Maybe Devyn and I could give you a break from watching this shit again. We aren’t in as deep.”
“No,” Kaeden growled. “Ace, get moving again.”
Dagan’s stomach soured as they forwarded through the events that transpired after the punishment Nevada and Sage had endured. Devyn settled in the seat beside him, her hand resting on his. He squeezed it reflexively as he sensed his entire team tense when Ace restarted footage of a scene everyone recalled all too vividly.
“Is there any value to watching this?” Trent asked testily. He stood and paced.
“Let’s get it over with. The sooner we do, the better.” Kaeden crossed his arms and locked down.
Dagan’s heart twisted for his friends. Fuck, he couldn’t imagine watching this go down again, and he wasn’t them—they were in love with the women involved.
His mind rewound to that day. It had been normal in many ways, endless hours of PT and countless physical and psychic challenges designed to break them. Nevada and Sage had been removed from isolation. It was two short days after their brutal punishment and rape, and Conver had caught Dagan and the guys planning an escape. If Dagan and his team had only known that back then, maybe they could’ve saved the two women.
“They lined us up like cattle,” Rex stated.
“We should’ve known something fucked up was about to go down,” Cash added.
Silence descended as the footage continued. They listened to Conver spew his latest vision of a new world order. Then he pulled Nevada and Sage from the line, a psychotic laugh tumbling from him as he pulled out a couple of syringes and plunged them into the girls.
Anguish burned in Dagan. He wrapped his arm around Devyn, suckling on her warmth and calmness like a newborn babe. Jesus, she was everything they’d fought for back then. Innocence, beauty, hope. So much like Nevada and Sage….
“You think you’re smart enough to escape, to plot against me, and I wouldn’t know?” Conver’s voice punctuated the pained silence. His cronies trained countless weapons on them all. “I think it’s time for you all to learn exactly what the ultimate sacrifice is like, to know my vision will not be challenged by anyone.”
Their reaction had been swift, an instantaneous response to the imminent threat to Nevada and Sage. Gunfire exploded around them, but they hadn’t cared. Somehow, mostly thanks to Rex’s quick reflexes and telekinetic powers, they’d escaped immediate termination.
They’d booted them all, but they’d finally figured out how to unlock their collars—which they did the moment the fight ensued. The collars were synched to their individual abilities, which left them vulnerable to another psychic’s talents. It had taken way too fucking long to realize that. Channeling one person’s power into the collar’s power mechanism short-circuited the device and enabled removal.
Getting one of them uncollared to use his abilities on the first device had taken weeks of planning and careful observation to get the narrow window of time Cash and Corbin had needed to swap places. Back then the twins were so identical no one outside the team could distinguish them. They’d only managed to switch earlier that day. The team had expected to remove all their collars when they were on team lockdown for the night, but that hadn’t happened. They’d had to break out of them during the melee. Somewhere within the hell the women had disappeared.
Kaeden and Trent leaned forward and studied the footage. Dagan followed suit. This was their chance to finally see what exactly had happened to them. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
It would only strengthen the nightmares.
“Wait. Rewind a few seconds,” Rex shouted. Ace complied. “There. Conver and those two minions dragged them out. See?”
Finally. Now they could see for themselves how it went down.
Kaeden prowled toward the screen. “Eyes on
“No,” Kaeden growled. “Ace, get moving again.”
Dagan’s stomach soured as they forwarded through the events that transpired after the punishment Nevada and Sage had endured. Devyn settled in the seat beside him, her hand resting on his. He squeezed it reflexively as he sensed his entire team tense when Ace restarted footage of a scene everyone recalled all too vividly.
“Is there any value to watching this?” Trent asked testily. He stood and paced.
“Let’s get it over with. The sooner we do, the better.” Kaeden crossed his arms and locked down.
Dagan’s heart twisted for his friends. Fuck, he couldn’t imagine watching this go down again, and he wasn’t them—they were in love with the women involved.
His mind rewound to that day. It had been normal in many ways, endless hours of PT and countless physical and psychic challenges designed to break them. Nevada and Sage had been removed from isolation. It was two short days after their brutal punishment and rape, and Conver had caught Dagan and the guys planning an escape. If Dagan and his team had only known that back then, maybe they could’ve saved the two women.
“They lined us up like cattle,” Rex stated.
“We should’ve known something fucked up was about to go down,” Cash added.
Silence descended as the footage continued. They listened to Conver spew his latest vision of a new world order. Then he pulled Nevada and Sage from the line, a psychotic laugh tumbling from him as he pulled out a couple of syringes and plunged them into the girls.
Anguish burned in Dagan. He wrapped his arm around Devyn, suckling on her warmth and calmness like a newborn babe. Jesus, she was everything they’d fought for back then. Innocence, beauty, hope. So much like Nevada and Sage….
“You think you’re smart enough to escape, to plot against me, and I wouldn’t know?” Conver’s voice punctuated the pained silence. His cronies trained countless weapons on them all. “I think it’s time for you all to learn exactly what the ultimate sacrifice is like, to know my vision will not be challenged by anyone.”
Their reaction had been swift, an instantaneous response to the imminent threat to Nevada and Sage. Gunfire exploded around them, but they hadn’t cared. Somehow, mostly thanks to Rex’s quick reflexes and telekinetic powers, they’d escaped immediate termination.
They’d booted them all, but they’d finally figured out how to unlock their collars—which they did the moment the fight ensued. The collars were synched to their individual abilities, which left them vulnerable to another psychic’s talents. It had taken way too fucking long to realize that. Channeling one person’s power into the collar’s power mechanism short-circuited the device and enabled removal.
Getting one of them uncollared to use his abilities on the first device had taken weeks of planning and careful observation to get the narrow window of time Cash and Corbin had needed to swap places. Back then the twins were so identical no one outside the team could distinguish them. They’d only managed to switch earlier that day. The team had expected to remove all their collars when they were on team lockdown for the night, but that hadn’t happened. They’d had to break out of them during the melee. Somewhere within the hell the women had disappeared.
Kaeden and Trent leaned forward and studied the footage. Dagan followed suit. This was their chance to finally see what exactly had happened to them. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
It would only strengthen the nightmares.
“Wait. Rewind a few seconds,” Rex shouted. Ace complied. “There. Conver and those two minions dragged them out. See?”
Finally. Now they could see for themselves how it went down.
Kaeden prowled toward the screen. “Eyes on
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