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“Can I be honest Cole?”
“Mmhmm.”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen them bring a guy in here before.”
It dawns on me that she’s clearly been down here for some time. Long enough to know what kind of people are coming in and out of this space. How long will I be here? What if no one finds me?
Clearing my throat, I ask the question that’s searing through the forefront of my brain.
“How long have you been here?”
Something between a snort and a laugh comes from her as she opens her mouth. “Real talk, Cole? I don’t know anymore. Time, it’s a complicated concept down here. They keep it dark, and the meals never come in order. Sometimes I don’t even think there’s three a day. I used to try to count the minutes, but eventually… I just got tired.”
Q sounds defeated. Like someone who has accepted their fate a long time ago. My heart clenches in my chest at the thought. See, when I’m finally able to think rationally, it dawns on me that I have something Q doesn’t have. I have Riot. I have Spencer. And Zeke is clearly still out there. It’s not the first time someone from Havok Hills has gone missing, and I know that someone will find me. I know they won’t eat, sleep or breathe until I’m found. So I cling to that thought with every last bit of fight left inside of me.
“What’s Q short for? Quinn?”
“Nah,” she sighs. “Quiet.”
“Quiet?”
“Yeah.”
I find myself smiling, “You’re not that quiet, Quiet.”
“Yeah, but they don’t know that.”
“Who are they?”
“I told you Cole, I don’t know. But, if you pretend to be crazy, they won’t send you to training in preparation for the auction. That’s some place you don’t want to be. Believe me. Down here is way better than up there.”
Auction?
My mind is reeling, all the possibilities swirling through my head. Auction? Are we talking trafficking? What do these people want with me? Q said there’s never any guys brought in here, so why me? And why didn’t they take Zeke too?
Rubbing my cheek against the sleeve of my hooded sweatshirt, the exhaustion settles over me like a thick blanket. The adrenaline from being abducted and waking up somewhere unknown had me reeling, but it’s slowly wearing off. My body, no longer trying to fight whatever sedative is left in my system.
“Cole, I’m kind of tired now,” Q murmurs, but I squeeze her hand gently.
“Please don’t let go,” I whisper.
“Okay.”
Her thumb strokes the back of my hand, and as I focus on the beating of my heart, I can no longer hold my eyelids open. Fluttering a few times, they drop completely, blanketing me in an even darker place than this cell. I drift off, thinking about Riot. Thinking about Zeke.
They will save me. And we will bring Q with us.
Chapter thirty
Riot
Lover: Gunfire. Rico’s.
“Shit, I - I gotta go,” I jump from my seat in Arsenal’s office.
“What’s going on?” he stands up from his desk chair.
“Shooting at Rico’s. Cole and Zeke are there, I - I…”