40
I hadn’t spoken to Rylee in three days and I was currently sitting in the living room of the guest house with Nadia and Tina. Nadia had finally agreed to tell me her story and I had put my phone on record which she agreed to.
“I lived with my lair in Greenbay, Wisconsin. I was walking home after school when a van stopped at the curb and two men jumped out and grabbed me. They pulled a black hood over my head and tied my hands behind my back. We drove for hours and when the hood was removed I was in a large warehouse and I could hear screaming and crying. There were other girls there, some in cages and some in cells. At first I was taken to a cell and left there for a few days with three other girls. They announced it was inspection time and we were taken out of the cell one by one. I was forced to strip and they had a doctor who checked if I was still a virgin. I was and they seemed pleased by that, another man stormed into the room and he claimed that I was his bonded half. I was taken back to the cell and I could hear more shouting and arguing. After two more days the man that claimed me came to fetch me. He was cruel and he raped me that same night, saying that we had to complete the bond or I’d be sold. That’s how he kept me in line, he’d take me to that warehouse, always blindfolded and show me the girls to keep me quiet. He would hit and rape me almost every day. One day I was too weak to even get out of bed and he left me at his house alone. That’s when I ran, I recognized Aurora and called Tessa to pick me up,” she said as tears flowed over her cheeks.
“What’s his name?” I asked her.
“Charlie Dogwood,” she answered.
“McIntyre,” I said angrily.
“Tessa said if I testify to the Elders about what happened that they’d help me and I could go back home,” she said.
“Do you have any idea where this warehouse is?” I asked her.
“No, I know we would drive for a few hours each time, I don’t think it’s in Aurora,” she said.
“The Elders of Illinois won’t be of much help,” I said to her, “you’re from Wisconsin, do you know who your Elders are there?”
“Elder George Suttcliffe, Elder Morgan Brown and Elder Kenneth White,” she said.
“Okay, let me see if I can reach out to them, I know a few Sires in Wisconsin,” I said and stood up.
“My father is the second in command of the Briar Lair,” she said.
“Thanks Nadia, I’ll do what I can to get you home safely,” I said and she gave me a small smile.
“Thank you for everything,” she said and I just nodded.
I left the guest house feeling very disturbed by what Nadia had revealed to me. It sickened me that people could do this to other people but something kept niggling at the back of my mind but at the moment I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I made notes as I listened to Nadia’s story again and I sent the recording to Jasper. He’d be back tomorrow morning and we would hatch a plan. I had also taken Timothy’s advice and ordered the nightshade flower. It was harmless to us and to humans but to vampires it was fatal.
I had spoken to Timothy over the phone and his advice was to boil the flowers and use the liquid in whatever way necessary. It only proved fatal when it entered their bloodstream so between me, Rev and Preston we had laced our bullets with it.
I struggled to sleep again that night because Rylee wasn’t there and I hated that fact. I had slept perfectly fine for six years without her but now I couldn’t sleep for more than three hours at a time. My only consolation was knowing that she was struggling just as much as I was.
I was in my office waiting for the others to arrive when I decided to call Brandon Johnson. He was a Sire from Wisconsin and I knew him well. Perhaps he could give me some answers.
“Well I’ll be damned, a phone call from the great Lucas Grey,” he answered his phone.
“Fuck off,” I said as he laughed.
“To what do I owe this honour?” he asked me.
“How well do you know your Elders?” I asked him.
“Hmm, they’re a group of old men who think they know it all,” he said, “why do you ask?”
“Aren’t all Elders like that?” I asked and he laughed again.
“True but sometimes they do something worthwhile,” he said.
“I have a girl here under my protection, she’s from the Briar lair, do you know them?” I asked him.
“Shit Lucas, stay far away from the Briar’s,” he said to me.
“Why?” I asked him.
“I feel about them the way you feel about the McIntyre’s,” he said and he had my full attention.
“What’s the story there?” I asked him.
“There are rumours of some things happening at that lair, beatings, abuse and so forth, nobody can prove anything and the Elders are refusing to investigate without any evidence, it’s frustrating as hell, one of my warrior’s bonded mate came from that lair and she told us stories that chilled my soul,” he revealed.
“What the fuck,” I said as he sighed.
“Is she related to the higher ranking members or not?” he asked me.
“Her father’s the second in command,” I said.
“How the hell did she end up under your protection?” he asked me.
