I’ve never been so angry before.
Adrenaline causes me to jump up. “Impossible. Impossible. We have to go.”
Logan gets up more slowly. “We’ll find Coltello. We’ll avenge her.”
“No.” My hands are clenched into fists, my entire body shaking from the strain of trying not to explode. “No, we’re not avenging anything. We’re finding her. She’s alive. I fucking know it. I wouldfeelit if she were dead. I’d feel it in my bones. Just like I know Liam and Dane aren’t here. I would know. I would fucking know.”
It feels like I’ve never spoken so much, but the words feel right. She belongs to me. Fuck, she’s apartof me. There’s no way she could die and I wouldn’t feel it. I’d feel it if half my body was hacked to pieces, wouldn’t I?
She’s not dead. Certainty floods me, and the look on my face makes Josh lift up his tear-streaked face hopefully.
He follows me to Logan’s car, his sudden optimism an unsettling contrast to Logan’s darkness. But I know. I fucking know. It’s the only thing I know in this world. Piper isn’t dead.
Another buzz from behind me makes me stop in my tracks and turn around. This isn’t a single buzz, like the earlier message. This is a constant buzzing sound, like someone’s calling.
Logan takes the phone out of his pocket and stares at it for a second.
“Unknown number,” he frowns.
“Well, pick it the fuck up!” I roar. “Maybe it’s her! You fucking idiot!”
Logan flashes a murderous look at me. I guess the Devil founders are not used to getting cussed out like that. Luckily, he lets it go, and answers the phone.
“Hello?”
His anger gives way to perplexity, followed by just a glint of strained hope.
“It’s for you,” he says quietly, handing me the phone.
My chest hurts so much it feels like I’m on the verge of a heart attack. “Yeah?” I say.
A male voice answers. I don’t recognize it, but I can tell it’s a soldier’s by the somewhat robotic, lifeless sound. “Someone wants to talk to you.”
There’s a slight pause and a shuffling noise as the phone seems to pass through different hands. Then a small voice says, “Quill?”
Shock floors me. I fall to my knees on the ground before the car, holding onto the door to steady me. “Piper?”
A sharp intake of breath tells me Josh is just as surprised as me. Meanwhile, Logan gets closer, crouching once more beside me as if desperate to catch every single part of what will come next.
“Where are you, Piper?” My voice comes out throaty, the lump in my throat making it hard to keep the tears out of my voice. “Where are you, my little cricket?”
“I… uhm…”
I frown, concentrating on whatever noise at the other end could give me a hint to where she is. Who she’s with.
It sounds like muffled voices are telling her what to say. Voicesfar too muffled and distant for me to be able to make them out.
“I’m safe. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry, Quill.”
Her voice is stiff, unnatural, as if she’s carefully following instructions. There’s a hard edge to the way she’s speaking. I can tell she’s scared.
Whoever has her must be threatening her. She must be terrified of saying the wrong thing. I clench my fists, so furious I see white. But she’s alive. That’s the important part. She’s alive, and if I want her to stay that way, I need to think fast. I need to say the right things too.
“Everythingisfine, Piper,” I say, trying to make my voice as soft, reassuring, and also, as unthreatening as possible, in case her captors are listening in. “Can you tell me where you are?”
“I…” She pauses, probably listening to their instructions. “I can tell you, Quill. I can tell you, and you can come find me.”
“Okay.” I struggle to take in a slow breath, keep my voice soft and controlled. “Is there something I need to do so you can tell me? Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”
