Something isn’t right.
Though we’ve let Rosalie traverse the woods on her own, we’ve kept tabs on her location. One of us has been trailing behind her the whole time, but as we join back up, there’s no sign of our girl anywhere.
“You had her last,” Kairo says to me as he rips his mask off. “Where did she go?”
“Maddox was supposed to close in on her around her property. I left her there.” I shove my mask up.
Maddox lowers his as his eyes bounce between us. “I followed the trail, but didn’t see her…”
“Fuck!” I curse, throwing the neon plastic to the dirt. “She has to be around here somewhere.”
“We’ll find her,” Kairo reassures before cupping his mouth and shouting into the trees. “Thorn! Come on out!”
Maddox does the same, breaking away from us to yell in the opposite direction. Somehow, I feel like this isn’t going to help. It’s a gut instinct.
Something is really wrong.
My phone begins to ring, and I fish it out of my pocket without looking at the caller ID. I lift it to my ear, my heart slamming. “Rose—”
“No time,” Knox barks from the other end. His voice is an urgent rush that makes my lips clamp shut. “I traced Waylon’s contacts and finally put a name to a body. Holden Poole. Does that ring any bells?”
I scowl at the Earth beneath me. The name sounds familiar, and it takes a moment for me to rack my brain beforemy lips part in disbelief. A recent report from a local police station sends my blood running cold.
Trafficking ring busted in Sacramento. Holden Poole and his accomplices, Jeremy Newman and Salvatore Boone, are still at large.
It was something I came across a few weeks ago while looking into Waylon’s records. I never considered the connection before now, and I see fucking red.
It all makes sense. Waylon wasn’t talking about drugs in his messages. He was talking about flesh.Rosalie’s flesh.
“Get your team to California,” I instruct my connection. “Heads are going to roll, and blood will be spilled.”
“Booking a flight now,” Knox says. “Don’t contact the authorities. We want no traces.”
“Way ahead of you. I’ll send you the meetup location.” I slam my finger on the red icon to end our call. My hand squeezes my phone so tightly that I’m surprised I haven’t broken it.
“What’s wrong?” Maddox asks from behind me.
I close my eyes, my face screwing up at the horrid way I’ve failed my Siren.Again.
I turn to face my friends, my aura heavy with bloodlust and urgency screaming through my system. My eyes convey every gut-wrenching detail without a word.
Kairo’s eyes widen before he takes two long strides towards me and grips my shoulders hard. “Where is she?! What—”
Maddox looks lost—terrified as he shifts in place. “She isn’t here. Is she?”
I shake my head, the bridge of my nose stinging as I try to hold myself together. Kairo bellows his despair into the forest, the sound echoing off the trees.
Chapter Forty-Four
Rosalie
I can feel the rocking motion beneath me. Tires bump along a road, and the sounds of vehicles traveling beside me are muffled. The cold bites into my skin, and as I peel my eyes open, I’m met with complete darkness.
My whole body aches as I register I’m lying on my side. My lips tremble from the drop in temperature as one of my hands slides along something smooth. It takes me a moment to get accustomed to my surroundings. I’m disoriented, and my heart finally catches up as it pounds impossibly fast. Everything rushes back to me as I scramble up and backpedal until my shoulders hit a wall. There’s cooled metal behind me, and I make the connection.
I’m in a refrigerated truck.
My hand slides over the wall, my brows furrowing as the truck hits a huge bump and I’m jostled back and forth. I catch myself before I can fall over and then pull the bottom of my dress down as much as possible. My skin is pricking with the cold, and my teeth chatter.
