47. Sienna
Sienna
T hey still think this is a discussion.
It’s not.
“I’ll go in alone if I have to.”
The words drop into the room hard enough everything stops.
Keyboard clicks.
Movement.
Breathing.
Every single person turns toward me.
I swear I hear some chuckles. I'd better be wrong. When I looked around they were all serious.
Good.
Now they’re paying attention.
“You’re not doing this alone.”
Jonah’s voice comes immediately from behind me.
Sharp.
Certain.
I don’t even turn around.
“Yes, I am.”
“No.”
The single word cracks through the room.
I pivot toward him finally.
“Yes.”
My chest feels tight again.
Too tight.
Because every second Elizabeth stays there matters now.
Every second.
“I’m the only one who understands the system they’re using,” I say. “I know how they think. I know how they move.”
“That doesn’t mean you walk into a hostile site by yourself.”
“It does if that’s what keeps her alive.”
Silence slices through the room after that.
Tight.
Uncomfortable.
Ronan steps forward first.
“You almost didn’t come back last time.”
“But I did.”
“That’s not strategy,” Lance mutters.
“It is when the alternative is waiting.”
My voice lowers.
Quieter now.
Deadlier.
“It’s been over three years.”
Nobody interrupts me this time.
Good.
“They took her because of me.”
The words scrape coming out.
“They kept her because of me.”
I can feel Jonah watching me now.
Steady.
Unmoving.
“I stayed with HELIOS because they had her.”
My throat tightens violently.
“For years, I didn’t even know if she was alive.”
The image of Elizabeth’s face flashes hard behind my eyes.
Thinner.
Scared.
Still trying to protect me.
Now I know.
And nothing on earth is stopping me from getting her back.
“I’m going to find her.”
The growl in my voice barely sounds human anymore.
No one argues.
Because they can’t.
Not after seeing that video.
Not after watching me break apart over her.
I straighten slowly and look at every single person in the room.
Cal.
Lance.
Ronan.
Then Jonah.
“So here’s what’s going to happen.”
Not a request.
Not a suggestion.
A promise.
“I’m going to get my sister back.”
The room stays completely silent.
“And if none of you help me…”
I hold their gaze one by one.
“I will do it myself.”
Ronan exhales heavily and rubs a hand down his face.
“You know we’re going to help you.”
Emotion punches unexpectedly through my chest at that.
Because after years of being alone—
I’m suddenly not anymore.