I don’t answer.
The pipe hits my other thigh. Same spot. The pain is worse this time. Builds on the first hit.
“We can do this all day,” the man says, “or you can tell us what we want to know.”
I close my eyes. Think about Finn and Liam. About their faces when they laugh. About the way they hold Cassian’s hands when they walk through the park.
They need their father.
And I’m not taking that from them.
The pipe comes down again.
36
CASSIAN
Declan’s facetells me everything before he says a word. He walks into my office at three in the afternoon, phone still pressed to his ear, and his expression is the kind you only see when someone’s died.
“What?” I’m already standing.
He ends the call. “Aurelia’s been taken.”
The floor drops out from under me.
“When?”
“Forty minutes ago. Coffee shop three blocks from the Vance estate. Professional extraction. Four hostiles. Black van. Gone before security could respond.”
“Where is she now?”
“Unknown. The van went dark after six blocks. No tracking, no witnesses past that point.”
I’m moving before he finishes talking, grabbing my jacket from the chair, checking my gun. “Get the car.”
“Cass—”
“Now.”
We’re on the road in under two minutes. Declan drives while I call Julian.
He answers on the first ring. “I know.”
“Where are you?”
“Estate. Coordinating search efforts with my people.”
“I’m coming there.”
“Don’t. Stay away from my family.”
“She’s the mother of my children. I’m coming.” I hang up before he can argue.
The drive to the Vance estate takes fifteen minutes that feel like hours. Every second she’s gone is another second they could be hurting her. Another second closer to losing her forever. My hands won’t stop shaking. I grip the door handle hard enough that my knuckles go white.
“We’ll find her,” Declan says.
“They’ve had her for almost an hour. Do you know what can happen in an hour?”
