Dominion (Alpha Domain #1) (16 page)

“How many?”

“Eleven.”

It was more than I expected to have to move, but it’s not like we had much of a choice.

“Do we have enough blindfolds?”

“Plenty,” he confirmed as he reached into the bag strapped to his back. “I grabbed thirty or so, just in case.”

John and I both grabbed a handful and we all went separate ways, stealing the keys off of the trainers and making our way into the rooms to free the captives.

I winced when I stepped into the first room, trying not to look at the marks on the young girl’s naked body. But I couldn’t stop myself from looking at her face when I went to put the blindfold on, and I immediately compared her small stature to Amber’s.

With a shuddering breath, I stepped away and went over to the makeshift bed, grabbing the filthy sheet off the top and draping it around her shoulders before I moved to unchain her wrists.

After one wrist was freed, I recited the words we had decided on the bus.

“I’m here to free you. The terms of your rescue are that you are not to, under
any
circumstances, remove this blindfold. You’ll be dropped blocks away from this territory and free to continue the life you led before you were captured. Do you understand?”

“Y-Yes,” the girl whispered.

“I need more than that. Tell me you won’t attempt to take this blindfold off and identify us. We are your saviors— not your enemies.”

“I-I won’t take it off, I swear.”

She was shaking with terror, but I could see her worry lines starting to fade in favor of hope. I undid the chain on her other wrist and softly commanded, “Follow me.”

Once I led her out of the room and towards Troy, I lifted up the rope and placed it in her hand. “Hold on to this. It’s how we’re going to lead you out of the building without removing your blindfold. You will wait here while we free the other captives.”

“I understand.”

Freeing the other captives was pretty much the same deal every time— making sure they agreed not to uncover their eyes and then leading them to the rope, one hand gripping the nylon while the other held the sheets around their bodies. When all eleven were free, I addressed my men.

“J, I want you to help T lead the group slowly up the stairs after we clear them. I’ll take point to make sure no surprises are waiting for us.”

John nodded and Troy and I made our way to the staircases to push the dead bodies to the side far enough to lead the captives up them. It was a job that was going to require a lot of patience, which is why I was having John and Troy work together to get it done.

Trying to get a bunch of terrified, blindfolded slaves up blood-soaked stairs sounded even less fun than attempting to herd cats.

So once we cleared the stairs, I ran ahead, shoving the bodies to the side in the first hallway we cleared before setting myself up at the end of the fork and waiting.

When the sounds of John leading the group nearer to the hallway hit my ears, I pulled my cell out of my back pocket and shot a text to Derek. I didn’t know where he currently was in the bus route, but I wanted to make sure he had enough time to make it back so we weren’t left standing on the street with eleven beaten, blindfolded captives.

My phone vibrated and the words ‘
Ten minutes
’ flashed across my screen. That was more than enough time to get them to the door and wait.

I nodded to John as they came out, listening to him as he warned all the captives that they were turning left into a doorway and to tread carefully. This really was a better job for him than it was for me. I didn’t possess the patience and gentleness that was required for this part.

I can be gentle with Amber.

I shoved the thought away with force. Now was not the time to think about Amber because if I did— I’d either wind up with a boner or in a murderous rage when I remembered that she was alone with Mason at this very moment.

Fuck. There it is.

“Let’s move. Quickly,” I demanded as I stood up, smiling a little when I noticed all the captives pick up the pace.

We moved efficiently through the hallway then down the short stairs past the metal door. John and Troy told everyone to wait and I confirmed that our ride was on the way. We waited— all of us prepared for the possibility of another member of the Sanchez family walking through the door, then sighing with relief when we heard the roar of the buses’ engine coming up the street.

“Alright everyone. When I say ‘move’, walk straight ahead. We’re getting on a bus, then we’re only a ten minute ride from where you’ll be dropped off to your freedom. If you value your life, do
not
remove your fucking blindfold,” I growled in warning.

All the captives quietly murmured their consent and I thanked my lucky stars that they all seemed compliant. It would get massively ugly if any of them took off their blindfold and saw Derek’s face because we all knew we couldn’t run the risk of him being identified.

A blindfold coming off meant the quick death of a total innocent. None of us wanted that on our conscious.

