Page 87 of Rescued By Four Alphas
Evan steps forward and pats Reid's head like one might pet a dog. "Good boy. Now, was that so difficult?"
Reid calls out names, locations, access codes, and information we've spent days trying to extract from him.
"My men will verify everything," Evan tells him. "If any detail proves false, if any location is incorrect... well, you know what happens next."
"Please," Reid begs. "After you confirm everything, you'll leave Isabelle alone?"
Evan tilts his head as if considering the question. "Perhaps. If your information proves useful enough."
I release Reid, and he slumps against the wall, defeated. I've never seen him broken, desperate, and terrified.
"I never thought I'd see the day," I remark. "The great Dr. Reid, reduced to begging."
We step outside the cell, and the door locks behind us automatically. Once we're in the hallway, out of Reid's sight and hearing, I turn to Evan.
"How did you find his daughter?" I ask.
Evan's lips curve in a slight smile. "I'm on my way to becoming one of the most powerful and influential men in this country, Onyx. I will know everything."
"And the injection? The MX-47 compound?"
"A bluff, of course," Evan admits. "I've had people watching his daughter since we captured Reid, but no one has approached her. The photo I showed him was merely her leaving the hospital after her shift, taken from surveillance footage."
"Fucking brilliant," I mutter. "He completely broke."
"Everyone has a pressure point," Evan says. "For men like Reid, who believe themselves above human weakness, finding that point just requires more creativity."
"And now we have what we need."
"Yes." Evan checks his watch. "His list of government contacts will prove invaluable, and the coordinates of his other research facilities will allow us to shut down the entire program."
"But it won't wake Dahlia," I point out, the hollow ache in my chest intensifying at the thought.
"No," Evan admits, his confidence slipping for just a moment. "But it will ensure no one else suffers from what she did."
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out.
I answer immediately. "What?"
"Onyx," Axl says, his voice so charged with emotion it's barely recognizable. "Dahlia has woken up."
Chapter 26 - Dahlia
"Vish'na torda elim. Seph'ra mendi ko'ran."
"Bala'dur eth tamin. Ka'vir seph eloth."
"Mendi ko'ran eth'vir. Seph'ra elim torda... Vish'na torda ELIM!"
It's so dark I can barely see anything. A red string wraps around my hand and tugs me forward. I don't know where the end of the string is. But it keeps pulling me, and the words keep ringing in my head. What is going on?
"It's time to wake up."
"You need to wake up."
"DAHLIA, WAKE UP!”
The endless black recedes as warmth floods back into my limbs. Something beeps near my head, and I feel tubes brushing against my skin. My throat burns like I've swallowed shards of glass. Where am I?
