Page 44 of Caged By the Ruthless Thief

“Right. After they dropped you at the chasm, there was an attack at the main entrance of Glyden. Someone tried to get in. They did get in, but when they couldn’t get into your apartment, they left.”

I pull at the straps of the bed.

“Nico!” Castor yells. He pauses, and then in a lower tone continues. “If... if she is over in Eros’s dome in Zaffiro, she’s safer than here. And us making a lot of noise and storming over there is only going to put her in more danger.”

“Fuck. Use your channels and find out who the hell is doing this.”

Dad glares between the two of us. “Do the two of you ever follow any laws?”

Castor and I are silent.

“I’ll take that as a blue whale of a no.” Dad’s head drops to his pillow.

21

HOLTER

Dad is in his room down the hall from Nico now. Muster is staying with him. They’re both enjoying Ophelia’s cook’s food. The doctor wants to observe Dad, and it’s going to be a long road back to being able to shift. If he ever can.

My leg bounces. Castor held me back from racing over to Eros’s apartment. He’s right, she’s safer there, if that’s where she is. I’ve messaged him every half-hour, and so far I’ve gotten nothing in return.

Now I’m glaring at Castor from beside Nico’s bed.

The straps around Nico’s bed swing loose against his bed frame. With Castor and me in here, they aren’t needed. Nico’s never suffered from narcolepsy, and with what we’re going to talk about, he’s not about to spontaneously fall asleep.

“How’s your neck?” I ask him. The trident is leaning against the wall behind his head.

He rubs his neck. “My head’s still attached. So that’s something. The skin is tender. I want these off.” He holds his wrists up. The bandages on his ankles are large too. And with him rubbing them in his sleep, he’s now wearing giant cloth booties. The nurse is floating around the room, so Nico says, “I’d like a word alone with Castor and Holter.”

“The doctor has said I’m not to leave.”

“I promise not to get upset like last time.”

The nurse eyes me and then Castor before he ducks his head down and firmly walks from the room.

“Why in hell haven’t you gone over there yet? If not you or Holter, we could send one of your brothers.”

“She might not be there. The agency is still looking into where she might have gone,” says Castor. “But all eyes are on us. Whoever attacked Glyden is looking for her. Holter has left enough messages for Eros that he knows he has to keep her safe. And right now, safe is away from us.”

I lean forward. “I’ve watched the tapes. She runs out of the airport. She stands on the curb for a few minutes looking around, and then the video feed goes fuzzy. It’s a handheld interrupter. When the feed comes back on, she’s gone.”

“And you’ve done a complete search of the other area cameras? Follow the feed of interruptions, and it’s going to lead you to our guy.” Nico coughs.

“I’ve done that, and we’ve come up empty-handed. Right now, we’re running a comprehensive listing of cars in and out of the airport. The interruption of the feeds only lasts an hour. This wasn’t random. The cameras around her gate went dark right around the time she should have been there too.” Castor paces.

Nico stretches his neck, his hand clamped to his side even though the straps are gone. I can’t imagine how he’s going to get through this. I’m on fire on the inside. “That means it was a Dorian who took her. You’ve given Eros enough time to answer. He has a sister, doesn’t he? Make a loud announcement that you’re coming to talk to the Herod family about making a match with Cypress and Eros’s sister. He’s on theOmicron. Who’s to know it’s not true?”

“Ho.” I glance at the door. “Poor Cypress, if he’s to end up with Marina Herod. She’s a lot.”

“Castor will make it up to him later.” Nico’s got his commander persona back.

“And if it’s not Eros but someone from Skyrothasia...” suggests Castor. “We’ve been trying to take their mermaids. Why wouldn’t they take Annabelle?”

I stand. “They don’t know she’s turned. Or anything that’s happened to her. The Vikings have this tech too. But they know even less than the Skyrothasians. It’s not them.” I don’t want to bring up my idea because both Nico and Castor are going to hate it.

Nico’s glaring right at me. “What aren’t you saying?”

“Atlas wants to talk to you again. More than a hello this time. He knows something’s up. I think we should tell him.”

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