Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Nikolai
Run-down warehouses surrounded us and the air smelled of smog and trash. We’d arrived in the lowest dregs of the city. The only people who came here were hiding secrets or avoiding the law.
We stood for a second, listening for movements. The only sounds filling the night were dogs barking in the distance and wind whistling through the trash piles that rested against the buildings.
This was exactly the kind of place a roach of a human like Eli would be.
For some reason, this case felt different. I’d taken plenty of jobs for Victor over the years, but the moment Luca gave us the list of his crimes, I knew this was different.
Or maybe my alpha was restless and desperate to save someone from the same fate as my omega.
Eight goddamn years without a trace. Even Luca had searched desperately for any trace of Aries. He might think I was oblivious, but he kept an ongoing search for her and checked it every fucking day. I respected the hell out of him for that.
She was likely their omega, too. I believed that now.
At first, I didn’t buy into Ronan’s pack theory, but the more time I spent around them, the more I realized they were my family. Despite the fact that I tried to avoid getting close to anyone, they were a part of me now.
My blade rested in the holster along my hip. As we started to weave through the sea of warehouses, I could feel its weight with every step we took. Our movements were silent and well-practiced. Our pack-bond wasn’t official, but strong enough we could read each other without words.
Luca had flagged a tip that our target was in town. He had some kind of meeting tomorrow which likely meant that he had girls hidden away somewhere in this hellscape. An uneasy feeling settled in my gut.
Was this what she’d had to endure? Where was my omega now?
“Backup is en route, in case this takes a turn,” Ronan said under his breath, just loud enough for us to hear. “But we’re not waiting.”
He gestured for us to move forward and we fell in line. The first warehouse was empty, the ceiling peeling away and letting in the moonlight. Dust danced in the faint beams of light making it clear no one had been here tonight.
The second, third, and fourth all housed larger equipment and were clean inside, but there wasn’t space for anything more.
There were easily twenty more warehouses around us. This was going to be a long night if we didn’t pick up our pace.
“There,” Luca said, following something on his phone and pointing ahead. “We have activity.” Whatever radar app he had going finally showed a signal up ahead. This was exactly the break we needed.
“This isn’t just a little activity, it’s some kind of hub. The energy signature alone—” He trailed off.
He didn’t need to finish. It wasn’t the first time we’d found someone like Eli hiding out in a place that came out inconspicuous and hidden away. The type of place where the sounds of screams and late night visits would go unnoticed.
We moved forward like ghosts, ensuring whoever was waiting beyond those doors didn’t know we were coming.
Our steps halted as Ronan held up a hand, gesturing for us to pause. A breath later voices cut through the silence.
Ronan gestured for me to go ahead of them. I was the one who’d be able to slip in and eliminate the guards without being noticed.
I slipped forward, rounding the corner and eyeing the guard waiting there.
He clearly thought nothing could happen out here.
All of these bastards thought that they were untouchable.
His expression was bored, full attention on his phone, chuckling at some stupid video that made more noise than I did.
My blade slid across his throat before he had a chance to react. I could have subdued him, but anyone willing to work for Elias Vance deserved to die.
I knew whatever they were guarding inside would only confirm that.
With a double tap on my comm I started to move again. There would be more guards ahead.
The men inside were just as unaware. No one had ventured back to find their missing comrade yet. One by one, I took them out, dragging their bodies into the shadows though there was no hiding the trail of blood.
It was clear as I pushed forward that they’d remodeled the entire place. The rooms here in this hallway were like high-end parlors and lounges. It reeked of money and inflated egos. The blood left behind filled me with satisfaction that I’d disrupted their perfect image.
The cement floors were oddly polished, the walls plain white but clean. It felt like walking into a laboratory buried beneath a ruin, the contrast was unsettling.
I also hadn’t discovered what they were hiding yet, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t deeper in this building.
More doors, more fancy meeting spaces and even a few bedrooms. Finally, at the end of the hall was a metal security door with a keycard lock on the outside.
