“And what if we don’t buy your sob story?” Lucas asked.
“I was raised by a man and a priest. They could have taken me at any moment, yet they chose me to lead instead. Why is that?” she asked.
“Easy,” Killian replied. “They’re using you.”
Ruby’s face twitched slightly, but she managed to conceal it. “I am here to take the city of Dagon,” she said, full of pride and conviction.
“And now you’re trying to save Wren,” Lucas said.
Her expression dropped. “I don’t hold allegiance to her,” she said. “We were born opposites.”
“You can’t kill her. She’s pregnant,” Lucas growled.
“Yes,” she said, gaze wandering to the floor. “She is.”
Ruby released the rifle from her shoulder and handed it to Killian. “I believe this is yours.”
Lucas stared. “And where the fuck is mine?”
Ruby snapped her fingers, and a man came with the rifle. Lucas took it, curiously eyeing the girl. “How did you get them to make fools of themselves?”
She did not smile. “Because they are my equals, and I provide them everything they need.”
“They are on their knees,” Lucas said.
“Power comes to those who obsess over the cracks in the foundation,” she said. “The men who serve me will be rewarded with adoration. They will be well fed and groomed to our liking. And once the issue of fertility is solved, they will be satisfied hourly. Isn’t that what men want?”
Killian stepped forward and reached his arm out to touch her, smell her. He looked at her with longing, thirsty eyes. The tough, rising mass of flesh rose against his wear. “I bet I could take you, right here,” Killian grumbled.
“Supposing my men wouldn’t brand elaborate designs into your scrotum first, I think I’d say that you’re welcome to try.” A spoiled smile formed on her face.
Lucas checked the rifle to see if it was loaded. When he saw that it was, Ruby motioned for them to follow her to the door. Grabbing a headset, she placed the glass piece over her eyelid. She gave a groan when it secured. “We will provide the added gear. The headset will register the heat movements of an individual area. Body armor. You name it,” she said.
Confusion was in the air, but they put on the gear without any words against it. As they dressed, Ruby explained to them the plan. There were known facilities all over the continent, including the one their pack wiped out to get Wren in the first place. “The one we have targeted is here,” she said, pointing against a thick tablet screen.
“In the middle of the sea?” Lucas asked. “Listen, if Cassian had a facility in the sea, we’d know about it.”
Wren turned the tablet screen off and continued through the door. “We load out in an hour.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Wren stood on the edge of the deck, leaning against the cold metal bars. She gazed at the metal facility that towered above the waters. A rich plume of smoke rose from the roof. Behind them, a series of bombs shattered the city’s tallest buildings, and Wren’s heart dropped with dread.
“Faster!” she screamed.
Cassian’s eyes flashed with abrupt terror. He slid up the throttle and increased the boat’s speed. Wren knew he was in there. Vash. If he wasn’t, they were walking into their death trap.
“Mother!” Cassian exhaled.
She felt a huge level of pride. If she hadn’t let them touch her, he would have anticipated the attacks on the city. Instead, they were in the middle of the sea, looking back on his burning empire. It had all come undone.
The boat rolled into the dock where a slow elevator brought the boat up into a pool. With haste, Cassian anchored the small boat and carried Wren by the leash he had applied around her brittle neck. Pulling, they moved into the burning facility.
At the alarm systems blaring, Wren cupped her hands over her ears and lurched in pain. Water sprayed and flooded the stretching hallway. Cassian kept bringing her forward. Her eyes quickly rolled past the empty room with medical equipment, the shiver-inducing sight of an IV. This place was worse than any facility she was brought up in. It was empty and reeked of isolation and the madness it breeds.
Cassian hit his body against the door, checking his shoulder against the impossible lock. “Mother!” he screamed.
Cassian struggled and Wren watched as her captor faced his limitations. Suddenly, she felt the urge to laugh. To cry. To reach out and pry his eyeballs out with her thumbs. As the water fell over her hair, she remembered and internalized every moment she had gone through to get here.