Page 135 of Unhinged

I can't fucking stand the thought of her scared.

"And if you find Earl?” I smile slow and mean. "You hold him. You break whatever you gotta break. But you don't kill him."

I look at Gears. He nods.

"That pleasure’s ours."

The room rumbles with approval. The brothers are ready. Hungry for blood.

"Go!" I bark.

They scatter like a controlled explosion. Organized chaos. Exactly what we need. I hop down off the chair, turning to Arrow and Gears.

"Bat and Keg got Marcus. Nikola’s got his boys watching the streets. We got the brothers combing the city. What’s next?"

Gears runs a hand through his hair, looking grim.

"Next," he says, "we figure out where Earl would take her. Somewhere he feels safe. Somewhere she wouldn’t dare scream."

My gut twists. Fury licks up my spine.

I will find her. No matter what it costs.

She’s my omega.

And no one steals from us and fucking lives.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

BRYDGETT

My head fucking pounds. I groan, trying to blink the blurry edges of the world into focus. It's not dark like before. Not like when the guys took me that first time. This is different.

Dim yellow light buzzes somewhere above me from a single flickering bulb. I tilt my head back and look around, everything moving slow and sticky like syrup. I'm in some abandoned warehouse or factory. I can tell by the way the crates are spilled across the floor, machines left to rot. Rust everywhere. Dust so thick it coats everything like snow. The place smells like metal and mildew.

Where am I?

How long have I been here? How long have I been gone?

Panic scratches under my skin. My arms ache. I try to move, and that's when I realize…I’m chained. My arms pulled up above my head, wrists cuffed tight and raw to a rafter beam. My toes barely skim the ground.

The sockets of my shoulders scream, a deep, grinding pain from hanging limp for who knows how long. My arms are on fire. Every little shift feels like something might tear.

I still got my leather pants and shirt on. No shoes, though. My coat's missing too. Probably ripped off when they dragged me in here. Good. At least I'm not naked. At least they haven't?—

I shove the thought out of my head. My heart kicks against my ribs, wild and hard.

I hope they noticed I'm gone.

I swallow hard.

I hope they come looking.

But doubt creeps in. Heavy. Ugly. Mean.

Arrow. Acid. Gears. They said they wanted me. Claimed me. Took me in. But I've been nothing but a headache since the second they found me. An extra mess on top of the shit they already had to deal with. And then tonight...

God.