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He waited, expecting us to move, but thankfully, he wasn’t an idiot and figured out that we couldn’t just yet.

“Agreed, on all counts.”

“Shut it, Alastor. As if your motives are any better.”

“Joke’s on you. I don’t have a motive. I simply hate Lucinda.”

“Time’s up! Go!” Sloane yelled through the coms.

I moved into the hall with my gun pointed at Vaila, placing myself between her and Ellie. Leona stood beside me, blocking the view more, while Iker checked on Ellie.

“I’m fine! Odie!” I could hear her trying to fight through Alastor and Iker to get to me.

“Oh, hello, Odie.” Vaila’s voice was dry.

“Any more information you’d like to cough up before I kill you? Maybe it will make up for some of the shit you’ve done.”

A chopper sounded from outside, but I ignored it. We would get out of here one way or another.

“No, kill me, and be done with it.”

“Gladly,” Ellie said, brushing up beside me before grabbing my handgun from the holster. “Bye, Vaila.” Before we could stop her, Ellie pulled the trigger, shooting Vaila in the forehead.

We all stopped and stared before chaos ensued around us.

The doors burst in, and an army filtered through.

“What is going on?” I demanded.

“Reinforcements.” Cy sounded smug. “Dear old dad brought in everyone.”

My shoulders drooped in relief, knowing the entire place would be swarmed and many men would be put behind bars for this. All the women we saw would be saved and who knew who else they were keeping here.

I dropped my gun, letting the strap swing it to my side before pulling Ellie into a hug, ignoring the ridiculous outfit she was wearing.

“I’m so happy you're safe.” She didn’t say anything as I held her close. Her body was stiff, and I knew we had been too late.

I pulled back and looked down at her. Tears filled her eyes, but we would deal with that when we got home and she was as comfortable as she could be.

I looked up at Alastor who was staring at us. “Who are you?” I glared at him, suspicious of everyone who had their hand in this mess.

“Someone whose family was tarnished by Lucinda. I made it my personal mission to screw her over.” There was more to it, so I kept staring, needing him to explain why he chose to expose himself now. “Later. I promise. Let’s get her out of here.”

He was right. Ellie came first, but that didn’t mean I was going to let him out of my sight until I had answers.

“Do we have a ride?” I asked Cy and Sloane as squads came in and out of the front door.

“One chopper at the ready,” Sloane responded.

“Are you ready to get out of here?” Ellie nodded, and a heavy sigh escaped her lips.

We all filed out of the building and headed for the helicopter that sat in the field to our right. Cy and Sloane stood in front of it with the pilot ready to go.

Cy made the same mistake I did, hugging Ellie when she was in range. We made eye contact and knew there was going to be a long talk about what happened when she was ready. Ellie had a lot of healing ahead of her, but we would all be by her side the entire time, making sure she didn’t crumble under the pressure.

Alastor joined us, but Sloane, Leona, and Iker stayed behind to help clear out the mansion. They promised to give us updates on anything and everything so we didn’t have to worry about helping Ellie and handling things that were no longer part of our job descriptions.

The ride was much shorter than the drive here. Alastor gave his jacket to Ellie to cover her nearly bare skin. She accepted it but sat between Cy and me. She kept herself pulled in, refusing to make physical contact if she could help it. We adjusted to give her what little space we could.