If you like music while you're reading, try listening to

"Revolution

" by UNSECRET while reading this chapter and the next two or three. It's what I listened to while writing them!

*****

~ SASHA ~

Sasha sat through a very uncomfortable conversation then where Nick pretended to be concerned about how the females were doing—their health, their sleep, the food they'd been supplied. But they all provided rote answers, very clearly the answers they believed they were supposed to give, rather than what was actually happening in their lives.

Sasha examined them, one by one, and her stomach only dropped further. These women were dying. Their skins dry and blotchy under the paleness. They needed sunlight, good food, exercise, and… Zev.

Sasha's heart spasmed at the thought. What would these females do, she wondered, when faced with him? She was determined to free them, though she had no idea how she was going to achieve that, with them behind these secure walls and guarded hallways. But they would find a way, she was determined.

But what then? If these females really had formed the bond with Zev, even if he didn't return it, would being close to him save their lives?

And if it would, what would he and Sasha do about it?

Her mind swam for a moment with visions of sharing Zev, of having to share him in order to keep these females alive. She pushed the thoughts away as that wave of nausea crashed over her again. She… wouldn't be able to do that. But it was a problem for another day. She had other things to consider before they had to face that.

"…going to take Sasha to the sanctuary. Do any of you have any mail you'd like me to deliver?

"

The eyes of the females brightened for a moment at Nick's word. They all got up from the couch and disappeared into the doorways that lined the walls. Where the other apartment had beds in position around the outside, this smaller room had six doorways, each only a few feet from the other. So these women had individual rooms?

Before Sasha could ask Nick discreetly, the women were already returning, pieces of paper and envelopes clutched in their fists. They each handed the little piles and handfuls to him, and Nick nodded, taking each one like a reassuring father, promising them that he would deliver them.

Sasha was stunned again. These notes and letters, they were for other Chimera? And Nick was going to deliver them?

"Thank you for your patience, ladies,

" Nick said, his mouth twisting on that word again.

"I'll take Sasha to meet the others now. You all rest and I'll make sure the doctors visit tomorrow.

"

Most of the females nodded, murmuring their thanks, but the smallest one, Faryn, only dropped her head into her hands.

Shayn moved to put an arm around her and they all watched awkwardly as a trembling Sasha followed Nick out the door.

Anger, fear, and grief bubbled in her stomach, roiling and churning as she walked into the hallway and Nick turned to make sure the door locked behind them, before he started down the hall again—still heading away from the office and residential building.

Aware of the Chimera's sharp hearing, Sasha waited until they were further down the hallway, before she hissed,

"What the hell were you doing to them, taking me in there?

"

Nick didn't even turn to look at her.

"They needed to know. They've been unable to accept their fates. It's why they were removed from the others.

"

"Removed? They're grieving and struggling so you punish them?!

"

"No,

" Nick said through his teeth as they reached the door at the end of the hallway and he held his card to the sensor. He pushed it open and they stepped back outside, but this time to a landing that fed a wide staircase down to the forest floor.

There was a large trash can sitting just outside the door, and Nick threw the letters into it, before starting down the stairs.

He did it so nonchalantly, as if it were nothing, it took Sasha a moment to realize what had happened. When she did, her mouth dropped open and she yanked the lid off the thing and started digging into it to find them again.

"How dare you! You promised them! I bet this is their only contact with others and you'd steal it from them?

"

"Sasha, you don't understand—

"

"Yes, I do! I understand that you're holding these women against their will, you've forced them into a bond with a man they can't have, and now you're lying to their faces and destroying any hope they had for contact with others that they love! No wonder they're so unhealthy—you're killing them!

"

"Sasha,

" Nick had started back up the stairs and took her elbow gently as she leaned into the deep can, digging low to find where the paper had fallen.

"We can't deliver those notes.

"

"Yes, we can. And I will!

" she snapped.

"Get your hand off me.

"

"Sasha…

" He pulled her back upright by her arm, but Sasha just yanked out of his grip and turned back to lean over the deep can.

"You're cruel. I can't believe you'd—

"

"Read one of them, Sasha. Any one of them. Read it.

" Nick was frustrated and tore one of the little notes out of her hand that was leaned on the edge of the large can.

"I'm not breaching their privacy like that—

"

"You won't be, trust me.

" He unfolded the note himself, his eyes sparking with anger, and held it in front of her.

"Read it!

"

Sasha pursed her lips, but did as he asked, taking the note and scanning it quickly, her heart dropping.

The notes were written in crayon on blank sheets of paper, each little more than squiggles and lines, loops and the occasional symbol or shape. Not a legible word to be found.

Sasha frowned.

"What…?

"

"They can't read or write, Sasha.. They don't know how.

"