Page 71 of Their Reckless Thief
I couldn’t focus.Useless. A fucking waste of my time. The Shadow was a dead end, my people were still dying, and I was no closer to finding the mirror. Time was running out, and every second wasted meant more lives lost, more damage done.
I needed to shift gears. Put pressure where it would actually break. The mirror had to be out there, and someone knew where. I was done playing nice.
I turned to Dorian, who had been pacing my study like a caged animal since we returned. His restlessness grated at me, but I couldn’t blame him. We were all at a breaking point.
“You’ve been spending a lot of time in the human world,” I said in a low growl that stopped him mid-step. “Why don’t youpay that stray bastard Fred a visit? See if he’s come up with anything on that mirror.”
Dorian turned to me, jaw tight. He didn’t say anything for a second, just stared at me like he was wrestling with himself. He hated Fred almost as much as I did. No, probably more. But this wasn’t the time for picking and choosing jobs. Fred was dirty, but he had connections. Connections we needed.
Finally, Dorian gave a sharp nod, his eyes burning. “Fine. I’ll handle it.” His words were clipped, but he didn’t argue. He never did when the stakes were this high.
Before I could say anything else, the air around us changed. Something was wrong. I felt it down to my bones, an instinct I couldn’t shake. The security system flared to life… alarms blaring, lights flashing in warning, the communication devices on the guards blaring all at once with frantic, overlapping voices.
“What the fuck is going on?” I snapped, turning toward Camilla and Alessandro, who had already appeared at my side, their faces pale and eyes sharp with focus. They were both as tense as coiled springs.
Alessandro tapped at his earpiece. “Boss, there’s been a security breach.”
The wordbreachmade my blood run cold, but I forced myself to keep calm. I could feel the panic rising in my staff. Whatever had happened, it wasn’t small.
“Explain,” I growled, already moving toward the door, Camilla and Alessandro right behind me.
“There’s… there’s a woman’s body, boss,” Camilla said, her voice strained. “It was dropped from the sky. Right at the front door.”
For a split second, my mind went blank. The words didn’t register, not at first. A woman? Dropped from the sky? And then… my heart stopped. My vision tunneled, and the world around me slowed.
No. No, no, no. Please, no.
I didn’t breathe. I just moved.
I barely registered Dorian as he bolted past me, a blur of motion, his expression twisted in panic. I was right behind him, my feet pounding the floor with hard thuds that echoed down the hallway, but all I heard was the blood rushing in my ears.
We reached the front door, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
There, lying crumpled on the ground in a heap of blood and torn leather, was the small, lifeless body of a woman. Blonde hair matted with blood splayed out like a broken doll. Leather pants. Tiny frame. My vision blurred.
“No.” The word left me as a strangled breath, as if my entire chest was collapsing under the weight of it.
Dorian fell to his knees beside her, his hands trembling as he reached for the body. His eyes were wild with grief, and tears streamed down his face. He was shaking his head, muttering “No, no, no…” over and over like a prayer. My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.
It couldn’t be her.
It can’t be her.
Dorian’s hands hovered over the body, terrified to touch her, to confirm what we both feared. He gently rolled her over, and I braced myself for the sight, for the impact of it all coming crashing down on me. My mind had already made the leap. The world around me was crashing in.
But then…
The face.
It was beautiful, delicate, just like her.
But it wasn’t Celeste.
I let out a sharp breath. My knees almost buckled, but I held on to the doorway, gripping it so tight my knuckles turned white.The relief was immediate, but the fear and panic still clung to me like a second skin.
Dorian was still kneeling and staring down at the lifeless woman in front of him. For a moment, I could see his relief too. Then, his face twisted into something darker—something feral. The tears stopped, and pure fury came over his face. He punched the ground beside the body, and the sound of bone hitting concrete echoed through the air.