“Move!”

I pushed open the door and John jogged out, pulling the rope and leading the others in a very brisk walk. The path to the doors of the bus was clear, but I watched as a car a few blocks down the street slammed on brakes, then spun around and hi-tailed it in the other direction.

Dante and Mario would soon know what had gone down and I could only hope that we’d be able to drop the captives off and make it back to the house before they moved in for retaliation.

“
W
hen are they coming back
?” I asked, watching with wide eyes as Mason paced back and forth through the kitchen.

“I don’t know,” he said with a sigh, pausing his pacing for a moment to run a hand over his scarred face.

Part of me was dying to ask how he got the scars—equal parts curiosity and just to have something to talk about—but I had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t a topic that he would be very fond of discussing.

So I sat perfectly still and watched him resume his pacing, sitting in total silence like we had been doing for the past hour and a half.

After another ten minutes, he stopped moving and let out a frustrated breath, then plopped down on the seat across from me. His leg immediately started to twitch and he reminded me of a caged lion, looking for some way to release his energy.

“Why didn’t you go with them?”

He turned to me with a frown, the expression pulling at the jagged edges of his scar. “Because I’m watching you.”

“But why you? Couldn’t someone else watch me?”

His leg stopped shaking when he shrugged and stared down at a spot on the table.

“I suppose, but I offered.”

“Why?”

His sharp eyes cut up to mine and I immediately regretted asking.

“Their current mission isn’t just to destroy— they’re also freeing captives. It’s not exactly a pleasant sight to see and I’d rather not be around it.”

His tone was harsh and I got the feeling that the subject of human slavery hit pretty close to home. It somehow made me both more and less curious about his scars, but I was far too chicken to bring it up.

Besides, if it had been me in his shoes, I knew I wouldn’t be comfortable with people asking about the scars. I’d want people to leave me the fuck alone.

So I sighed and let go of my curiosity, leaning back and subtly pulling down the hem of Allen’s shirt. When Mason noticed the movement, he smirked and a red blush stained my cheeks.

“I’m sorry for walking in on you guys earlier.”

“You don’t sound very sorry,” I muttered, staring at a spot on the wall just over his head.

“Okay, well, maybe I’m not. But can you blame me? It was quite a sight.”

I scowled. “Don’t let John or Allen hear you say that.”

He raised his hands and shook his head. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant the whole thing in general. I still can’t believe they’re sharing a girl.”

I shrugged, a little uncomfortable with where this conversation was heading.

“Are you okay with it?”

I looked up and realized that he didn’t seem to have any ulterior motive— he just seemed genuinely curious about how I felt. I let out a long breath and nodded, hoping I could explain it without sounding like an idiot.

“Yeah. I mean, I wish... I wish
they
were more okay with it, I guess. But I’m happy. I mean, I’ve had feelings for Allen for a while, but when I met John, I couldn’t really deny the connection there—”

“How did you know Allen?” he interrupted me with a frown.

“He’s my stepbrother.”

Both eyebrows raised sky-high and a huge grin spread across his lips. “No shit? Damn, this is even dirtier than I thought.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he held up his hands again. “I mean that in only the best possible way.”

With a grumble, I let it go, knowing that he was kind of right regardless. It
was
kind of dirty.

In a really hot way.

My mind went flashing back to where we left off before Mason came barging in and an involuntary shudder raced up my spine. I desperately hoped for them to get home soon— not just to finish what we started, but so they could put all my fears about their well-being to rest.

“Are they going to be okay? Be honest with me.”

Mason looked momentarily surprised by the demanding tone in my voice, but his eyes softened slightly with sympathy when he answered.

“I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine. After all, this isn’t even the hard part.”

A cold feeling of dread rose in my stomach.

“The hard part?”

His eyes narrowed and he leaned forward. “The hard part will be the second wave. When they come for revenge.”

“Come where?” I asked breathlessly, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it out loud.

“
Here
. They’ll come here to get even. They’ll come for—”

“Me.”

The nod he gave wasn’t necessary because my vision blurred, panic for my own life starting to override the worries I had about John and Allen.

“
W
e’re here
,” Derek announced as he pulled the school bus into an empty alley. “Pack up.”

