Dante doesn't move. He doesn't take his eyes off the cage. We still can't see her. All I see is dark hair and a figure dancing in the shadows.
And when the spotlight falls on her, I freeze too.
Even from a distance, it's unmistakable. She's tall, slender, and has the same eyes as the man I love. Most of her face is hidden behind a veil. She’s dressed in a shimmery gold-and-beige outfit.
"Ida," Dante whispers. And to my horror, he raises his voice. "Ida."
"Dante, you can't call out her name," I say urgently. "It will look suspicious.”
"I need to get her out of that cage,” he says.
"What about the plan?" I ask.
"She's trapped," he says. "Ineedto get her out."
I glance at the group for help. Nico raises his eyebrows, about to intervene. I shake my head at him.
This is something I need to handle on my own. I cup Dante's face and force him to look at me.
“Listen to me,” I say. “I know you want nothing more right now than to take your sister away from this horrible place. I know you waited your whole life for this. And it's cruel to ask you to wait longer, but we have to stick to the plan, Dante. If you do something now, it's only going to make it harder for us to save the others."
He blinks slowly. Just when I think he's going to agree, he looks up at the cage again.
His sister has stopped dancing.
And she's looking right at him. She doesn't even blink as she stares at her brother.
"Fuck it," Dante says, going straight to Nico. "I don't want to wait anymore. We’re changing the plan.”
Max steps toward him. "Let's not make any rash decisions. It can backfire.”
Dante ignores him entirely. "I have my tech team on standby. They can unlock every door inside the club remotely, and that includes the cages. All we need to do is create a diversion and then call the police.”
"Leave the diversion to me," Nico says, his eyes lighting up.
"Nico, don't encourage him," Max says. And then he turns to face Dante. "This isn't what we agreed on."
Dante glares at Max. "You have a little sister yourself, don't you? Imagine some assholes stole her away as a child. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Tell me just how patient you would be."
Max grinds his teeth but doesn't say anything else.
Nico snaps his fingers. “I’m going to start a fire."
"Please don't," Max says. "People can get hurt."
"It’ll be a harmless fire," Nico says, already walking toward the kitchen.
"I don't even know why we brought him along," Max says.
"Because he has the guts to do the things other people don't," Chloe says, watching Nico disappear. "He's built different."
Dante spends the next few minutes communicating with his tech team. They have already hacked into the security system, so they're prepared for an order like this one. I sit next to my sisters and wait.
For the first time, I’m experiencing firsthand just how dangerous this life is. So many things can go wrong.
Nico returns a few minutes later with a childlike gleam in his eyes.
"Dude, try not to look so happy about all this," Max says.
