Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 261

Faced with the beautiful girl's rapid-fire questions, Stella Hawthorne wasn't quite sure how to answer.

So, she fired back with three of her own. "What's your name? How long have you been locked up here? And how did they grab you?"

The girl stopped crying, wiped her tears, and sniffled. "My name is Cecilia Eames. I'm twenty-one. They took me last night, it was..."

Cecilia hesitated, clearly reluctant to explain the exact circumstances of her abduction.

Stella narrowed her eyes. "It was what? Look at where we are. What is there left to hesitate about?"

She hadn't expected Gideon Kaye to move this fast. He'd only been back in town for a few days, and he had already snatched two girls—three, counting her.

He must have found a new buyer; otherwise, he wouldn't be in such a desperate rush.

Cecilia glanced at Stella, biting her lip before answering. "Actually, I'm a student. I went out last night with my classmates for my birthday, and then... I don't know why, but I just woke up here."

After finishing, she asked Stella, "Are you a student too? Why did they take you?"

Having someone to talk to made her feel a little less terrified.

Stella replied as if she didn't have a care in the world. "I'm not a student, and I have no idea why I'm here."

It sounded like Cecilia had been drugged and brought here completely unconscious.

At least that meant she'd had it easy—Stella had been blindfolded and physically dragged to this place.

Cecilia pressed on. "So what's your name? You look even younger than me. How are you not a student?"

Stella offered a small smile. She was twenty, which did make her younger, but who said being young meant she had to be in school? She had graduated early; wasn't that allowed?

"Did they do this to you? Did they take your voice?"

The woman's eyes widened, and she nodded frantically. She let out a muffled, desperate "Woo-ah" sound, clearly trying to speak but completely unable to form words.

Stella leaned in, catching a faint scent on her, and asked, "First they forced some herbal concoction down your throat, and then they injected you. Is that right?"

The woman nodded wildly.

Unlike the naive Cecilia, she was a social worker. She could tell immediately that Stella was someone formidable. Just by getting close, Stella had deduced exactly what they had done to her.

More importantly, Stella hadn't shown a shred of panic since she was thrown in here. She was impossibly calm.

Perhaps this young girl might actually be the one to get them out alive.