Page 51

MARS

I lead the way down as we descend into the unknown. Military training kicks in and I scan corners first, identify potential cover, and note all exit points. So far, there isn’t much, but I sweep my flashlight across every inch.

The air gets colder the deeper we go, heavy with the stink of rust and mold, and something else I can’t quite identify yet. Chemical, maybe. Medical, possibly. My nostrils flare and I catalog each scent.

The concrete walls are reinforced with metal plating in some sections, but the ceiling is rotting wood on a countdown clock.

I press my palm flat against the wall and span the light out.

Nothing here is decorative. It’s purely functional.

This place wasn’t built to keep the elements out. It was built to keep something in.

This place feels like a goddamn tomb.

Standard protocol would be to retreat and reassess, but we’re past protocol now. We’re on a mission for Autumn, and I intend to see it through.

My knife stays loose in my grip, balanced perfectly for quick deployment.

My fingers flex around the hilt, ready to stab something.

I can’t yet, but soon enough I’ll slide this piece of metal into Lucy’s brothers, and if I find out Lucy had anything to do with hurting Summer, then she’ll get the same treatment.

I turn my head to the side and glance at Jace from the corner of my eye behind me.

We’d made a plan to take the three brothers by surprise and incapacitate them while Caspian sticks to Autumn’s side, in case this whole operation isn’t entirely a family ordeal.

We need answers before we deliver justice to everyone involved.

Clean, quick, and thorough. That’s the plan.

Twenty-three steps down. My boots hit the basement floor, and I pause to raise my fist in a silent command for the others to hold. Autumn bumps into my back. I stretch my arm out behind me to stabilize her, but my hand brushes against the soft curve of her breast in the darkness.

“Sorry,” I murmur, low enough that only she can hear.

“You haven’t moved your hand,” she whispers back with a thread of amusement in her voice.

Damn right I haven’t. I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face in the dark. I give her breast a gentle squeeze before pulling my hand away. “Stay close,” I tell her, feeling her warmth at my back. “I mean it.”

I pause to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness, scanning from right to left, taking in every detail.

My flashlight is weak. The faint glow flickers from dying batteries.

I should have replaced them first. Rookie mistake.

The beam barely cuts through the shadows, but it’s enough to see what they’ve built down here.

Bars. Cages. Rows of them lining the walls like a goddamn prison block.

I take a step closer to inspect them, keeping my body between Autumn and whatever might be lurking. A shape shifts in the dark. A soft gasp. The shuffle of bare feet.

What the fuck?

I raise my hand in the dim light to signal the others to stay back while I address the figure behind the bars. “Easy. We’re not here to hurt you,” I say in the same tone I used to use when approaching frightened civilians in combat zones.

I sweep the flashlight around in an arc, illuminating dozens of faces.

Most of them are women with hollow eyes and blood in various places on their bodies.

Some press against the back of the cages, while others grip the bars between us, begging for help.

I clench my jaw when bile rises in my throat, but keep my expression neutral.

Never show emotion in hostile territory was drilled into me years ago.

Me freaking out will only worsen the situation.

“Shit,” Jace mutters behind me.

Autumn lets out a sharp, shattered breath. I shift to make sure my body still shields her from any potential threats. Luna growls low beside us before pacing the short perimeter.

Lucy stumbles forward with shaking hands. “This…this isn’t…”

I watch her break when the lie falls apart all around her. I watch her face for the truth to present itself. Her shock seems genuine, but I’ve seen better actors.

One of the women in the nearest steps forward and her long, bony fingers wrap around the bars. “Lucy?”

Lucy gasps and runs up to the bars. “Samantha?”

While Lucy’s world shatters around her, I continue my tactical assessment.

Three possible exit points: the stairs we came down, a narrow corridor to the left, and what appears to be a reinforced door at the end, which I assume was used to smuggle these people in and out without Lucy ever realizing.

There are two security cameras in opposite corners.

They’re non-functional from what I can tell, but I can’t be certain.

Low pipes run along the low ceiling, which we could easily tear our way through if it came to that.

Potential weak spots in the infrastructure, also useful if we need to create a diversion, because there’s no way in hell we’re walking away from all these victims now.

My eyes catch on something else. A coat draped over a chair near what looks like a workstation. Rough canvas. Faded black symbols scrawled across it. I step closer and let my fingers brush the frayed edge of the fabric.

The same damn canvas we’d been searching for.

“Son of a bitch,” I spit out. My fingers dig into the fabric when my hand clenches into a fist. “We were right.”

Autumn moves beside me and traces the fabric with her fingers. “This is it. This is what I saw that night.” She pulls out the scrap of fabric she’s been carrying around and holds it up to the space where it looks like a piece is missing. A perfect fit.

I grind my teeth and looks back at the cages. Summer’s capture wasn’t random. It wasn’t a one-off. They’ve been doing this for a while. Systematic and organized. That is a fucking operation.

Time to take control of the situation. I map out our positions and vulnerabilities in my head, then make quick assignments based on each person’s strengths.

“Caspian, watch the stairs. First sign of company, three quick whistles.” He blends into shadows well despite his dislike of them, and his heightened anxiety makes him more alert to approaching threats.

Caspian nods and climbs the stairs to move into position.

“Jace and Autumn, check the corridor over there. See if there’s another way out, or if you can find something to open these cages,” I say. Jace is the best shot among us, and he’ll protect Autumn while she searches. Her attention to detail might spot something we’d miss.

I kneel by the nearest cage and test the lock. It’s heavy and reinforced steel. Military grade or close to it. It won’t open easy without the key or some serious tool. I run my fingers along the hinges, looking for weak points. Luna lets out a long, low whine while sniffing around the cages.

Lucy, I forgot about Lucy. She fumbles with the keys on her belt. Her hands shake while trying to shove each one into the keyhole, but they don’t work. “This isn’t them. There has to be another explanation. Maybe this was someone else. This can’t be them.”

I say nothing, because she needs to process this for herself.

We’ve already been shoving the facts down her throat enough as it is, but some trusts can’t be forced.

They have to be accepted willingly. I stand and flex my grip on the knife while looking around at all the cages filled with people waiting to be set free.

It’s going to take some time to get all these cages open, and then all these people to safety.

That’s not even taking into account some of them could be injured.

The brothers could return any minutes now, and I don’t want to be involved in a hostage situation.

My eyes track Autumn as she moves along the back wall with Jace.

They pause, and then light illuminates a small area above them when Jace stops to pull on a metal chain hanging from the bulb on the ceiling.

The lightbulb is dying, but it’s a hell of a lot more than we had.

My dying flashlight won’t get us much further.

Autumn’s purple hair catches what little light there is, making her easy to spot even when she dips into the shadows.

She could have been among these prisoners.

If she hasn’t been knocked unconscious behind a bush, they would have taken her too.

Would she be in these cages right now, or would she have faced the same fate as Summer?

The worst part is, I wouldn’t be here right now because I wouldn’t have had a reason to be if I had never met her. I would be somewhere else, back at the colony perhaps, oblivious to this horror show while she suffered and died alone.

My grip tightens around the knife handle, and I shove it into the nearest lock. The metal screeches in protest .

No. I refuse to think about what would have happened to Autumn if she had been taken that night, and I had never met her.

That reality doesn’t exist. This one does, though.

The one where I found her, where we found each other, and where we’re going to burn this whole goddamn place to the ground, exactly as it should be.

I’ll stand by her side when she lights the first match.