something?

No, I was quiet. I’m sure of it. What made him look this way, then? I take slow, calming breaths in the dark, waiting for what feels like long enough for him to convince himself that there’s nothing going on over here. I shift forward again, moving back to the light, and freeze when it goes dark.