Damian (The Golden Team #11)

Prologue

Ruby

The street was nearly empty, just the faint hum of traffic a few blocks over and the sound of my sneakers tapping the cracked sidewalk. I tugged my hoodie tighter around me and kept humming with my earbuds in, scrolling through the text Morgan had sent not ten minutes ago.

Home in twenty, kiddo. Don’t eat all the cookies before I get there.

I smiled, tucking the phone back in my pocket. She always called me kiddo, even though I’d been insisting I was sixteen—basically an adult—since my birthday last month.

A van rolled past, slow, its headlights washing me in white. I glanced up, annoyed. When it braked at the corner, a prickle of unease slid down my spine.

Don’t be paranoid, Ruby. It’s just a van.

But then it backed up.

I froze.

The side door screeched open, and two men spilled out, moving with sharp purpose. Not drunk. Not lost. Not safe.

“Hey!” I shouted, yanking my earbuds free. My phone slipped from my pocket and clattered against the pavement, Morgan’s name glowing on the cracked screen.

A hand clamped around my arm, yanking me off balance. I kicked, screamed, and clawed at him, but he was huge, his grip iron. The second man shoved a cloth against my mouth. Bitter chemical fumes rushed into my nose, down my throat, and my scream faltered.

No. Morgan. Please—

The world tilted, blurring. My phone’s glow was the last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me whole.