Page 96 of Monsters Carve Thrones

Nico opened the fridge and let out a breath. “Thankfuck.” Within seconds, we were tearing into leftovers like feral dogs–cold chicken, cheese, apples, some kind of stew I didn’t bother to identify. I barely chewed, just stuffed food in my mouth like it might disappear if I blinked. My stomach burned with the shock of real food after days of near-starvation, but I didn’t stop. None of us did.

Laura sat on the edge of the counter, chewing slowly, a smear of blood still dried near her temple. She looked tired. Worn down to the bones. But alive. I was grateful for that. I leaned against the sink, chewing on a roll, and pulled Waleria’s phone from my pocket.

Time to get to work.

I scrolled through her messages with Waylon. She used little punctuation. All lowercase. Short, clipped sentences withtoo many exclamation marks when she was excited. Casual, bratty.

Noted.

I studied the last few conversations, seeing how she addressed him.“u owe me for this,” “can’t believe u’re doing it there,”and the occasional shit about Adela that made my skin crawl. But also, there was something I could use. She was meant to retrieve something from him.Fucking perfect.

I didn’t want him to suspect a damn thing. Once I had it down, I opened a new message. Me (as Waleria):

hey. sending my guys in the car to grab what we talked about tmrw. don’t shoot them.

Less than thirty seconds later, a reply came through.

Waylon:

gate’ll be open. tell them to pull around the side. east entrance.

My heart slammed into my ribs.That was it.I exited the message thread, my knuckles tight around the phone, and opened the maps app. He’d pinned the damn location. I zoomed in.

A large estate nestled in the woods outside of Moscow. Remote and isolated, with security all around the perimeter.

She wasright there.

My chest nearly cracked open. I felt sick with relief and terror all at once. I traced the roads leading up to it, looking for choke points and weaknesses. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.

She was there.

My wife.

“Rafe?” Kieran’s voice broke through the haze. He’d finished eating and was now leaning against the doorway, watching me with wary eyes. His face was bruised from the scuffle earlier, but the fire hadn’t left him. “What do we do now?”

I looked up from the phone, still breathing hard. Then I grinned. Blood crusted at the corners of my mouth. My shirt was stiff with dried violence. I probably looked like hell. But inside, I was sharper than I’d ever been.

The animal inside me was wide awake.

I raised the phone and showed them the map. “There,” I said. “That’s where she is.”

Nico stood beside me now, reading the address. His jaw tightened.

“And the plan?” Kieran asked, arms crossed.

I turned to face them, every bone in my body vibrating. “We’re getting her out.Tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Laura murmured.

My grin deepened. “And we’re going to burn that fucking place to the ground.”

Chapter 18

ADELA

I lay on my side, still damp from the shower, my skin chilled where the sheets didn’t cover me. I was cuffed again–one wrist to the headboard, one free, though I knew better than to think it gave me any real freedom.

The leather bit into my skin with each breath. The sound of running water filled the room. Waylon was in the shower, humming to himself like he didn’t have a care in the world. I stared at the ceiling, counting each breath, willing time to move faster.