Page 132 of Theirs to Rule

At least, that’s what I told myself. If she wasn’t, Ty would never have mentioned her.

Dante's jaw tightened and I went to text him back, but Dante grabbed my hand and shook his head.

“He’s hiding. We don’t know if his phone is off. You can’t risk it. Can’t call him.”

“So what? We just sit here doing nothing?”

“He’ll get us information on where to find him.”

We both looked at the phone, waiting for the text that would give us his location.

Instead, the text said,Rival gang working with university president. Their jackets, the ones with the bucks, they have the same tree symbol from the gate, but as antlers. I’m going to act but you can’t come here. Now that they have Kage, they said they don't need the other student anymore. She’s somewhere on campus and they're planning to kill her.

We held our breaths.

It's Simone.

Ty

I couldn't believe I was spilling everything to Camille over text. I couldn’t leave Kage and the other students here, but I didn’t want us to lose Simone either. The idea of calling the cops flickered through my mind, but I immediately dismissed it. After what happened with Davis, who tried to take us down in the past, trusting the police felt like playing Russian roulette.

I was texting again when footsteps approached. I didn’t have time, but I couldn’t let it go. I didn’t know what was going to happen, so I finished the text:I've always loved you, Camille. Never stopped. Whatever life and humanity I still have in me, it's because of you, sweet swan.

I hit send then quickly tucked the phone away and pressed myself further into the shadows, the voices of the approaching figures becoming clearer. They were talking about Camille's dad, mocking his death as if it were nothing more than a footnote in their grand scheme. "He was useless anyway," one of them sneered. "But his daughter... Now, she led us straight to the big catch – the O’Hare kid."

The guys liked to talk. In the time I’d been here, I’d managed to learn that the “cause” that Silas and my parents had apparently been involved in was revenge by the Old Guard families, the ones whose children had been turned away from CU because they hadn’t been willing to abide by the Vita Dura’s rules—no dealing in women or children. The implication that that’s what my parents had been involved with made me sick, but I pushed that aside for now. It had been going on for years, apparently. Kidnapping CU students, then selling them off like cattle to the highest bidder

My fists clenched, anger and determination fueling my resolve. I couldn't let that happen. Not to Kage, not to Bianca, not to any of them.

I waited until the footsteps faded before cautiously moving closer, trying to catch any more bits of conversation thatmight give me a clue about their plans. As they continued to talk, planning their next moves, I memorized every detail. Locations, times, anything that could give us an edge. But as the conversation shifted to loading everyone into the vans, I knew I had to act.

I waited, counting breaths, until the coast was clear. My hand gripped the gun Talon had given me. The guards, two thugs who looked like they'd seen more bar fights than birthdays, hadn't expected trouble. They didn't see me coming.

In a matter of seconds, I took them down. I wrapped my arm around one of their necks as he moved behind his companion and dropped him to the ground. By the time the other had turned, I was ready with a swift punch to the jaw, causing him to crumple into a heap on the ground, unconscious. No gunfire. No noise. Just two bodies lying on the ground.

Navigating the dimly lit room, it didn’t take me long till I came across Kage. He was bound, bruised, but alive – I grasped his wrist, checking that his pulse was still beating beneath his flesh, and it was, a slow, steady thud. His eyes flickered open as I approached, and despite the situation, he managed a grim smile. "See, I told you we’d be friends," he murmured, his voice hoarse.

I couldn't help but let out a short, breathless laugh. "Yeah, you did," I replied, working quickly to untie him. My hands were steady, but my mind raced with what needed to happen next. “Are you hurt?”

“Bastards dislocated my shoulder but I popped it back in. You got a plan, or are we winging it?" he asked, his voice gaining strength.

"We're improvising," I admitted, offering him a hand to help him to his feet. "Got a couple of guards down, but there's more outside. We need to free the others and get the hell out of here."

Chapter 58

Camille

Acold wave of shock washed over me, leaving me reeling. Dante's grip on my shoulder tightened as he read the text.

"Simone?" he echoed, his voice a mix of disbelief and anger.

I nodded, unable to form words, my mind spinning with the implications. The thought of Simone in danger, potentially about to be killed, was too much to bear.

"They have her, Dante. We have to do something."

He nodded, his jaw tightening in a way that told me he was already shifting into action mode. "We will. We're going to find her, Camille. I promise."

But promises felt thin in the face of such overwhelming odds. The enemy had Simone, and Ty had just risked everything to get us that information. He was going to risk even more by trying to rescue Kage and the others. The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on me, anchoring me to the spot even as my mind screamed to sprint into action.

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