Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Max
T eamed up with Pieter, we made quick work of two of the houses, clearing them out and ushering people to the central building. I let Pieter deal with the Leader of the second house, and if I wasn’t incorrect, the guy looked like his father. The similarities were too prominent to be anything else. How could a man order his son to be killed, just so he could maintain his own power?
I left him to it; they were his demons to appease, and no matter what the outcome, it’d be the right one.
Moving from room to room, I woke up the people inside. Some looked at me with fear, others with anger, and honestly, it made it easier to sort them. I rounded them up into the living room.
“Evil!” an old woman shrieked. “A test from Izuny—that’s what you are.”
Smiling at the old battle-axe, I smirked. “If I was the vengeful tool of any of your fake gods, it would Melize. You chose the wrong fucking god to follow, and I’m your retribution.”
Preaching back at her about her own fucked-up religion seemed to shock the old bat, because she shut up. I left her with two other guys, their faces covered by masks, and went to the last bedroom.
A girl launched herself from the shadows, and I spotted at least three children in the corner behind her. “You can’t have them!” I pulled her off me gently, watching her swinging fists, though one still clipped me in the ear.
“Woah, I don’t want anyone. Calm down.” Gripping her hands, I pried her off me with as much care as I could. She was a Beta, that was obvious, and also undernourished. It didn’t take much to hold her. I looked closely at her face, with the almond-shaped eyes and olive tone of her skin. “Shit, are you Nim?”
The girl froze, her eyes going wide and her lips parting. “What did you say?”
“Are you Nim? Nimah?” It had to be her, right? “Polly sent us.”
All at once, every ounce of fight left her body, and she slid to the floor before I could catch her. “She’s okay? Paloma’s okay?”
I smiled, crouching down in front of her. “She’s better than okay. She’s happy. She’ll be even happier when I tell her you’re okay. I can take you to her, if you want?” The woman looked back over her shoulder at the kids, and I could tell she didn’t know what to do. “They can come too. We aren’t leaving anyone behind.” I paused. “Actually, there’s someone else I think you’d like to see.” I led her from the room, ushering the kids along with her. There was a preteen boy holding a toddler, and a little girl around six. “Do these guys have parents?”
Nim shrugged. “Somewhere. But I wouldn’t know who. They have babies in… well, batches I guess, and then disperse them across the different houses. No one ever really knows who belongs to who.”
I ground my back teeth, glad there was no one in punching distance. “Anyone you’d trust them with while I take you outside?” Her hesitation broke my heart. “It’s okay. They can come with us.” I looked at the boy. He had to be around twelve, with soft features. “Are you okay carrying the little one?” He nodded, his eyes still wide and fearful where they landed on my gun. “It doesn’t feel like it, but I promise everything will be okay now.”
We walked up to the house that Rio and Henry were meant to breach, and I could see people being ushered out of there, into what I assumed was the ceremony room, which had an exit that we could direct emergency services toward.
I knew the moment that Nim spotted him. “Henry,” she breathed. “But he’s…”
I put a hand on her arm, immediately dropping it when she flinched. “There’s a lot you won’t understand, but we’ll explain everything. But yes, that’s Henry—he’s alive and well. And I know for a fact that you’re the reason he’s here.”
She looked back at the kids once more, obviously still reluctant to leave them behind.
“Go. I’ll watch them and keep them safe. I swear it on my love for Polly.”
That seemed to be enough, because Nim was running across the ground in bare feet. Fuck, I should have gotten her shoes. “Henry!” she yelled, and the Alpha in question turned, his eyes wide.
“Nim?” That was all he got out before the little Beta was slamming into his arms.
The rest of their conversation was just for them, and I looked down at the scared kids beside me. “Hey, my name is Max. I bet this is all scary, right?” The little girl nodded, but the boy just stared at me distrustfully. “A lot of things are about to change, but I promise you that they’ll be for the better. I swear it. Do you remember Paloma?”
The boy continued to stare at me, his frown way too mature on his tiny face. “You know Paloma?”
I nodded. “Yep, I do. She’s a beautiful, funny, intelligent Omega that I’m so privileged to call my mate. She wanted me to come and help you guys, because beyond those walls is a world filled with everything imaginable. An abundance of food, animals you’ve never seen before, and fun and other children and life. We’ll be here every step of the way to help you, I swear it.”
