“I’ll take any weapons we can find from the bodies.”
“We’ll find Buzz Cut and end him. Then we’ll figure out how to free the rest of the girls in the cargo hold. We’re not leaving without them.”
Max and I stared at each other. In a heartbeat, so many emotions crossed between us.
For better or worse, we were stuck. And we only had each other to get free.
“We’ll get through it,” I said, echoing his earlier words.
He cleared his throat, opening his mouth to say something before pausing. He changed his mind about what he wanted to say before he spoke. “Survive, Leona.”
I couldn’t tell if it was a command or a pleading. My throat choked with emotion. “That’s the plan. You too, I guess.”
“Encouraging.” A wry smile split his face. I smiled back, just for a moment. The calm before the storm.
When Buzz Cut came back, we were ready.
10
WYNN
Ilost her.
It was the first thought that screamed through my head when I felt myself regaining consciousness, more severe than the intense pain tearing through my torso. It sucked the breath from my lungs, leaving me gasping.
I. Lost. Her.
“Wynn.” My sister’s voice floated around me, but it didn’t matter.
Leona was gone, and it was my fault.
I took her from the penthouse. I didn’t have enough ammo or weapons on me. I couldn’t defeat the men who attacked us. I let them take her.
“Wynn, breathe,” Willow said. A cold hand touched my cheek, and her face swam in my vision.
I didn’thaveany breath in my lungs. My entire chest was seizing up. The walls were closing in, like a weight was choking me from the inside out. My limbs shook.
“Leona,” I choked out, but my tongue was too thick and my mouth too dry. “Leona.”
Willow forced me to look at her. Her hair was a halo of white around her face. “Breathe, little brother.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d had to talk me down from a panic attack. We’d both used to get them in those early years after we escaped from our trafficking captors. I’d killed the men who had kidnapped us, sold us, and raped us. I did it even though I knew murder was wrong. My chest used to seize at the knowledge that I’d never be free of that stain on my soul.
As soon as I locked on Willow’s face, saw the calm written there, I could finally suck in a breath.
“Where is she?”
How long had it been? Had Ciel received my phone call? Did they know she was gone?
Willow’s pink lips pressed together, her palm soft on my cheek. “When you’re stable enough to transport, we’ll move you home.”
“Willow,” I whispered, moisture beading in the corners of my eyes. “Where is she?”
She sat back, double-checking the monitors currently beeping next to the bed. The more she moved, the more our surroundings became clearer, but I didn’t care. “Your vitals look good.”
Ciel. My brothers.Leona.
“Why aren’t you answering me?”
