Chapter 10
Indie
say yes to heaven - lana del rey
“Stay safe, please.” I crush Regina to me, holding her as tight as a vice.
With the upcoming impromptu dinner at my sister’s—which quite literally could be my demise—Regina and I have decided we can’t waste any more time getting the Egnever girls out.
That leaves them enough time to get back and stay within the safety of the Pit.
Who knows what those fucks are planning, thought it won’t include our girls.
“Yes, Mother.” She huffs, pulling away and holding me at arm’s length. “I’ve watched you long enough to know how to look after myself.” Her words come out as a whisper, but the way my heart is thumping, she might as well have roared them.
“Keep me updated when you can.” I pull her in again, both of us squeezing each other.
Regina and I haven’t spent a day apart in six years.
Ever since we thought Jenna had died, we had sleepovers at each other’s house, right up until we got our own place.
Some might think we have too much of a reliance on each other, but we’re platonic soulmates, have been since we were kids.
A painful, heart-clenching thought slithers through my mind.
She’s the kind of sister I wish I did have. I suppose not all families need to be blood.
“For fuck’s sake, she’s not going off to war,” Dawson groans, slinking his arm around Regina’s waist and tugging her away.
My head cocks to the side, eyeing the both of them.
That’s the first sign of public affection I’ve seen them do.
Regina must sense my comment before it forms words, because she scrunches her nose and eyes at me in warning. “Look after her, Dawson, or else I’ll wear your skin as a suit if she returns with a single hair missing from her head.”
He looks at me, disgusted.
Regina laughs, looking up at him over her shoulder. “Not an empty threat by the way. She googled if it was possible once.”
If Dawson’s expression was merely down to being jarred by my threat, the way his face has lost colour would tell me he’ll forever look at me differently now.
“The dark web is an interesting place.” I add a wink, and he grips Regina by the underarm, dragging her away as she cackles wickedly out the front doors, leading her to the loaded-up van.
My eyes drift along the front of the grounds; three different cars are packed with a group to assist them both on their journey.
Not that they need a small army for what they’re doing, but Saint wasn’t taking any chances.
Not with a target on all of our backs.
I tug my puffer jacket closer around my neck, dipping my chin inside it whilst I watch the cars crunch by in the snow. Arms slink in around my waist, pulling me closer.
Saint’s uncovered inked arms flash beneath my gaze, and a warm kiss is placed against my temple.
I laugh as he buries his face into my neck. “I have like five layers on, how the hell are you not shivering with one?”
I turn in his arms once the gates close, looking up into those eyes that settle every storm behind mine.
His voice is like a silky caress against my skin. “I told you, my blood runs hotter than hell, darling.”
I laugh as he picks me up and spins me inside, closing the door that sends the bitter whip of the wind to an abrupt halt.
Pinning me against the wall, he kisses me with a ferocity that weakens my knees, and I breathe against his lips. “You really are the devil, aren’t you?”
I feel his smile. “And you are the most beautiful of my demons.”
Saint’s hand hooks under my knee, wrapping it around his hip as he deepens our kiss. I get so lost in him that I forget we’re in the hallway.
It’s little moments like this I’m grateful for, to be able to still enjoy things, despite the shitstorm that surrounds our reality.
That is until the ringing of his phone breaks through the cloud.
Cursing, he pulls away, leaving me breathless as he checks over it, his face hardening. “I need to take this; it’s my dad. He’ll be looking for an update.”
He gives me one last soul-snatching kiss before pulling away and placing his phone to his ear, disappearing down around the corner.
My head thumps back against the wall as I regulate my breathing. Then my eyes cast up the stairs, my feet leading me to Jenna’s room.
Holly stands across from her door, and she smiles at me as I walk towards her.
I chat with her more than the rest of the people under Saint.
I think I’m drawn to her more before she was the first person that looked scary as hell, but as soon as her soft voice wrapped around me, I felt safe in her presence.
“Is the doctor in with Jenna?” I ask her, stopping just a couple feet away.
“Doc’s gone out for the day, but you’ve been added on the list of visitors. Just knock and say who it is.”
I turn towards the door, skin buzzing with excitement. The fact that Jenna has added us to visit whenever we want fills me with hope.
It’s a step in the right direction for her, even after her hurdle. Regina and I were worried that our last visit had been too much, and she maybe didn’t want to see us for a while.
My fist bangs against the door, maybe a little too loud due to my pulse rushing in my ears, and I shout through to her that it’s me.
Light footsteps grow as the door gently opens, and I smile when I see her. “Hey, are you busy?” I ask, and she steps back from the door, opening it to let me in.
“Swamped actually, I’ve got a meeting in five minutes to oversee the paint drying on the wall, then after that a dinner date with some weird protein dish.”
