Page 102 of Marked

Dallas cleared his throat at the doorway. “I think Dare’s just trying to prepare you, bro.”

He glanced in his twin’s direction, picking up on the hesitation and anxiety in the voice as familiar to him as his own. He rolled his tongue against the backs of his teeth. Snapping at his siblings wouldn’t help, but fuck they were pissing him off.

“She could be dead already,” Dare said pointedly. “You need to accept that.”

Cole’s face heated and his nerves vibrated. Jabbing his index finger into Dare’s shoulder, it took everything in him not to wrap his hand around his throat. “No shit. Now get off your ass and help me before it’s too late.”

Sympathy filled his younger brother’s eyes. He mumbled an apology and got to his feet.

Cole and Dare grabbed their weapons from the small of their backs while Dallas called Nash to give him the location of the warehouse. Shoving his gun in the waistband of his pants, Cole locked his gaze with Dallas’s and jerked his head toward the kitchen.

“What’s up?”

“I need your help with something.” He pointed at his twin. “This stays between you and me. Got it?”

Dallas screwed up his face. “I don’t like where this is going.”

Cole leaned in and let his twin in on his plan.

“Jesus, dude. You’re fucking crazy.” Dallas shook his head.

“Will you do it or not?” Cole snapped.

“You know I will. Fuck.” He raised his hands and stormed off.

Cole watched him go. He couldn’t get Dare’s warning out of his head. Odds were his idiot brother was right and Sophia was already dead.

But he couldn’t face that possibility. Not yet.

Not ever.

***

Sophia paused at the side of the door Kenneth had exited earlier. She pressed her back to the wall, the hard concrete cooling her flaming skin.

She needed to find a weapon or an exit.

Summoning a deep breath, she closed her fingers around the chilled metal door handle and gave the heavy steel a push. A loud creak sounded. Sophia winced and froze.

Great. Alert everyone.

But there were no shouts. No scampering feet. No shots fired. She just might make it out of here. Rather than open the door further, she slipped through the space and into the hallway. Darkness met her, and she let the door close softly.

Her shirt clung to her back, the material damp and cold against her flesh. But it was nowhere near as icy as her frosty veins. She inched away from her cell. Various pipes and ventilation systems crowded the area outside where she’d been kept. A single lightbulb glowed in the long corridor. The walkway was only a few feet wide. If she was in a basement, she’d have to make it up at least one more level to find an exit. If she made it that far.

If, if, if...

If she didn’t start moving, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting out. She quickened her pace slightly. Her limbs told her to break into a run. To race for the nearest exit. But caution forced her to stay relatively slow.

She wet her lips and moved past a boiler area. She tiptoed to the staircase at the end of the corridor and climbed quickly.

Voices sounded, and the clomp of feet coming down the staircase overhead reached her ears. At the main level she darted for the door, exiting the stairwell. Sophia pressed her back against the wall and waited. Her pulse pounded in tune to the approaching footsteps. The voices grew louder, and three men walked by the small window in the door, heading for the basement.

She glanced down the corridor on the main level. Several doors were scattered along the hallway, the ceiling had been ripped out, and only one lightbulb—right over her head—lit the space. The floor was clearly being worked on. She needed to find a window and see how far she was from the ground.

Any second they’d notice she was missing and the hunt would begin. She needed a way out. Pronto.

Gulping down the anxiety threatening to burst from her lips, she jogged down the hall. Snagging one of the handles, she bumped open a door and stumbled into a room scattered with painting materials. A large window took up part of the far wall. She crossed the room and stared out the glass. She was easily twelve feet from the ground.

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