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The guard half pulled/half walked her toward the door Although fear and pain had helped clear the fog, Tamara kept her face slack Isaac and the rest of the team would be here in a matter of hours She had until then to find Essie and prepare her to get the hell out of there If Jarrod and his goons thought she oozy, that could only help her cause She just prayed Jarrod hadn't lied about Essie still being at the compound

Tah the doorway and into the other room with almost all of her attention focused doard She was only partially faking how hard the drug had hit her Whatever the fuck Jarrod had used, she sure as hell did not want a second dose

"Aunt T!"

Taht back the instant wave of relief at seeing the one person she’d desperately wanted to find on the compound "Essie!"

The girl rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around Tamara's waist Tamara buried her face in Essie's blonde hair and couldn't stop the tears when she sirl's favorite vanilla shas before they'd left Haed to sneak her phone onto the coirl was definitely a fighter and that would serve her hen the shit hit the fan

Essie pulled back and Taood look at her niece Her eyes were swollen frons of abuse

"Are you okay?" Tamara asked

The girl nodded Her face was clean ofa sier than her sixteen years The steely deterh That was the look Amelia had hen she'd made Tamara promise to keep Essie safe from Jarrod The man didn't knohat he was in for

Tamara took a quick look around the rooainst one wall and a trio of wo drab brown dresses with their hair pulled back under white caps One of the woave Tae into the trash can beside the vanity table The woht be in the Society, but that didn't mean they were here any more voluntarily than she and Essie were

"I'm so sorry This is allyou marry him"

Tairl's hair back and kissed her forehead "It's not your fault And I'…"

"Phillip" Essie rolled her eyes

Despite the seriousness of the situation, the typical teenage reaction made Tamara chuckle "Well, Phillip is out of the picture We just need to play along for a little while until help arrives"

"How do you know so?"

Tamara squeezed Essie's shoulders "Because he'll always be there"