Clint’s focus momentarily centered on Cochise. The Egyptian had helped take out the sex traffickers back at the warehouse without incident, exhibiting none of the issues he’d experienced when they’d gone after Adrian’s brother, Tazz. He hoped his friend wasn’t just burying the shit deep inside, refusing to admit a problem even to Clint. Though the man was obviously in love with Kane and loved his new family, adjusting to “domestic” life was a little tougher on the Egyptian than it was on Clint. If not for John, maybe it wouldn’t be. But that guilt was rooted deep and twisted all through Cochise.

The Egyptian met his stare, a slow frown pinching the skin between his eyes.

Clint shifted his attention to their bleeding guest. He walked over and stood in the man’s blood and grabbed his face by the jaw, forcing his head forward. “Do you know what we do to sick fucks who stick their cocks where they don’t belong?” He arched his brow. “Do you?”

Spit gurgled in the man’s throat and dribbled from the corners of his mouth in foamy trickles.

Clint leaned closer, squeezing his jaw. “It isn’t pretty.”

“I didn’t-” the man started then wailed as he caught a fist to the kidney, courtesy of Anthony.

“I. Don’t. Care.” Clint snarled close to his face. “You came after our kids to hand them over to men who would rape them. Kids. Babies.” His teeth clenched fiercely, Clint put added pressure on the fucker’s jaw until he felt it start to dislocate. The man’s eyes bulged and widened as he struggled in panic. Clint held on. “Can you imagine the excruciating pain a child suffers when raped by a grown man?”

The guest stared back him through watery, bloodshot eyes.

“Answer me!” Clint released his jaw. “Fucking answer me!”

The man choked on his own spit and rasped, “No…”

Fury exploded through Clint and he punched the fucker in the diaphragm. His eyes rolled back and face turned purple, his neck cords constricting as he sucked desperately and frantically for air.

Clint stepped back, face hard as granite. “I believe in educating the ignorant,” he growled. “So, you’re going to fucking find out just how much it hurts.” His jade eyes narrowed with a cold vengeance. “But first, we’re going to do some pruning. And we’ll start with the hand that touched my boy, Noah.” He leaned closer. “Which one was it?”

Air wheezed in and out of the man’s constricted lungs as he looked at Clint in silent terror.

“Tell me,” Clint demanded. “Or I will take them both. And I’ll fucking saw them off with a dull, rusty blade.”

“The…the…left,” the man whimpered.

Clint nodded at Cochise and the Egyptian worked the man’s left arm loose and stretched it out straight and taut. Anthony brought Clint a Jungle Master machete which featured a blade that swelled near the tip, giving it a more rounded edge with plenty of belly and weight, allowing the small-sized machete to move quick and hit hard.

Their guest went into a panic. “Please…don’t…please!” He jerked against Cochise’s iron grip without budging the large Egyptian.

Cocking his head, Clint narrowed his eyes to piercing slits and touched the tip of the machete to the man’s chin. “You beg for mercy just one more time…and I’ll cut out your fucking tongue. You motherfuckers ignore the pleas and cries of innocent children and then expect mercy for yourselves?” Clint leaned in, his mouth close to the man’s ear. “Fuck you,” he hissed as the blade came down hard and fast.

The man screamed, and his arm came free of the Egyptian and dangled at his side, blood pouring onto the floor while Cochise stood unmoving, still gripping his hand.

“Bring the torch,” Clint murmured dully as he watched their guest writhe and convulse, suspended from his right arm. “Cauterize that stump.” His face twitched. “It would be a shame if he bled to death before we get to the main event.”

 

•♦•

 

All the kids looked at Emmy when she returned to the dining room alone. Jacob glanced uncertainly from the woman to Adrian.

“Is she all right?” Adrian asked.

Emmy nodded, dampness in her eyes. “She’s asleep. Poor thing was exhausted.”

“We don’t sleep very much,” Jacob mumbled.

The woman gazed at him with warm sympathy and quiet anguish. “Now that you’re out of that awful situation,” she said gently. “All that will change. You poor darlings probably all need about a week of restful sleep.”