The kid clearly didn’t understand, and how could he? Polly was an adult, and she’d barely been able to comprehend the world outside the Homestead.
“But first, there’ll be a bunch of men and women in cars who’ll come to talk to you. They’ll be police officers and paramedics. They’ll keep you safe and make sure you’re healthy. They’ll support you in the world outside.”
We reached the ceremony room, and I looked around. There had to be sixty or seventy people in here, including at least a dozen kids. What the fuck?
I walked over to Toledo, who’d been tasked with going through and mirroring everything on the computers of every Leader here. Yeah, they all had computers and satellite connections, while the rest of the compound believed they were the only people left in the universe. We’d leave the computers for the cops, but Toledo and Jewel wanted their own copies to peruse. Just in case they didn’t like how the investigation was being handled and needed to get a little more vigilante in their justice.
He let out a sound that was almost a growl. “What a fucking shitshow. I’m tempted to just put down everyone who knowingly subjected these kids to this bullshit, and burn the place to the ground,” he murmured. I understood the impulse. There were middle-aged men and women here, people like Kross’s parents, who’d willingly moved their kids here and lied to them. Who’d had babies, knowing that those children would have to perpetuate the cycle, while being oblivious to a completely different world out there. Those weren’t the actions of the sane or the innocent.
“We’ll leave the cops and the courts to clean up who’s guilty and who was just misled. We can’t be the judge, jury, and executioner for everyone here.”
Toledo grumbled. “And what about the kids? People like Henry and Polly, who are adults but had no idea that a world outside of this hellhole even existed? Your Alpha is a former foster kid. What do you think will happen to them?” Toledo was right; there was a chance that they’d be even more exploited in the outside world.
“We won’t let that happen, man. We have money, space, and manpower. We’ll figure something out and protect them all until they’re on their feet.”
He nodded his head distractedly. I knew it was true. These people, for better or worse, were Polly’s family. Those who were innocent would get all the help Llew, Rio, and I could give. Hopefully August too, if the last two weeks hadn’t made him want to run in the other direction.
Henry reappeared, holding Nim’s hand. As they walked over to me, I could hear the shocked whispers of the older people, suddenly recognizing him. It wasn’t that long ago that he’d “died” and he was more easily recognizable than someone like Kross.
He stopped in front of me. “Rio says it’s time.”
Nodding, I smiled at Nim. “I’ll be in touch. Polly is going to be anxious to see you.” I paused, looking between the two of them. “You can come with us, if you want?”
Nim hesitated, but shook her head. “Henry explained… a little. I’m not sure I completely understand, but the kids will need me.” She looked up at her childhood best friend, back from the dead, with a little disbelief in her eyes.
“They’ll need us. Don’t worry, Nim. I’m not going anywhere.”
Resisting the urge to say aww, I waved at Toledo. “I’ll call you later.” With one last look around the room, I walked out into the darkness. Rio was there, and so was some naked old dude. “Gross, man. Couldn’t you have, I don’t know, put some underpants on him or something?”
Rio nodded to a part of the wall that sat on the north side of the Homestead. As he stuck a long pin in a hole, there was some overriding mechanism, and a small gate opened.
“Fuck, that’s handy.”
The man in his arms swore at us as he stumbled into the darkness of the woods. When we were far enough away that I was pretty sure the people in the Homestead wouldn’t hear any gunshots, Rio shoved the guy to his knees.
“Kross says that we can’t torture you. Normally, I wouldn’t give a fuck what anyone says—I’d peel the skin from your flesh in the most painful way possible, until you were screaming in pain,” Rio said coldly. “But luckily for you, I have somewhere better I want to be.” Pulling his gun from his holster, he held it between Leader Malakai’s eyes. “Thank you for cooperating.” He dropped the gun to the old guy’s mouth, pulling out the sock and pushing the barrel between his lips. “Say hello to your fucking gods for me. I hope they drag you straight to Hell, where you belong.”
Then he pulled the trigger.
Leader Malakai, the man who’d tormented our Omega forever, fell to the side like a wasted lump of human flesh. I quickly staged the kill to look like a suicide of a man who’d made a run for it in the middle of the night, wiping down any evidence we were here.
Getting to my feet, I looked at my Alpha. “Let’s go home.”
We walked off into the darkness and down to the place where we’d left our vehicles. As we drove down Highway 49, we saw the red-and-blue flashing lights of an entire convoy of cop cars flying in the other direction.