Chapter 52
ERYX
I slam the door open so hard the frame shudders, the sound echoing through the apartment.
I’m livid storming back into my apartment.
Empty handed, no Anastasia and no idea where he took her.
Thoren follows me in, quiet but stiff, like he’s bracing himself.
My chest feels like it’s caving in, anger and panic twisting together. It’s too loud in my head right now.
Ro is the first to speak, her voice sharp, but laced with panic. “Where’s Stassi?”
“I don’t know.” The words rip out of me, harsh.
Roman leans forward getting up from the couch, “And Brielle?”
“I said I don’t know!” My voice breaks, higher this time, fury spilling out, not at them but at myself. At the fact that I don’t know where to start, that she’s out there and I can’t reach her.
“What do you mean?” He pushes.
“Exactly as I said! I don’t know. She was gone when we got there, and when we went to leave, Brielle had escaped.”
I pace, fingers raking through my hair, wishing for something to smash. Caine and Shina trade a glance.
“Sebastian has her. He took Anastasia.”
“Where?”
“That’s the problem,” Thoren answers, calm but heavy. “He’s got multiple properties. Houses, Estates. He could have taken her anywhere.”
I clench my fists until my knuckles crack. The thought of her, trapped in one of his places, scared and alone, makes me see red. I snap my gaze to Thoren, who’s still hovering by the door like a ghost.
“You work for him now,” I snarl. “You know his habits. Where would he take her?”
Before he can even form an answer, his phone buzzes on the table. The vibration is sharp in the silence. I snatch it up. A notification fills the screen, and for a second I think I’m seeing it wrong. My blood goes cold.
A wedding announcement.
Sebastian’s wedding.
To Anastasia.
The room stills around me. For a beat, no one breathes. I shove the screen at the others, my voice low and shaking with fury. “This is how he tells us. He wants me to see it.”
Caine leans in, eyes narrowing. “Can you trace it?” I ask him.
“I know where he’s at,” Thoren snags his phone back, “Jalisco. His main residency is there. It’s the place that’ll make the most noise.”
Finally, a target, a place to tear apart if that’s what it takes. My pulse hammers as the fury sharpens into something lethal, focused. “Then that’s where we’re going,” I say, my voice like steel. “We stop this wedding. We bring her home.”
For a beat, silence. Then Ro nods, her expression firm, no hesitation.
“Good, then we move fast.”
Roman exhales hard, shoving to his feet. “It won’t be easy. He’ll expect a fight.”
Caine smirks without humor. “When don’t we fight?”
Shina glances at Thoren, then back at me, her jaw tight. “If it’s his main estate, it’ll be locked down tight. But it doesn’t matter. We’ll find a way in. After all, you’ve got two of the best hackers with you.”
I look at all of them. Ro steady as stone, Roman itching for blood, Caine and Shina already calculating, Thoren standing stiff and silent like he’s caught between two worlds.
All of them have my back, I know it. Thoren is a stranger to us all, we‘re partly to blame for how things transpired.
But he would die for his sister, I know it.
For the first time since the ground fell out from under me, I feel something close to clarity.
They’ll follow me. All of them. And I’ll tear Jalisco apart brick by brick if that’s what it takes.
She’s mine. And I’m not losing her again.
The night air bites at my skin as I climb the steps into the jet.
Roman’s already seated, his posture rigid, the very picture of restraint.
Thoren follows close behind me, his eyes dark, restless energy radiating off him in waves.
Caine is the last to board, calm as ever, tablet in hand like he’s already three moves ahead.
The door seals with a hiss, shutting us into the pressurized silence.
My chest is tight, every breath a fight.
The leather seats should feel comfortable, but nothing about this feels right.
Not when she’s not by my side. Thoren gave us everything he knows on the Jalisco property, an estate outside of Pérula.
Private grounds, heavy security, cameras on every wall.
“Getting in is one thing. Getting her out…” He trails off, his eyes flicking toward me. He doesn’t need to say the rest.
“We’ll get her out,” I cut in, sharper than intended. My chest burns, but I hold Thoren’s stare until he nods once.
Thoren leans forward, elbows on his knees. “What about the wedding? If Sebastian’s got everything in motion—”
“There won’t be a wedding,” I snap, the words like glass in my throat. “He doesn’t get to put his hands on her. Not ever.” The silence that follows is thick, broken only by the steady roar of the engines as we slice through the dark sky.
Caine sets his tablet on the table. A map blooms across the screen.
His voice is steady, measured, cutting through the tension like a blade.
“The Eastern wall is the weakest point. Less coverage, just two guards rotating every half hour. If we move fast, we can breach there, get inside without alerting the entire compound. Fewer guards. Easier to breach.” He’d hacked into their security systems and has been learning the guards rotation schedule over the last few hours.
Thoren’s tone is sharp. “And what happens when we’re inside? You think Sebastian won’t know the second we set foot on his property?”
I snap before I can stop myself. “We’ll deal with him when we get to him. The only thing that matters is getting her out.”
His jaw tightens. “Rushing in without a plan is exactly how you’ll get her killed.”
Heat sparks in my veins. “Don’t tell me about getting her killed—”
Roman’s hand slams against the table, silencing both of us.
His voice is hard, final. “Enough, this isn’t about who’s more angry.
It’s about bringing her home alive. You both want the same thing, start acting like it.
” The plane hums louder, the tension settling into an uneasy truce.
I force myself to look at the map, to focus, even as every instinct screams to put my fist through something.
Caine gestures calmly, unbothered by our clash.
“What happens once we’re in?” Roman presses.
“Split into two teams,” Caine answers. “Thoren and I draw attention, pull the guards toward the West wing. Eryx, you and Roman go for Stassi. She’s most likely kept on the upper floors, secured.”
Shina’s voice echoes in my head even though she isn’t here. Let me cover your blind spots. I can feed Caine surveillance from a distance. She’d argued to come, but this isn’t her fight to bleed for. It’s mine. Ours.
Roman leans back, exhaling slow. “Timing will be everything. We’ll only have one clean shot.”
“Then we don’t miss,” I say. My voice is low, dangerous, but steady now. The kind of steady I only get when I’m about to tear someone apart. Thoren looks at me, something raw flashing in his eyes. He doesn’t say it, but I know he’s thinking the same thing, this is our only chance to bring her home.
I glance out the window, the endless dark swallowing us whole as the jet pushes South. My chest tightens until it’s hard to breathe, but I welcome it. The pain keeps me sharp. Keeps me focused.
“Hold on, Vorona,” I whisper to the night. “I’m coming.”