“It’s a long story but now I’m not so sure if I should send her back,” I said honestly.
“If it were me I wouldn’t, I’d rather try and integrate her into your lair but that also has its own consequences, it’s a tough situation to be in. I also get the feeling that there’s way more to this story than you’re telling me,” he said.
“Yeah there is, she was abducted a few months ago on her way home from school. She’s sixteen Brandon and she’s so traumatized it’s not even funny. I hate to even say this out loud but what are the chances that her lair had a hand in this abduction?” I asked him.
“Shit Lucas, don’t even say that out loud but I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” he confirmed.
“Do me a favour, keep an ear on the ground for any dragonkin girls that go missing in your area,” I said.
“I will, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked me.
“I might as well. There’s an auction website where they sell these girls. This girl from Briar met her bonded mate right before she would’ve gone on auction but the bastard proceeded to beat and rape her daily until she escaped,” I said to him.
“Give me a name, I know a guy, he’ll make it look like an accident,” he said and I could hear the anger in his voice.
“Charlie Dogwood, McIntyre lair,” I said.
“Fucking hell Lucas!” he practically shouted.
“I have a video that I can use, that’s why I asked about your Elders, but no location on where they’re keeping these girls,” I said to him.
“This fucker will be dead within twenty-four hours, I guarantee it,” he said.
“Make him suffer and proof of death would be nice. I think this girl will feel a bit safer knowing he’s dead,” I said.
“So if I’m on the same page as you, the McIntyre’s are running this auction and selling girls to who fucking ever, why don’t you show that video to your Elders so they can put a stop to it?” he asked me.
“The only recognizable people in that video is this girl, Charlie Dogwood and JD Hill, and I already killed JD as retribution for his attack on my bonded mate,” I said.
“Shit,” he said.
“Shit is right. Joseph will just deny it all and say Charlie acted on his own, there’s nothing else tying them to this thing,” I said.
“How can I help Lucas?” he asked me and I smiled.
“The auction goes live this afternoon. I have a guy that’s going to trace the buyers locations for me, then we’re going to go in and get those girls and get them home,” I said to him.
“I can be there in a few hours,” he said.
“You should think carefully about this Brandon. Some of the buyers are vampires, dragonkin, wolves and some human, this can get dangerous very quickly and you have no heir,” I said to him.
“Fuck you Lucas, have I ever shied away from a challenge?” he asked me.
“No, that’s the problem,” I said and he laughed.
“Nate and I will be there in a few hours, I have some guns I can bring,” he said.
“Fine, see you later,” I said and we ended the call.
I went back downstairs to find Rev or Preston and to have lunch. I wasn’t surprised to see that Rylee wasn’t there and I had too much on my mind to even think about the shitstorm that was brewing between us.
“Hello,” the voice yelled from the front door and I stood up and walked past the living room to the foyer.
“Hey Timothy, come on in, we were just sitting down to lunch,” I said as we shook hands again.
“What are we having?” he asked.
“Steak, rare,” I said and he smiled.
“I can do one of those,” he said and followed me through to the dining room.
“This is Timothy, our hacker,” I said as I walked to my seat, “that’s Preston and Jennifer, you know Rev and Hannah.”
“Hey sweets,” he greeted Hannah and kissed her on the cheek. Rev glared at him and I had to chuckle at that.
“Jasper will be here soon too,” I said as Martha brought in another plate for Timothy. I don’t know how she always knew when someone unexpected showed up but somehow she just did and she always had extra food ready.
“Who else is joining us today?” Preston asked.
“Brandon and Nate will also join us, Jasper said he’s bringing five warriors with him,” I said.
“Sweet! I haven’t seen Brandon or Nate in a few months,” Preston said.
“Just remember this is a secret operation, not a party for you and Brandon to get wasted,” I said as he laughed.
“Is that Martha’s famous steak I smell?” Jasper yelled as he entered the house without knocking.
“We’re in the dining room!” I yelled and I heard his footsteps.
“Did you know you have a vamp in the house?” Jasper asked loudly just before he entered the dining room.
“Hi, I’m Timothy, the vamp,” Timothy said as he stood up and introduced himself to Jasper.
“Holy fuck, I never thought I’d see the day,” Jasper said as he shook hands with him.
“Just sit down and eat,” I said as he looked at me in disbelief.
“Smells like a party in here,” Jasper said with a mischievous smile.
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