Chapter 5
5
D amien ever so slowly slips his fingers through mine, almost like holding hands, but slack so I can pull away if I want to. “Is it all right if my cousin, Sebastian, joins us? He’s our tech guy and can help.”
The thought of another unfamiliar Alpha in the room tenses my muscles with the urge to hide.
Damien’s thumb strokes my knuckle. “Sebastian won’t touch you or even look at you if it makes you uncomfortable.”
The reassurance helps ease some of my anxiety, and my gaze flicks to his before darting away. “You won’t leave?”
He squeezes my hand, a brief pressure that vanishes before the panic over being restrained registers. “I’ll be with you the entire time.”
After another moment of hesitation, I whisper, “Okay.”
“Thank you for trusting me.” He releases my hand to gesture at the plush sofa, and I instantly miss his warmth. “Make yourself comfortable.”
I scoot over to sit in the corner farthest from the door, the silky fabric of my pajamas slippery beneath the hospital blanket. Before I can stop myself, I gather the throw pillows, drawing them around my body like a fragile barrier.
Damien watches me with a gentle smile. “Would you like another blanket?”
Tempted by the offer, I clutch the pillows tighter. He’s already given me so much—clean clothes, food, a safe place to rest. I don’t want to be more of a burden than I already am.
As if reading my thoughts, Damien’s smile widens. “I’m going to grab you an extra blanket. I’ll be happy to know you’re warm enough. But you don’t have to use it if you don’t want it.”
Emotion clogs my throat, and I blink back another rush of tears. Damien’s care and concern are almost too much after the cold cruelty I’m used to. I bury my face in the pillows as he steps out of the room, breathing in his scent.
Damien returns, carrying the comforter from the bed, and I freeze in surprise. When he said blanket, I assumed he meant another like the one already wrapped around me.
Damien gives a sheepish shrug. “This is what I have. I’ll order some throw blankets for the couch.”
He spreads the blanket out as he approaches, telegraphing his movements to give me plenty of time to protest if I want to. I remain still and quiet, waiting to see what he plans to do.
With gentle hands, Damien wraps the comforter around me, cocooning me in warmth. The pillows add an extra layer of softness, and I burrow deeper into their embrace. Damien’s scent envelops me, and a sense of safety follows.
A yawn breaks through, my eyelids drooping.
“Tired?” Damien asks, soft with understanding. “Your body’s been through a lot. It needs rest to heal.”
I fight the pull of slumber and straighten. Can’t fall asleep now.
“You only need to stay awake a little longer, okay?” He backs toward the door. “When we’re done, you can get some proper sleep in a proper bed.”
With a nervous glance back toward the bedroom, I clutch the comforter tighter around myself.
The gentle knock at the door shatters the moment. My heart leaps into my throat, and I shrink back into the cushions. Damien gives me a reassuring look before going to answer it.
Whatever he finds on the other side isn’t what he expects, though, and he steps out into the hall, leaving it cracked behind him.
Murmured voices rise from outside the suite, rising in disagreement.
“I said only Sebastian can come in,” Damien snaps, unyielding.
“Jade’s been missing for nearly two weeks now!” I flinch at the angry shout and huddle lower on the couch with the blanket drawn up. “Who knows what’s happened to him in that time!”
Another man joins in, equally agitated. “We need to ask that kid some questions. Find out what condition Jade was in the last time he saw him.”
Anxiety returns, and I wrap my arms around my trembling knees.
Damien cuts through the clamor. “If you gang up on Seven all at once, you’ll scare him.”
The second man snaps back, the words laced with bitter accusation. “So you’re putting some stranger ahead of the family now?”
I flinch, curling tighter into myself. It hurts, even though that’s what I am. An interloper where Jade belongs.
Damien shocks me, though, when he doesn’t back down. “ Seven had no obligation to come to us after he escaped, almost dying in the process. We’ll treat him with kindness and respect, as he deserves.”
Silence follows his declaration, and I hold my breath, not daring to move.
After a long, tense moment, Damien’s footsteps approach. The door swings wider, and he steps back inside, followed by another man.
The newcomer is tall and broad-shouldered, with dark brown hair and a powerful figure. The familial resemblance to Damien is strong, but jagged, ugly scars twist his handsome features, running down the left side of his face and disappearing beneath the collar of his shirt.
When he turns toward me, I drop my gaze, not wanting to be caught staring.
“Seven, this is Sebastian.” Damien clasps the scarred man’s shoulder. “He’s the head of our tech team and my cousin. He’s here to help. He’s going to sit in the chair and keep his attention on his laptop.”
The words sound like a command, and I catch Sebastian rolling his eyes at his cousin. He complies, though, taking the chair farthest from me and opening a laptop on his knees.
Damien settles onto the couch, his body a barrier between me and his cousin. He leaves enough space between us so that, if he reached out, we wouldn’t touch, but the blanket brushes his thigh, and it feels intimate. Like we’re sharing it. Blood rushes to my cheeks, and I pull the blanket up to cover my face.
The cushions shift, and Damien rests his hand palm up on the cushion between us, as if in invitation. My fingers curl inward as I remember the rough slip of his skin against mine, the soothing warmth.
He doesn’t look at me, doesn’t force any interaction, just leaves it up to me if I want contact. Tingles rush through my body, and I inch my hand out the side of the blanket.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Sebastian announces as the TV turns on.
The sudden noise startles me, and I snatch my hand back, flushing at how close I came to touching Damien’s hand.
The Alpha casts a reproachful glare toward his cousin before turning to me. “Tell us what you remember.”
I force my attention to the map that appears, an aerial view of large houses with larger yards and outbuildings. It must be where we are now.
I clear my throat, wincing at the way my voice cracks. “I walked to Skyhaven from the Ashford Heights bus depot.”
