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"But why?" I can't remain sitting. "I don't understand what they want with her. She can't be that important, surely? After everything, why couldn't they just give her up and let her be with me? I thought you all were supposed to be powerful enough to protect me."

"We are," Bradley replies. "But we're not all-powerful. Terrible things still happen, but we will not give up. Boris's attack is an act of war against us and is punishable regardless of his reasoning. I suspect he knows this given he tossed down an invite to the gala. We will come up with a plan and we will get to the bottom of this."

"Then plan now!" I stare around at all of them. "Let's get to it!"

"No." Bradley stands slowly and his large frame seems to take up the entire room. "You, Cassian, and Valentina are lucky to still have your lives intact. You will rest. We will come up with a plan."

"You can't seriously expect me to just sit on my hands while Illyana is out there somewhere?"

"I do." Bradley nods slowly. "And you will because you are in no condition to be of any help."

"What?"

"Cassian?" Bradley looks past me to Cassian, who stands and tries to take my elbow.

"Come on, Sabina. You need rest."

"Are you serious? Do you want to shove me out of sight, out of mind? Is that it? Whatever." I snatch my hand away from him and stalk away. "Don't touch me. I'm perfectly capable of walking."

Pain feeds into the annoyance and the anger inside me, which leaks into the hurt and panic that anything could be happening to Illyana right now. The more I think about it, the more I fear she was safer in Italy. What if all this stress is too much for her? What if my desire to save her is the very thing that kills her?

I stomp away from Cassian, keeping my distance while he leads me to a bedroom, but once inside with the door closed, my shoulders slump.

"I'm sorry," I murmur dejectedly. "I shouldn't have acted like that."

"No one will hold it against you," Cassian replies. "Least of all me."

"I'm scared." Turning to face him, I reach for his hand. "I'm scared I've screwed all of this up and made things worse for her."

"Everything you've done has been with her best interests in mind."

"I bet they think the same," I mutter, sighing deeply. "I feel so useless."

"You're not useless. But my team is the best, and if there's a plan to be made, they will make it."

"So I'm supposed to just sit by in the meantime?"

"We both are." Cassian lifts his hand and gently cups my cheek. "Bradley is right. We're kind of fucked up right now."

I study his arm and then his leg and sigh deeply. "Are you okay?"

"My shoulder dislocated and a piece of the car frame embedded in my thigh, but believe me, I've had worse." Cassian smiles strongly. "Come on. Let me run you a bath."

The thought of bathing feels impossible right now when Illyana is out in the city somewhere, but Cassian is persuasive. Eventually, after covering the bandages in shrink wrap, we bathe together and let our injured muscles finally relax. In the bubbles and hot water, I finally come to terms with the fact that I was wrong.

I do feel like a mother.

All this anger and frustration stem from a growing urge to protect my daughter because she is mine. She is my daughter, and I will fight for her.

After the bath, Cassian tucks me into bed despite my insistence that I won't sleep. I've no idea what his answer is because exhaustion quickly pulls me under and I sleep for an entire day. I likely would have slept for longer if Cassian hadn't appeared by my side and gently coaxed me awake with soft calls of my name.

"Mmm?" Opening one eye, I gaze blearily at him and wince. "Oh. Ow."

"I have your painkillers," he assures me. "And I hate to wake you, but I need you."

Yawning widely, I ease myself up to sit while my chest suddenly throbs painfully as if I've just been struck. "Ow," I groan. "What's up?"

"Bradley has news."