I hadn’t felt this helpless within the belly of that shark.
Tobias set a steady hand on my shoulder. “We did everything we could.”
“But not enough,” I whispered.
“Stop,”Jesper said firmly. “Do not take on what isn’t yours. We’ll find that child, Koa. And the humans who took him won’t survive long enough to regret it.”
I drew a shaky breath in. “I know what they do in those labs. I’ve seen it firsthand, and I’ve experienced it. That kid doesn’t deserve to see or feel any of it.”
Rune squeezed my hand. “Which is why we’re not giving up.”
“We can’t let this become another cold trail,” I whispered.
“We won’t,” Jesper promised, and he sounded a hell of a lot more confident in that than I felt.
zuko
. . .
I sleptfor exactly an hour and three minutes before my phone went off with yetanothermission alert.
Jesper Wyvernheart
Back to HQ. We have another kidnapping.
I groaned, pushing up off my bed and pulling that skin-tight suit back on. Stumbling out of House of Torment, I bumped into Raze, who yawned as he walked through the door.
“Shit, dude. Another one?” His brows raised.
I nodded, yawning. “Unfortunately.”
“I’m thinking assassin life would be less stressful,” he grumbled, moving past me and heading toward his room. “Good luck, Zuko. Catch ya later.”
“You, too,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes before tying my bandage over them again.
Professor Emberveil said I couldn’t take it off until after graduation, and while I thought that was bullshit, I had no choice but to follow the protocol.
I trudged out of the house and onto the wayfaer portal by muscle memory, going to headquarters and heading toward oursquad’s meeting room. I was the last one to show up even though we only got the text five minutes ago. It made me wonder if they’d slept in their suits.
I plopped down in a seat next to Slater, wishing I could sit next to Rune.
“Great response time. We have another kidnapping,” Jesper announced, voice tight. “It’s becoming more prevalent. There are four other squads working kidnapping cases of supernaturals of all ages throughout all the territories. All evidence points to the Human Resistance Network. Our case covers a basilisk man from the Apex Capital.”
On the holographic screen behind him was a map of the capital, showing the buildings and narrow streets.
“As I’m sure you know, supernaturals being taken is a common occurrence the past few days,” Jesper explained. “All cases have the same extraction method, surveillance loop, and the trail cuts off usually at the border of the human territory.”
My fangs clicked against my bottom teeth in irritation.
“What’s odd,” Jesper said, brow furrowing, “is that the basilisk they took today has weak venom. There’s no reason the humans would target him over someone stronger.”
My stomach sank.
“What’s the victim’s name?” I asked.
Jesper read from his tablet. “Carson Bleu.”
Cold swept through my chest. “I know him. We went to school together.”
