Page 85 of The Delta’s Rogue (Crescent Lake #4)

“You found them? The traffickers?” I shove myself away from Sebastian and dart towards Rune. “Where?”

“In the desert. It’s an old, abandoned hotel off a rarely used highway, basically in the middle of nowhere.”

I nod as she explains, remembering the hallways of bedrooms and the large, ballroom-like spaces they held our training sessions in. An abandoned hotel would be the perfect place for them to set up their base of operations and would give them access to most everything they need.

Sebastian comes up behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders. I link my fingers with his and wrap his arms around me, using his embrace and his warmth as a shield against the reality crashing down around us.

I knew it was bound to catch up with us sooner or later, that we wouldn’t be able to exist in our little bubble of love forever, that we’d need to see this through to the end. But it all barrels towards me like a bullet train, and I’m caught on the tracks, bound and gagged with no way to escape.

“What’s going on?” Dominic asks, leaning against the doorframe behind Landon and Steele.

“We found the traffickers,” Rune repeats.

Dominic frowns at her. “How? The locator spell didn’t work when you tried to find Sarina. You said there were protective spells in place that shoved you out. ”

“When Brenna visited me in my dream, she said the spells designed to guard the girls didn’t work on her,” Sebastian says. “She gave Sarina and me a ring before we left the auction, so we could find her.”

“A ring?” Dominic asks.

Rune fishes in her pocket, pulling out Brenna’s ring, now blackened from the flames of Rune’s locator spell. “This fire quartz ring is what she gave to Sebastian.”

Dominic takes it from her and pinches it between his fingers, staring at the pinkish-red stone in the center.

“We went to Crescent Lake, so Maya and her mom could lend their magic as well. The ring led us straight to the building they’re using,” Rune says.

“And we’re absolutely certain we can trust Brenna?” Wesley asks. “Are we sure this isn’t a setup? A trap?”

“She led us to Sarina,” Sebastian says. “She created an illusion at the auction to hide our reunion from Amara.”

“She also lied to them for me.” I wrap Sebastian’s arms tighter around me.

“She lied for me more times than I can count. And she’s a victim too,” I whisper, fighting the darkness creeping in at the edges of my vision.

“She can’t leave and she’s a… prize ”—I spit that word out—“for the male behind the entire operation.”

I shiver at the implications of what that means for her. She may not go through the rigorous sex doll training and grooming Amara put the rest of us through, but her path will end with the same fate—becoming the plaything of a male who will use and abuse her however he can.

Dominic crosses his arms, his fists clenched tight. “She didn’t seem to have an issue following Amara around the auction and doing everything she was told.”

“Don’t you dare speak about what you can’t begin to comprehend.” My lip curls into a snarl, and I stand up straighter, stepping out of Sebastian’s embrace with slow, careful steps in Dominic’s direction. “She is the only reason I stayed alive.”

“And now they’re two and a half million dollars richer because of it!”

“She saved me!”

“She manipulated you!” Dominic growls, shoving off the door frame and drawing himself to his full height, fists curled at his sides .

I square my shoulders and lift my chin, mimicking his posture. I may not match him in stature, but he doesn’t intimidate me. He’s a hot-headed former alpha who sometimes needs to be put in his place.

Behind me, I sense Sebastian also putting on a show of dominance.

His aura swirls around me like an echo of his embrace, reminding Dominic that he is not the one in charge here.

My gut twists with a mix of gratitude and guilt.

Sebastian shouldn’t have to do my dirty work for me, but I am beyond grateful that he’s already willing to step up and fulfill his role as my future king.

“She is one of them,” Dominic continues, not deterred in the slightest by our combined show of authority.

The words roll off his tongue with an ease that suggests he’s held them in since the night of the auction.

“They’re all conniving, sharp, and ruthless.

She drew you right into her trap so they could use you to increase their profits. ”

“Enough!”

My command echoes off the house’s walls. One second later, Sebastian’s full, newly amplified aura pulses across the deck, making everyone around us lower their heads in submission.

Dominic’s shoulders heave. His eyes shine as he rips his gaze away from me, and he rubs his face with one hand, massaging his temples with his fingertips as he does.

“You’re wrong.” My voice is quiet again but no less authoritative.

“You can’t see it because your judgment is clouded by your personal experience with a witch.

I don’t blame you for that. None of us do.

But if you can’t be level-headed, if you can’t leave your scars out of this, then maybe you shouldn’t be part of this team anymore. ”

The wind rustles across the deck and dances through my hair. The ends tease the scarred skin of my neck. I tense and curl my hands into fists.

