Page 177 of Retribution

Oliver, Lucas, and Alesso rub their past bite marks, which also disappeared when Ophelia broke our bonds. I can’t explain the mystical parts of this, but it felt like someone ripped a piece of my soul from me.

And I still haven’t gotten it back.

“Whatever it is, it’s Isolde’s decision if she accepts it or not,” Lucas says. “She’s the most fair person I know.”

“That’s why we can’t ask her if we can join her in killing Ophelia,” Quinn says, rubbing her arms as if she’s cold.

Duncan scoops her into his arms and takes her seat so he can deposit her in his lap. Quinn sits rigidly there instead of accepting any comfort, and I lean forward to see where this is going to go.

Isolde is the best person I know. I’ll accept whatever decision she makes.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Isolde

“Idon’t mean to be insensitive,” I say carefully, “but are you sure you want to do this? Adira, you’re so close to your due date. I’m also not known for being the most sane while I’m killing someone.”

“I’ve heard the stories,” Adira says. “It just means you’re good at your job.”

My lips twitch at the job performance nod for being unhinged while murdering people. That’s unexpected.

“I don’t think pregnancy has slowed Adira down very much,” Morris chuckles. “She’s at every mafia meeting, swollen ankles and all. I think the girls are concerned that they don’t deserve a place at her execution.”

“This isn’t an execution,” I snort. “I plan to pull the information of every possible bolt hole her daughter may have, while making it about any properties she owns not in her name. Then I’m going to make her scream until her lungs give out, refusing to give her mercy until I carve her heart from her chest. You’re welcome to rough her up for me if you’d like.”

“Wow,” Quinn says mildly. “If I didn’t have a pack and swung that way, I’d make a pass at you.”

Christian bursts out laughing, attempting to stifle it.

“Tesoro, I love you so much,” he says, his olive skin flushing as he gasps in a breath. “Leave it to you to find a kindred spirit in one of the scariest omegas I’ve ever met. Which is saying something in this city. Isolde, I mean that with all the respect in the world.”

I incline my head, wondering what kind of omegas this city has that would encourage those words.

Duncan and Callum roll their eyes, while Linus just looks amused.

“Thank you?” I squeak out, unsure what to say outside of that. “Was there anything else?”

“Ophelia’s reign of terror has been really long,” Adira sighs.

“She’s been running auctions since we were kids,” Jed says. “My dad used to talk about how he found her when she was down on her luck at a strip club. Ophelia is scrappy, and she flirted with him. He was drunk after having beaten the shit out of me one night. I doubt he even remembered having told me all of that. I must have been about fifteen at the time, and Draco scraped me off the ground at four in the morning to dump me just inside my bedroom.”

Damon looks pained as he closes his eyes, and I wonder if this was a continued form of abuse for Rock. I’m not surprised he was a piece of shit even to his kids.

“I was picked up off the street by some of the hunters that look for omegas walking alone,” I explain. “I think she hated me on sight and decided not to sell me. I pretty much begged for her to let me go. I’m not proud of that, I just had to get out. She let me rot until the end of the auctions, knowing that the only alphas who would be left are those who are looking for a bargain.”

“The ones who like to kill their omegas during sex,” Kane growls. “Fucking disgusting.”

“That’s why she chose to run a snuff show yesterday,” I say. “Ophelia said that I owed her a redo. She tried everything possible to force my heat, but nothing worked.”

“Ophelia’s drugs are legendary,” Adira grumbles. “You have no idea who you are, or what’s happening as your body betrays you in every way possible.”

“I lived that way for almost three years,” I confess. “If you’ve experienced her concoctions, then you know why I was desperate to get out.”

“I destroyed all of that when I was in her lab,” Lucas says quickly. “The scope of what she created was impressive, if for no other reason than she was funding her new life this way. Between the money that she received from yesterday and the drugs, she definitely was planning her escape.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Oliver gasps, standing. “The money. I need to find that money. If the accounts were drained, it wasn’t by Ophelia.”

“I’ll go look,” Alesso says quickly. “There was too much happening yesterday to think about it. Excuse me.”