Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Enley’s shaking now, full body tremors that make the whole seat vibrate. She’s Poe’s sister. The girl I carried out of hell on my back while she cried into my neck. The girl whose brother trusted me with her life. And now that same brother is in Serafina’s hands. I feel sick. Guilty. Furious. I should’ve been there. I should’ve seen this coming. Instead I’m here on the side of the road, holding Enley’s hand while she falls apart.
“He did this for me,” she cries, voice cracking. “He walked into that warehouse for me. He let them take him so I could be free. And now he’s the one locked up. I should be there. I should be the one they have, not him.”
“Enley, no,” I say, my voice rough. I pull her across the console and into my lap without thinking, wrapping both arms around her. She’s so small against me, trembling, face buried in my neck. Her tears soak through my shirt instantly. “Your brother would lose his mind if you went back in. He fought like hell to get you out. You staying safe is the only thing keeping him going right now. I promise you that.”
Knight clears his throat on the line. “Enley, listen to Render. Your brother is tough. Tougher than any of us. He has Orchid with him too, and she’s not going down easy. They’re going to be okay. We’re going to get them back. All of them.”
Enley lifts her head enough to speak into the phone, voice raw and cracking. “What about the others? Ozzy? Arrow? Gage? Lark? Are they hurt? Did she… did she do anything to them?”
“We don’t know the details,” Knight admits. “But Maddox has eyes on a few leads. Serafina’s moving them to a secondary location. She’s cocky right now. She thinks she has the upper hand. That’s when people make mistakes.”
I feel the rage building in my chest, hot and black and ready to explode. Serafina has my team. My brothers. Enley’s falling apart in my arms because of her. I want to turn this car around right now, floor it back to the city, kick every door down until I find them. But I know better. Rushing in gets people killed.
“Knight,” I say, forcing my voice steady for Enley’s sake. “What do you need from us?”
“Stay gone,” he answers immediately. “Do not come back. Don’t try to play hero. Serafina doesn’t know we got Enley out clean. That’s our only real advantage. You two stay off the grid, keep moving, change cars again in the next town. Use the new IDs I sent yesterday. Stay dark until we give the all-clear. Maddox is calling in every favor we have. We’re setting up a full counter-operation. But it’s going to take time. Days, maybe a week. If you show up now you become another bargaining chip. Or worse. She already has six of us. Don’t give her seven.”
Enley shakes her head against my chest, fresh tears soaking through. “I can’t just hide while my brother is suffering. I can’t.”
I stroke her back, slow and steady, trying to pour every ounce of calm I don’t feel into her. “We’re not hiding forever,” I tell her and Knight both. “We’re staying smart. Poe needs you alive and free when this ends. He needs all of us. If we go in half-cocked we lose. I’m not losing you, Enley. I’m not losing any more of the team. We wait. We prepare. And when Maddox says go, we go in hard and we end her.”
Knight lets out a long breath. “Render is right. This ends soon. One way or another. Serafina finally overplayed her hand. She thinks she broke us. She has no idea what she just started. Stay safe, both of you. I’ll check in every forty-eight hours. If anything changes I’ll call.”
The line goes dead.
Silence fills the car again, heavier than before. Enley stays in my lap, trembling, her fingers twisted in my shirt like it’s the only thing keeping her anchored. I hold her tighter, pressing kisses to her temple, her hair, careful not to let my lips linger too long. That’s the line I can’t cross, no matter how right it feels to have her in my arms.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper. “I should’ve been there. I should’ve seen this coming.”
Enley pulls back just enough to look at me. Her eyes are red and swollen but there’s steel in them now. “Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself. You saved me. You got me out when no one else could. Poe knew the risks. He did it anyway. Because that’s who he is. And now we have to be who we are. We stay alive. We stay ready. For him. For all of them.”
I nod and rest my forehead against hers for a moment, breathing her in. She’s so close. Too close. I can feel the warmth of her breath, the rapid beat of her heart against mine. I want to kiss her so badly it hurts, but I don’t. I can’t. Not when Poe is out there somewhere counting on me to keep his sister safe.