Page 714 of One More Kiss

“Jesus. I don’t know if I want to hear more,” Talia said, rubbing at her forehead. “I already feel like we all know too much. How long you have this pod for? Can we just move in here and call it done? Go off the grid entirely.”

“You haven’t heard the worst of it yet.”

“Well, then by all means, hit us with it,” I snapped.

“They aren’t just trafficking women for sex. They’re…” River’s voice trailed off as her face turned even more pale. “Uh, they’re modifying them.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Horns, spiked spines, next-level weird shit. Modifying them in a way where you’d never let them see the light of day. We’re talking dark web fantasy shit going to the highest bidder. The kind of alterations that would give kids nightmares.”

“Not just kids,” Lexi muttered.

“And they’re expanding. Getting more extreme. And the some of the women are dying during the…uh, procedures. It was all hush-hush, until this morning.”

“What happened this morning?” Lexi asked.

“They found Marissa Loughton’s body. She went missing four days ago. Her parents never reported it so the cops are looking at them first, but—” River shrugged, everything she didn’t say right there in her open expression.

“But she was restricted to her parents’ property using the technology my parents designed.” The room pitched and I stumbled back into my chair.

“Yes.”

Bile churned in my stomach before climbing up the back of my throat. I’d done this. I’d sent Marissa to her death. I’d betrayed another woman and fed her to men I called monsters without realizing just how monstrous they could be.

“Mia, I have to ask and whatever your answer is, it stays in this pod forever,” River said quietly. “You were tested, right?”

“Yes,” I said, my throat thick as I stared at the gray wall beyond her.

“Did you complete your task?” she asked, her voice low.

“Yes.” The sting of tears grew thick in my throat.

“What did you do?”

I cleared my throat and clutched the seat under me, doing everything I could to keep the room still as I reeled with the truth of what I’d done. “I freed Marissa Loughton and delivered her to a designated location…four days ago.”

“Fuck,” Talia said in a rough whisper.

“Oh, Mia…” Lexi’s words drifted into silence.

Really, what could she say? She was sorry? That didn’t bring Marissa back. It didn’t make any of this right.

I’d been trafficked. Did the member of the society who pledged me know? Or was this a perverse coincidence?

No.

My gut screamed at me to think like a society member. To assume the most corrupt twist and prepare for it.

I’d been trafficked.

I’d gotten away.

And the men who trafficked me knew just how valuable I could be if I were controlled.

If they could turn me into what I hated.

One of them.

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