“You’re doing great,” Damien praises. “Take your time, and tell us whatever you can remember.”
The praise washes over me like a balm, soothing the ragged edges of my nerves.
On the big screen, the map backs out, and a yellow line appears, showing the route I took.
My fingers twist in the folds of the blanket. “The 499 bus from Brickwell brought me to Ashford Heights.”
Sebastian’s fingers fly over the keys, another line snaking across the map.
“Before that, I rode the 563 bus in Brickwell.” I lick my lips, every moment of my escape burned into my mind. “It stopped fifteen times, after I got on at the waystation nearest the highway, on the opposite side of town.”
Sebastian’s brow furrows in concentration as he works to pinpoint the exact location.
Beside me, Damien places his arm along the back of the couch as he leans over, his weight dipping the couch enough that, if I allowed it, I could tip toward him. “You’re doing well. Just a little more, and then you can rest, okay?”
A wobbly smile forms on my lips. “I’m fine.”
He rumbles in approval. “Good.”
When he straightens, he leaves his arm in place, fingers so close that it wouldn’t take much to rest my cheek on them. The new position also leaves his side open. This, too, reads like an invitation, and the tingles return as I wonder how warm it would be to rest against his solid frame.
A throat clears, and my head jerks forward to find a new line on the map, tracing the winding path through Brickwell to where I caught the first bus.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Damien glaring at Sebastian again, and this time, his cousin glares back, a silent communication passing between them.
After a moment, Damian sighs, and his arm slips to his side.
A pang goes through me at the missed opportunity, but I ignore it. “I walked along the highway to reach Brickwell. Lunchtime just ended at the compound when I escaped, and I was still in the woods when night fell. I reached the road soon after.”
My throat constricts as the memories flood back. The terror of running through the woods with no idea how far I needed to go, the ache of my feet on the rough terrain, the pain of the wound in my arm.
“I walked through the night,” I continue, my throat growing hoarse from talking so much, “and I only slept for a couple of hours once the sun rose. Then I just… kept going. I knew if I stopped again to rest, I would never make it.”
A soft sound of sympathy comes from Damien, his hand twitching as if he wants to reach out and touch me, to offer comfort.
He holds himself back, respecting my boundaries even as his pheromones thicken in the air, wrapping around me like a protective shield. “You survived. You fought, and you survived, and you made it here to deliver Jade’s message. You’re incredible.”
The heat of a blush creeps up my neck, and I duck my head. I don’t feel incredible. I feel small and broken, and so utterly lost. But Damien’s confidence urges me to believe his words.
Sebastian’s fingers fly over the keyboard, his brow furrowed in concentration as he traces the path I described along the highway. As he works, he mumbles under his breath about the average walking speed for someone who is only five foot three and how long I rested.
“Do you remember any mile markers?” Damien asks.
“No,” I whisper, wishing I did.
“What about any landmarks?” he presses. “Did anything on the road stand out to you?”
About to shake my head again, I remember a large patch of gravel. “There was a truck turnaround for oversized vehicles across the highway. Does that help?”
“It does.” Sebastian clicks on the screen, and the map zooms in, inching along the highway. Eyes glued to the screen, I spot it as the camera sweeps past.
“Wait!” I point to the screen. “Go back.”
He does, the gravel patch almost invisible between the frames.
“Good catch.” Damien leans forward, intent on the TV. “Do you remember how long you walked along the highway before you saw it?”
I bite my lip. Time is one of those things that has grown hazy over the last year. “Maybe two hours?”
Sebastian mutters as he calculates how far I could have traveled.
When the camera pulls backward, moving into the heavy forest, my heart pounds. I want to bury my face in the soft comfort of the blanket and hide from the memories threatening to overwhelm me.
It takes effort to keep my head up because, as much as it terrifies me, as much as my heart races and my palms sweat, this is important. If we locate the compound, they can find Jade.
Damien moves to sit on the edge of his cushion. “Search for access roads.”
“I know,” Sebastian hisses.
The camera zooms in on a building.
Damien pulls the hand-drawn map back out. “No, it’s too small. We’re searching for a compound with multiple outbuildings. Probably a generator and its own water source, too.”
Sebastian zooms back out and keeps searching. Another small building appears on the map, a narrow access road connecting it to a larger one. He follows it, and an L-shaped building comes into view.
“There.” My hands tremble. “That’s where they kept us. That’s where Jade is.”
Damien compares the image to the map. “It looks about right.”
“That’s it,” I insist, throwing off the blankets and pillows to scramble off the couch and point to a corner of the building. “This is where I escaped. A small window in the utility room at ground level. They kept us in the basement right here. I’m sure of it.”
And I am sure, with a bone-deep certainty that surprises me. Because even though the buildings are from a different angle, even though the roads are unfamiliar, I know it in my gut.
This is the place that will haunt my nightmares, the place where I knew I would die. This is the place where Jade is still trapped, waiting for someone to come and save him.
Sebastian’s fingers fly over the keyboard as he pulls up more information about the location. “It’s less than a two-hour drive from here. If you leave now, you can be there before sunrise.”
My heart lurches with fear. Damien is going?
Sebastian gathers up his laptop and heads toward the door. “I’ll brief the others. We have an extraction team on standby. Meet them in the garage in ten minutes. Aaiden and Caleb will want to move now.”
My breath comes faster, my palms sweating as panic rises like a monster, threatening to consume me.
Damien must sense my distress because he grabs the blanket and brings it to me, swirling it around my shoulders like a cape and snugging it close at the front without touching me. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. You don’t have to go back. We have trained men for this kind of thing. Nothing will happen to you.”
But it’s not me I’m scared for. Damien is leaving, diving headfirst into a dangerous situation. And I’ll be left here all alone.