Adrian agreed. “Some good rest will go a long way in helping all of you regain proper health.”

The thought of restful sleep sounded good to Jacob. Just talking about it caused his eyelids to droop. He looked at Eric and imagined them napping together, not having to worry about being woken up at any given moment to be dragged off and brutally abused. Jacob wanted to take his hand, lace their fingers, and hold on tight. But he was suddenly uncertain about openly revealing his true feelings and affections for Eric. They had stuck close together since the men had come to the warehouse, but that could have been interpreted as two frightened friends clinging to each other. They weren’t just friends, though. What if these men were bigots? Just because they helped kids didn’t mean they liked gay people.

His eyes shifting between Adrian and the others, it was hard to imagine them harboring that kind of hate inside them, but Jacob didn’t know these people. Hate didn’t always show through unless the person was confronted with the thing they hated.

Following their meal, the kids were taken back to their rooms. Jacob and the boys were accompanied by Cal and the new arrivals—minus Emmy and the other two girls whose names Jacob couldn’t remember, who went with the younger girls to their bedroom.

The young men began unpacking the new clothes and laying them out on the bed. Clothes of all sizes. Nice clothes. Jacob couldn’t recall a time in his life when he’d received brand new clothes, they’d always been secondhand, and most of them very used and worn out.

The one who had been introduced as Angel—Jacob couldn’t forget that name—picked up a large bag and motioned Jacob over. “I thought this was about the coolest thing ever,” the young man smiled. His voice was soft, and his warm clear eyes reminded Jacob of crystals. He lifted the item from the bag and Jacob just stared at it, awestruck. “It’s a bomber jacket,” Angel said, caressing the dark leather and fur collar. “Also called a pilot or aviator jacket.” He hesitated then offered it to Jacob. “Try it on. Bet it looks great on you.”

Jacob glanced at Eric who smiled and nodded. The jacket was heavy and when he slipped it on, he was immediately engulfed in warmth.

“Wow,” Eric whispered, coming closer. He stroked the leather, his eyes drifting up to Jacob’s face. “You look…really handsome.”

For a moment, Jacob got lost in the other boy’s eyes. He abruptly tensed when he felt the older boys staring at them. Eric backed off a bit, understanding as well as Jacob that not everyone was accepting of their kind of love.

“He’s right,” Angel said, picking up on Jacob’s nervousness. “You do look handsome. It’s a great jacket. I got a similar one from my husband as a wedding gift. He has one, too.” Angel laughed lightly. “He looks better in it than I do. But then, he looks good in everything.” His friends readily agreed and commented on how gorgeous Angel’s husband truly was.

Husband. Jacob stared at him, some of his anxiety draining away. “You’re…gay?”

Angel grinned and nodded. “And proud to be. If you could see my husband, you’d know why. No freaking way I’d give up that hunk of a man to be straight.”

“Shit,” Cal chuckled. “I’m straight and even I think the guy is freaking hot.”

Jacob and Eric smiled as the older boys laughed heartily.

“So, um…” the one named Caleb arched his brow as he looked back and forth between Jacob and Eric. “Are you two…?”

Tentatively, Jacob reached out and took Eric’s hand. “Yeah,” he whispered.

“Well, all right,” Caleb grinned. “Two more for our team.”

“I didn’t know this was a competition,” Cal replied dryly, a smirk on his lips.

Caleb chuckled. “Don’t worry. You’re not alone. Maddy’s on your team.”

Jacob glanced at the boy Caleb motioned to. He looked about the same age as Jacob, yet with a deep maturity etching his features, making him seem older.

“Of course,” Caleb smiled wryly. “He would convert if it wasn’t for Savannah.”

“Yeah, right,” Maddy snorted and rolled his eyes.

Jacob found them genuinely amusing.

“Come on, guys,” the one named Abel cut in. “These young boys over here are getting impatient with your banter. They want their new clothes.” He laughed softly and motioned the younger ones over and began helping them find the clothes in their proper sizes.

