Page 49 of Tortured Soul (Soulless #1)
The Divine bitch gasped and took a step forward. “But we’re—”
“ Fired ,” Arc cut her off harshly. Her throat bobbed, her eyes wide.
“You obviously have no respect for the tasks asked of you. The guards are meant to protect before they harm. I don’t care how scared you are of Carter, you should have stopped him when he lashed out at an innocent woman when he was sent to welcome her here. ”
“But she’s a Succubus ,” the bitch hissed. “Her kind are disgusting traitors! She shouldn’t—”
The impact of Marcus’ fist connecting with her stomach made her fold on herself with a pained grunt. Dimitri’s arm tightened around my waist, pulling me impossibly closer to his front as Arc didn’t let go of my hand.
“She shouldn’t, what ?” My friend crouched in front of her, his tone and posture menacing. “You’re the one who shouldn’t be allowed to stay here, but here we are.”
“We’re done here,” Arc said, turning to Dimitri, giving him an apologetic smile. “Sorry for the unwelcoming committee. Let’s meet Carrie in her office.”
The scene must have been kind of hilarious from the outside. Carrie was standing behind her desk, watching the three of us line up in front of her as the water dripped from us onto her wooden floors.
Dimitri, on my left, was covered in various shades of blood, turning him into some sort of wet, macabre canvas.
My knuckles were slightly bruised and covered in both dark red and golden blood too, the flimsy material of my white T-shirt sticking to my skin uncomfortably and nearly transparent from the rain.
If she opened a window, the draft would make my probably-visible nipples poke holes through the fabric.
“Should I be concerned about the amount of blood covering the both of you?” Carrie asked, one of her eyebrows arched up.
I grunted, dropping my gaze to the various objects littering her desk.
“From what I gathered, Lola handed a few guards their asses at the front gates,” Arc explained, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Dimitri apparently came back like this.”
“Do I want to know what happened at the gates?”
“You’ll need to replace the team, I don’t want them in the Guards anymore. Marcus is getting their uniforms and weapons.”
They both exchanged a knowing look. Alright . She either knew it was coming, or they were keeping something from us. Again.
“So, Dimitri.” Carrie looked at him, her eyes scanning him from head to toe. “That’s a hefty amount of blood. And a…colorful mixture.”
“I found the prison you were looking for. And you were right, even if the majority of people patrolling the perimeters were humans, there were Immortals too. I don’t know who rules it, though.”
They had to be thinking the same thing as I did. What if the missing Immortals were not missing after all? What if they left for some reason and turned on Arc?
“I was attacked a couple of times,” he continued. “None of them had the scanning device you guys found in the cabins, so I’m guessing they only use stuff like that around here, where most of you can be found.”
“Did you manage to get close?” Arc asked, walking to meet Carrie on the other side of the desk. He searched through the pile of documents. “Or at least close enough to think of a way in?”
After fumbling for a few seconds, Arc got his hand on the map of the area and placed it between our two sides.
“I did.” Dimitri nodded, drawing a square with a pen he took in the pot next to him.
“The building is about this size and there are entrances here, here, and there,” he said, marking little crosses.
“That one, could be a discreet way in and would avoid a direct approach and a potential battle. With a small team of maybe two or three, you could get inside easily.”
“Is it not guarded? Why is it so close to a cliff?”
Dimitri grinned. “Oh, it is. But as I said, the access is hidden. The door leads straight to a tunnel under said cliff.” He pointed with the tip of his pen again, drawing a curved line and another cross at the end.
“The exit is here, far away from the building site itself. The outside was guarded by Hellrisers when I checked it. You only have to get rid of them in some way, make your way inside, get rid of the ones potentially walking what seemed to be a narrow corridor, and then you’re there. ”
He moved his pen back to the cross he made between the roughly drawn building and the cliff.
“Do you know what they use that entrance for?” Carrie asked.
My old lover lifted his face and his grin widened, eyes sparking with mischief.
“If I had to take a guess, to bring prisoners in.”
Arc’s eyes lit up in surprise, lips parting slightly. “Prisoners?”
“Yep,” Dimitri said, popping the P. “There was a truck. I could sense a lot of people in it. Blood. Fear. Anger. It took the tunnel and came back empty about an hour after. From what I’ve seen and the layout of the building, it might be a direct access to the cells.
I don’t know what awaits inside, but it’s the least guarded entrance, with very few people patrolling around both ends of the tunnel. ”
Arc gave a thoughtful nod as Carrie leaned over the map to inspect it closely. My hand slipped in Dimitri’s and I took a step closer, unable to resist his pull like a moth with a light during the night.
“Why isn’t Carter here?” Carrie asked. “Wasn’t he supposed to be the one who—”
“Carter will stay here and look after Lola,” Arc said, not lifting his eyes from the map. “I will go alone with Dimitri.”
The latter stiffened next to me and the mix of surprise and uneasiness on his face spoke volumes about the fact that he didn’t trust Arc more than Arc trusted him.
“Why me? I could be the one to stay here and look after Lola.” His hand went from holding mine to sliding from my back to my hip, pulling me flush against him once again. “And I don’t know what your prisoners look like.”
“That’s why I’m coming too,” Arc countered. “You’re the one who found it, it’s only natural you’d be the one joining me on that mission.”
“Are you sure only the two of you will be enough?” Carrie looked worried. “I could put together a team in case shit hits the fan.”
“No. We’ll be more efficient if it’s just the two of us. We won’t have to worry about the safety of more people, and we’ll have enough on our plate after we release all the prisoners to bring them back here.”
I didn’t like that plan. “But what if—”
“We’re leaving tomorrow morning,” Arc continued, ignoring me.
I could feel the exhaustion and anxiety rolling off Dimitri. Lack of sleep and stressful situations made him more susceptible to losing a battle against the madness, if it were to act up.
He nodded anyway. “Alright. Let me just clean up and get some rest,” Dimitri said, his hand slipping back in mine to squeeze, his dry tone softened by a small sigh. “But once they’re free, we’re heading straight back here.”