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The trees peel past, and every inch of my body vibrates with rage. I can’t see Bodhi or Matteo. They’re not following. They’re not fuckingcoming.

“You know,” Javier says, voice low and conversational, “I always imagined my son would disappoint me, but this? Hiding in the woods. Bedding a fed. Playing house with the enemy.” He clucks his tongue. “You’re a very pretty mistake, Seanna. I’ll give him that.”

My glare could strip paint.

“I wonder—” his eyes cut back to me “—did you seduce him before or after he forgot who he belonged to?”

I let the fury burn, deep and quiet. I don't rise to it.

He exhales slowly, as if the weight of the world rests on his shoulders. “I should’ve known something was wrong when Kingston stopped answering my calls. He’s always been difficult. But this?” His eyes narrow, voice dropping to a razor’s edge. “This is a betrayal.”

A pause.

“I can forgive betrayal from an outsider. A woman with pretty eyes and a badge tucked under her bed. What I don’t understand…” He leans forward slightly, voice almost gentle. “Is whyhedidn’t put a bullet in your head the moment he found out who you really were.”

I don’t blink. I don’t breathe.

“I have to assume he knows,” Javier murmurs. “Which means he chose this. Choseyou.” His head tilts just slightly. “You must be very special.”

Then the corner of his mouth twitches—not a smile. Something uglier. “Or maybe you’re just very good at lying with your legs open.”

The gun aimed at me stays steady.

But my hands curl into fists.

Then—pop.

A sharp sound. Clean. Precise.

The SUV lurches violently left. Tires screech as the vehicle bucks, nose jerking toward the ditch.

“What the fuck—” the driver shouts as I hear the front tire shred, rubber flailing like black ribbons.

Everything spins.

Javier’s hand slaps against the ceiling to brace himself, the world tilts. We’re heading straight for a thick pine trunk. The world tilts as the car jerks to a stop.

And then—bang.

Gunfire. Inside the car.

The sting at my neck comes fast, white-hot, and I flinch, thinking—he shot me. My body braces for collapse.

But I’m still breathing.

I twist, heart hammering, just in time to see Marcus lower the barrel—smoke curling from the muzzle. The driver slumps forward against the wheel, blood spraying across the dash.

He shotpastme.

Distant gunshots crack through the trees, echoing wild and sharp like the woods just caught fire with bullets.

Javier curses in Spanish and reaches for the door handle. It flies open, and wind rushes in as he stumbles out.

I lunge.

Fury snaps through me like lightning, and Imove,leaping out of the car after him.

My fist collides with his face just as he twists around.