She left.
On foot.
In the middle of the night.
The air in the room suddenly feels like lead. I can't breathe. My brain is throwing out equations, strategies, security protocols, and every single one of them ends in a dead end. Why would she leave? Why would she walk out of the safest place in the city after saving my daughter?
And then the realization hits me.
I love her.
It’s not the obsession. It’s not the sick, dominant need to own her or keep her locked in a room where she can only look at me. I love the way her mouth moves when she’s telling me I’m an idiot. I love the way her brain works faster than mine. I love the way she stood in front of my daughter with a knife, ready to die for a kid she barely knew.
And now she’s gone.
"Boss," Kieran says, his hand on my shoulder. "We’ll find her. I’ll get the cars—"
"Shut the fuck up!" I scream, wrenching my shoulder away.
The fury is total. It’s a hot, blinding wave that sweeps through my veins, pushing out the cold terror. I turn and march out of the ballroom, my boots slamming against the tile. The compound is already moving, my men scrambling to get out of my path as I storm through the main hall.
One of the new perimeter guards, a guy named Ryan, is standing near the foyer, looking confused.
"You," I growl, grabbing him by the front of his tactical vest. I lift him off his feet, slamming his back against the stone pillar. The stone chips under his weight, a sharp crack echoing through the high ceiling. "Were you at the North gate forty minutes ago?"
"B-boss," he gasps, his hands clawing at my wrists. "I didn't see anything! The sensor didn't trip on my screen!"
"It bypassed!" I roar, my face inches from his, my spit hitting his cheek. "You have eyes! You have a fucking rifle! Did you look at the cameras?"
"I was... I was checking the perimeter fence on the east side—"
I don't let him finish. I drive my fist into his jaw. The bone breaks with a dry, splintering sound, and he goes down like a sack of coal, blood spraying across the white marble floor. I don't even wait for him to hit the ground before I kick him in the ribs.
"Get him out of my sight!" I snarl at the two guards standing nearby. They scramble forward, dragging the bleeding guy away by his boots, their faces white with terror.
"Lorcan!" Kieran yells, running down the stairs. "Stop! You’re losing your mind! We have scouts on the road. We have the cameras on the strip tracking every vehicle that left the sector."
"She’s on foot, Kieran!" I shout, spinning around to face him. "She has no phone! She has no money! She’s wearing a red silk dress in the middle of the desert! How far could she get in forty minutes?"
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
The sound is loud in the silent hallway. Every head snaps toward me. I pull the phone out. Private Number.
I slide the screen open and press it to my ear. I don't say a word. I just listen to the ragged breathing on the other end.
"You really are a slow learner, Lorcan," Silas’s voice rasps. It’s wet, weak, but the malice is still there, vibrating through the speaker. "But I have to hand it to you, your new girl is very loyal. She came straight to the north gate. Didn't even bring a gun."
"Silas," I growl, my fingers tightening on the metal of the phone until my knuckles turn white. "If you touch her—"
"I’ve already touched her," Silas chuckles, the sound jagged. "She has a very stubborn jaw, Lorcan. Just like you. But she’s not as tough as she thinks. Neither is her little friend."
A muffled, choked-off gasp echoes in the background. It’s Atara.
"Lorcan, don't!" she screams, her voice thin and raspy. "Don't come! It’s a—"
The sound is cut off by a heavy, wet thud, followed by a sharp cry of pain. My chest seizes, my heart hammering a brutal, frantic rhythm against my ribs.
"Fifteen minutes, Lorcan," Silas says, his voice returning to a flat, cold whisper. "The old shipping terminal on the reservoir road. You know the one. Come alone. If I see a single SUV, or if I hear a drone in the air, I’ll peel her skin off while you’re still driving. Do you understand?"
