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“No!” Nicholas shook his head. “I thought them familiar, that’s all. I didnae recognise the connection until later. Until itwas too late.”

Tom’s hands clenched over the laptop. Every new detail made the knot in his chest tighter – if they were recreating wartime tortures with their other victims, fuck knows what they would do to Erin. But there was no way anyone else could have spotted the pattern – it was intended for Nicholas alone, not that the thought was much comfort. If he or Erin had somehow seen it earlier… This could have been over long ago. But it was too late now – and Erin was still gone. Finding her was the most important thing. He flexed his fingers and started typing.

“Do you think he might be keeping her somewhere that dates back to that time?”

The atmosphere shifted, Nicholas’s oversights not so much forgiven and forgotten, but set aside for now.

“There aren’t many buildings that survived,” Isabel said. “Sheffield was bombed heavily, given the steelworks.” She leaned over his shoulder to see the screen. “Yet it would have to be somewhere abandoned, isolated—”

Tom stared at the search results, but his mind was already somewhere else – trudging up muddy paths with Jon, who’d insist on exploring every abandoned building they passed. “Historical significance,” he’d always said. Tom had called it Jon’s death wish, back then. The irony made his chest tight. There were so many routes – so many abandoned places out in the middle of nowhere…

“Wait,” Tom paused with his fingers hovering over the keyboard, ignoring how uncomfortably close Isabel still was. Her breath was cool on his neck, the strange scent of lilacs insnow making him increasingly uncomfortable. “I might know where they are.”

“Impossible,” Adam protested. “We haven’t begun to—”

“Let me speak, will you?” Tom cut across him. “There’s an old farmhouse. It’s not technically in the city, but it’s somewhere near the moors.”

“I don’t see how this helps,” Adam stated, folding his arms.

“It’s not too far from the bridge where Erin crashed the car, which would fit – and it has an Anderson shelter around the back,” Tom spoke more quickly now, certain he was right.

“A bomb shelter?” Nicholas’s head snapped up.

“Yeah, one of those that’s half underground, with the sandbags and stuff. It’s mostly derelict, but it seems like the sort of place that’d bring back memories, right?” Tom kept his eyes on the laptop screen, pretending not to notice the way Murray’s fingers dug into the counter.

“Aye.” Nicholas’s voice had gone quiet. “We discussed the merits of the shelters once, practicality-wise. They didnae seem like they’d be much protection from a missile—” He broke off, his green eyes distant with memory. “He always said they were better for keepin’ peopleinthan danger out.”

Tom pushed away from the counter without waiting to hear more.

“Where are you going?” Isabel called after him, as he hurried down the hallway.

“To get Erin! It makes sense – we know where she is!” Tom barely stopped himself from walking into her as she materialised in front of him. He yanked his coat from the hook, ignoring herglare. Her hand was outstretched as though she’d meant to pull him back but thought better of it.

“You are human. Youcannotfight them. Let us go,” she said softly.

Tom scoffed. “Not a chance. It’s my fault they took her in the first place—”

“I dinnae disagree with ye, but Izzie’s right,” Nicholas grunted, following them into the hallway. “We need to assess the environment first. I winnae put it past Alistair to have prepared a trap.”

Tom struggled to keep his voice under control, since it would only work against him. “I’ve got no intention offightingAlistair, and especially not his scary one-handed friend – I just want to get Erin out.”

“Tom, please. Think about this.” Adam placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

Tom shook him off and pulled away, reaching for the door handle. “Don’t start acting like any of you are actually my friends, alright? I needed your help, you needed mine – now maybe it’s time we dealt with this our own way.” He wrenched the door open, an icy wind blasting through into the hall.

“I can’t wait around anymore.” Tom’s voice cracked. “Do you realise she’s been gone for over twenty-four hours?” The words caught in his throat as the full weight of that time hit him. His hand shook as he gripped the door handle. “She’s my best friend. She’s practically my family. I can’t wait – even if it scares the hell out of me.”

“Then I shall go,” Adam said simply, pushing the doorclosed. “She’s my friend too, Tom. And I can’t die.”

Tom scowled but didn’t protest. It made strategic sense – and of the three immortals, Adam was the only one he halfway trusted. Being unkillable was a hell of an advantage. Still, didn’t mean he had to like it.

“We need to get close enough to see what we’re dealing with,” Adam said, already shrugging on his coat. “I can do that.”

Isabel’s face darkened and she exchanged a sharp look with Nicholas before turning back to Adam. “The sun will rise in three hours. You know we cannot help if something goes wrong.” The words hung in the air between them.

“Which is precisely why I should go alone,” Adam replied. “But if you don’t hear from me by first light…” He checked his phone. “I’ll share my location with you. Perhaps the storm will give you enough cloud cover to follow if you must.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Isabel’s voice was sharp.