Henrick makes me sit with Ciara every day, from breakfast until dinner. I don’t really mind, because being here means I won’t be disturbed by either Henrick or his older son. Lenny… It’s weird. He is such a scary and aggressive guy, yet he has such a friendly sounding name.
Wish he had more Lenny in him and less asshole.
When the door opens with a squeeze, Lenny—otherwise known as asshole—waltzes in and pulls me away from Ciara. He is always rough but makes sure not to cause any real injury. He never talks, which honestly doesn’t bother me at all. It’s not like I have anything to say to him either. He tosses a short glance at Ciara’s body and grunts. He probably doesn’t give a damn about her.
On our way back up to my room, which I now know is indeed located in a tower, we pass Luca, carrying a tray with plates. He trembles in fear when he sees Lenny. He visibly tenses, and his whole body seems to recoil in fear. The tray wobbles in his trembling hands before falling to the ground, shattering the plates into hundreds of tiny shards.
Douchebag reacts fast, grabbing Luca by his shirt and shoving him against the wall. He lets go of me to slap Luca, hard. There’s blood oozing out of Luca’s nose as he gasps for air.
“Stop it!” I yell.
“Why?” he huffs at me. “I should just kill the scum.”
Shit, what am I going to say without blowing our cover!? Damn it… I… “But… but who will bring me my food then!?” I hear myself say. “You?”
Wow, Val, that’s the best you could do? Nothing else came to your mind than that? To my surprise though, douchebag lets go of his brother. “I hate cooking,” he hisses.
Yeah, cooking isn’t your biggest problem; your pea-sized brain is… Luca throws me a secret glance, showing me a very short smile before scrambling back into the kitchen. When he does so, I notice how Lenny has his hand in his pocket. There is a clicking noise to be heard. My eyebrows shoot up at the sight of Lenny pulling a tiny chain from his pocket… there are a handful of keys attached to it.
Ailia,I mutter.Did you see that?
Yes, this is what we need to escape!
*CELINE*
Marius stuck to his promise, and a few minutes later, I have a picture in my inbox. It’s a drawing of a tattoo. He must have scribbled it down fast, yet the detail is incredible. I didn’t know he could paint or draw, but it’s clear from this that he’s talented.
Another message follows.
It’s me, Liam. Marius told me to send this to you ASAP. Does it help?
I show the picture to Elias. “Can you work with that? Ever seen this design before?”
Elias furrows his brows before he nods. “Absolutely! That tattoo was used by members of a rogue camp that terrorized a village close to my old pack when I was still there. They moved to another area before we could catch them.”
I have to give it to Elias. His past experience living in that shady, dangerous pack sure does come in handy sometimes. So does his gift as a tracker. He’s not only able to track scents and other clues, but his eidetic memory means he can remember locations, important symbols, and other signs. He once told me it’s like a film flashing in front of his eyes.
“My contacts told me they have seen them occasionally in the woods, further away from town,” he mutters. “They must have finally regrouped and reformed, since they were almost wiped out by my old pack.”
“Can you find them?” I ask. “We need to eliminate them before they can act as Sullivan’s backup.”
He nods.
“How long will you need?”
“If I set off immediately, I will be with them before you reach Henrick Sullivan’s hideout.”
“Choose your team, and head out immediately,” I tell him. “I don’t need to remind you not to take any unnecessary risks, do I?”
“No, Alpha, I know what I am doing,” he promises. “Do we need survivors?”
“No,” I say earnestly. “Unless there are prisoners or children. Take Marcel with you; he has a sense for that kind of thing.”
Elias hurries away to gather his team. I take a moment to reply to Liam.
This helps a lot! Thank you.
I send the message to him, before adding with a sigh,