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“The transactions I found in the file on Mario’s computer were payments made to that fucking clinic.”

A heavy silence crashes down on the room.

“The clinic?” I repeat the words like acid on my tongue. “The one where they?—”

“Yes,” Alex cuts me off sharply, shooting a glance toward Vesper’s door. “That one.”

Talon leans forward. “Mario was storing her eggs there. Monthly storage payments would make sense.”

“This is about something else,” Alex states. "These are transaction logs for harvesting procedures. And they're recent—within the last month.”

“Shit, you don’t think?”

My blood turns to ice in my veins.

“They're harvesting from Luca?” The words taste like poison on my tongue. “Taking his…”

“Sperm,” Alex finishes, his clinical tone doing nothing to soften the horror. "Based on these payment records, they've been doing it systematically. The Collector…he's farming him.”

Zaire explodes from his chair, pacing like a fuse lit too close to the flame. Every step is sharp, volatile energy radiating off him in waves as his fists clench at his sides.

“It makes a sick kind of sense,” Talon comments. “If Vesper was valuable to them for her eggs, Luca would be valuable for the same genetic material.”

I force myself to think clearly despite the disgust churning in my gut. “This could be our way in. If the clinic is processing these...samples...then they have to have some record of where they're coming from.”

“There’s only one problem. We left the good doctor and his ass frozen to the exam table. That clinic is burned, figuratively. He’ll have moved his operation.”

“And you have no idea where it is?”

“Correct.”

“Until we locate it, finding Luca isn’t going to be easy.”

A soft sound from the hallway freezes us all. We turn as one to see Vesper standing in the doorway of her bedroom, barefoot and hollow-eyed, wearing one of Z’s t-shirts that hangs to her mid-thigh. Her hair is tangled around her face, and her face is pale, making her appear even more fragile than she already is. But it's the way she holds herself that stops me dead in my tracks.

“They're harvesting from my brother?” Her voice is soft but steady, devoid of the hysteria I expected. Something about her calm is more terrifying than if she'd been screaming.

Zaire moves toward her immediately. “Vesper, you should be resting?—”

“Don't.” She holds up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. "How long have you known?"

“We just found out,” I say, rising from the couch.

She looks at each of us in turn. The broken woman from hours ago is gone, replaced by something harder, sharper. “So, the clinic is still operational.”

“Different location, definitely different doctor,” Alex confirms, his tone cautious. “But yes.”

Vesper nods once, processing. “Then that's where we start.”

Talon shifts uncomfortably. “Vesper, we don't know where?—”

“We'll find it.” She leaves no room for argument. She walks further into the room, her bare feet silent on the hardwood. “The doctor may be gone, but his clients aren't. Someone knows where he's set up shop. We just need to figure out who and get them to talk.”

The four of us exchange glances. This isn't the fragile, traumatized woman who cried herself to sleep in Z's arms. She’s stronger now. More confident, even. I don’t dare to admit it aloud but it’s as if taking a life has snapped her out of her victim spiral.

“Did you find anything else?”

“Yeah,” Alex starts before Z’s head snaps in his direction.