“You misunderstand me. I mean you can’t leave until you have spoken to Afana.”
Murray had been getting frustrated just waiting around, but at the mention of meeting Afana, his frustration was replaced with fear. His eyes darted around the lab. “Where is Afana?”
Robert’s face was pale. “I have to wake him up.”
Sergei, Pavel, and Yegor stalked into Level Six. Martin stood at the bottom of the staircase to check that the men didn’t have weapons.
Sergei eyed Martin with annoyance. “Have you seen Terrier?”
Martin shrugged. “I don’t keep track of who comes down here.”
“Isn’t that your fucking job?” Sergei pressed.
“My job is to protect these women from cockstains like you. Now kindly fuck off before I ban you from Level Six altogether.”
Sergei flinched at that. He didn’t know if Martin had that kind of power, but he knew he was the son of a general on Three. Sergei wasn’t about to test his luck.
“Search the rooms,” he told them, hoping the women would be more help.
Pavel shook his head. “No fucking way. I’m not busting into the rooms uninvited.” Pavel could see Sergei was getting angry. “I’ll speak to the women and see if they’ve seen him.”
“Fine.” Sergei sighed. “Just fucking go already.”
Pavel left before Sergei changed his mind. The men made their way to the room doors, knocking and asking to speak to the girls. They weren’t greeted with welcome arms—more like boots and belts. Even the women found these morons annoying.
Mama Lou marched toward Sergei with her hands on her hips. She was the head of the women, and she was in charge of choosing which woman a man ended up with.
She was clearly pissed off. “What the hell are you imbeciles doing?”
“We’re looking for someone,” Sergei spat. “Mind your own business, whore.”
Mama Lou damn near snorted fire. “Don't you dare come down to my level, swinging your tiny dick. I’m the queen down here!”
Sergei marched toward Mama Lou. He’d never had a woman speak to him like that before. His hands shot out to grip Mama Lou’s throat, but the butt of a rifle cracked against his skull before he could reach her.
Sergei stumbled and pressed a hand to his aching head. Peter towered over him with murder in his eyes. The guard was roughly the size of a small mountain, and he could crush Sergei’s skull without even trying. If that wasn’t enough, Peter had the barrel of his rifle aimed at Sergei, looking like he wanted an excuse to pull the trigger.
“What the fuck, Peter?” Sergei whined.
“Advisors’ orders. Nobody fucks with the queen.”
Mama Lou smiled. “Thank you, Peter. Now, as I was saying, what the fuck are you and your men doing down here?”
Sergei gritted his teeth. “We’re looking for a traitor.”
Mama Lou raised an eyebrow. “A traitor? Who?”
“Terrier.”
Mama Lou shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Sergei shot her a skeptical look.
“I know every man who comes to visit my ladies, and he hasn’t been to visit them.”
“He’s not with a woman,” Sergei said. “I think he’s hiding down here.”
“Well, then. That’s not my fucking problem, is it?” She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Let’s go, Peter.”
Sergei glared at her back as she walked away. He was pretty sure she was full of shit. Mama Lou knew everything that went down on Level Six, and she had to know who Terrier was. Everyone knew him.
Why bother lying to him unless she knew Terrier was down here? He knew he was getting close to finding his prey.
The kids were eyeballing Ryder, trying to put on their toughest faces. Some were even flashing their teeth, like Leandro was. She found it kind of adorable, but the charm was diminished by the razor-sharp spear points they brandished at her.
“What are you kids doing?” she asked.
“We’re the first line of defense against you guys!” one of the youngest children said.
“Yeah!” the rest echoed.
Carter grinned smugly at the kids’ response.
It sickened Ryder that they were afraid of her. “I’m not one of Afana’s men. I was their prisoner. They took me when I was a child. Now, I’ve escaped from them, and I’m trying to get help to free the others.”
Some of the kids lowered their weapons, but Carter looked at Ryder with narrowed eyes.
“Look, I don’t want to fight.” Ryder turned away from the Bora mountain group. Having her back to them wasn’t a good idea, but it showed them two things. One, she wasn’t going to fight. Two, she wasn’t afraid of them.
She waited for their reaction, but before she could get it, there was a bloodcurdling scream from the woods in the direction Tommy had gone.
Carter took off running, and the kids followed him. Ryder sprinted right behind them. She could have used this opportunity to get away, but the boy might need her help.
The wolf ran alongside her, which was weird, but she felt like he wasn’t a threat to her. It was like he was the wolf version of Terrier, her personal bodyguard, and she was grateful to have him.
Ryder nearly ran into Carter. He had stopped, and his hands were out to his sides. The kids were behind him. She looked over Carter’s shoulder to see tiny Tommy cowering in front of a huge brown bear that stood on its back legs, growling.
The wolf positioned itself in front of Ryder, and it snarled at the bear. The bear’s attention moved from Tommy to the wolf. Ryder got her arrows ready. She wasn’t going to let any of the kids get hurt.
The bear lunged toward the group, and the wolf leaped in the air toward the bear, his razor-sharp teeth going for the bear’s neck. The wolf managed to dig its teeth into the bear’s thick hide, but the bear shook its body mightily, flinging the wolf away into a tree.
The bear didn’t give the wolf a second glance. He was only interested in his next meal. Ryder
