Page 126 of Crimson Flames

We glance back and forth, but there is no sign of our boy as Damien clutches Lev to his chest.

Nessa continues to scream his name, opening up every cabinet and looking under every chair in the whole van before she lets out a blood-curdling screech.

The rest of our family begin to make it to the van along with a few of the kids. But I stand there frozen, staring at Kai’s phone that has blood splattered across it and our tracker locations pulled up. Just under the GPS, you can see all of our vital signs. Nessa’s heart rate is elevated like the rest of ours, but that’s not what has my attention.

It’s Kai’s heartbeat, sitting at a perfect sixty-four, as his dot moves away from us at speed.

That’s when I notice one of the cars is gone.

Did he play us, or did something else go very wrong here tonight?

Chapter 49

Panic, rage, fear, and dread take root in my bones as I try to process the scene in front of me. Blood is splattered everywhere, a clear sign of a struggle marks every inch of space between us and the van door. Some of the grass is even ripped up as if someone tried to dig their heels into it.

Kai.

Boris picks up his phone in front of us while I hold Nessa on the ground. When Evie jumps into the van and grabs Lev from Damien’s arms, the sound of his voice has us all turning to him.

“Ronan. It was Ronan.”

Lev’s head lulls to the side as Evie grabs a towel, cleaning up his face as they try to piece together what happened.

I pull Nessa from the vehicle, the kids that were awake are all sitting around us, stunned. Alexi is shouting inside the van as Boris stumbles out and clings to Nessa and me.

Thankfully, Havoc is taking charge with Laney at his side directing. Arrow is already behind the wheel of the bus as they shuffle some of the kids on.

“We need you to help us right now,” he says to them and they all listen, their features morphing into the stony soldier-like faces we all watched in horror. But one thing is for sure, that’s who we need them to be right now. Panicked children will only make this worse.

“Look,” Boris says, holding up the phone. Kai’s tracker blinks steadily, moving north.

Nessa sits up, grabbing onto it like a lifeline. “We have to follow him.” She gets to her feet in a hurry.

“Alexi, I need your keys.”

His head pops out of the van to look at her in horror.

“Don’t you give me that face, Alexi Mikhaus. We all know I’m the best driver here. I’m still tracking Kai; I have to get to him!”

Clenching his fists, he relents after only a second.

“Only you drive,” he shouts as she rounds the car to get in.

I follow to the front as Boris gets into the back. She starts up the car, following the blinking dot.

“Why is he so calm?” Boris asks.

Nessa lets up on the speed, looking at Kai’s heart rate just as I do the same.

Glancing in the backseat, I can see the worry on Boris’ face. I think back to every moment we had with Kai, every second he spent with us. All of the jokes, him opening up. The bonding, the way his heart is worn on his sleeve. How he makes Nessa smilewith only a few words. There is no doubt in my mind that Kai is ours.

“Ronan probably knocked him out,” Nessa says, resuming her speed as she weaves around the dirt roads as if the Aston Martin V8 was meant to drive on them.

Newsflash, it wasn’t.Which is why on the next turn when Nessa attempts to drift, we slide off the road and into a small ditch.

When Nessa starts minorly freaking out, I turn my body to Boris. “Don’t doubt him now. Is he your son or not? Now is when we believe in him. Now is when we fight for him. Now is when westay.”

My words register right away, and something clicks into place for him just as Nessa gets us back onto the road.

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