Page 46 of Pack Ruin
Sergeant let out a dissatisfied grunt. “They’ve got triple guards on the main gate to the hunting grounds, and the patrols are out in force. And once you’re in, there’s no telling where Luke’s at, or what shape he’s in.”
“Oh, he’s fucked ten ways to Sunday,” one of the new boys volunteered, with a mouth full of masticated meat. I was pretty sure his name was Leroy. “A few days back, they done took him off the machines, and there’s all sorts of bets about when he’s gonna kick it.”
Shit.My blood went cold. We really had no time left.
“Um, ah, we got out, Sergeant, sir,” his friend stammered. “We know a place someone little can get in.”
Flor snorted. “Why should we listen to you? Last time I was here, you little rat’s asses were hunting me.”
They both dropped their heads. Leroy muttered, “You got no reason ta, I reckon. We’re sorry-ass sons of bitches, that’s a fact.”
The other one, Bo, choked out, “But we’re sorry, too. Sorry we helped them Enforcers hunt ya. We were just hungry. They was gonna give us food, and my ma died two years back. My little sister’s starvin’ just like us. Nobody’s got enough to eat anymore.” When Flor’s expression shifted to concern, he went on. “When you go in there, can you… can you maybe get her out, too? I mean, not just her. All the little girls, if you can find a way. That Torran’s doin’ bad shit to them in the dorms. He took my neighbor’s kid in, and she’s only eleven. Even if we go feral out here, this is better than what’s goin’ on inside.”
“Fuck,” Flor muttered. I nodded in agreement. I had a feeling our rescue mission had just been upgraded. “How do we get in?”
Bo squinted. “Well, you’re gonna have to be small. And wade through guts.”
“What?”
Leroy scowled at the jerky in his hand for some reason, then set it down, looking back up at Flor. “There’s only one place no one goes near, not even the guards. And one itty-bitty hole in the fence line. You’ll probably fit, but the big guy’s gonna have to shift.”
At that moment, Flor staggered, and I caught her arm. I felt an echo of pain in our bond, and swore. “What is it?”
“The chickenshit,” she panted. “Finnick’s…”
“Is he—” I began, but she shook her head.
“I don’t think so. Maybe. Feels… different. He’s being hurt? I think.”
“Maybe we should wait.”
She huffed. “Nah. It’ll give me something else to focus on. Bo, Leroy? You two show me the way in, and I’ll do what I can for your sister.”
Half an hour later,we stood a few yards away from the edge of a long, razor-wire-topped metal fence. Bo whispered, “See the hole? We cut it just big enough for us.” He wasn’t wrong about me needing to shift to get through; I was shocked anything bigger than a rabbit could squirm through it.
“I see the hole, but what the fuck isthat?” Flor replied, staring past the fence at a stack of something pink. It looked like entrails from here, arranged somehow, but there was no scent, no flies, no carrion birds circling overhead.
“The Flower Arranger’s been makin’ those piles ever since the end of the Conclave,” Leroy squeaked. “It’s, ah… the guts of all the males who hunted ya, Miss Flor.”
“The guts?” Flor breathed, moving closer to the mound. “Whose?”
Bo looked like he might throw up, but he answered bravely. “Well, we’re pretty sure this ‘un is one of the Enforcers, a guy named Lyndal.” He shot a look at Flor. “Nobody knows who’s doin’ it. Ain’t been caught, has he? But everybody knows he’s doin’ this for you.”
“Why do you think that?” Flor speared the kid with a cold look.
He shrugged. “Well, he writes your name on the… You’ll see. There’s at least twenty other piles like this, all inside the fence.Some of them are more than one. One of ‘em is nothin’ but skulls, all cleaned and shiny and stacked up like a… a weddin’ cake or something.’” He swallowed hard, like he might be sick. Flor was eyeing the mound of entrails, but not with a look of disgust. She seemed fascinated.
“How can you tell who that is?” I whispered, stripping my clothes off and stuffing them in the pack that Flor would carry through the hole in the wire.
Bo wiped his hand down the front of his t-shirt. “Lyndal had a scar on his thumb, from messing around with a silver blade when he was s’posed to be doin’ inventory inside the armory.”
I didn’t understand what he meant until I shifted into my wolf form and followed Flor through the hole. I left more than a little fur on the sharp wires, but the scratches healed within seconds. I was so much stronger than I’d ever been, but I had a feeling I would need it in the next few hours.
Bo and Leroy moved quietly back to Sergeant’s side, and the older man nodded to us. I nodded in return, but Flor was already nudging the mound of guts with one sneakered toe. I padded over to her side, touching my nose to her leg and breathing in her cinnamon and jasmine scent.
There was still no odor of blood, and though the scene was violent, it also held some macabre beauty. I’d heard something about this at Northern, back when reports had still been coming in from the shifters who were loyal to my father, before Torran had tightened his control. Brand had confirmed the rumors.
But seeing it was something else.
