Free Rise of Hope by Kaily Hart

environment.
    “So they never took you to any type of medical facility?” Noah asked. “A hospital? Even for routine tests?”
    “I…you know…”
    She swallowed, looked down and everything in him went still at how she held her head, at how she ran her hand up and down her thigh. Seth’s gut clenched— hard —and the weird feeling? Off the fucking charts.
    “Devon?” Noah prompted.
    “I—” Her voice choked off, barely recognizable. She cleared her throat. “I—I was sixteen the first time I realized I was being drugged.”

Chapter Four
    She kept her head lowered, but Seth caught the terror and confusion in her voice. A helpless rage roared through him.
    “When I’d wake up the marks were there. They never told me what they were, wouldn’t explain when I asked, but now I know.” She raised her head, looked first at Noah then at him. “They knew all along, didn’t they? And somehow—somehow they knew when the marks were coming.”
    Seth’s heart slammed against his ribs. Her voice was quiet, flat, and his hands clenched into fists. It was all he could do not to pound the living crap out of something right then and there.
    He’d wondered about what might have been done to her, wondered if they’d hurt her, used her. Tormented himself with the thought of her being scared, alone. Now his imagination went into overdrive. Into dangerous, terrifying territory.
    Noah frowned, rubbed at his jaw and his mouth tightened, his jaw clenched. Yeah, his imagination was probably going wild too.
    “What happened after you realized?” Noah bit out.
    “I—” The words died in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice sounding as if she was forcing it out. And barely. She shook her head. “I’m— I didn’t say anything. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t… I—I just—” she hiccupped to a stop, put a hand over her mouth. A hand that shook.
    Jesus Christ.
    She’d been so terrorized she’d been willing to keep allowing herself to be drugged rather than face the reality of it, of what they might be doing to her.
    “I’ve been such a coward,” she said, her voice thin, strained.
    Coward?
    “You’re not a coward,” Seth grated, fighting to keep his voice even. “I don’t want to ever hear you say that again. Do you understand me?”
    Noah leaned forward, his focus intent. And very familiar. “Devon—”
    “Enough,” Seth snarled. “This stops now. Right. Fucking. Now. ”
    He knew what happened when Noah sunk his teeth into something. He’d seen it time and again. Noah was intense, focused to the exclusion of everything else. And there usually wasn’t much left at the end of it. Maybe, just maybe, Seth was the coward here because he couldn’t bear to hear another word.
    Noah’s gaze flicked to his, his brows lowered. “I need information, Seth. I need this information.”
    Devon had raised damp eyes to his. She looked as surprised as he felt by his outburst, but the expression in her eyes cinched it.
    “I don’t give a fuck. She’s done.”
    “For now.”
    Seth clenched his jaw. Not if he had anything to do with it. He stepped forward, grasped her hand and urged her to her feet. Her eyes went wide at the contact and heat singed along every nerve ending in his body at the glide of her soft skin against his rough palm.
    Without another word he pulled her from the room, through the quiet of the house and out the back, where he could feel the warmth of the sun, the soft breeze coming off the bay.
    Devon was pale, her lips tight. And tears. There were still tears in her eyes.
    Aw fuck.
    She’d been just a job but he would have protected her at risk to himself. Now, he’d never let them take her back, he’d do anything to make sure of it. And he was. He was still here, wasn’t he? Noah had been right. If he’d found out someone else had been sent in to extract her, all hell would have broken lose. Things would’ve gotten ugly.
    “You okay?”
    She nodded. Man, he was so out