Unchained (Hogan Brothers 3)

Inhale.

Her body shivered.

Exhale.

Her body shook.

With every movement, a new injury revealed itself as her torn clothes shifted. Seeing puncture wounds on her arm, he leaned down to look closer. The swelling and distance between the two marks had him asking, “Are these snake bites?” When no one answered him, he looked up, eyeing anyone within distance. “I said, are these snake bites?” His words were harsh, commanding.

The girl that had been watching Sage walked forward, followed by a man close to his own age. “She had to be cleansed in the pond beyond the clearing.” The girl's voice was so quiet he almost didn’t hear her.

“They free the devil from her.” The man spoke up.

Loch struggled to catch up to their meaning. They couldn’t mean… “This was on purpose?” Who the hell does that?

“Hijo de puta.” Asher could be heard cursing from behind him.

“Our Father,” the girl started, but Loch interrupted. “Your father did this to her? Are you kidding me?” He was pissed; couldn’t remember a time when he’d been so angry.

“Well, he’s our bishop. We have to do as he says,” she relayed.

“No, sweetheart, you don’t. You over eighteen?” Asher asked her gruffly. She nodded her head so fast, Loch was sure she’d become dizzy. “Then you got choices and options. You leave this place if it terrifies you as much as your eyes belie.” The more Asher spoke, the angrier he sounded.

“Sir?” One of the cops tapped Loch on the shoulder. “Paramedics are here. You need to let her go.” Gazing down to the young woman in his arms, Loch wasn’t sure he could. How could he protect her if he wasn’t holding her?

“Sir, we need to assess her,” the female EMT told him. The understanding expression on her face made it easier for him to move aside.

Loch avidly watched as they attached her to machines, put an IV in her arm. Checked her vitals. All the while assessing and documenting every injury. The bruises and snake bites. The horrifying lashes and scars on her back when they rolled her to her side.

“What happened to you, Sage?” His words were spoken aloud, but he didn’t expect an answer.

“She’d become outspoken.” The young man, who held the girl he now assumed was her sister, spoke.

For the first time since finally getting to touch Sage, Loch let her go, standing, intent on releasing his rage on someone. “She spoke out?” The savagery in his tone shocked even him as Asher grabbed his arm. “She what, had a thought? Asked a question?” He was yelling by that point. “What was so damn horrible she deserved this?” Everyone was watching his explosion.

The couple backed up the louder he yelled. “Cool it, bro,” Asher murmured at him. Except he couldn’t. Sage was broken, exhausted, and terrified. He couldn’t just cool it. He couldn’t calm down. Loch wanted answers that no one seemed to want to give to him straight.

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; “I’m Jossilyn.” The girl’s voice shook. “Things here, they aren’t easy. We…Tru, Porter, and I…we wanted to contact you.” Tears pooled in her eyes as she continued. “She didn’t want us to. Sage turns eighteen in a few days, and she said she was going to get out. She didn’t want to cause trouble because of us.”

Hell. He couldn’t very well continue to yell at the young woman when all they wanted to do was help their sister. Without the resources or know-how, he could understand their issue. Before he could say more, the paramedics were loading Sage on a stretcher and rushing to the ambulance.

“What’s going on?” he called after them, giving chase.

“Her body temperature is dangerously high, and these bites, there is infection everywhere. We need to leave now.” The woman who was kind before looked worried now.

“I’m coming with you,” he informed them. Giving no room for argument, Loch tossed his keys to Asher as he climbed in the back.

The ride to the hospital was rushed and chaotic. Watching helplessly as Sage’s body went into shock and she suffered a seizure was chilling. Unable to help for fear of getting in the way, Loch froze as her tiny body shook relentlessly on the stretcher.

“Straight to UC Health, Dan,” the female—Aislynn her nametag read—told the driver. With Sage’s condition worsening and the paramedics quiet, Loch didn’t know what to think.

He was in a daze the entire way there, so when they stopped and the doctors started asking him a dozen questions, all he could say was, “I have no idea. I got to her seconds before she passed out.”

Following them as they rushed her through the emergency room doors, Loch blew a gasket when one of the nurses said, “Sir, you need to wait here.”

“No!” The conviction in his voice shocked even him. “I won’t leave her again. I let her go, and she was tortured!”