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I stood up so fast that my laptop crashed to the floor hard enough to make the screen flicker. I felt numb as I tried to gasp for breath while my brain blanked. Thinking maybe this was some weird dream, that maybe I’d nodded off during the boring sixth inning, I glanced at my brothers, but they were already running out the door, their phones still to their ears.
“Wh-what do you mean, everyone is dead?” I choked out.
“Nova’s and Ciana’s guards, Z. Fuck, I don’t even know if the girls are alive. I’m on my way to the airport now. I’ll be home as soon as I can.” There was static on his end that didn’t make sense to my confused brain.
Why the fuck wasn’t my brain working?
It was a dream.
It had to be a dream.
A nightmare.
“Zariah,” he snapped my full name, jerking me out of my head. “Go up to the mansion and be with Mom. Don’t leave the compound. Do you understand? Stay safe, Z. I love you.”
“I-I love you,” I stumbled the words out as I tripped over my feet, running from my house to do exactly as he’d instructed.
Ciana was gone. Someone had taken her and Nova.Oh shit. Ryan!What would Ryan do if something happened to either of them? Ciana was like his twin, as dear to him as Zayne was to me. Maybe even more so, they were so close.
And Nova…
Nothing could happen to Nova. It just couldn’t.
Because if it did, then Ryan—
I cut off that thought and focused on running up to the mansion. The place was in chaos, guards running around, arming themselves as they loaded into the many, many vehicles already lined up outside.Tetkafollowed them out, giving me a hard hug along the way.
“Stay with your mother,” she instructed, her voice firm, leaving no room for argument. “If anything happens, you go to the safe room. But no matter what, you stay with Scarlett. Do you understand?”
All I could do was nod, unable to find my voice. Fear was choking me, making it barely possible to breathe, let alone form words. She left, taking at least fifty men with her, and I followed the sounds of sobbing and things breaking until I found my mother.
She was in the family room. Anything she got her hands on crashed against the nearest wall, shattering and scattering across the already littered floor. I was careful to avoid the sharp shards of glass as I rushed to her and wrapped my arms around her.
When she felt me, she froze and turned her brown eyes on me. They were wild and so like Ciana’s that tears instantly filled my eyes.Would I ever see my little sister again?Seeing my normally strong, capable mother so shaken and lost, I couldn’t pretend this was a dream any longer.
“Z-Z-Zari-ah.” She sobbed my name, and I felt her start to crumble. “Th-they took my b-b-baby.”
“I know, Mom,” I rasped, trying and failing to be strong for her. My tears fell harder until my mother’s face was nothing but a blur. “But Papa will find her. H-he won’t let anything happen to her. AndTetkawent with them. They’re going to bring Ciana and Nova home.”
“Oh God,” she sobbed, dropping to her knees, taking me with her. “What do I tell Jet and Felicity? I-I let Sheena take their baby.”
What little air I still had in my lungs felt forced from my body at the mention ofthatname. “S-Sheena?” I stuttered. “No,” I denied. “Zayne said it was the Colombians.”
It had to be the Colombians. The Colombians were dangerous, but Manuel Ramirez was an idiot. Sheena O’Brion, on the other hand, was anything but stupid. She was the boogeyman my parents had taught all us kids to fear as children. If she had my sister and Nova, then the chances of us ever getting either of them back—dead or alive—had just dropped dramatically.
