Chapter 40 Jo
forty
Jo
Thirty-two shallow slashes across Taintsworth’s abdomen later, I think he’s ready to talk.
The guys have taken various seats around the room, except West, who still stands behind him to hold his head still.
They let me do my work though, and haven’t made a peep since I mentioned “pack dynamics” to Sam.
“Here’s how it’s gonna go,” I say sweetly to the sniveling alpha. “I’m gonna take this shirt outta your mouth, and you’re not gonna say a word unless it’s to answer my question. Understand?”
He nods, and I yank the wife beater out of his mouth. “Okay. First chance. Are they keepin’ omegas in the secret lab under this wing?” I may have made a ton of assumptions to arrive at that conclusion, but it looks like I’m right because his eyes widen.
His voice cracks. “Yes.”
“Very good,” I coo, patting his cheek roughly enough that it makes a slapping sound. “And, is there someone by the name of Mabel Harding being held down there?”
The slug looks like he might cry. “I don’t know, they…they stop using names. Only patient numbers.”
Unfortunately, I believe him. But that doesn’t stop the growl in my throat. “White-blonde hair, big blue eyes. My height, my age. Anyone down there like that? She woulda come in three years ago.”
His eyes screw shut like he’s trying to remember. “Um, I think so? Yes, yes there is. She’s—”
I stuff the wifebeater back in his mouth as I scramble off his lap and pace the room.
“She’s here,” I mutter to myself, running a hand through my hair.
I knew it, I found her. Five years of trying to find her, but now I have an actual location.
“Fireball?” Hayden asks, approaching me carefully.
She’s here.
Which means…they’ve been doing gods-know-what to her for three fucking years. And I’ve been…what? Prancing around a mental institution, playing build-a-pack?
“There’s no sister in your file.” West frowns. I’m a little surprised he waited this long to ask.
“That was on purpose,” I wave him off, still pacing. What do I do now? I know where she is, but how do I get to her? “We doctored my records so it wouldn’t look suspicious.”
“We?” Kole asks. He’s leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed as he watches me slowly unravel.
“Me and Declan. I mean, he did it, but he also showed me how to do it myself. He’s the one who trained me on how to resist the barks too.”
“Lisichka,” Kole growls, his eyes darkening. “Who the fuck is Declan?”
“Oh, calm your knot, Sugar Bear,” I snap, throwing him a scathing look. “It’s not like that with Declan—he saved my life. He’s family.”
“Trouble, I think you’re overestimating just how much control we have when you’re talking about other alphas,” Sam grumbles, and I resist the urge to hurl my scalpel at him.
How can they be caring about Declan right now when I just got confirmation that my sister is in this fucking building?
My eyes roll to the back of my head. “Even when that other alpha is my brother? I didn’t mean family in the metaphorical sense.”
“There was no information on a brother, either,” West says thoughtfully, still holding onto Taintworth’s head.
“Yeah, Dec likes to stay underground.” I wave him off. “Plus, technically he’s my half-brother, since we have different mamas. Apparently Declan’s daddy was not a fan of pack-life or sharin’.”
“Lisichka,” Kole says, suddenly thoughtful. “What’s Declan’s last name?”
“Gallagher.” I give him a look. “Don’t tell me we’re goin’ to have some kind of weird mafia-family rivalry going on. This isn’t modern day Romeo and Juliet.”
Hayden nearly chokes. “Mafia?”
“Irish mafia, to be exact.”
“Your brother has connections to the Irish Mafia?” Hayden gapes, as if this is the most shocking thing he’s heard all day.
“Her brother is the Irish Mafia, Bratishka,” Kole corrects.
“Killed off his own father—Cian Gallagher—six years ago when he tried to get into the skin trade. My father couldn’t stop talking about it.
” As always, the mention of Cian Gallagher sends a shiver of rage down my spine.
Daddy mentioned someone named Cian when Mama died, but Dec and I couldn’t uncover anything saying he ordered her death.
Mabel has been my number one priority, but when we’re out of here, I’m gonna figure out what really happened.
“And your brother sent you in here instead of sending his own people?” Sam sounds pretty pissed, and I can’t help but take offense to that.
