Chapter Forty-Three
Roman
Something isn’t right.
Though we’ve let Rosalie traverse the woods on her own, we’ve kept tabs on her location. One of us has been trailing behind her the whole time, but as we join back up, there’s no sign of our girl anywhere.
“You had her last,” Kairo says to me as he rips his mask off. “Where did she go?”
“Maddox was supposed to close in on her around her property. I left her there.” I shove my mask up.
Maddox lowers his as his eyes bounce between us. “I followed the trail, but didn’t see her…”
“Fuck!” I curse, throwing the neon plastic to the dirt. “She has to be around here somewhere.”
“We’ll find her,” Kairo reassures before cupping his mouth and shouting into the trees. “Thorn! Come on out!”
Maddox does the same, breaking away from us to yell in the opposite direction. Somehow, I feel like this isn’t going to help. It’s a gut instinct.
Something is really wrong.
My phone begins to ring, and I fish it out of my pocket without looking at the caller ID. I lift it to my ear, my heart slamming. “Rose—”
“No time,” Knox barks from the other end. His voice is an urgent rush that makes my lips clamp shut. “I traced Waylon’s contacts and finally put a name to a body. Holden Poole. Does that ring any bells?”
I scowl at the Earth beneath me. The name sounds familiar, and it takes a moment for me to rack my brain before my lips part in disbelief. A recent report from a local police station sends my blood running cold.
Trafficking ring busted in Sacramento. Holden Poole and his accomplices, Jeremy Newman and Salvatore Boone, are still at large.
It was something I came across a few weeks ago while looking into Waylon’s records. I never considered the connection before now, and I see fucking red.
It all makes sense. Waylon wasn’t talking about drugs in his messages. He was talking about flesh. Rosalie’s flesh.
“Get your team to California,” I instruct my connection. “Heads are going to roll, and blood will be spilled.”
“Booking a flight now,” Knox says. “Don’t contact the authorities. We want no traces.”
“Way ahead of you. I’ll send you the meetup location.” I slam my finger on the red icon to end our call. My hand squeezes my phone so tightly that I’m surprised I haven’t broken it.
“What’s wrong?” Maddox asks from behind me.
I close my eyes, my face screwing up at the horrid way I’ve failed my Siren. Again.
I turn to face my friends, my aura heavy with bloodlust and urgency screaming through my system. My eyes convey every gut-wrenching detail without a word.
Kairo’s eyes widen before he takes two long strides towards me and grips my shoulders hard. “Where is she?! What—”
Maddox looks lost—terrified as he shifts in place. “She isn’t here. Is she?”
I shake my head, the bridge of my nose stinging as I try to hold myself together. Kairo bellows his despair into the forest, the sound echoing off the trees.