Page 96 of Ruin Me Knot
Kylie tries for a sneer, but her chin trembles too much to have any impact. "You can’t do this. The detective will lose his badge, and I’ll see you lose your jobs too. Don’t you know who we are?"
"Shut the fuck up. We’ll be making the demands." My rage is a black tide, flooding me with heat and bitter ice. All the screams, all the scars, all the nights I held Leah through nightmares, burn in my gut until my fist crashes down on the table with a crack that rattles their teeth.
Jax’s growl rumbles from the pit of his chest, the sound enough to make even my own hackles rise. They jump, eyes wide. Jax doesn’t need words. His presence is enough to crowd the space, his eyes black, a storm about to break.
I lean over them, letting the weight of my fury press down. “You really believe your rights will protect you after what you did to my scent-match? After years of torture, you think any rule still matters? Here’s the truth. This is your one chance to get out of here with something worth trading. The only thing I want is information.”
"What information?" Mick says.
"We want Hardwick. Nothing will protect you unless you tell us where she is."
They shudder as my meaning settles. Kylie’s mouth snaps shut, hands shaking in the cuffs.
Mick’s face drains of color. "You wouldn’t dare harm us."
Jax’s laugh is as harsh as the lighting. "Don’t tell us what we will and won’t do." His smile is all teeth, no warmth. "We know how not to leave a mark. Physically, that is."
He lets the words linger, a promise of retribution that doesn’t need violence to make itself known. I cross my arms and let silence build. Sometimes the threat is enough, especially with weak-minded people, and these are the weakest.
My shadow falls over them as I use my physical presence as another threat. I want them to see there’s nothing left of civility. My voice turns deadly soft. "If you’re waiting for your prime to rescue you, forget it. She’s gone to ground. She’s not coming for either of you. You’re forgotten and alone."
I savor the moment my truth lands. Leaving any of my bonded to rot in a jail cell would be the last thing I’d do. Let them know the truth and stew. Let them see the reality of their situation.
Kylie’s jaw tenses. "Bullshit. There’s no way she’d just leave us here."
Mick glares at her, trying for dominance, but fear shows in the tight twitch of his eyes. "Shut up, Kylie. Don’t let them rattle you."
"Why? So we can rot here while she skips off to enjoy whatever she’s squirreled away? They’re right, Mick. If Evelyn was going to bail us out, she would’ve done it the damn next day. We’ve been here for weeks." Kylie jerks against the cuffs, seething before her hard glint rises back to Mick. "Why should we protect her? We’re not even bonded."
Jax’s eyes flick to mine, his brows raising slightly. I scan their necks for any mark and find only smooth skin.
"What do you mean, you’re not bonded?" I ask.
"Don’t you say anything." Mick lunges as best he can to block Kylie with his elbow, but she stomps on his foot.
My patience breaks. I let my Alpha bark thunder through me. "Why aren’t you bonded?"
Kylie tries to resist, jaw locked, but the bark drills right to the truth. Her voice cracks out, unwilling. "Because we’re not Alphas."
Mick’s face goes red, sweat beading over pale skin. "Shut up, you stupid bitch. Don’t say another goddamn word."
Jax clamps the back of Kylie’s neck with an immovable hold and makes her look up at him as he looms over her. "You’ll tell us everything we need to know."
"There’s nothing to tell. We don’t know where she went." Kylie’s words tumble out in a rush, desperate to be believed. "Evelyn kept all that shit locked down. She never told us where she went. Never told anyone. She’d bark at Skylar or put her under if she took the Omega with her. No one knew where the hell they were half the time. I don’t know why she never bonded us either. She just didn’t."
Something ugly churns in my gut. "Then why stay? Why follow her without the bond?"
"Because—"
"Fucking shut up," Mick snarls.
I grip his neck until he can barely breathe. Spittle froths on his lips as he jerks around but a hard knee to his sternum pins him to the chair.
I send Kylie a level glare. "I’m through fucking around. Tell us or you won’t walk out of this room."
Kylie’s eyes round and the pungent taint of fear-sweat pours off her. At least the female knows a true threat when she hears it. "She injected us with serum to make us Alpha. That’s all we ever wanted. Respect. We never got any as Betas, but as Alphas, people finally looked at us differently. We had power for once in our lives. All we had to do was stay with her and follow her orders to get the serum."
Shock knifes through me; it makes sense now. Hardwick did to them what she did to her guards. I test the air, finding it free from the chemical taint. They look diminished because they are. Betas medicated into mimicry. "How often do you need this serum?"
