We both know he’s right.
“I’m wasting time here. They have my girl, I…”
My voice falters.
I swallow hard.
Because what hits me next isn’t rage.
It’s fear.
Real, bone-deep fear.
The kind that settles heavy in my chest and won’t let go.
The kind that makes every second feel like it matters too much.
Like I’m already too late.
“I need to go.”
I push past Ethan, but Cas grabs my arm, stopping me.
“You know I can do this alone and have you held by my deputies,” he says calmly, “but I know what it’s like to have the woman you love in the hands of someone like that.”
That lands.
Hard.
I remember the night Penny was taken.
I remember everything.
“So I want you with me,” he continues, “but you have to promise you’ll listen and behave.”
Behave.
The word grates against everything in me.
Against the instinct screaming to tear this place apart until I find her.
Cas holds my gaze, waiting.
Giving me the choice, even though we both know there isn’t one.
I force myself still.
Force everything down just enough to nod.
But there’s nothing controlled about what’s coming.
Because there’s not a single thing in this world
not the law, not my past, not even my own brother
that’s going to stop me from giving that psychoexactly what he’s got coming.
The drive to theBlack Nemesisclubhouse barely registers. I’m aware of the engine roaring beneath me, of gravel spitting out behind the tires, of Cas saying something over the radio, but it all feels distant, like it’s happening somewhere outside my body.