“Mabel wouldn’t trust anyone else.” I frown, putting a hand on my hip. “And he only let me come once I could beat him in a fight and resist his alpha-bark. This is my fight, my mission. Plus, he’s hacked into the cameras and has been watching every move I’ve made since I got here.”
I watch as that revelation sinks in. Every time I’ve winked at the cameras, flipped them off, or hoped they didn’t see what I was doing, it wasn’t the institute I was communicating with. It was Dec.
“That explains that, then,” West murmurs.
“Isn’t Mabel his sister too, though?” Hayden asks. “Why would he wait for you to be ready instead of storming the castle?”
“She’s…” I rub the back of my neck, unsure of how much to say.
But, if these guys are going to be my pack, they need the whole story.
“She’s not,” I say finally. “Not that it matters. Dec has wanted someone on the inside long before I came here, and he…well, he wouldn’t tell me a whole lot about it, but Isaac Thornfield is a very well connected man, and anything short of a stealth mission would be declaring an all-out war, which he didn’t have the man-power for…
at the time. At least if I got caught, I can’t be traced back to him, since I have my own motives. ”
The next words catch in my throat. I can see their confusion on how Declan could be my brother but not Mabel’s, if we’re twins.
“I’m not sure if I’m even related to her biologically, to be honest, but we were raised believin’ we were fraternal twins.
Accordin’ to Declan, his own mama died when he was a baby, and my mama married Cian when he was seven.
Then, four years later, Mama fled when she found out she was pregnant with me.
Cian Gallagher was one of the worst, and she didn’t want to raise her child in that environment.
” I nearly snort, thinking of the man I was raised to call my father.
“She tried to get Dec to come with her when she left, but even at eleven, he knew that his daddy would never stop lookin’ for him, since he was the heir.
So Mama fled, changed her name, and married the man I always thought was my daddy.
” I shrug, even as I sum up the revelations that threw my life upside down years ago.
“I guess Mama always felt bad about leavin’ Dec behind, and tried to check on him when he was a teen.
That’s when he said he could get us out, but Mama was adamant about stayin’ away from that life.
” I let out a bitter laugh. “Dec always tells me how stupid that was of her. What if he had turned out just like his father? Though, I’m not sure if he could have been much worse than Peter Harding. ”
I sigh, shaking out my shoulders like it might make recounting easier.
“Then, when Dec found me, the first place he looked to get some information on Mabel were the birth records from the hospital where Mabel and I were born. Well…where I was born. When they got a hold of the medical records…well, it said there was only one baby. Me.” I swallow, looking down.
“Me. Mabel and I…we were too close in age. There’s no way she came from Mama.
And to be honest, we’ve never looked even a little bit alike. ”
“Shit, Fireball,” Hayden breathes, gathering me in his arms. “That’s a lot.”
I let out a breathless laugh. “Just a little bit.”
“Well then, Little Fox,” Kole nods his head, “let us continue this interrogation, yes? We can find more answers on how to get to your…maybe-sister.”
I shake my head. “No. Whether or not Mabel and I share any DNA, she’s my sister. My twin.”
A small smile tilts at his lips. “Understood, Lisichka.”
The guys seem to be taking news of my involvement in the Irish Mafia surprisingly well, so with renewed vigor I turn back to Taintsworth and rip the shirt out of his mouth again.
“Why are they tryin’ to nullify designations?”
“They’re a bunch of beta supremacists. They don’t think alphas or omegas should exist.”
“So why are you workin’ with them?” My lip lifts in disgust.
“They pay well, and I figured I could either play along or be killed.”
Fair enough, I guess.
We seem to be on a roll, so I keep going. “Who has access to the lab?”
“Ask him.” Taintsworth lifts his chin at Kole behind me.
“He’s in there a hell of a lot more than I am.
” He looks like maybe he thinks he’s going to hit me with some shocking information, but he is sorely mistaken.
Sighing, I raise my knife to make a slash, but Taintsworth quickly gathers his wits. “Scientists—”
“No shit, barf bag,” I snap, knocking him upside the head again. That’s so much fun. “Names. Give me fuckin’ names or I’ll kill you right here and now.”
He blanches. “Um, Brooks! And Whitmore.”
“Obviously,” I snap, waving my scalpel in front of his face. “Tick-tock, Taintsworth.”
