Chapter 103
ELENA
“Where’s Aiden?!”
The question ripped from my throat, wild and raw. It wasn’t a question, really. It was a scream. A plea
Aplea. Acommand wrapped in
terror.
My voice echoed across the wreckage of the room–the overturned furniture, the broken glass, through the blood that still hovered in a haze over the bodies of the dead.
Derek turned fast, already pivoting to Brock and Joe, his eyes feral with urgency.
“I told you to get the boy!”
Brock’s brows furrowed, scanning the room again like he expected to find Aiden hiding behind a piece of furniture. “I didn’t see him!”
Joe looked stunned “1–I thought he was with you.”
Time stopped
My blood turned to ice.
And then In
I didn’t wait for anyone to tell
anyone to tell me what to do, didn’t ask permission or wait for backup. I just ram, barefoot across broken tile, down the hallway where I’d last seen him.
“AIDEN!” My voice cracked on the second syllable, the sound shattering against the sterile white walls.
Behind me, Derek’s voice boomed through the halls like a war drum. “Scour the villa. Find the child. NOW.”
I ran into the kitchen where Pierce had originally taken him. Saw the sandwich he’d made for Aiden, one large bite taken out of
The dead rogue on the floor on the other side of the countertop.
Half blind with fear, I continued on through the villa
I didn’t stop
1checked every room I passed, throwing open doors with shaking hands,
An office–empty.
A bathroom nothing but gleaming chrome and towels folded too perfectly to have been used.
A bedroom. Then another. Beds made. Drawers closed. As if no one had ever stayed here. As if my son had never been here at all.
‘AIDEN!” I screamed again, the panic rising up my throat so fast felt like I was choking on it.
I shoved open one more door–and froze.
The storeroom.
Where they held us.
I stepped inside, my heart punching hard against my ribs.
The room was exactly as we’d left it. Blanket still rumpled. The vent above the cot still slightly ajar.
I dropped to my knees beneath it.
Chapter 103
“Aiden?” My voice was shaking “aby, are your up there? It’s okay–It’s ufe now. Please come down.”
+25 BONUS
My voice cracked again. “Please.”
The silence deepened.
My hands began to tremble as the air thickened in my lungs. I tried to breathe, but it came to fast–too shallow. My chest was tightening, my fingers tingling. The edges of the room began to till and blur.
Breathe. Breathe, damn it.
I pushed myself to my feet, staggering toward the window. Flung open.
A gust of warm, salty air hit me.
And then-
Aflicker.
Movement
A shift in the palm fronds across the pool deck. The tiniest rustle of green.
Not wind. Not wildlife.
Someone,
I didn’t think. I just moved. Running full out, Nox howling inside of me.
Down the hallway. Around the bend. Through the shattered front door. Around the outer path toward the pool.
1 was breathless by the time I reached it, the heat clinging to my skin, my heart hammering in my ears.
The tiles were slick beneath my feet, still wet from earlier
I scanned the water. Empty.
But there just beyond the edge
Palm fronds trembled again.
“AIDEN!” I shouted.
And I smelled him.
I felt him
His scent was fresh, sharp, sweet–sunscreen and salt and little boy sweat. And something else.
Rogue.
The one who’d been watching us by the pool The quiet one.
Asnarl built low in my throat.
Llaunched into the brush at tull speed, shoving fronds and branches aside, scraping my arms and legs, but not slowing down. I barreled through the jungle lining the villa like it was paper.
And then–1 broke through
The sand was warm and soft beneath my feet. The sun cast long gold shadows across the beach.
Chapter 104
