Page 126 of Hidden Memories

Damon flinches as if struck.

The moment that voice crackles through his radio, Damon changes. He’s not a man weighing his options anymore. Not a man making choices. Just a man following orders.

And that makes him more dangerous than ever.

A sick feeling churns in my gut. This was his way out. If he wanted to run, if he really wanted to live, this deal was it. He potentially had a way—a new identity, a clean break…

But he still chose them.

What kind of monsters make a man more terrified of them than of what happens to a stolen boy?

My stomach turns with the answer. The kind who don’t need leverage. The kind who want Theo for something worse.

Without another word, he hauls Theo toward his truck.

“No!” Kat shatters, grief ripping through her like it might tear her apart.

She runs toward them, but I grab her arm, holding her back.

“Stay here,” I snap, harsher than I intend. “He might be armed.”

We rush back to my truck just as Damon shoves Theo into his and slams the door shut. His truck tears away from the quarry.

Anton’s truck skids to a stop beside mine.

Gabriel shouts out the passenger window, eyes dark with reckoning. “What happened?”

“He’s got Theo,” I slam my door shut. “He’s heading north.”

Anton nods. “We’re on it.”

“Hurry!” Desperation crashes through Kat, a force she can’t contain. She cries, “That’s my son!”

I have never been afraid of a sound before. But her cries? They’re not a sound meant for human ears. They will haunt me for the rest of my life.

I grip her shoulders and hold her steady. Her eyes search mine, her fear mirrored in their depths.

Gabriel’s slice through one last time. “Get her back to the ranch! We can’t save all of you.”

At that, Anton speeds off.

Kat grasps my arm. “We have to follow them.”

“Kat…”

“Now!”

She glares at me like she will do anything to get what she asks.

“Are you driving or am I?” She snaps.

I don’t argue.

The engine roars to life and one thought burns in my mind.

Damon, M, the Mafia… they have my family.

And I’m going to make them bleed for it.

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