I sigh.
“Actually, the missing people are largely men,” Jessica says. “There are some women… and some children, but mostly men.”
I didn’t realize that.
Silence fills the room for quite some time. I join the rest of my family and search. Ellory and Avory join us after a while and pick up laptops. Uncle Arath, Uncle Oxley, and Huntley join us. Uncle Kairo does not.
“What’s the plan when you get on the truck?” Jessica asks. “Are you going to rescue Brek and leave the rest?”
“I don’t know. That’s difficult to plan when I don’t know what I’m walking in on,” I answer. “Ultimately, I’ll get Brek and get out. Then Myro can handle the rest however he wants. I don’t want to risk announcing our presence and them killing everyone they have with Brek among them. Yes, that’s selfish, but I don’t care.”
“Voss,” Myro says gently, and I know he’s going to argue. “You’re not the best option for this job. We need a success. You’re best behind the screen.”
“I’m going,” I say without looking up.
“Then you’re not going alone,” Loren says. It’s the first thing he’s said since I stepped into the room.
I meet his eyes. “Are you volunteering?”
He presses his lips together and looks at Oakley. Oakley is very visibly torn. He doesn’t want Loren in that place—whatever the place is. But Brek is there, and he, like the rest of us, is desperate to get Brek back.
“No,” Myro says.
“You’re not going,” Jessica says, shaking her head.
“No,” Myro agrees. “I don’t think any of us are the answer. I think we need to get Azlan involved.”
“Who’s that?” Jessica asks.
“A psychopath who works for Dad,” Myro says, smirking.
Dad is already nodding. I watch as he picks up his phone and begins tapping away. “Yes. Azlan is a good option.”
“I’m going with him,” I insist. “I don’t really give a fuck what the lot of you say.”
Dad looks at me, and I can see his irritation. I’ve never seen it directed at me before. “You need a better plan than just running in blindly, Voss. You have a kid, and I don’t want to lose one of mine. Do you understand me?”
My breath catches, and my eyes flicker to Axl, still sleeping soundly, now in Ellory’s arms. I take a deep breath and nod. “Yeah.”
“We all understand how terrified you are,” Dad says quietly. “We are too. That’s why Azlan is the answer to this plan. Isn’t he?”
“A psychopath doesn’t feel fear?” Oakley asks.
Loren is already shaking his head.
“Azlan has a very specific set of skills,” Dad says. “Ones that are necessary for something of this scope. Whatever we’re walking in on isn’t going to be a backyard operation. Your fear for and desperation to find Brek alive is going to get you killed, Voss, and that’s not acceptable. Like it or not, your first thought needs to be your son.”
My chest hurts. My gut twists. I’m getting a headache as everything wars within me. Dad’s right. But losing Brek isn’t something I can live with, either. What kind of parent will I be if I’m left to live with the devastation of losing this man?
Already his absence feels crippling.
We work in silence for a long time. Far longer than I’d hoped this would take. Hours pass. An entire day. I’m getting desperate and cranky, frustrated. My fear is making me snappy.
It’s midday, twenty-four hours before delivery, when Uncle Noaz crosses the room and sets their laptop in front of me, right on top of the one on my lap. He takes Axl from my arms and points at the site.
Dad joins me a minute later as I begin clicking through it. Wild game sanctuary. The animals are safe and completely off limits. The game you’re hunting is on two legs.
Anything goes. Anything you want to do with the prey you find. They run. They fight. They’re in good shape, so it’s a challenge. Like hunting animals.
