Page 60 of Exile

"Avery was there," I state confidently, reading between the lines.

Grey nods, rested fist clenching atop his knee. "Connor said there's two scheduled guards missing as well."

That familiar burning rage flares up again as I narrow my eyes in his direction. "Missing or stationed elsewhere?"

"They clocked in for their shift," Grey replies and it sounds like he's on the cusp of escorting me on a murderous rampage. "The main camera feed captured them heading in the direction of Arthur's office, chatting about aday trip."

"What?" I snap. "She's not in the building at all? They've taken her outside Lilydale?"

Initially, I kept myself in control by deciding anything was better than her being downstairs in the hands of the fucked-up doctors. It never even occurred to me that there was a possibility they would take her outside of Lilydale.

We can't get to her if that's the case. They'd kill us before we'd even make it to the front gates. She's out of our reach.

I'm going to make them hurt so badly that every last moment of their existence is nothing but pain and suffering beyond comprehensible measure.

When neither of them answer, I break, turning to leave. I'll knock down every single door until I find Whittingham and make him talk.

"Theo," Damon calls out, demand clear in his tone.

Out of respect for Avery's love of him, I do actually pause. He has five seconds to voice whatever it is he wants to say before I go—with or without them.

"That's your wife, Damon. My girlfriend.Yourgirlfriend," I direct to Grey. "I'm not waiting around to see if they return her in one piece to us."

Damon stands, crossing the room until he reaches me by the door. "I am in complete agreement with you. But if we do anything right now, we don't know if they will hurt her. We need someone on the outside to try to track her down."

I raise my eyebrow. "And who would we ask?" I question sarcastically.

"Christopher," he answers simply. "He's still out sick. They likely won't anticipate him searching. We need to go dig further to see where she could have possibly been taken so we can narrow the location down. Byrone and Jillian are looking into it. Once we have an idea, we will send Christopher."

Begrudgingly, I nod. It's probably the best plan we have. I don't like feeling helpless, but he's correct. Last time we confronted them, it ended with Damon being shot and people dying. No one needs a repeat of that—especially when the sole target is Avery.

To my unpleasant surprise, Damon reaches up and gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I bat his hand away with a scowl, but the asshole just dryly laughs, turning back to Grey.

"I'll contact Christopher to let him know the situation and to be on standby. In the meantime, lunch is about to start so we should go. Keep our eyes and ears tuned for any information or her return."

Grey appears as though he wants to disagree as well, but he nods once, standing up. "And classes after lunch?"

"Same deal," Damon replies. "We go and we blend in. We don't know if any of the teachers have intel, so we need to be on guard. That way, we're also in the public spaces if she does return."

"Do either of you have Thatcher in your class?" I ask, the two of them giving me a puzzling look.

"Mine," Damon answers. "Why?"

"Because I just followed that asshole aimlessly around the building before he disappeared into Elsher's office. He can get in and out of the rooms by himself."

I end the information there, letting them fill in the blanks. Grey suddenly pushes past us with a low throaty growl.

"If Avery isn't back soon, I'm going to make Elsher piss himself and then I'm going to drown that cunt Thatcher in it."

** Two Years Ago **

I hear it.

The moment I step into the house, soft sobs travel to my ears, unsettling me.

Madison.

Heading to the living room, I find her curled up on the couch, face red and puffy.