Chapter 52
FIFTY-TWO
LAUREL
I grabbed the controller and pressed the release button. My hands tightened on the golden swing as it moved away from the balcony and over the Blood Well.
It was so different during the day; every sound echoing off the concrete walls, the bright lights replaced by greys and whites. No crowds to shout and scream as I was dangled like bait over the snapping alphas below; instead, it was just me.
I swung my feet, and breathed in as the swing swayed. I hadn’t done up the safety harness; it was just my own grip stopping me from plummeting four floors down to the net that stretched over the fight pit. It made my heart pound and my scalp prickle, and I welcomed the fear.
The reminder I was alive.
Jule and I used to come do this together when one of us had a bad day. We’d actually do up the harnesses; but it was just me and him, side by side as we swung above everything.
It always helped me separate from the world.
Up here, there was air all around me, the tangy metal scent of the swing.
The feel of my hands getting sweaty, of needing to adjust my grip.
Fighting the looming danger of the fall.
I peered down at the net far below me, stretched over the Sink.
I closed my eyes and swung my feet harder, gaining momentum as I moved back and forth through the air.
My knuckles were white where they gripped the sides.
I’d needed to come up here to clear my head. I’d been completely surprised by my engagement to the Lucas pack, and I was trying to shake the feeling that I could have wriggled out of this if I’d been more vigilant. Had there been signs I’d missed? Been too distracted to notice?
But the real reason I’d needed to be up here was stupid. Finch’s conversation in the garden with me after the big announcement.
He’d been looming over me, so angry, and I’d allowed myself to indulge in the hope that he was jealous. Or, at the very least, angry on my behalf. Which was stupid; he hated me. He’d dark bonded me, and made it clear I was nothing to him.
He’d given me hope for everything I’d dreamed of and then ripped my heart out in two sentences.
If everything went according to plan, the Lucas pack would be gone.
And so would the Seo pack…
I guess I’d thought since, you know, they’d bonded with me that there was a future with us. One I had conflicting feelings about. I should hate Finch and Kaos, who had dark bonded me and used me, but knowing Kaos had been Demon had changed everything.
They were here to claim justice, whatever way it took, and I probably would have dark bonded my enemy’s daughter in their place. I was actually surprised it took me throwing Ocean in the Pens for them to come after me like that.
I didn’t know what the future held for me and them; but Ocean was different. He was someone I didn’t want to let go of. And knowing that his pack planned to leave me behind when they were done cut me deep.
I let myself slow, and with a sigh, let go of one side.
My stiff fingers pressed the button that would bring me up.
I docked the swing on the balcony, and made my way to the back of the suite, to a forgotten corner.
There was a loose panel in the ceiling, and I hopped up the stacked chairs and shimmied into the dusty space above the room.
I grabbed one of the flashlights from the bin up here, and clipped it to my dress before turning it on. I probably didn’t even need it to make my way through the familiar route that wound around the edge of the Blood Well.
Finally I climbed up the last beam, into a small nook with plywood walls.
I closed my eyes, breathing in the scents around me, though they were laced with dust and old, warm wood. Dust was good. Dust meant this place was still a secret, known only by me, Jade, and Jule.
We’d found this corner and smuggled in the supplies to make it ours; they had been doing renovations to one of the ballrooms and we’d stolen most of what we needed from up there at night.
We’d made it like a hidden treehouse; initially we’d wanted it to be round but had settled on a hexagon shape as it was more attainable. Benches lined the walls, and there was another level up higher for storage.
Since Jade and Julius had vanished from my life, I’d made it my own. I’d lined the benches and floors with fluffy rugs and blankets, and soft, squishy pillows. I’d fiddled with wires and extension cords and got some twinkling fairy lights set up.
I moved forward, diving into the pile of blankets and rugs on the floor, curling up with a sigh. It brought me back to a time when this was the happiest place in the world, when Jule and I had truly felt safe.
Untouchable.
Where was he?
Had my father really sold him?
He hadn’t committed suicide, and without a body, perhaps my father hadn’t killed him. Was he also trapped in a rut cage somewhere, being forced to fight like Ocean?
I’d just have to pray there’d be enough left of him when I got him back…