He gave Brielle an accusing glare as he spoke but didn’t directly address her. The Frenchwoman had the good grace to look chagrined. It was still mind-boggling to think how a supernatural like her—if she was supernatural—could work for a piece of crap like Yegor who sold people just like her to the highest bidder.
“Wait a minute,” Jestina interrupted, leaning forward, dark eyes intent. “You said first auction, implying there have been others. How many auctions has Yegor held?”
“Last night was the third.” His eyes filled with regret. “The first two were smaller, like only five or six people to bid on each time. But after Yegor realized how much money he could make, he expanded the operation, hiring more men and setting up the entire transport network.”
Sawyer cursed. This was way worse than they’d thought. The idea that there were other supernaturals out there who’d been sold off to the highest bidder made him want to rip Yegor apart with his claws.
“I was going to leave after the second auction,” Kristoff continued. “I wanted no part of the kidnapping and the abuse and the terror those poor people endured. Yegor isn’t the kind of man who lets people who work for him walk away, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t be involved anymore.”
“What changed?” Harley asked softly.
Kristoff looked at Adriana again, smiling at her again. “They brought Adriana in. She was unconscious and weak…vulnerable. I couldn’t leave her. I just couldn’t.”
“He made sure I always had enough to eat and drink,” Adriana added, her expression earnest. “He kept the other guards from messing with me and the other prisoners as much as he could. He even brought us aspirin to help with the headaches some of us got from the sedatives they gave us.”
“I wanted to do more,” Kristoff said. “But there were never less than three or four guards watching the captives. And that’s not counting that damn vampire who was always hanging around, trying to get a taste of any of the prisoners he thought might not be missed. I knew I had to get Adriana out of there, but I didn’t know how. I was getting desperate when you showed up in that club in Paris. Making sure you rescued Adriana was the best I could do.”
Adriana squeezed Kristoff’s hand, tears glistening in her eyes. “You almost got yourself killed in the process.”
“I didn’t care,” he said. “I’d do anything to keep you safe.”
“Why didn’t you bail after Paris?” Misty asked, regarding Kristoff thoughtfully. “Adriana was safe. Why stay with Yegor?”
Kristoff glanced at Adriana. “I realized that if I stayed, I might be able to help the other captives get away, too. Unfortunately, that was harder than I thought and I didn’t free any of them. I was never so glad as when I saw you show up at the auction.”
Nothing made Sawyer think Kristoff was lying. After becoming a werewolf, he’d gotten extremely good at knowing when someone wasn’t being forthright, and he’d never been wrong. But this wasn’t his call, at least not entirely. He glanced at Jake, trying to figure out if they were on the same page, when Adriana spoke.
“I know this is a lot to take in.” Blue sparks covered her skin, making her dark hair lift up at the ends. “But Kristoff honestly didn’t know what he was getting into. When he realized how bad it was, he did the best he could to make it right. You have to see that.”
Kristoff took both of Adriana’s hands in his, uncaring that she was so emotional right now that she could zap him at any moment. “It’s okay, schatzi. Calm down.”
Adriana looked around the table desperately, squeezing Kristoff’s hands so hard he winced. Or maybe that was from the electricity running back and forth across her fingers.
“Please,” she begged, tears welling in her eyes. “Kristoff isn’t the first man to get involved with the wrong people and then regret it. There has to be some way he can walk out of here, right? I mean, he’s willing to tell you anything and everything he knows about Yegor’s operation. Please give him another chance.”
Sawyer knew what he’d do if he were running the show, but once again, he wasn’t in charge of what STAT did with the people they’d arrested last night.
“I can’t truthfully say I’ve ever regretted any of my life choices because that requires introspection, which really isn’t my thing,” Caleb said, casually leaning back in his chair. “But I know what it’s like when those choices end up getting you involved with some bad people, so I vote for giving Kristoff a second chance.”
Across from Sawyer, Adriana gave Caleb a tremulous smile, then looked at Sawyer and the STAT agents hopefully. Sawyer saw Jake exchange looks with his mate, Jes, before giving Adriana a nod.
“As long as Kristoff is willing to tell us everything he knows about Yegor and anything he remembers about the supernaturals who were sold at the previous auctions, he’ll be free to go,” Jake said.
Adriana threw her arms around her boyfriend, insisting she knew it would be okay all along. Kristoff grinned and hugged her back.
“What do you want to know first?” Kristoff asked Jake a few moments later.
Jake didn’t even have to think about it. “Were the previous two auctions like the one last night?”
Kristoff nodded. “Yeah. Except the supernaturals at those were all adults. No one was under twenty-five years old. But for the one last night, Yegor specifically wanted kids, too.” He glared at Brielle. “Anyone she could find.”
Brielle flinched at that. Almost like she genuinely felt badly for her part in the whole thing.
“Going after kids was never my idea,” she said. “Hell, finding people for these auctions was never part of the deal, either. I did what I had to do to protect my brother.”
“How exactly do you find supernaturals?” Tessa asked, intense curiosity clear on her face. “Do they smell different? Look different?”
Brielle turned her gaze on Tessa, a glint in her dark eyes that made Sawyer wonder if she’d overheard them talking out in the hallway earlier. If she had, that meant her ears were as good as a werewolf’s.
“I think I’ll hold on to that tidbit of information for the time being,” Brielle said with a cool smile. “Until it’s in my best interest to share.”
Tessa’s mouth tightened and she looked ready to argue, something Sawyer knew would make Brielle shut down completely. They had a lot more questions they needed answers to before that happened.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said, throwing a hard look in Tessa’s direction. “I’d much rather hear about how you and your brother got involved with Yegor in the first place.”