He steps in closer. “If any guard so much as gives you a side eye, you let me handle it. With my father asleep, I’m the authority tonight.”
His gaze sweeps to Elias. “Do you understand me? Do not snap back at them until I’m there.”
The words drop like a guillotine, final and unflinching.
“Understood, Sir.” Elias says, his voice pitched just loud enough to carry, smooth and deferential, like they’re reciting lines for an audience on the cameras.
Callum echoes him a beat later, the same false obedience laced into his tone.
Dante gives the faintest nod, already prowling away down the hall. The brothers turn in the opposite direction, their movements careful and slow. To the cameras, it probably looks routine: two loyal guards escorting their half-conscious prisoner at their cousin’s command.
In Callum’s arms, I force myself to stay limp, head pressed against his chest, even as my pulse kicks harder, betraying me.Eventually we make it to the echoing stairwell as the door thuds shut behind us, one step further from my cell.
Upward, the stairwell winds, narrow and metallic, leading to the cold level of the lab one floor above. The stairwell door creaks open, and Elias holds it wide, his movements precise and measured, as if every gesture might be under scrutiny. Callum steps through with me cradled tightly against his chest, and the metallic slam of the door closing echoes down the long corridor ahead of us.
Their bootsteps ring sharp against the tiled floor, each one bouncing back from the walls, a hollow rhythm that tightens the knot in my gut. Soon enough Elias is at a door, swiping his badge across the scanner. The lock clicks and a smooth hiss follows, the panel sliding open to allow us inside. The door seals shut behind us with a final, heavy sound, cutting off the corridor.
Elias’s eyes flick upward, toward the corner-mounted cameras. “Red lights. He got them down. Let’s get to work.”
The words thrum through me, further igniting a spark of hope I can’t smother.
Callum lowers me onto my feet, his hands lingering at my arms like he’s worried I’ll collapse. His crystalline eyes meet mine, and for the first time tonight, his words are pointed at me.
“Briar,” he says quietly, “are you good enough to stand on your own while we search for your ring?”
My knees threaten to wobble beneath me, but I lock them in place, forcing my body upright as I glare at him. “I’m not some fragile thing you have to prop against the wall while you play hero. I’m more than capable of helping you look.”
The words scrape out sharper than I intend, but I don’t take them back. They deserve to feel my wrath. Let them remember I’m not their prisoner at this moment…I’m the reason they even have a chance of true escape.
I drag in a steadying breath, my voice cutting low as I add, “It’s a thin silver band with a large oval ruby.” My gaze flicks between them, daring either to argue. “So unless you’d rather waste time dragging me around like baggage, you’ll let me do what I can to help us find it before someone decides to check in down here.”
Callum’s gaze lingers on me for a beat, bright blue eyes burning as he looks down at me. Then the corner of his mouth tugs up, like a silent acknowledgement. He turns without a word and moves to the back wall, pulling open the first of the white-labeled bins and rifling through its sterile contents.
Elias doesn’t move at first, keeping his eyes on me for a beat before his lip curls. “Save your performative bullshit,” he sneers, each word clipped like he’s spitting them out just to cut me down.
The fury that’s been simmering low in my chest lashes out before I can choke it back. “I said I’d get you out of here,” I snap, my words bleeding with venom, “but I didn’t say we’d be friends once that agreement comes to a close. I’ll show you just how real my bite is then.”
The words hang between us, the air thrumming with tension before he huffs out a dismissive laugh and turns to start his search.
Time blurs into a cold stretch of silence broken only by the shuffle of lids sliding back and the rattle of plastic. One bin after another is emptied, rifled through, closed again. Each one coming up hollow.
By the time the last container slams shut, Callum’s patience snaps. He hisses through his teeth, “We’re wasting precious time.”
His hand curls into a fist against the metal top of the counter up front, knuckles whitening.
The sudden click of the door jolts through the room like a gunshot. All three of us freeze, my heart clawing into my throat.
There’s no time to prepare.
When the panel slides open, Dante steps inside and our relieved breaths fall from us in unison.
“It’s time to go,” he says, gesturing with his hand to follow him back out.
Elias exhales, shoulders dropping a fraction, but his voice is still tight when he admits, “We can’t find it. The ring’s not in the evidence bins.”
“Fuck,” Dante snarls, “if it’s not here, then it’s being tested.”
He doesn’t waste another breath. He’s already striding to the far back of the room, fingers flying over the keypad beside a sealed door. He leans in, the scanner whirring, a pale red light sliding over his eye. A sharp beep follows, and the lock disengages with a hiss, causing the door to retract.
