The low rumble in my chest worked its way to my throat.
“Leave it with me,” I said, standing up.
My mind went blank for a second before the image of Lielit and our children hit me like a ton of bricks. Fenrir didn’t howl in pain—he growled with rage.
His voice fractured, his words breaking apart as he tried to force me to shift, snapping me out of my daze.
Stop it. We have a tracker inside her, remember?
Before she was placed in the shipping container, I’d had the latest body-powered tracking chip implanted in her. Deep within my subconscious, I’d always known it would come to this. Back then, I thought that if she ever ran from me, I’d have the upper hand.
Fenrir ranted about the babies, Bouda, Lielit—and the more noise that erupted inside my head, the more the slow-simmering fury burned like whip lashes across my body. I felt the blood drain from my face as sweat began to seep from my pores.
Nothing rash.
Nothing vicious.
Nothing but calm.
Until we had Lielit.
I didn’t move until Fenrir understood my words. Even though it ate away at valuable time, I needed to rein him in. I couldn’t risk exposing him if he lost control and became a giant, head-chomping psycho.
The gala had been a calculated risk. One I needed to take before our children were born. I’d needed to see who had the gall to attempt an attack on me.
I logged into the Crysilis program and confirmed a location before making a series of calls. The driver could be dead—or bought—but it was essential that all routes off the mainland were cut off.
We stared at the flashing red dot marking where Lielit was being held.
She might have the balls to leave me, but she’d never leave her family.
My phone screen lit up.
Unknown number:It’s in your best interest to leave the current PM alone.
The current PM. I had a few under my belt, but the way he worded it could mean an external organisation that already controlled David.
Me:Or?
Unknown number:Sometimes people fling the term around. A fate worse than death. They’d suffer every second of every day until their hearts stop beating. You of all people should know the predilections of others.
There were many different varieties of beasts that lived inside humans, and I’d uncovered every single one of them over the years. I understood exactly what he meant, and so did Fenrir.
He didn’t rage.
He went silent—settling in my chest like a splintered shard of ice, waiting.
Me:Where is she?
I played along.
Unknown number:I’ll need all the materials first—electronic and paper versions. All of it.
Me:Where and when?
Unknown number:You’re going to roll over? Just like that?
I didn’t respond. Instead, I checked my email notifications. Lielit’s driver had been found on the road to Calais—no doubt attempting to board a ship bound for France.
