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Stealth also mattered more than manpower in this particular scenario. If I brought all twelve men, there was no way we could sneak in without alerting the Brothers. The more we caught them by surprise, the better.

Despite his faults, Roman was a valuable asset. He was a skilled shooter, and he operated well in the dark.

“It’s the top of the hour.” Sean’s quiet voice tore our gazes away from each other.

His words brought a noticeable shift in the air. Bruce and Mav tensed, their faces hardening beneath the pale moonlight. Roman’s smug amusement vanished, and lightning crackled along my skin. My previous surge of anger retreated in the face of cool, calm logic.

It was time.

Without another word, Sean, Roman, and I peeled away from the others and crept toward the warehouse. Bruce and Mav would stay behind as a cover force while we battled our way inside and rescued Ayana.

We stayed close to the shadows, our footsteps nearly silent. Fear, panic, worry—they all fell away as I locked in on the side exit. It loomed ahead, its rusted metal door beckoning like a siren’s song.

My heart slowed to a painful rhythm.

I was well aware this could be a trap. I didn’t believe for a second that Ayana’s abductor had left something as obvious as a fucking button behind by accident, especially when the button didn’t have fingerprints.

The new generation of Brothers was sloppier, but they weren’t that sloppy. The button was meant to lead us here.

Even so, I had no choice but to take the bait. If I didn’t, they’d resort to more extreme measures to get my attention—a severed finger, a video of Ayana being tortured. They might not kill her, but there were worse things than death.

The horror of those mental images hooked into my stomach and yanked. Ice spilled through my gut.

They haven’t touched her yet. It’s too soon.The chill spread into my chest.It’s too soon,I repeated silently.

But I couldn’t stop the images from replaying in my head. They were interspersed with memories from the past few months—Ayana laughing, Ayana teasing me about bingo, Ayana lighting up when she explained the science of smell.

She was the brightest part of my world. The thought of anyone or anything snuffing out her joy sent a streak of scarlet across my vision. My chest constricted.

I couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not ever.

We’ll find her.Even if I had to raze the city to the ground, I’d find her, and she’d be okay. She had to be.

Sean, Roman, and I reached the door without incident. As expected, it was locked, but a mini blowtorch quickly took care of the problem.

My hand hesitated on the handle. The hairs on my nape prickled. I envisioned a firing squad of assassins waiting on the other side, ready to riddle us with bullets.

No, that wasn’t right. They wouldn’t kill me so quickly. The same went for Roman when they found out he’d betrayed them. Sean was the only one who might be afforded a quick death.

Might, but wouldn’t, because none of us were going to die.

Roman and Sean pressed themselves against the wall on either side of the door. I opened it, expertly maneuvering myself behind the door in case anyone lunged out of the darkness.

Silence.

Nevertheless, I kept my guard up as I inched inside and?—

A volley of gunshots exploded in the night. A bullet hit the door by my ear. Metal pinged, and curses flew out as we scrambled to return fire.

Fuck!We’d mentally prepared for this, but that didn’t stop my pulse from spiking to dangerous levels. Our Kevlar vests wouldn’t stop us from getting shot in the head, and now that I’d opened the door, I had to monitor two fronts in case someone attacked from inside.

So far, nothing. All the shooters were outside, but that would change soon. I’d bet money on it.

“We’ll take care of this!” Sean shouted. “Go.”

Another bullet embedded itself in the wall above his head. Roman swung around and fired at someone inside the van.

Glass shattered. Cries of pain and the thuds of falling bodies echoed around us. It was impossible to pinpoint where all the shooters were, and I heard the distinctive sound of Mav’s yell in the distance. He was hurt.