46. Orion
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
ORION
E mber’s eyes haunt me.
The fear as she stares up into the camera, her hands clutching at the white sheet for dear life.
She doesn’t look hurt, which only eases my mind slightly. Because I know better than anyone, physical pain isn’t the worst thing someone can feel.
It’s the emotional pain that will get you.
Max lost his mind when he saw the photos and started calling every lawyer he has on his payroll, asking about the laws around forced marriage, but seeing as it’s five in the morning, they weren’t overly useful.
Meanwhile, I’ve been stuck, staring at the images, analyzing every single detail. The background, the cot she’s lying on, even the fucking thread count of the sheet.
Killian woke up when I threw a chair through the wall of the office, storming into the room with his gun drawn like someone had broken in. Instead, he was met with the unhinged monster we both thought was long gone when I stopped killing people for money.
He’s working with a hacker on the footprint of the images, whatever the hell that means.
I don’t care, as long as I know we’re doing everything possible to bring my girl home.
God, the fear in her eyes.
I can’t stop thinking about it.
Truthfully, I think I’ll be haunted by that look for the rest of my fucking life.
It’ll be right up there with when I held her on the floor of my bathroom, watching as she slipped away and begging her to stay with me.
Yeah, I have a lot of memories of Ember that are going to star in my nightmares for the rest of my life.
Darius drops a coffee on the desk in front of me, and I thank him as he moves over to where Max has his head in his hands on the couch. We’re down to one chair on this side of the desk. The other one is currently hanging out of the wall.
If I wasn’t so terrified, I’d probably be able to find it in myself to be impressed by that.
Killian’s in the spot I normally sit in, his eyes moving over his laptop screen as he talks on the phone, but I don’t hear a word he says.
I’m just grateful as all hell I stumbled across him that night all those years ago, because I don’t think I could do this by myself.
I flinch when my phone vibrates in my hand, and Lucas’s number pops up on the screen.
“He’s calling me,” I tell them, unable to tear my eyes off the phone.
“Answer it and keep him on the line,” Killian orders, his own phone forgotten as his fingers fly over the keyboard.
I swallow heavily and force the Hunter to the surface. Appearing weak right now will only drag this out. Lucas needs to know he hasn’t broken me.
“Lucas,” I snap into the phone, my tone flat and bored.
“Is that any way to treat the man who holds your life in his hands?”
“I don’t know how that’s possible when I’m tucked up at home.
” I know exactly what he means, and he does.
Ember is the only thing that matters to me.
She’s my reason for breathing, the heart that beats outside my body, the soul I thought was long gone.
But I play dumb, because that’s the safest option for her.
He chuckles, the sound grating on my nerves. My jaw clenches as I force a calming breath into my lungs.
Don’t bite.
“I thought you would like to know how your little flame is doing.”
“Let me talk to her,” I demand, but don’t allow any emotion to bleed into my voice.
“Hmm, let me think about that.” He pauses for a moment before continuing, “No.”
“How do I know she’s alive if you won’t let me talk to her? I’m assuming that’s why you’re calling. To taunt me.”
“So perceptive,” he mocks. There’s a rustling on the other end of the line, and I use the few seconds to meet Killian’s eyes.
“ Keep him on the line,” he mouths.
A startled scream fills the line, and I grasp the arm of the chair, the sound filled with so much terror I can barely breathe.
“Tell your boyfriend that you’re alive and well, Ember,” Lucas commands.
“Orion?” Her sweet voice fills the line, and my heart shatters. I hate how defeated she sounds. None of her usual sass. None of the life I’ve grown accustomed to hearing when she opens her mouth. She sounds scared, terrified even.
“Yeah, sweetheart. It’s me. Are you okay?”
“They drugged me,” she tells me. “It’s fucked my body up, and I’ve been feeling really unwell.”
I suck in a breath. The idea that she’s sick, and I’m not there to take care of her, makes me clench my jaw so hard it pops.
“But I’m not hurt.”
The admission allows some of the tension to bleed from my body.
“You hold on for me, Little Flame,” I say, forcing as much calm into the words as I can manage, but there’s a fire raging inside of me that I’m struggling to contain.
The phone rustles again, and I’m met with Lucas’s voice once more. “Happy? You have proof of life. Now, I want something from you.”
I growl. “What do you want, Lucas?”
“I want the whole world to know who the Hunter is.”