Page 175 of Defiant Beta

When I see an abandoned factory ahead, I want to fling my door open, throw myself out, and run as far away as I can.

“Della?”

I wrench my eyes toward Levi. He’s stopped the car, cut the engine, and unbuckled his seatbelt. I missed it all. All I can think about is the dark room with the metal door and the freezing concrete floor.

“What?” I ask, my voice gravelly as terror, thick and insidious, threatens to choke me.

He slides his hand around the nape of my neck, his touch grounding me. His eyes glitter with rage. “Revenge. I think that’s the thing you need.”

And I know why we’re at this factory in the middle of the night, why he told me to wear something I didn’t mind getting dirty, and what thing he thought I was joking about.

Because he was right, I wasn’t joking at all.

“Where?” My voice is stronger than it was a moment ago. Harder, too, but there’s a reason for that.

“You sure?”

My eyes return to the factory.

I’ve never seen the outside. But I’ve been here before. I nearly died here.

An inconsequential sign is a sharp stone lodged deep in my subconscious. The men who brought me to this place stuffed me in the trunk of their car. I shouldn’t know about that sign, yet I do.

Maybe they mentioned the sign while they were drowning me. Maybe one of them said something while I was half-conscious once they’d finished raping me.

“Della?” Concern softens Levi’s voice. “If you want?—”

I pull my hand from Levi’s and unbuckle my seatbelt. I push my door open and step out, gravel crunching under my boots.

It’s freezing here, a building exposed to a biting cold on all sides.

Wind whips around me, toys with the fine hairs around my face, and I shiver. Inside and out.

Levi is warmer than I am when he takes my hand and squeezes. It’s another grounding moment I hadn’t known I’d desperately needed. “I love you.”

He kisses me.Hard. The exact kiss I needed. “I love you, too, beautiful.”

My eyes return to the factory.

He squeezes my hand. “Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.”

He gives me a probing look before heading to the right side of the building, approaching a set of double doors. “This way. Xavier and Vincent are waiting for us.”

I follow Levi as he guides us through a warren of dark corridors and closed doors, our footsteps echoing in hallways that smell musty and old.

Then we turn a corner. Xavier and Vincent are standing outside a metal door, their heads bent together, talking quietly.

They fall silent and twist to face me.

Everyone is in black. Boots. Dark hoodies. Black jeans. Things a person wouldn’t mind getting dirty.

“Della?” Vincent moves toward me, concerned. “If this isn’t?—”

“Are they in there?” My voice is as cold as the wind that whipped me in the face.

“Yes.” Vincent steps aside as I walk to the door, twist the handle, and push it open.

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