Great, now I had to search bodies. Ignoring their vacant eyes I searched through their pockets. It wasn’t until I reached the first body that I found the card I needed. It only read clearance level one, but hopefully it let me in.
“What the fuck is this?” Ronan asked quietly as he stepped through the door. I flashed the card to him.
“Offices,” I said. “A few bedrooms. I needed this to get further in.” They followed me back to the door in question, but when I swiped the card it beeped red.
“Fuck, we need a higher clearance,” I said, glancing at Luca who would be the one to solve this.
“Working on it,” he said, pulling out some kind of device. Numbers flashed across the screen, none of it making sense to me.
After a few moments, a beep sounded at the door as the lock clicked.
Luca grabbed the handle but didn’t open it, waiting for the signal.
Ronan’s hand covered his, gently pulling him back as he stepped forward. His gun was already raised.
We didn’t know what was on the other side.
He did a whispered countdown before gently sliding it open and stepping through.
The noise hit us first, then the smell. Voices, whimpers, and the scent of dirty bodies, blood, and urine.
Two burly guards stood ahead, backs to us. Their voices carried over a radio playing nearby, but it didn’t drown out the screams echoing from deeper inside.
Someone had paid good money to soundproof this place. None of this was heard beyond that door.
Even I wasn’t numb enough that I was unaffected. My stomach instantly dropped.
Ronan gave me a look that reflected the horror I already felt.
I needed to see what was ahead and I had to get rid of these guards so I could do that. My hand clamped over the first guard’s mouth, my knife slicing under his chin. Blood poured down, warm and wet over my arms before I dropped him. Ronan handled the other just as quickly.
There was no hiding these bodies now, we’d have to move quickly.
A glass security office sat nearby, the door wide open like they had nothing to fear. Screens showcased rows of cells.
I couldn’t see the people moving inside clearly, but I knew exactly what they were.
Omegas.
Cold fury twisted in my gut and I was moving before I could even have the thought.
The next room was a barracks. Bunk beds and messy lockers, half unmade. They had a full team here and we’d only taken out five.
There would be even more ahead watching the omegas.
“Got us a proper keycard,” Luca called from the security office, holding up a card. Ronan and I backtracked to join him, my brother taking the card. “And wouldn’t you know, it has Spectre right on it.”
“That’s our target,” Ronan growled as he glared down at it. “So, where the hell is he?”
My eyes scanned over the screens now that I was close enough to make out details.
“There,” I said, pointing at the large room on display. Raised platforms dotted the room with omegas chained to them. They were naked and I could see their bodies trembling even through the shitty feed.
It was a showroom. Sick bastards.
In the center stood our target, surrounded not by guards, but five buyers. Sharp suits and cigars in hand like they were at the fucking country club. I swear, with wealth came depravity.
“Do we need more firepower?” Ronan asked.
“If it makes you feel better,” I said. “The guards had automatic rifles if you want those.”
It wouldn’t make a difference to me. I’d tear every one of them apart with my bare hands if I had to.
“Alright,” Luca said from the main computer at the desk. He’d been browsing files and extracting everything he could. “I’ve got the layout.”
“Lead the way,” Ronan replied.
We all knew that wouldn’t last. The moment things went sideways, his protective instincts would take over and we’d both be shoved behind him.
“Four wings of cells branching off one main path,” Luca said. “The far end is the showroom. We’ll need that keycard to enter, I’d assume.”
“Take out the assholes first,” I said. “All of them. Then we can get the girls out of here.”
No one deserved to be left like that.
Ronan grabbed the assault rifles off the guards, checking ammo, then tossing me one.
“Let me handle the guards in the omega wings so they don’t join you,” Luca said, attaching a silencer to his gun. “You focus on the main room.”
Ronan turned to me. “Don’t go in opening fire, there are omegas inside.”
I nodded, annoyed he thought I needed the reminder, but if it helped Ronan feel in control, fine.
Luca’s gun was already going off by the time we reached the showroom door. Ronan turned to me, card hovering just out of range.
“Guards first, then buyers. Honestly, they probably have teams of their own in there.”
