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“No, Evan.” She shook her head as she lifted her gaze to mine, her light brown eyes glistening with tears. “None of this is your fault. Every bit of this is on Tomas. We'll find Jax. We can make this right.” The look of hope in her eyes—the belief that I could make this right—nearly broke me. Could I save him from Tomas’s wrath? What if we were already too late?
“Mariah's right,” Sebastian said from where he leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. He looked worried, but there was also that determined glint in his eye. “We won’t let Tomas win. We will find Jax, and we'll get Porter back, too. This isn’t over.”
Sebastian pulled out his phone and began making calls, the few silver streaks in his hair catching the light as he paced the room. He’d gone firmly into alpha mode now.
A few minutes later, his security team sent over the footage they’d gathered. We followed Sebastian to his office to see what it might reveal, and watched as he clicked through the files. Most of the footage was of Porter, as we needed him to be safe if we wanted Rosalind’s cooperation. I tried not dwell on how all of our hard work might be in jeopardy.
“It looks like he was picked up in an unregistered vehicle.” Sebastian paused the video and pointed at a car with no tags. He backed up the video, then zoomed in as the footage showed a man being shoved into the car before it pulled away.
I ground my teeth. “Any idea where they took him?”
Sebastian shook his head but pulled his phone out and began making calls once more. Mariah clung to me, utterly distraught as he worked.
“Okay,” he said, glancing at us as he ended one call and immediately dialed someone else. “I think we’ve got a lead. One of my guys managed to follow the car. They took him to a warehouse in Atlantic City.”
“You’ve got the address?” Sebastian demanded into his phone. He listened for a moment, then nodded. “Can you put your drones on the property now? I want a live feed.”
Within minutes, drones were launched and were flying over the property Porter had been taken to. The live footage streamed on Sebastian's monitor, and we watched, hoping to see something, anything that’d let us know what we were facing. Before long, there was activity along the back of the warehouse. A different car pulled up to the nearly obscured bay, and Mariah gasped when Jax stumbled out. Even in the footage, he looked battered and bruised, limping as he was shoved toward a metal door next to the bay.
“Damn it.” I slammed my fist on the desk. “Tomas is twisted enough that I’m sure he has no qualms about killing his own son.”
Mariah shuddered, a sob catching in her throat, and her hand coming to her mouth as she shook her head. “No.”
“Let's not waste any more time,” Sebastian said, already dialing his pilot to ready the jet. “My team is on it, but I need to get there as fast as possible.”
How had this become my life? I never would’ve imagined I’d be back in this world of dragon shifters, much less entangled in this kind of situation. This went beyond the custody case. It was becoming a full-blown clan war.
But we owed it to Jax. He’d stuck his neck out to help us, and now he was in danger. It was time to face the battle ahead and secure the future of my family once and for all.
I turned to Sebastian once he ended the call with his pilot. “Your men. Are they trained for search and rescue?”
“Of course,” he said steadily. He was always such a solid rock. “I had them trained for situations like this. It was mostly due to my fear that Tomas would come after you again or try to take Lucas. I never thought it’d come to something like this, though.”
“I’m ready to go.” I was ready to lend Sebastian whatever he needed, despite Mariah gripping my arm while panic flashed in her eyes. “Whatever you need, just let me know.”
“Listen, Evan,” Sebastian said. “I don’t think that’s the best idea. You're not trained for this kind of operation like my men are. They’re specialists. I think it would be safer if you stayed behind.”
“No fucking way,” I growled, even as Mariah’s grip tightened, her fingers digging into my arm. “This is my mess, and I won't hide while somebody else cleans it up for me.”
“It’s our mess. We started this together,” Sebastian countered.
“All the more reason why I’m going to be right there with you to finish it.”
“Evan, I understand why you want to be involved, believe me. But having you there, untrained in this kind of mission, could put both yourself and others in danger. It's essential that we all know what we're doing out there. These men have been a team for years. They know each other’s every move.”
I clenched my jaw, keeping my temper at bay, but it was hard when my dragon’s instincts were flaring, demanding I do whatever it took to protect those I loved, including my father.
“I appreciate your concern, but I'm not backing down on this, Sebastian. I'll listen to your orders and do whatever it takes to bring Jax and Porter back safely." I stared him down, determination etched across my face.
He sighed. “I don’t like it, but I understand why you feel this way. If it were me, I’d be saying the same thing. If I agree to this, though, you have to promise you'll follow my lead and take orders, no matter what. There’s no room for mistakes if we all want to make it back home in one piece.”
I could see Mariah shaking her head from the corner of my eye, but this was something I had to do: for her, for Sofia, for all of us.
“I swear to it.” I extended my hand. Sebastian clasped it firmly, and I knew that despite everything we’d been through, despite any unresolved feelings about the past and what he wanted for my future, we were united on this.
“Let's go save our family,” Sebastian said. “I’m going to speak with Abi. Gather only what you need and meet me downstairs.”
I nodded once, then took Mariah’s hand and wordlessly led her from the office and downstairs to our room.
