Page 248 of Dark Love

“He’s getting closer. There’s something in his hands. It looks like a needle. Help me.”

“Where are you? Tell me where you are.”

“No. Don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me.”

There’s a loud crash, then silence, and the phone disconnects.

I failed her.

“There’s got to be something I can do.”

A hand comes down on my shoulder.

“There’s nothing more we can do. You did everything you could,” Adonis says from right behind me. “She wouldn’t tell you where she is. There are too many troubled people on the streets of Urbium.”

Troubled. After all that, Adonis thinks she’s troubled. There’s a woman out there being hunted, maybe even held against her will by someone she should be able to trust, and Adonis is calling her troubled!

“She needs help.” Real help. Not people telling her what they can’t do or calling her crazy.

“And when she calls again, and I can promise you she’ll call again, we’ll help her. If she lets us.”

We can’t just walk away from her. She needs help now.

But there’s nothing we can do. My role is limited.

Tears continue to flow.

“Prue, why don’t you take—”

A call clicks on. I forgot to put myself as unavailable. It’s too late to do anything but answer. “911. What is your emergency?”

“Hello, beautiful. Have you missed me?”

No.

Not him.

Not now.

“I’ve been thinking about you.”

My hands shake, and my throat tightens.

“Don’t you worry. I have a plan. We’re going to meet very soon.”

“No. No. Leave me alone.”

Adonis reaches past me and disconnects the call. “What happened?”

“I need Vex.”

What Happened?

Vex

The quiet before the storm.

This won’t last long. Either Shock or Dyce will figure out where Marlie is in the next few minutes, and then it’ll be my turn to get her regardless of what it takes. Whether that involves killing Plant matters not to me. A clean scene and a living stupid woman are the only two things that matter. It would have been nice to be able to figure out more about the organization before making a move, but that isn’t an option now.

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