It had been a mistake bringing Charlotte here. I saw that now, and I vowed to release her from the Institute’s clutches. The idea of her being locked away in a prison sent me into an uncontrollable rage.

Did they really think they could keep me caged? Escape hadn’t been easy, and I hadn’t expected it to be, but the thing with me was I always got my target.

When were they going to learn?

The Institute couldn’t control me. Guard number one I took out so easily that I almost thought it was a trap. Heck, it could have been, but I would take that risk over and over again until I found Charlotte.

The dungeons were utter darkness, but I had a map in my head from the last time I’d been here. When you’d gone through what I’d been through, every curve was burned into your mind. It had been no easy feat, and I’d made damn sure never to return. Until now.

I ran my hand along the cold walls, counting the doors as I went. The passageway twisted and turned like a maze, to prevent anyone from leaving. Only three more doors and there should be a stairway leading up, taking me farther from this craphole. My heart trembled thinking about Charlotte locked away in one of these damp cells. I shook my head. Her own father. She deserved better. I knew what it was like to be let down by family, to be hurt by someone you loved and who was supposed to love you. It sucked.

If she was down here, rotting away in one of these detestable cells, I would kill the person who put her there without a second of hesitation. God help the guards stationed at that chamber.

I reached a fork in the corridor.

Treading carefully now, I knew the security would be heavier the closer I got to where I assumed they would be keeping her. For three days and three nights, I had listened to the guards whisper about the girl with the rainbow eyes. There was no mistaking who they were gossiping about. Charlotte was one of a kind. She had been in the hands of the Institute for over seventy-two hours. A cold chill tiptoed down my spine as I thought about what they could do to a person in that amount of time.

How they could break them.

Her spirit was too bright and bold to be trapped down in the dungeons, and if they had touched a single hair on her head, I would cut out their hearts. All of them. I had no qualms about death or delivering the final blow—one of my life lessons I learned from the Institute.

How ironic that I would use what I’d learned on my teachers. That’s what they got for creating a killer.

I slunk up the stairwell, careful on each step.

The door at the top was damp and slippery with moss. Voices traveled down the corridor, where a soft orange glow flickered over the dark shadows, and my gaze was drawn to a certain cell at the end of the passageway. That had to be it.

I crept toward the light and the drunken laughter. Some things never changed. There wasn’t a whole lot to do while on post, and many of the guards passed the time by sneaking in ale, like the one just outside the door, pulling a swing from a bottle.

“How did you—?”

I didn’t hesitate, shooting forward in a blur as I ducked under his arms to then spring up behind him. Good thing I didn’t need a weapon to kill a man. My hands were just as deadly. Grabbing onto both of his arms, I slammed my foot into the bow of his back. He went down like a sack of rocks.

The guard behind him watched me with alert eyes, his hands coming up in front of him as if to ward me off. “We’ve been advised not to hurt you.”

I cracked my neck. “That’s a damn shame, because I am going to enjoy hurting you.”

“You can’t escape. Dr. Winston won’t allow it. Not after he knows you’ve found his daughter,” the sap tried to reason.

I’d heard enough.

I launched to the side and dodged his Taser, hitting the guard in the arm. Wrestling the weapon from his hand, I kicked my leg out, catching the guard behind me in the gut. With the Taser in my grasp, I used it on the one in front of me, shoving him into the wall. He went down—all kinds of twitchy.

Welcoming the physical release of fighting, I poured every ounce of frustration and rage into each punch. It was a much needed outlet. By the time I finished, a pile of bodies covered the ground. I had mad skills. The mist had given me the ability to hit a target and kill if I wanted to. All I had to do was wish it and the universe made it happen, no matter what circumstances. It was how I’d earned the name Slayer.

Running a hand through my grimy hair, I bent down and snatched the key off the guard and quickly shoved it into the cell’s lock, whipping open the door.

Disappointment rippled through me.

It was empty.

I let out a string of colorful f-bombs that would have made a pirate blush.