We gathered everything we had taken on the bus and gathered at the front. Troy and John hopped off and I signaled for Derek to get next to the door as I addressed the captives.

“This is where we get off. I want you all to count aloud to one hundred—
slowly
— then you may undo the blindfolds and leave. Work together, find a way back to your homes. Do whatever you need to do. But know this— going to the police to try to get them to do something about the Sanchez family isn’t going to help you. They’ve got a number of cops in their pockets. Rest assured that my team and I will be dealing with them properly.”

There was a quiet chorus of agreement before one man— the one who shouted for help when we first arrived in the warehouse— began the slow count to one hundred. The others quickly joined in and Derek and I hopped off the bus, breaking into a run towards where the getaway car was parked.

John and Troy were already well ahead of us and by the time we rounded the corner and spotted the car, Troy was already loading his gear in the trunk while John was turning over the engine. Derek and I dropped our supplies off and slammed the trunk closed, then I jogged up to hop in the passenger seat and pulled off the ski mask that covered my face.

Once everyone was loaded in, John peeled out onto the street and began to maneuver us through the backroads with the aide of Derek’s police scanner.

“That went well,” Derek said, his voice shaking a little from nerves. “Didn’t it?”

“A little too well,” I commented. “There wasn’t very many of them there. That means the wave that’ll come for us at home will be stronger than we expected.”

“We’ve got time to prepare,” John said, but his tone gave away his fear that we didn’t.

My own anger and panic grew at his nervousness. By taking only the backroads, we were still half an hour away from the house. We couldn’t risk getting on the major roads and being stopped— especially since it was possible that the Sanchez family had gotten their dirty cops to be on the lookout for us.

We have time, we have time, we have time.

“
W
hat will happen to me
?” I asked in horror, then gasped as another thought hit me. “What will happen to
you?
What if they come for us?”

He stood up and began pacing again. “Well, they’d kill me and take you as a slave, I’m sure. Dante
really
wants you— said some disgusting shit to Allen last night at the club.”

“Wh-What club? What did he say?”

As if he just now realized that he was driving me to a point of hysterical panic, Mason stopped and lowered himself to kneel in front of me.

“Calm down, Amber. It’ll be fine. Allen and John will be back soon and—”

A series of loud thuds outside interrupted him mid-sentence. He stood to full height, frowning at the front door.

I stood as well, but froze when he pointed to me and said, “Stay here.”

I shuffled my weight on my feet as he crept into the living room and looked out the peephole in the door, a curse coming out on a harsh breath as he reached up to pull down a wide metal bar across the door and twist a padlock into place at the end of it.

He turned back to me and grabbed my elbow, pulling me out of the kitchen and down the hallway where John’s room was.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re here,” he said distractedly, pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket before he turned a knob and opened a door. “Go. Be careful walking down the stairs, they’re steep.”

I reached out to touch the wall as I made my way down into what could only be a basement. He turned the flashlight on his phone on before pulling the door shut and throwing multiple locks, then turned back to illuminate my way down the stairs. My heart was pounding in my chest as the sounds of the thuds grew louder above us and I knew they were working on breaking down the front door.

Once we reached the landing, Mason turned off the flashlight and pulled me deeper into the dark basement. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, so I followed him blindly and obeyed when he said, “Crouch down and stay as quiet as possible.”

Mason moved away from my side and I covered my mouth with my palm to avoid freaking out. His face was lit up for a brief moment across the room as he hastily fired off a text message, then powered down the phone and shoved it back into his pocket.

The thudding upstairs grew louder and the prominent crack of the door caving in seemed to echo in the basement, making my heartbeat stop.

I closed my eyes and willed the nightmare to be over right as Mason hissed, “
Stay. Quiet.
”

W
e were
ten minutes from the house when my cell vibrated against my leg. I dug it out of my pocket and unlocked the screen to view the message that made my blood run cold.

“Drive faster,” I said numbly.

“I’m already going fast enough to be pulled over, Allen,” John said irritably.

“They’re at the house.”

There was a brief moment where the silence was so thick, it reminded me of being back in the warehouse after killing everyone in the room and the deathly quiet that followed.

Then John slammed his foot on the gas and the engine roared almost as loudly as my rage.