Page 126 of Bonds of Betrayal
Two men in black—masks, gloves, coordinated—lunge toward her.
She screams.
One grabs her around the waist, the other clamps a hand over her mouth.
Her legs kick, heels scraping uselessly against the ground.
My feet are already moving.
“Hey!” I roar, pulling my gun from inside my jacket.
But they’re faster.
She disappears inside the van like a scene from a nightmare, and the door slams shut.
I fire—once, twice—but the bullets ricochet off metal, useless against the acceleration of the van as it peels away, taillights burning red like warning signs.
“No!” My voice shreds through the night.
I sprint after them, rage and panic crashing in my chest like a storm. But the van speeds through the next light and vanishes between buildings.
Gone.
She’s gone.
I stop in the middle of the street, chest heaving, gun still clenched in my fist.
Horns blare around me—cars swerving, someone yelling—but it’s all just noise. Background static.
My mind is blank. Then it’s screaming.
I spin in place, trying to make sense of it, trying to remember every detail—the license plate, the make of the van, anything.
But my memory is already bleeding at the edges, blurred by adrenaline.
My phone. I fumble for it, hands shaking, calling the only number that matters in this moment.
“Miko,” I bark when my brother picks up. “They took her. Someone just fucking took Stephanie.”
“What? What the hell do you mean?—”
“Van. Two men. Masks. She was right in front of me—I was right there!”
“Where are you?”
“State and Kinzie. Outside Nido.”
“Stay put. I’m sending someone.”
I hang up without saying goodbye. My thumb hovers over the contacts list. My father’s name glares at me like a threat.
I don’t call him.
I can already imagine his response.You were distracted. Careless. Chasing a girl who’s not part of this world.And the worst part? He wouldn’t be wrong.
But if anything happens to her…
I press the heel of my palm to my eyes, trying to keep the rising tide of fury from boiling over.
Stephanie isn’t some pawn.
She isn’t leverage.
She’s notexpendable.
She’smine.
And someone just made the biggest mistake of their life.
TO BE CONTINUED.
