Page 57 of From the Ashes

I swallow heavily and reach for my phone, never taking my eyes off the scene in front of me.

I dial Camilla’s number, and she answers on the second ring. “Kaos,” she sobs.

“Where are you right now, Princess?”

“The panic room. Kovu texted me to get inside, but then I received a message with a photo attached.” Her voice catches on a sob. “Are you on your way? I don’t know how they got in. I don’t know where our guards are, and now they have Kovu. They want me to go and take his place.”

I know exactly where the guards are, but I don’t tell her about the two dead bodies I can see from where I’m parked down the street. Something tells me that wouldn’t do anything to settle her right now.

“I’m almost there, but I need you to stay in the panic room. No matter what you see or hear, you stay there until one of us comes to get you, okay? Kovu will be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

There’s silence on the other end of the line for long seconds before she whispers, “Kaos, you’re scaring me.”

“It’s just a precaution, Princess. I promise.” The lie slips from my mouth before I can stop it, but then I’m not sure I would even if I could. If it means keeping her safe, I have no issues lying through my teeth, even if she fucking hates me for it at the end of the day.

“Where are the others?”

“On their way as well. I’m going to call them now and see where they are, but I had to make sure you were safe first.” I pause and force as much calm into my voice as I can manage. “Stay where you are, and we’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay.” There’s a soft sob on the other end of the line that tugs at the gaping hole in my chest that my heart once inhabited. “Be safe.”

I end the call before I can say the words that are on the tip of my tongue. I refuse to say them in the heat of the moment. She deserves better than that, and it gives me another reason to make sure I come through this alive.

A man I vaguely recognize appears, his phone in his hands as he types something out before he looks up and around at the street, but he doesn’t seem to notice me. Which is surprising as hell seeing as I’m parked in the middle of the street with my headlights still on.

I quickly dial Crew, and he picks up on the second ring. “We’re five minutes out.”

“Kovu’s being taken to a second location. Not sure where yet. Camilla is safe in the panic room. I’m going to call Wyatt and get him to lock it down so she can’t get out if she decides she’s going to trade places with him. They messaged her, so we’re lucky as hell she hasn’t already handed herself over.”

“That girl is going to give me a fucking heart attack if she even thinks about it,” Crew mumbles. “Stay on them, and we’ll track you. If Camilla is locked in the panic room where we know she’s safe, then we’ll leave her there until this is all over.”

“Because that’s not going to make her mad as hell,” Bishop says.

“I’d rather her mad than dead,” Crew quips.

The men pile into the car, and I sit up straighter, preparing to take off after them. “Keep an eye on the trackers. I’m following them now.”

“Roger that. Be safe.”

“See you there.”

I hang up the phone and quickly type out a text to Wyatt because a phone call will take more time than I have to spare right now.

Kaos: Lock down the panic room at the De Marco estate. No one gets in or out until we give the all clear.

Wyatt: On it.

By the time I look up again, I’m staring at taillights as they turn the corner at the other end of the street. These assholes are going to learn once and for all the consequences of fucking with the Syndicate of the Legion and threatening our woman.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

CAMILLA

Itap the screen of my phone as I try to decide what I’m going to do.

My entire being is screaming at me to hand myself over in exchange for Kovu, but that’s not what he would want, and if I went through with it, I don’t think I’d be sitting for a fucking month.

I crawl farther into the panic room until it dips down into an open space where I can stand up straight. The wall of cameras is nothing more than fuzzy gray nothing, which means the cameras are offline.

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