Page 47 of Pretty When She Breaks

Still, it was kind of telling. Kaos was brilliant when he focused, and Finch was our rock and our planner, but me? I was the sea. Kind of there, kind of cool, but otherwise…yeah. I just tried to stay upbeat and help them with whatever they needed with a smile, hoping it was enough.

But maybe I’d enabled them too much, because now it was up to them to rely on each other, and I wasn’t sure how that would go. I could feel the fissures that had opened in our bond when I’d been taken, and I was doing my best to patch them up from here. I wasn’t sure how much sending theequivalent of a thumbs-up emoji to them via the bond was actually helping.

Still, this wouldn’t be for long.

They’d be coming for me. It was literally life-or-death for all of us; if I fell in a fight, Kaos would not survive when the pack bonds shattered. And Finch wouldn’t survive losing both of us.

They were both really angry, and I should probably be a bit more angry or ashamed. I’d lost control of myself with the need to defend and protect her.

Yet I couldn’t bring myself to regret it. I kept thinking back to that moment when her eyes had held mine. Her brows were raised, her mouth parted in shock, but the expression wasn’t hatred or derision; it was softness. The whole night, she’d been so poised, her expression curated to respond to the needs of her guests.

And I’d broken that.

When she looked at me, I think I saw her.

Our Laurel.

Then her expression had shuttered, and everything had fallen apart.

She’d sent me down here, which didn’t make sense.

But there had to be a reason.

I just didn’t know it yet.

There was a clicking sound, then heavy footsteps coming into my cell. Some of the wild alpha noises that had quieted earlier returned, the snarling and growling echoing through the space.

I stiffened as the footsteps came close, but the faint beta scent of peach tea that reached me smelled more of nerves than anything else.

Fumbling hands reached behind me to take off my blindfold, and I blinked up at a young beta guard, whotook a quick step back. He hurried out to grab something, and I took the chance to look around.

I’d been dragged down to a room with concrete floors and fluorescent lights. Cells lined the walls, each one holding a different feral alpha. If they’d sounded bad earlier, they looked worse. Some of them sat, curled up, their eyes watching anyone who passed by. Others never seemed to stop moving, as they paced or threw themselves at the bars.

I’d never been around so many auras that were continually open. I felt suffocated, my nerves on edge as my body reacted to the constant threat.

“Dinner,” said the beta, setting the tray down and backing out. Once my cell door was closed, there was a click and my cuffs fell off.

I looked up and caught his eyes. His face twisted in an apologetic grimace, and he looked away as he continued his work. He was massive, despite his youth, with short brown hair and a button nose.

I sighed and reached for the food, then froze as something rippled within our bond. Another presence crashed into it like a meteor into the ground. It was a bright, burning ball of fear that pulsed and writhed. I could feel Finch’s determination as it clashed with Kaos’s white-hot fury.

The new presence coiled in my mind, collecting itself, the fear twisting behind a cold, detached pillar, flickering with outrage.

Oh, holy hell.

I’d figured out their escape plan for me. And they really must not be thinking straight, because if I was reading this correctly, we’d just dark bonded the Crimson Duchess.

And she wasn’t happy about it.

TWENTY-SIX

FINCH

I understood Kaos’s rage, I really did.

I’d just dark bonded Laurel, which meant we were stuck with her.

Permanently.