We’re silent, staring at each other before both our lips etch up at the sides, and I burst into her arms. “I’ve never been so happy to hear your smart mouth.”
She laughs into my hair, squeezing me tighter. “They didn’t take that from me. I’d run it to the very end.”
When we release each other, we walk into the room, letting the door close and then sit on either side of her small leather sofa, the TV playing a movie as background noise.
“Sorry if we overwhelmed you the other night,” I say, wrapping my arms around myself as I take her in.
She sighs, resting her head against her hand. “You didn’t, it just was…a lot. I’ve barely spoken about my life, or anything for that matter. That freedom felt too good to be true y’know? I haven’t had normality like that for years.”
She reaches behind her into her mini fridge, taking a bottle of water for herself and me.
“Nice outfit by the way,” I tease, looking at her kitted in the cargos and hoodie like everyone else at the Pit. It’s drowning her, but it makes me smile.
“Ugh, you wear this willingly? I think that’s why I’ve been given a kilo of chicken to eat.” She tugs at the waistband of her trousers.
“The food isn’t too bad; you get used to it. Gina and I usually steal the good protein bars. We’ll bring you some.”
Her eyes twinkle. “I’ll hold you to that, but candy would be my chosen vice. Speaking of which, where is Gina?”
“She’s off with Dawson checking on our ex-employees, making sure they leave the state…just to be safe.”
She nods, twisting the cuffs around her hands, her voice quiet. “Are they looking for you?”
There’s no point in lying to Jenna, she’d find out eventually, and one thing I’ve never done is lie to my friends. “They know about our company, just not a hundred percent if they know who. They have Saint’s face though. We just don’t want the girls getting caught up in our revenge plot.”
Something flashes behind her eyes, and my hand reaches for her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “They won’t find us here; this place is completely off grid. Plus, it’s like a damn base.”
She puffs her lips, shaking her head. “How did they find out about you guys?”
It’s my turn to blow out a breath. “Well, I took out someone who was apparently a big hand in their organisation.”
She angles her head. “Who?”
“Clarke White? He was the CEO of that research facility.”
Jenna’s face pales.
Her entire body locks up as her eyes widen at me.
She doesn’t say anything, and fear grips me that I might have unknowingly tipped her into a spiral. “Shit, are you okay? Do you need me—”
“No, no it’s okay. You killed Clarke?”
My head rears back. “Did you know him?”
I watch the physical shiver wrack Jenna’s body. “Oh, I knew him, evil fuck.”
I want to ask her, I really do, but instead, I let the silence fill the room.
Jenna stares down at her knotted hands, her shoulders softly moving as she taps her collarbone. When she looks at me, her eyes are hard. “Clarke ran trials on some of us.”
I balk. “What do you mean, trials?”
“They used to drug us, or at least offer it beforehand to our handlers. Depends what your taste is like.” She sneers, adjusting herself up the sofa.
“The Omnia wanted to change the game. Clarke had researched some buried shit about control, wanted to mimic the effects to see if they could create a fleet of humans who would willingly act like dolls.”
The blood in my veins turns cold. “Can I ask how?”
“I don’t know the full ins and outs. He’d made a concoction of drugs, would test some girls to get them to be compliant. Done a range of shit, electro shocks, lobotomies.”
“Lobotomies?!” I shriek in absolute horror.
He owned a world-renowned research facility; how the fuck did he think that was ethical?
How the hell did no one step in to stop this?
“He was a sick son of a bitch, Indie, in some ways worse than Conrad and George. Where they hurt you physically, he liked to fuck with your mind.”
She drags in a breath, wiping her hands down her thighs. “He wanted some of us to be obedient. Those women you saw on stage? Not making a peep and looking like zombies? They were his most successful experiment.”
It feels like someone has stuck their hand down my throat, swirling the contents of my stomach to the point I feel like I might throw up.
Her eyes drop to her lap. “I was supposed to be next when I got back from this hire.”
My heart lurches, and the moment a tear leaks down Jenna’s cheek, I open my arms, offering her support.
She takes it, moving towards me nervously as she lays against my chest, body trembling.
A sob rips free from her the moment my arms wrap around her tiny frame, followed by a sad laugh. “Fuck, you still smell the same. I’ve missed it.”
My arms tighten around her like bands. I wish I could take every ounce of pain away from her.
Wipe it from her memory until there is nothing left but happy memories.
“He’s dead, Jenna, I made sure of it. I’ll make sure all of them fucking pay for what they did.”
She snuggles in closer, the tenseness in her muscles easing slightly as she settles against me. The next words she speaks raise the goosebumps over my skin, and the hair on the back of my neck. “Let’s just hope you guys find them before they find you.”