Page 5 of Rescuing Ally: Part 2

“Harrison,” she spits the name like poison. “He showed up with documents. Claimed they were from Ally’s dad for herto sign. Max knew something was wrong. He started growling before the door even opened. Then everything exploded.”

She’s trembling. Trying not to.

“Sophia?” Blake races down the hallway toward us. His face crumples with relief when he sees her alive.

He gathers Sophia and Luke into his arms, crushing them against his chest. Sophia breaks then, a sob tearing from her throat as Luke buries his face against Blake’s neck. The boy’s small shoulders shake with silent tears.

Ethan pushes past me, his usual composure cracking as he spots Violet and Zephyr. He crosses the distance in three long strides, gathering them both into a protective embrace. Zephyr’s tiny hand clutches the front of his tactical vest, her face streaked with tears.

“Tell us everything,” Ethan says, his voice gentle but urgent.

Sophia takes a deep breath and straightens her spine. Her hand finds Blake’s, squeezing once before she steps forward to face us all.

“He pulled a gun.”

“Who?” Ethan asks.

“Harrison. Max attacked. Jenna disarmed him, but then a team came in—flashbangs, gas, tactical sweep. Full black-ops extraction. No kill shots. Just tranquilizer darts.”

“They wanted them alive,” Gabe mutters.

“Rebel got us to the panic room. The last thing I saw—” Sophia swallows hard. “Was Harrison, bleeding, standing over Ally like he didn’t feel a thing.”

“Did they say anything?” I ask.

“No. But there was a symbol on their gear.”

“Let me guess. Chinese characters?”

“It was Sentinel,” Sophia confirms, her eyes haunted. She’d recognize it anywhere—she spent years under Malfor’s control. “I saw it on their tactical vests when they breached.”

“Malfor.” Gabe’s voice is quiet, lethal.

The room spins with that word.

The broken furniture.

The blood.

The open wine bottle.

The silence.

We failed them.

We all did.

I clench my jaw hard enough to hurt.

Mitzy’s voice cracks through Ethan’s phone. “I’ve got footage. Security feeds from the hallway and the exterior of the building. They didn’t try to hide their faces or wipe the video.”

Ethan gathers us around his phone, the screen casting blue light across our grim faces as the footage plays.

It’s Harrison.

Robert Collins’s head of security.

Leading a tactical team straight to Jenna’s door.