CHAPTER 105: TRY AND SAVE THEM

Eleanor’s POV

Mr. Hans gave a smile that didn’t reach his cold eyes. "Well, we must be leaving. It was a pleasure." His gaze swept over us, lingering on me for a moment too long. "I would have loved to stay and chat longer, but you know how it is."

With that, he turned. The woman—his so-called daughter—bowed her head and followed, flanked by his guards, swallowed by the crowd.

The moment they were out of sight, the tension in my shoulders eased by a fraction. Mira let out a low whistle. "Well, that was kinda tense, don’t you think?"

Roxy nodded, her brow furrowed. "Yeah. He was giving off a weird vibe I wasn’t comfortable with. All that ’high regard’ talk felt... slimy."

"And did you see the daughter?" Mira added, her voice dropping. "She didn’t buy a single thing. And she didn’t carry herself like someone from a wealthy, powerful family. It was more like... fear. Do you think she’s being treated badly at home?"

My guilt was a lead weight in my stomach. They had sensed it too. "You’re right to feel that way," I said. I took a shaky breath. "I... I believe that woman is in real danger."

Mira’s eyes widened. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Remember," I began, my heart pounding, "the time I told you I was almost sold? And how those men came after me again?"

Roxy’s expression hardened instantly. "I won’t forget that. Not after seeing those rogues tear through their men on the Serpent Kiss."

I swallowed, the words feeling like glass in my throat. "Mr. Hans... he’s their master. He’s the one who bought me."

Their faces transformed. Mira’s jaw dropped. "What? Eleanor, why didn’t you tell us this all this while?"

" Lot of things has been happening so fast," I stammered, the excuse sounding weak even to my own ears. "It just... it completely slipped my mind with everything else."

Mira began to pace, running a hand through her hair. "I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I was just standing there, making small talk with that man." She stopped, her eyes meeting mine, full of dawning horror. "No wonder he was giving off a weird vibe. It was the vibe of a monster."

"Are you saying that woman is a victim, too?" Roxy asked.

"Yes," I said, the admission feeling like a failure. "She came to me in the dressing room. She was begging for a phone, desperate to make a call. But I didn’t have it."

Mira’s hand flew to her pocket, pulling out my phone. Her face paled with instant remorse. "I caused this. If I hadn’t taken your phone... she could have called for help. She could have been saved."

"What do you mean, ’could have’?" Roxy’s voice was like steel. "We can still save her." Before either of us could react, she turned on her heel and stalked off in the direction Mr. Hans and his men had taken.

"Roxy, wait!" Mira called out, but it was too late. Mira turned to me, her expression urgent. "Eleanor, change back into your clothes. I’ll catch up to her before she does something that makes everything worse." She shoved the phone into my hand and sprinted after Roxy, leaving me alone in a sea of racks.

The guilt was a physical weight, crushing me. I stood there, frozen, the soft velvet of the dress suddenly feeling like a shroud.

Are you going to stand there and sulk all day? The voice in my head was a low, savage growl. Beatrice was furious. Or are you finally going to teach that man a lesson for daring to look at us like we’re an object for sale?

"You mean we need to save that woman," I thought back.

Yeah, that too, Beatrice conceded, her tone dripping with bloodthirsty intent. But getting revenge on Mr. Hans is better. If we deal with him, he won’t be a nuisance anymore.

I hurried back to the dressing room, my hands fumbling as I changed back into my own clothes. "It’s not that simple, Beatrice. He’s a powerful man. He can use his position to escape any justice."

A dark, unhinged laugh echoed in my mind. Who said anything about justice, little mouse? And when did I say I wanted him to be alive?

I was fully dressed now, the normal fabric a small comfort. "We are not killing anyone, Beatrice," I replied firmly, pushing open the dressing room door.

I focused, pushing my guilt aside and reaching for the skill Mira and Roxy had drilled into me.

I tracked their scents through the crowded mall. It led me away from the clothing section, toward the noisy, flashing lights of the gaming arcade.

The air was thick with the sounds of electronic beeps, dramatic music, and the clatter of tokens. I found them at a shooting game, its large screen displaying hordes of pixelated zombies.

Roxy was holding the plastic rifle, her posture relaxed but her eyes sharp as she methodically picked off targets with unnerving accuracy. Mira stood beside her, feeding tokens into the machine, her body angled away from the screen.

"What are you doing?" I asked, slipping up beside them.

Mira didn’t turn, her gaze fixed on a point somewhere beyond the flashing lights. "Just keeping watch on our friend," she said, her voice barely audible over the arcade’s din. She nudged her head subtly, and I followed the line of her sight.

My blood ran cold. There, by a large, colorful ball pit in the children’s play area, stood Mr. Hans. He watched, a benign smile on his face, as two of his guards waded into the pit.

They were plucking children out, carrying them away while the kids, confused or perhaps drugged, were limp and quiet.

Roxy’s voice was a low, furious growl. "This has to be planned. How are all the parents just... asleep?"

She was right. On the benches surrounding the pit, parents and guardians were slumped over, heads lolling, completely unconscious. Oh, no. He was kidnapping children. In the middle of a crowded mall, in broad daylight.

Mira finally glanced at me, her face grim. "I bet he’s got something up his sleeve if he’s exposed. He probably has his own people planted everywhere, ready to cause a distraction or back up his story. So, what do we do?"

My mind raced, a frantic scramble for a plan.

Use your power, Beatrice hissed, her voice a tempting, dangerous whisper in my mind.

Never, I shot back, a cold dread seizing me. Have you forgotten what happened last time? I couldn’t control it. I didn’t even know how I had used it. I wasn’t going to risk unleashing that in a crowd of innocent people.

Then attack him, she suggested, her tone utterly unhinged. Go for the throat. I’ll help.

Beatrice, are you crazy? How is that going to help? I stopped listening to her reckless, violent reasons, forcing myself to scan our surroundings. My eyes darted across the ceiling, over the signs, past the crowds—and then I saw the bright red handle of a fire alarm, mounted on a pillar not twenty feet away.

An idea, desperate and simple, clicked into place.

I turned to Mira, my voice low but firm. "Be ready."

"Ready for what?" she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

I didn’t answer. I just started walking, my steps quick and purposeful, cutting through the crowd until I reached the pillar. Without a moment’s hesitation, I reached up, smashed the protective glass with my elbow, and yanked the alarm handle down.

A deafening, piercing shriek instantly tore through the entire mall. The cheerful music cut off, replaced by the relentless, panicked blare. For a split second, everything froze. Then, chaos erupted as hundreds of people began to surge toward the exits.

I rushed back to Mira and Roxy through the panicked crowd. "Mira, did you bring your taser?" I asked, my voice tight.

Mira pulled the compact device from her purse. Its something she carries now, ever since that day were were surrounded.

"Good," I said, my gaze locking onto the ball pit. Mr. Hans’s guards were struggling to maintain their hold on the drugged children as people shoved past them. "We’re using it on the bodyguards. We’re getting those kids back in this chaos."