Page 62 of Trapped

“Jasper found it last night, reviewing older footage.” Cassiel is still talking on his phone when he makes his way back to us. Hehas that same blank expression that he always carries, but his jaw is clenched.

“You two need to get back to the hotel now,” he commands.

“I don’t take fucking orders—”

“Get to the fucking hotel now, Silas. Your daughter was just kidnapped.”

I don’t worry about the details. I jump on my bike and fly down the highway, with Nero just inches behind me. Panic floods my chest. I see the flashing lights outside the hotel. Police cars surround the entire building. I blow right through them and come to a stop. I rush toward the main entrance, my heart caught in my throat. I can feel her. I can feel Thalia’s panic consuming me.

“You can’t go in there,” an officer says.

His arm goes out to stop me, but the adrenaline pumping through me lashes out. He falls to the ground in shock at the blow I landed to his face. The crowds of people in the lobby watch, trying to figure out what is going on. I push past the crowd, my eyes searching for her.

I skip the elevator and run up the stairs to her penthouse. I come up short and rush back down.Where are you, Thalia?I go to the front desk and rush up the stairs to her office. When I barge through the door, I find her. Her family surrounds her. Her head jerks up, and her big brown eyes find mine. She runs toward me, and I wrap my arms around her.

“What happened?” I ask.

“They took her. They took her from me,” she sobs into my shoulder.

“We’ll find her.” I rub my hand over her hair. “Look at me.” She looks up and tears flow down her eyes. It’s the most crushing sight I have ever seen.

“I’m going to find her,” I say.

Thalia holds on tight to me. Everything around me feels loud. Her cries pierce through me. The pounding of my heart. The ringing in my ears. The blood flashing before my eyes.

It’s been two days. Two days since I saw my little gremlin. I bring her favorite doll to my chest. Her little smell clings to it the way I had clung to the doll all night. I am on the verge of insanity, bargaining with my desperation. A mother who goes mad over the well-being of their children is one of the most dangerous weapons societies will ever go against. When I find out who took my daughter, I won’t give them the mercy of a short death.

Silas walks into the bedroom of his hotel suite where we’ve been staying. I couldn’t go back to the penthouse. I couldn’t see her toys on the floor or her empty bed. He stares down at the white of my knuckles squeezing the doll.

“Your tears won’t help us find her. Our enemies aren’t afraid of your tears,” he reminds me.

To anyone else, his words would come off as harsh, but Silas isn’t the type to coddle me. He held me all night while I cried. He let me yell, scream, and curse at him. He let me feel through what I needed to, but he’s right. My tears are not getting meanywhere.

That’s why he went toe to toe with my family, refusing to let them come near me. Their commentaries to “rest more” or “it will be alright” did nothing but made me restless and fueled by the fear that it would never be alright. They mean well, but I don’t need comfort.I need my daughter.

“I want them all dead.” The words fall like a plea. Silas drops to his haunches in front of me. He slowly unravels my fingers’ tight grip around the doll.

“I’ll kill every last one of them,” he says, grabbing my hand in his. He opens my fist. Slowly, he brings the scar from the inside of my palm to his lips and gently places a kiss on it.

“Do you trust me?” he asks.

Before I can answer him, I hear the loud knocking at the door. Silas drops my hand and moves to open it.

“Where the hell is my sister?” Adrian shouts. I hear his anger and can already imagine the expression on his face. We have the same “fuck you” glare, courtesy of our sperm donor.

“MY WIFE is resting. What the fuck do you want?” Silas shouts back.

Their voices raise, each trying to outdo the other. Men and their testosterone. I sigh and make my way to the door, opening it wider until I see Adrian standing in front of me.

“Let’s go,” Adrian says, grabbing my wrist and yanking me toward him. Silas pulls out his gun and aims it at Adrian.

“Over my dead body,” Silas growls.

“That can easily be arranged,” Adrian replies. I wiggle free from Adrian’s embrace and stand between them.

“Ya basta!” I scream. Silas drops the gun, and Adrian’s eyes are apologetic.

“Thalia. Are you okay?” Adrian asks, and I nod.

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