Page 67 of Amaros

“We’ll take care of it,” Zoe said.

“We’ll be nearby, just in case,” Camriel told her.“They might all be victims, but some of those women are dangerous.You’ll need us to watch your backs.”

“I’ll watch over them,” Amaros volunteered.“Search the bodies for the keys to the vehicles.The survivors will need transportation.”

Camriel nodded and headed outside to search the first two guards they’d executed.Amaros motioned for the females to wait, then moved the body from the stairwell.“It’s probably best to hide the corpses from the victims,” he figured.

“Very thoughtful,” Zoe said in approval, sparking a warm glow in his chest.The other bodies were already stashed in empty rooms upstairs.Amaros hated to put his females through this trauma, but they would no doubt see far worse as time wore on.He kicked himself for not scouting higher up the mountain to see if there were any nearby threats.If he had, he could have spared them all of this.

Camriel reentered the building as the trio headed upstairs.He found the body Amaros had stashed in a storeroom and searched it.None of the corpses had keys so far, so he quietly followed in his companions’ wake, but stayed out of sight.

Amaros knew his second was backing him up and figured the girls knew he was there, too.It might prove to be beneficial to have the big warrior on hand, so he followed them to the second floor.Hanging back out of sight, Amaros watched Zoe and Grace walk down the hallway.They visibly braced themselves before entering the first bedroom that contained a victim.

Chapter Thirty-Four

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ZOE COULD SENSE CAMRIELhovering in the stairwell and Amaros was only one room away.It was reassuring to have the knights ready to leap to their defense.She exchanged a glance with Grace, then they entered the room where they could hear a woman sobbing quietly.

Spotting them, she began to babble almost incoherently.“Please, please!You have to cut me loose!”she begged in a hoarse whisper.“They could come back at any time!”

Covered in bruises, her wrists and ankles were bloody from the ropes that were tied around her limbs.It was obvious she’d been there for days.She’d fought to free herself, but the ropes were too tight.

“It’s okay,” Zoe said soothingly.“The men are all dead.You’re safe now.”

“Dead?”she asked blankly.“You killed them?”

Zoe wasn’t offended by her incredulous expression.

“Not us,” Grace said, taking her larger knife out of her pocket and handing Zoe her penknife.“Our friends took care of them.They’re keeping watch to make sure none of their buddies try to ambush us, if there are more out scouting or something.”

Zoe began sawing at the ropes.Tears of relief replaced the poor girl’s anguish.“I thought I was going to die,” she said.“They told me they’d kill me if I kept fighting them.”

“You were very brave,” Zoe told her, getting flashes of the trauma she’d suffered.She wasn’t a saint, but she didn’t deserve to suffer a fate like this.

“Take this,” Grace said when they’d cut her free.She handed the young woman a sheet.