“Doctor Harrington! Doctor Sampson!” he nearly shouts. “Um, some orderlies! Digby! And Jessup!”
Bingo. That’s who we’ll need to get through the door.
“How can Sam get on that list?” I ask, dragging the flat side of the scalpel across his collarbone.
“He can’t.” For once, his answer doesn’t sound petrified and I can’t say I like that one bit.
“Why not?” My voice is ice cold.
“Because Brooks knows that he’s too nice to the patients. He’s everyone’s favorite, and knows Sam doesn’t have what it takes to be involved with something like this.”
Is that a fucking hint of pride in his voice? I obviously haven’t stabbed him enough times.
Grumbling, I plunge the scalpel into his thigh, ignoring the bastard’s scream of pain. “Sam, you’re up. Ask your questions.”
While Sam does his thing, I walk over to Hayden, needing…something from my bondmate. I'm not sure what I’m looking for, but when he wraps me in his arms, I think I found it.
“Do you think they’ll let me burn his body when we’re done?” My Fire Demon murmurs in my ear, and I throw my head back on a laugh, a sense of lightness filling me.
“Maybe if you ask nicely, Darlin’.” I grin up at him as he pecks a kiss to my lips.
Hands on my hips have me leaning back, and I find myself sandwiched between my alphas. “Mmm…a girl could get used to this,” I hum, closing my eyes.
Kole feathers kisses along my neck. “I had no idea I was courting a Mafia Princess,” he murmurs into my neck.
“Princess?” I scoff. “Please. Maybe a…baroness or somethin’. I was not coddled by any means, and I’ve trained endless hours with Dec and his pack to make sure I don’t need protectin’.”
Kole growls low in his throat as his hands slide up my bare stomach and over the sports bra I’m wearing. “I know you said it’s your brother’s pack, but I can’t help but want to rip their throats out when you talk about them.”
“Can you please wait to grope the omega until after we’re done with this prick?” Sam snaps, making me flutter my eyelashes at him.
“Sammy-boy, you don’t need an invite to the omega-gropin’ party.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Taintworth groans, from behind Sam.
My alpha growls once before unleashing a right hook on Taintsworth’s jaw.
“Nothing is fucking wrong with her, you shit-stain on society. She’s damn perfect, and you won’t even look at her for the rest of your life.
” He straightens, brushing off his scrubs.
“We got what we needed. You can finish this.”
The asshole blanches, and a slow grin takes over my face. Awww, the poor little twat waffle believed me when I said I might let him live.
“How am I not going to look at her? I still work here—”
“I believe that death is a sufficient reason to put in your immediate notice.” West’s voice is cold.
“But you said—”
“Oh, Fuckface,” my voice is sweet as I detangle myself from my alphas and walk over to our prisoner, “I lied.” The man who’s taken every opportunity to make my life miserable since I got here, the man who makes others’ lives a living hell is nothing but a sniveling cretin.
And he’ll die like one.
With that, I pull the scalpel out of his thigh, which immediately starts spurting blood. Oops, I forgot to make sure I didn't hit an artery.
The blood soaks through his clothes and starts leaking onto the tarp on the floor. Taintsworth cries out, panicking, as I frown at the mess. “Well, fuck.”
“It is alright, Lisichka,” Kole murmurs behind me. “Finish it.”
I keep my eyes trained on the soulless gaze of the rapist tied to the chair.
“Be grateful,” I say quietly, leaning in, “that we are on a time limit. If it were up to me, I’d keep you here the next eight years so you can experience every single second of agony you’ve inflicted on others. Rot in hell.”
With that, I slice the scalpel across his neck, a sense of calm filling me as his gurgles sound in the air and his life slowly leaves his body.
I watch the blood as it pours down his chest, over my name carved into his chest.
If only I had the names of every woman he’s assaulted. Then he could have died with their names cursing his flesh as well.
The light finally leaves his eyes, and I watch, satisfied, as Kole cuts him free from the restraints, lets his body fall onto the tarp, and rolls him up nice and tight.
“You guys know anywhere good to burn a body?” Hayden asks, speaking for the first time in a while.
Sam and West exchange a look. “Yeah. Let’s go.”