Page 197 of The Darkest Chase

I stare down at my blank screen.

Cold sweat slicks my brow.

My heart feels like someone’s drilling screws into it.

There’s no doubt in my mind that he aims to kill Talia.

I just have to hope he’s more focused on making his shipping window first, to buy us some time.

I want to fucking call her.

I want to hear her voice, to know she’s alive. Only, if she’s in a delicate situation and her phone rings, if she can’t silence it, if I endanger her—

No, I can’t take the risk.

“Micah?” Grant growls. “What’s wrong?”

I snap up from zoning out, looking at the three men who stare back resolutely.

“Bad news. Xavier and the Jacobins have a hostage,” I snarl.

“Talia Grey?” Henri whispers.

I can only nod.

Lucas and Henri both wince, dissolving into curses.

Grant’s stormy expression hardens into death.

“He’s taking her to Mariposa Cove, I assume?”

“Maybe,” I say, but there’s doubt eating me. “Can we risk it if he’s not? What if he dumps her off somewhere along the way, and we miss our chance to stop him because we’re chasing him to the docks?”

It takes a second for the raw desperation in my own voice to sink in.

My throat’s tight, scratchy, hurting.

I feel like I’ve caught Talia’s asthma.

But I can’t be wrong.

I can’t let him hurt her.

I love her too goddamned much and she doesn’t even know it.

“Hey.” Grant steps closer and claps one big hand to my shoulder, his steady gaze locking on me and holding me firm. “Trust your instincts, man. What are they telling you?”

My jaw clenches.

I stop as my phone buzzes again in my palm.

This time, no ringtone.

It’s the safety app I made Talia install.

It lights up, blinking with a GPS location pinpointing an emergency signal, somewhere east of Raleigh and speeding up the coast.

It’s not just urgency erupting inside me now.

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