My words ring through my brain, crashing and clanging like a cymbal. Beyond that, beyond the repetitive warning, there is the whisper of a voice. I can’t make out anything it says or figure out whom it belongs to. But it’s there, trying to reach me.

I close my eyes as Sebastian’s hand reaches for mine, uncurling my fists until our palms press together and our fingers entwine.

“Now.” My eyes open, and I glance at everyone gathered on the back deck one by one. “I suggest we round up the others and move this conversation somewhere that doesn’t block Peter’s back door. And you…”

Dominic lifts his gaze from the floor as I address him, remorse already forming in his eyes. “Yes, Your Highness?”

I exhale as close to silently as I can.

The others file into the house, leaving Dominic, Sebastian, and me alone on the deck.

Sebastian leans closer until his chest brushes against my back.

The exhaustion hits me again and the urge to collapse into him, to let him bear all my weight and carry me into the house, is stronger than ever.

But I stay upright. I won’t show my weakness until we’re alone.

I don’t have it in me to yell at Dominic or scold him. That isn’t what any of us need right now anyway. All it will do is create more dissension and animosity between us, and our team needs to be united, not divided.

No, what Dominic needs is what I’ve always given him when his hotheadedness gets the best of him: space, time, understanding, and a touch of humor to bring him out of his self-loathing.

“Don’t be an ass,” I say at the same time as Sebastian says, “Don’t be a dickhead.”

Dominic’s lips twitch. “I’m sorry.” He shakes his head as he chuckles softly. “I—”

He swallows, shoves his hands in his pockets, and stares off towards the trees. His jaw ticks, and his eyes dart back and forth as he fights an inner battle with himself.

“We’re all on edge.” I shrug one shoulder. I won’t pry. He’ll talk about it when he’s ready. “There’s so much at stake, and no one wants to mess it up.”

He nods but continues to stare off into the trees, his internal debate taking up most of his focus.

“You’re needed at this meeting,” Sebastian says, finally drawing Dominic’s attention back to our conversation. “You’re needed on this team.”

Dominic gives Sebastian what I think is supposed to be a smile. Then he heads inside too.

As soon as Dominic’s out of sight, my knees buckle, and Sebastian scoops me into his arms. I don’t fight it. I’ll never fight it when it’s the two of us, when the weight of pretending like there’s nothing wrong with me becomes too much for me to bear on my own .

I nuzzle into him as he cradles me to his chest. My eyes close, and I’m tempted to succumb to sleep by the warmth emanating from him and the comfort I always feel when he’s near.

“Are you okay?” His lips brush my forehead, and his voice is a soft caress across my skin.

“I’m fine. I’m just tired.”

“I know. Your body is still healing itself. No one will bat an eye if you need to postpone this meeting so you can rest first.”

“No,” I insist. “I need to do this now.”

He kisses my forehead and holds me for a moment longer, hugging me tighter.

There’s a flash of sparks where his lips touch my skin, and a glimmer of love and strength pulses through the muted bond.

I caress his cheek and tilt my face so our lips meet.

He sets me on my feet as we kiss and wraps his arms around my torso, pinning me to him.

“I’ll be right there with you.” He rests his forehead on mine. “I’ll always be right there, supporting you and loving you.”

I kiss him again, then steel myself before I head inside.

Everyone else already sits around the table, waiting for us. Wesley hands Sebastian a T-shirt. Once he has it on, Sebastian takes my hand in his and squeezes it. I squeeze back before I address everyone.

“Did Rune fill you all in on what she found?”

“Yes,” Reid says.

My lips pinch together. My hands shake, but Sebastian squeezes the one he holds tighter, sending reassurance to me.

The words I said to Dominic continue to clang in my head, adding to my heightened heart rate and my jittery demeanor. The nerves hit hard, but there is also a peace settling within me as I think through the best way to say what I need to say.

“This isn’t an easy decision,” I rush out, keeping my chin high and my spine straight. “I’ve spent almost all my adult life in charge of this mission, and I want nothing more than to see it through to the end.”

A knot forms in my throat, and a tear falls from my left eye. The shaking in my hands—a mixture of nerves, exhaustion, and the heavy, dark emotions that accompany any discussion of my time with the traffickers—spreads to my entire body. I gulp in air and sputter out an exhale.

Sebastian squeezes my hand again, inching closer to support me better but still letting me be the strong one, the one in charge right now.

“I have been in the heart of their operation and experienced what no female should ever experience,” I continue.

“I know firsthand what every female they’ve captured has been through, and those memories will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The scars on my skin aren’t the only scars I bear, and none of them will ever heal completely.

” I take one last deep breath and push out the rest of my announcement.

“Which is why I am stepping down as the leader of this mission.”