Every muscle in my body tenses as I answer. "Yeah?"
"Boulder."
Kelsey's voice, strained but alive.
Relief crashes through me so intensely I have to grip the table to stay upright.
She's alive. She's fucking alive.
"Don't—" she begins, but her voice cuts off abruptly.
"Hello, prospect." A male voice replaces hers, smooth and controlled. "I believe I have something of yours."
My hand clenches around the phone so hard I'm surprised the screen doesn't crack. "If you've hurt her?—"
"She's alive. For now." The voice—Benji, it has to be—sounds almost bored. "Whether she stays that way is entirely up to you."
I force my breathing to remain steady, my mind racing.
Axel comes into the room, almost like he has some weird ass spidey senses.
Amara’s moved closer, clearly reading the situation on my face.
She mouths "speaker" and I comply, placing the phone on the table.
"What do you want?" I ask, buying time.
Axel is already on another phone, likely trying to trace the call.
"Simple. You, alone, at coordinates I'll text you after this call. No club, no backup." His voice hardens. "You've claimed my sister. Time to prove how much she's worth to you."
"And why would I trust you'll let her go if I show up?"
Benji laughs, the sound chilling in its emptiness. "You wouldn't. But you'll come anyway, because if you don't, I'll send her back to you piece by piece. Starting with her fingers."
Red blurs my vision, rage threatening to overtake any logic I have.
My entire body shakes with the need to reach through the phone and rip his throat out.
I've never wanted to kill someone so badly in my life.
"Let me speak to her," I demand, struggling to keep my voice even.
A pause, then rustling sounds.
"Boulder." Kelsey's voice again, stronger now, determined. "Don't come. It's a trap. They have?—"
Her words cut off in what sounds like a slap.
I growl, low and dangerous.
The thought of him hitting her makes me nearly crush the phone in my hand.
"She's spirited, I'll give her that," Benji says, back on the line. "But spirited women break just like any other."
"I'll kill you," I promise, my voice deadly calm. "Slowly. For every mark you put on her."
"Big words from a prospect who's outmatched and outgunned." Another laugh. "I'll text you the coordinates. One hour. Come alone. Any sign of your club brothers, and she dies slowly."