“I’ll take buyers. You take guards,” I countered. “Take them out at once.”
He hesitated, then nodded.
Ronan swiped the keycard and kicked the door open with a thud.
The guards didn’t even get their weapons up before his shots tore through them, clean and precise.
I moved next, dropping the buyers around Spectre one by one. The bodies fell around him as his face drained of color. I wanted him to know he’d have no chance of running but I was going to drag this out.
“Hello, Elias,” I said, my voice rough. “We just wanted to have a little chat. And now you have a clear schedule.”
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” he spat as he jolted out of his shock, already reaching for his gun.
One shot to his thigh dropped him, his scream echoing in the now-silent room.
The omegas didn’t make a sound as we cleared their captors one by one. That told me everything I needed to know about this place. I hoped this didn’t traumatize them further, but it had to happen.
Men like Eli deserved to face real consequences.
I stepped closer to the trembling man and dragged my blade across his cheek.
“Stop! I can give you whatever you want. Money? I’ve got that,” he said as desperation settled in.
“I don’t need your money,” I said quietly. “This was never about that.”
“Victor Crow sends his regards,” Ronan added as he stepped up next to me. Everyone knew Victor’s face and Ronan looked a lot like his father.
“No,” Elias breathed as he stared down the barrel of the gun pointed at his face.
“Anyone else want a turn?” I asked, holding out the knife toward the omegas.
Most of them blanched and shook their heads. The reaction I expected but they deserved the chance.
Only one nodded yes and stepped forward. Her chain dragged on the floor behind her as she stepped toward Eli.
“What’s your name?” Ronan asked as her length ran out.
“Thea,” she said.
He handed the gun to me to keep Eli in his place while he dug keys off the guards’ corpses and unlocked her restraints.
She walked toward me, head held high. She had a calm to her that was out of place in the situation. It was something I could relate to.
Sometimes that calm numbness is how you survived.
Thea gingerly took the knife from my hand. Her delicate fingers wrapped around the hilt as she stared down at him.
Then she struck, the knife turned backwards so the hilt cracked into his nose. The bone crunched underneath it, blood pouring out of him and splashing her naked legs and feet.
Then she reared back, plunging the knife into his stomach. Her breath echoed out in frantic huffs as she stabbed him over and over with more strength than I expected.
She didn’t stay at his stomach, she aimed right for his dick, stabbing it as he howled in panic and pain.
Even after he was silent she took her pound of flesh.
Bits of flesh and meat flung across the room as she lost control.
The other omegas that didn’t take up our offer didn’t look away, they watched as Thea took every bit of flesh for all of them.
We didn’t rush her, we simply waited until she finished.
When it was done, she handed the blade back to me. It was as coated in his blood as she was but I didn’t flinch as I took it and cleaned it before sliding it back into its sheath.
“Thank you,” she said, already turning toward the other girls Ronan was unlocking from their chains.
“We have a safe house nearby,” Ronan said. “We’ll get you clothes, medical care, and help you find your families.”
“Who are you?” someone asked.
“We’re not the good guys,” Ronan said without hesitation. He wasn’t the type to sugarcoat things. “But we have boundaries and we don’t hurt omegas.”
“Good enough for me,” Thea said. “But I don’t need a safe house. Can you get me to Colorado?”
Something in the way she said it made me go still.
“What’s in Colorado?” I asked.
“A town,” she said as she looked back at me now. “A safe place for omegas like us. A girl who I shared a cell with a few years ago told me about it. Its name is whispered through places like this.”
“Who?” Ronan asked sharply.
“They all use code names,” she said. I wanted to ask how she knew so much about it but I was too curious now to interrupt. “There’s Lark and something to do with the zodiac. Oh!”
She snapped her fingers.
“Aries.”
My world tilted as the name echoed in the room.
“Aries?” I repeated, my voice shaking. I needed to hear her confirm it.
“Yes, Aries. What’s wrong?”
“I need every detail,” Ronan said as he moved closer to her, eyes wild. “We need every detail.”
But I couldn’t move. I could barely think.
Aries.
Did that mean she was truly alive?