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THERON

I stormed through the front doors of the house that now felt more empty than it had in years.

Nyx was on my heels as we made our way to the small wing of the house directly off the front door that served as our infirmary. The wonderful doctor we contracted with, Doc, as we affectionately called him, met us in the hallway.

“He’s fine,”

Doc said to my unvoiced question. “Or he will be. The bullet nicked his liver, and he has a broken rib.”

Relief coursed through me, and I saw Nyx’s shoulders sag as the tension left him.

“You can see him tomorrow, right now I’ve sedated him so his body can heal,”

Doc continued. “I’ll stay a few more hours to make sure he remains stable.”

“Thanks, Doc,”

I said, shaking his hand.

Nyx’s phone rang as I turned and headed down the hall towards West’s wing of the house. I’d known this was going to be rough before it got better. If I’d wanted easy and simple, I would have just spent the last ten years tracking him down and taking him out with an unsuspecting .50 cal from a distance. But of course, I’d wanted to make him suffer, knowing I’d have to endure the pain as well.

I found West sitting at his computer, code running across a screen in front of him as he sat back and watched it. The news was playing on low on another monitor, showing the destruction of the NorTac building. Sure enough, the bomb had taken out ten floors on the south side of the building and it was currently on fire.

“Turn that fucking shit off,”

I growled.

“He’s giving us a fight, that’s for sure.”

West removed the news feed and glanced up at me.

“Any luck finding the guys?” I asked.

“No, Vetticus turned their trackers off or cut them out—I’m not sure but they’re dark. I’m still looking though. Is Lach okay?”

I nodded. “Atlas dropped him off here and then went back to run interference with law enforcement.”

“If you need me in the field—”

“No, our strength lies in everything you’re doing right now. We don’t know where Vetticus is and that’s the last piece of this entire puzzle. What’s the status on Albatron?”

Nyx came in and handed both of us a beer.

“I talked to Theo earlier and King’s team is trailing him. They’ll keep us apprised.”

“Good—”

My phone rang.

“He’s made contact,”

Demetrius said when I answered.

“You know what to do,”

I replied.

“Are you sure you want to do it this way?”

“I’ll see you on the other side, my friend,” I said.

Demetrius sighed. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”