Page 58 of Edge of Desperation

Great. They probably think I tried to kill her, too.

“She was drugged.” My voice sounds robotic. “She’s been out almost two hours. The one with the hole in the head injected her with something.”

Hudson scrambles over to Potts, digging in his pockets. He pulls out a vile and studies it. “Ketamine.”

Thomas bounces on his feet. “Will she be okay?”

“Yeah,” Hudson says. “I’ll monitor her until we can get this mess cleaned up, and then we’ll drop her off at a hospital. She’ll be out for a while.”

“Let’s get started,” Bennett says.

They all fan out, opening different doors and pulling out buckets and mops. Lykos isn’t growling anymore, but his focus is unwavering as he watches their every move. As for me, I’m too tired to move. Hell, I’m too tired to breathe.

Jaxson drops to his knees a few feet away. “Winchester.” My head jerks in his direction. “You can trust me, Aurora, just like that day we rescued you. Please let me help you.”

“Help? I asked for help, Jaxson, and you all stared at me like I’m a goddamn monster.Me,not them.” I wave my hand toward Potts and Briggs. “Settle,” I whisper to Lykos so only hehears me. He lies down with his head in my lap, keeping his eyes trained on Jaxson and the others. I brush my hand through his soft fur and hum.

“Aurora, we have a dead senator,” Jaxson states. “That’s gonna require an explanation.”

“An explanation.” A maniacal laugh bubbles out of my throat. “Do you hear that, Lykos?” My dog looks up at me. “Jaxson wants an explanation. Let’s give him one, shall we?”

“That’s not wh?—”

“I used to be a dedicated undercover reporter who wanted to help shed light on the darkness in the world. Unbeknownst to me, I stumbled upon a story about human trafficking taking place on the East Coast. I met up with an informant who disclosed the name of the family involved, and the poor girl couldn’t have been over the age of sixteen.” I point to myself. “This reporter wanted tosaveher. I convinced the young girl to come with me. My father is a general and could protect her, but Ilied.You see, I made a huge mistake and stopped at my house, thinking no one was following us, because I didn’t see anything. I waswrong!Now the young girl is dead, and I’m changed forever.”

“How do you know she’s dead?” Jaxson asks.

“No one escapes the Krukov family,” I deadpan. “You’re either killed, or you wish you were.”

“You’re not dead.”

“No, but I should be, shouldn’t I?” I point out. “I live in fear every damn day. You have no idea what it’s like to wake up and not know if someone is going to be lurking around the corner. Well, I found out, didn’t I? They’re everywhere. There’s no escape. My only hope is to destroy them before they destroy what’s left of me.”

“Why the senator?” he asks, confused.

“Why are you so fucking concerned with the senator?” I scream. “Senator Timothy Briggs, along with Terry Potts over there and three other men, bought me while I was chained naked on a stage for one million dollars from Dmitri Krukov. Do you want to know what happened next?” Silence fills the air as I pause to take a deep breath. “The lovelysenatorhad Jameson tie me down on a bench, and then he turned on cameras to film the whole thing. Potts over there beat me with a whip until I bled, then he shoved his cock down my throat while they watched. They all took turns raping me, over and over and over again. Finally, just when I thought it was over, Briggs asked me if anyone had ever taken my ass. You can guess what happened after that.” Tears slide down my cheeks. “That’s not the worst part. I know what you’re thinking…How can that not be the worst part?This was my life for… How long was I missing? Oh, that’s right, about two weeks, give or take. I thought I was finally safe until I went to the State Dinner with my dad and, low and behold, guess who was there? Ding, ding, ding, you guessed it. Senator Briggs, who told me point blank that I’d never be safe, and now that they knew where I was, the Krukov family was coming for me.”

Jaxson clenches his fists. He makes no move to speak, so I continue.

“That night, I ran. I went home and swallowed every pill I had. I wasn’t going to let them take me back to the hell you helped me escape from. Instead, I created my own personal hell, but what I didn’t know was that I was pregnant.” Gasps fill the space around me, but I ignore them. “Dr. Sheppard gave me a pregnancy test when I was first admitted, and it was negative. No one thought about it again because I was on the shot, and it was administered a couple of weeks before I was taken. Turns out, the fucking shot failed. I forced a miscarriage with my attempted suicide. Those bastards took the last bit of control Ihad in my life and stripped it from me,” I cry. “I was so scared by Briggs’ threat that I let it consume me. I didn’t think, I acted.” My shaking body sags against Lykos as I let out a guttural scream.

I scream at the injustice of it all, and my heart shatters into pieces once again. Strong arms scoop me off the floor and pull me close. Lykos keeps his head at my back, lending me his strength.

“Shhh,” Jaxson soothes. “I’ve got you. It’s not your fault.”

I pound on his chest and sob. “It’s my fucking fault because I should’ve known. I should’ve felt something.” Jaxson makes no move to stop me from beating him. “I don’t know what I would’ve done when I found out I was pregnant, but I wouldn’t have taken those pills, Jaxson. Please believe me,” I plead.

“Baby, I believe you,” he says soothingly. “You were traumatized. You had every right to your feelings, and you did what you felt you needed to do to protect yourself. I fucking wish you would’ve told your dad what was going on, but I understand.”

I stare into his stormy gray eyes, looking for any sign of deceit, finding none. “What do I do now?”

“You? Nothing.” He scowls. “The rest of us are going hunting.”

I push out of his embrace and stand, and Jaxson follows suit. We’re toe-to-toe, staring at one another as if we’re both prepared to go into battle.

Anger bubbles inside me. “The fuck you are. Not without me, you’re not. You can’t take this from me, Jaxson. Ineedthis. Ineedto see the life drain from their eyes, to know I broke them like they broke me.”

“They didn’t break you,” he growls.

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