Rise of the Banished She-Wolf Chapter 75

Evelyn

I watched with clenched teeth as the nurse collected the last vial of my blood.

"Take these to the lab immediately," Charles instructed, his pale fingers brushing against the collection of glass tubes containing my blood. "I want a full analysis by morning."

I pressed a cotton ball to my arm. "Are we done here?" I asked coldly, trying to mask my discomfort.

Charles's lips curled into that unsettling smile that never reached his eyes. "Not quite, my dear. Now that we've taken care of my scientific curiosity, I need your other talents." He gestured toward the door. "Follow me."

Two guards immediately flanked me, making it clear I had no choice. As we walked down the corridor, I spotted Taylor being escorted toward us from the opposite direction. He looked exhausted, his face pale from the silver exposure.

"What's going on?" Taylor asked, his voice hoarse and tired.

Charles ignored him, leading us to a secure room at the end of the hallway. Inside stood a massive steel safe with an electronic keypad and digital display. "This," Charles announced, "is where your hacking skills come in handy, Aurora."

My gaze fell on a set of crates visible through the transparent safe, ammunition with tiny electronic components embedded in their cores.

"Tracking bullets?" I murmured.

"So the body I saw in the water... was one of the women who couldn't unlock your safe?" I felt sick imagining their fate.

"Not only that," Charles chuckled darkly. "I also grew tired of them. Their blood became...uninteresting after a while."

I swallowed my disgust. "If I unlock this for you, you'll let us go?"

"Of course," Charles replied smoothly, but I could smell the lie.

"And if you're lying?" I challenged, locking eyes with him.

Charles's expression hardened. "I'm growing impatient with your questions." He nodded to his guards. "Bring her to the safe. Make sure she can't try anything foolish."

The guards shoved me forward, forcing me to kneel in front of the electronic lock. One of them roughly untied my hands, allowing me just enough movement to work on the keypad.

"You have one hour," Charles informed me coldly. "After that, I'll find more creative ways to motivate you."

I examined the safe, noting it had three distinct security layers—a standard electronic combination, followed by a biometric scanner, and finally what appeared to be an algorithmic challenge designed to defeat automatic decryption tools. Nothing I hadn't seen before, but I needed to buy time.

I began working on the first layer, my fingers moving with practiced precision. Within fifteen minutes, I had bypassed the initial security and moved to the biometric scanner.

"I need your fingerprint and retinal scan," I told Charles without looking up.

Charles stepped forward, placing his finger on the scanner and leaning in for the eye verification. The second lock disengaged with a soft click.

The final encryption appeared on the small screen—a complex pattern of numbers and symbols that would have been indecipherable to most people.

After twenty minutes of this, I could see Charles's patience visibly thinning. His eyes narrowed as he watched my deliberate hesitations.

"Enough games," he snapped, grabbing Taylor by the collar and dragging him toward the deck door. "Guards, take him outside. Hold him at the edge."

"What are you doing?" I demanded, rising to my feet only to be forced back down by a guard.

Charles's eyes glinted with malice. "You have five minutes. If you fail again, your friend takes a swim with weights attached to his ankles."

"Charles, you're despicable," I spat, anger surging through my veins as I turned back to the lock with renewed focus.

"Tick tock," Charles replied calmly, checking his watch.

My fingers moved with lightning speed now, no longer pretending. The code was complex but not beyond my abilities. With thirty seconds to spare, the final lock disengaged with a heavy metallic thunk.

Charles's laughter echoed through the room as the safe door swung open, revealing not just the silver bullets I'd glimpsed earlier, but stacks of data drives and documents.

"Excellent work," he said, stepping forward to inspect the contents. "Victor," he called to his right-hand man, "inform Mr. Singh we've arrived at the port."

"Singh is waiting at the dock," Victor reported after checking his phone. "He's requesting permission to come aboard."

Charles's expression darkened. "Absolutely not. Tell him we'll meet at the usual place tomorrow."

I exchanged a glance with Taylor, who had been brought back inside. It was clear Charles had no intention of releasing us as promised.

"You said you'd let us go," I reminded him, though I'd expected this betrayal.

Charles turned to me with mock surprise. "Did I? I'm afraid that won't be possible now that you've proven so useful." He gestured to the guards. "Take the boy back to his quarters. Ms. Gray and I have matters to discuss."

"No!" I struggled as the guards grabbed my arms. "You promised!"

"I lied," Charles said simply. "It's what I do."

Taylor and I were forcibly separated. I fought against the guards but was overwhelmed by their superior numbers and the lingering weakness from the silver exposure. They dragged me through the yacht's opulent corridors to Charles's private quarters.

The room was luxurious but felt like a prison. I was forced into a chair, my wrists bound to the armrests with rope.

Charles entered a few minutes later, his earlier business demeanor replaced by something more predatory. He circled my chair slowly, like a shark sensing blood.

"You've proven even more valuable than I anticipated," he said, stopping in front of me. "Do you know how many would pay for your services?"

"I won't help you anymore," I stated firmly, meeting his gaze.

Charles leaned down, his face inches from mine. "I gave you the chance to be my bride, but you keep pushing my buttons. This is your last shot."

Disgust rose in my throat. "I'd rather die," I spat.

Anger flashed across Charles's face. His hand shot out, gripping my throat with inhuman strength.

"That can be arranged," he hissed.

Despite the pressure on my throat, I managed a smile. "You might want to reconsider. I planted a virus in your data when I accessed the safe. If anything happens to me, the coordinates of this yacht will automatically be sent to every hunter organization in North America."

Charles's grip loosened slightly as uncertainty crossed his features.

"You're bluffing," he whispered, but I could see the doubt in his eyes.

"Try me," I challenged. "The moment my heart stops, missile coordinates will lock onto this boat. I doubt even you could survive that."

Charles released my throat with a snarl of frustration, but his rage didn't subside. In one swift motion, he kicked the chair, sending me crashing to the floor, still bound to the armrests.

Pain shot through my body as I landed hard on my side, the chair splintering beneath me. I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

Charles crouched beside me, roughly grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him.

"No woman has ever dared speak to me like that," he growled, his fingers digging into my cheeks.

I met his gaze unflinchingly, refusing to show fear despite the terror building inside me.

And somewhere on this yacht, Taylor and Aileen were counting on me to get them out alive. I had to stay strong, no matter what Charles had planned for me next.