Page 84 of Emmy's Ride

Austin sat up straighter but kept one arm anchored around me. “Tell her why you did it.”

“Because they took my sister, Raven,” Riot said. His voice cracked. “They used her to pull me back in. And now that I’m out,they want me dead.Grit risked his life to rescue her.”

I was only with the devil a short time. If Raven had been there longer, I couldn’t even imagine what she was goingthrough. A shudder ran through my body. “The Ghost still has her?”

Riot nodded. “That’s why I’m here. We got a lead,” he said without preamble.

Austin gently eased me off him as he sat up. “On what?”

“Luke, and I hope to God Raven is near him,” Riot said grimly.

I sat up too, my heart pounding. “Where is he?”

“He’s alive,” he said first, as if that was the most important thing. And it was.

Austin swung his legs over the side of the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. “How do you know?”

“I talked to a guy I knew back when I was working for The Ghost,” Riot admitted, leaning against the doorframe. “He mentioned a prison—one that The Ghost doesn’t advertise. It’s where he keeps the people he still has a use for.”

Austin’s eyes darkened. “A use?”

Riot nodded. “Yeah. Word was, he had a traitor locked up. Someone who broke the rules. But The Ghost wasn’t done with him yet. I’d bet anything it’s Luke.”

My stomach twisted. “Why hasn’t he killed him yet?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Riot said. “The Ghost still wants something from him. And whatever it is, it’s keeping him alive.”

Austin bent to pull his boots on. “Then we find out what that is.”

Riot nodded. “I can get us close. My guy doesn’t know exact coordinates, but he gave me a region. It’s a fortress, though. If we’re going in, we better be ready for a fight.”

“Then we plan.” Austin stood, took my hand, and we joined the others around the kitchen table.

There was silence as we entered the room.

Luke was alive. I knew this because… “I saw him,” I blurted out.

Their eyes turned to me.

“What do you mean you saw him?” Austin asked, his body tensing beside me.

“When I was being held… They showed me a tablet. It was a live feed of him. He looked—” I broke off, blinking rapidly. “He was beaten, bloody, but he was alive.”

Austin’s expression darkened. “Why the hell would they show you that?”

I forced myself to meet his eyes. “To break me. To make me feel like there was nothing I could do to help him. To get me to… participate in their games.” I exhaled in an attempt to calm myself. “But I did see his surroundings. The walls were concrete, cracked in places. The lighting was almost nonexistent, maybe a single bulb. There were bars, but not like a cell. More like a cage.” I looked at Riot. “Does that sound like the prison you heard about?”

“Yeah. That sounds like the place.”

Jax, who had been quiet until now, leaned forward. “That actually helps. We’ve been searching reports, rumors, anything we can find about The Ghost’s prison. This narrows it down.”

“I can help direct you to what I saw when we get there.”

Austin turned back to me. “That’s good information, babe. But you’re not going with us.”

“What?”

“You heard me.” His jaw was tight, his eyes like steel. “You’re staying here. I’m not losing you again,” he shot back.

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