 

•♦•

 

Nina instinctively jerked awake when someone touched her, a sharp gasped pulling down her throat. She flinched away from the hand then calmed an instant later when Kim spoke. “It’s just me.”

Blinking, Nina rubbed the sleep from her puffy eyes. The woman, Emmy, and all the girls had returned to the bedroom. Nina scooted up and sat looking at them.

Susie ran over and scrambled up on the bed. “We got new clothes,” the little girl exclaimed excitedly. She grabbed Nina’s hand. “Come on.”

“Come on where?” Nina smiled. “I’m already here.”

Susie giggled and slid off the bed. “Get up and try them on.”

Nina stared at the little girl, awestruck by the change that had already come over her. Since their abduction, Susie and Samson hadn’t smiled once. Not one time. Until today. Nina swallowed thickly and nodded. “Okay, if you insist.”

Terri came forward, bringing Jenny with her. Terri didn’t express her excitement as openly as Susie, but Nina could see it in her eyes that lit up when Emmy and the two older girls began removing the beautiful clothes from the bags. Rosa also remained low-key, but her lovely little face was all aglow as her eyes widened with each new item that was revealed.

“We didn’t know if you preferred dresses or pants,” Savannah said softly. “So, we just got both in all the sizes. You don’t have to wear anything you don’t like.” The young woman, who was about Jacob’s age, had a very gentle way about her. As she began helping Susie and Rosa pick the outfits they wanted to try on first, it was easy to see that she loved kids and connected well with them.

Kim chose a simple but very pretty dress that fit her flawlessly, and which wonderfully accentuated her blossoming figure. Nina smiled as the young girl smoothed her hands down the lovely fabric and turned in a slow circle, the joy on her face glowing brighter and brighter. With her freshly washed hair flowing over her shoulders in an ebony waterfall, her creamy mocha skin, pretty face and perfect bone structure…Nina could already see the incredibly beautiful woman she would grow into.

The girl named Miranda drew Terri and Jenny closer. Soft anguish filled her eyes as she gazed at Jenny. Nina blinked back dampness, wishing that the little girl understand that she was safe now, that it was okay to come back and share in the good fortune—the miracle—that had befallen them.

Miranda smiled softly at Terri. “Do you want to help me pick out something real nice for Jenny? Do you know what she might like?”

Terri didn’t answer but began looking through the clothes. She paused as her dark eyes drifted over to a large bag that hadn’t yet been unpacked. Miranda followed her stare and drew the bag closer. She gently dumped the contents onto the carpet which consisted of dolls and stuffed animals.

“You can have one, if you want,” Miranda told her, then looked at the other girls. “All of you can.”

Terri stared at the pile of toys, spotted what she wanted, and picked up a doll with a soft body beneath its lacy white dress and cascading blond curls. She turned to Jenny and placed it her arms.

Along with the others, Nina watched as the young girl slowly curled her arms around the doll…then hugged it tighter and tighter until she was clinging to the toy in what seemed sheer desperation. Her head ducked, and she pressed her face into the soft blond curls as her eyes closed and tears began to roll down her cheeks, seeping from beneath her long lashes.

It was the most emotion Nina had ever seen the girl express, ever.

Terri looked at them, tears filling her eyes. “The doll looks like her baby sister, Amanda.” Her chin trembled, and her tears broke as Nina stared at her in shock; how did Terri know that—none of them knew anything about Jenny. Pressing closer to Jenny, Terri spoke with a quiet tremor. “Sometimes, at night…she whispers to me…tells me things…” She bit her lip as her chin quivered harder and tears broke loose. “Things too scary…to say out loud.”

Coming closer, Nina kneeled beside her. “What things, Terri?”

“About…” Terri’s young body began to shake. “About what they did…to Amanda.”

Quiet horror veined through Nina and chilled her heart, her gaze shifting to the traumatized little girl.

What they did to Amanda. Her baby sister.

Nina looked at Emmy. Tears ran freely down the older woman’s face as Nina’s own horror reflected in her eyes.