Where the hell was she? If they weren’t keeping her locked here, where then? In the training facility? In the plush walls of Diamond Towers headquarters? Hidden in some secret room?

My fists clenched at my sides, the key digging into my skin. I wasn’t going to leave until I found her. If I had to overturn every stone in this dreaded place, I would. Burn it to the ground? No sweat. I’d light the match in a heartbeat. I refused to let her be used as a killing machine, or to be turned into one of their puppets, or an experiment.

Each step I took toward freedom from the dungeons, I thought about what Charlotte could do and how the Institute would consider her a coveted, vital weapon. Power like hers was rare and extremely deadly—all things the Institute desired.

She was special.

Maybe the Institute was keeping their special weapon close. She was definitely within the walls of the tower. Finding her would be a challenge, but not impossible. Nothing is impossible when you desire it enough. And for reasons I didn’t understand, I desired to save Charlotte above everything else—including my own safety.

I knew firsthand what it was like to be put through the Institute’s training program.

If they put a single mark on her body, I would show them how merciless Dash Darhk could really be. I needed her. And I only just realized how much.

My brain churned. I didn’t have much of a plan, and truthfully I rarely did, but I knew the layout of Diamond Towers and how the Institute operated.

I slipped into an unconscious guard’s uniform to walk inconspicuously through the halls. Avoiding eye contact with anyone, I kept the Taser I’d stolen close in hand.

I stole through the night, making my way into the main living area of the Towers. The building that had once been my home for months lay quiet, and I remembered that all the sleeping chambers were located on the top three floors. It was there the trainees stayed.

Creeping up the main staircase, I walked down the fifth floor corridor. Doors lined either side, but she wasn’t inside any of them. My frustration grew. When I checked the sixth floor, she wasn’t there either. I dreaded even thinking about stepping foot onto the seventh floor where the executive suites resided. I had only been there a handful of times, but it was enough to cause my stomach to pitch. The shit that went on behind closed doors in this place was something I long wanted to forget.

With little other choice, I pushed the door open.

If she was here, on the seventh floor, she wasn’t being treated like a trainee. Could I be wrong about her being a prisoner, being forced to be at the Institute? I pushed on, needing to at least see her, because if she wasn’t under the roof of Diamond Towers, I was afraid I might have lost her, and that was a horrifying thought.

Like the other halls, this one also was lined with doors on either side. Now what?

If I just started throwing them all open, I was bound to draw unwanted attention. Instead, I carefully checked each doorknob, going on a hunch.

I tugged the door latch on the sixth door.

Locked.

My heart sped up. This had to be it. A locked door wasn’t going to keep me out. In under a minute, I jimmied the mechanism and turned the handle, slipping inside the dark room.

My eyes went straight to the bed and I exhaled. Charlotte.

There she lay.

She seemed unharmed and fast asleep, much like she had been when I first laid eyes on her, but she had traded in her glass slab for a plush bed. Again, I was struck breathless by her beauty. Bold red locks of hair spilled strikingly against the milky white pillow. Reaching out, I wound a curl around my finger, inhaling the sweet scent of honeysuckle and vanilla.

This was a far cry from the repugnant dungeon, and I couldn’t help but think maybe I was wrong. What if she was safe here? What if her parents adored her? Could I take that all away from her? A chance to have a family when it was so rare?

Cursing under my breath, I had to make a decision. Now.

The cell guards reported to the dungeon guard who reported to the Tower guard. The Tower guard reported to the Night’s guard, who reported to the commander and so forth. As soon as one guard noticed my absence, the alarm would be raised, and I needed to be far from the white city when that happened or all would be lost.

I brushed my lips over hers. “Be safe, Freckles,” I whispered. “Until we meet again, whenever that will be.”

With a heavy heart, I stepped away from the bed and crawled out the window. The silvery moonlight cast a shimmery glow onto her skin as I took one last glimpse at the girl who had changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. Going on without her would be harder than it had been to escape this place, but she deserved a chance to have something I never did.

Family.

Love.

A home.