I watched her more than the movie, cataloging the small signs of progress: the way she leaned into Logan's touch instead of flinching from it, the way she laughed softly at a joke in the film, the way her body had gradually relaxed over the course of the morning. She wasn't fixed, none of us were, but she was healing, finding her way back to herself one small moment at a time.
Logan caught me watching and met my eyes over Cade's head. There was gratitude in his gaze, and something deeper, a shared understanding of what Cade meant to both of us, to all three of us. We had started this as a game, a manipulation, a conquest. But somewhere along the way, Cade had become the centre of our world, the one thing we all agreed was worth protectingat any cost. The morning drifted into afternoon, one movie blending into another. Rosa appeared briefly, tutting at the state of the kitchen but softening when she saw Cade nestled between us, more relaxed than she'd been in weeks. She disappeared back to the kitchen, promising to return with lunch later.
I must have dozed off at some point, lulled by the warmth of Cade beside me and the comforting background noise of the movie. When I blinked awake, the light in the room had shifted, the afternoon sun casting long shadows across the floor. Cade was asleep against Logan's chest, her face peaceful, free from the nightmares that so often plagued her. Cole had moved to sit on the floor near the coffee table, scrolling through his phone with a focused expression that told me he was still working, still searching for any trace of Damien. It was a perfect moment, a bubble of peace in the midst of all the chaos and pain. I wanted to freeze time, to live in this moment forever, where Cade was safe and healing, where we were all together, where the world outside couldn't touch us.
Of course, that was when the banging started.
Three sharp, authoritative raps on the front door, so loud they seemed to shake the very foundation of the house. Cade jerked awake with a gasp, her body instantly tense, her eyes wild with fear. Logan's arm tightened around her protectively, and Cole was on his feet in an instant, moving toward the door.
"Who the fuck-" I began, but before I could finish, the sound of splintering wood cut me off.
They didn't wait for us to answer. The door crashed open with enough force to slam against the wall.
"What the hell is this?" Logan demanded, rising from the sofa with Cade still clutched to his side. "This is Covenant House. You can't just-" The living room door burst open, cutting off hisprotest. Trivium enforcers, at least six of them, dressed in black tactical gear, their faces grim and purposeful. They poured in, moving with practiced efficiency. Before any of us could react, two of them had seized Cade, dragging her from Logan's arms with brutal force.
"No!" I shouted, lunging forward only to be intercepted by another enforcer, his arm like an iron bar across my chest. "Get your hands off her!"
Cade's scream tore through the air as they forced her to her knees in the centre of the room, her arms wrenched behind her back. The sound of it shredded my heart, catapulting me back to the night we'd found her, broken and terrified in that freezing cell.
"Stop it!" Cole's voice, usually so controlled, was raw with rage. "You're hurting her!" Logan was fighting against two enforcers, his face contorted with fury as they held him back.
"Who authorised this?" he demanded. "Where's Killingham?"
A new figure stepped into the room, a man I didn't recognise, dressed in the more formal attire of a Trivium high-ranking official rather than the tactical gear of the enforcers. He was older, with steel-grey hair and the kind of face that had never known softness.
"Cadence Turner," he said, his voice as cold and impersonal as a knife's edge. "By the authority vested in me by the Trivium Foundation, I am placing you under arrest for fraud against the Trivium, falsification of scholarship credentials, and violation of the Legacy Code."
The polished marble lobby of the Trivium Headquarters in London felt more like a prison than the corporate façade it presented. It had been twenty-four hours since they'd dragged Cade away from us. Twenty-four hours of hell, of watching the fragile progress we'd made with her shatter in an instant. I could still hear her screams echoing in my head, still see the terror inher eyes as they forced her to her knees.
I stood rigid by the reception desk, my knuckles white as I gripped the edge of the sleek countertop. Behind me, Ryder paced like a caged animal, his footsteps a frantic rhythm against the marble floor.
"This is fucking bullshit," he snarled, loud enough to make the receptionist flinch. "We're Regents. She's our Consort. You can't just take her without explanation."
"Sir, as I've told you repeatedly," the receptionist said, her voice dripping with practiced patience, "I'm not authorised to provide any information about ongoing investigations. You'll need to wait for-"
"We've been waiting for twenty fucking hours!" Ryder's voice rose to a shout. "Twenty hours while you people have her locked up God knows where!" Cole moved swiftly to intercept Ryder before he could lunge across the desk.
"Ry," he murmured, a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't helping."
I watched the exchange, a cold calculation running beneath my fury. Losing control wouldn't get us to Cade. But standing here, playing by their rules, wasn't working either. We'd tried diplomacy. We'd tried threats. We'd tried calling in every favour and connection we had. And still, we were no closer to reaching her than when we'd first arrived.
"I want to speak to someone in charge," I said, my voice deceptively calm despite the rage boiling inside me. "Not another receptionist, not another junior enforcer. Someone who can actually make decisions." The woman behind the desk gave me a tight smile.
"Mr Bale, I understand your frustration, but as I've explained-"
"No, you don't understand," I cut in, leaning forward slightly. "Because if you did, you'd realise what's going to happen when my father discovers that the Trivium has fucked around his son for twenty hours without cause or explanation." The mention of Nicholas Bale had the desired effect. The woman's smile faltered, and she reached for her phone.
"Let me see if Mr Whitehall is available." As she murmured into the receiver, I turned to find Cole watching me with a raised eyebrow. "Playing the daddy card?" he asked quietly. I shrugged, my jaw tight.
"Whatever works." The truth was, I hadn't wanted to involve my father, not after everything that had happened with Cade. But we were running out of options, and even as an outsider, Nicholas Bale's name still carried weight, even here.
Ryder had resumed his pacing, a feral energy radiating from him. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, his normally styled hair dishevelled from running his hands through it repeatedly. We all looked like shit, having spent the night camped out in the lobby, refusing to leave until we got answers.
"It's Julia," Ryder spat suddenly, stopping his pacing to glare at the receptionist's desk. "That bitch is behind this somehow. She couldn't handle that Melody kicked her out of Courts, so she's using her daddy's connections to get back at Cade."
"We don't know that," Cole cautioned, though the possibility had crossed my mind as well.
"Who else would it be?" Ryder demanded. "After what she did, showing Cade those videos? She knows we were coming for her. This is her way of striking first."
