Page 102 of The Final Contract

The words blur as my pulse spikes. Cancelled contracts. Companions recalled. That only happens when blood’s been spilled.

When someone’s dead.

“No,” I grind out, shoving the phone back to my ear. I call her again. Listen to the empty rings, to the void on the other side, until the sound almost suffocates me.

I can’t breathe. Can’t think.

I try Jaxon. This time, the line clicks open.

“Jesus Christ, finally,” I snarl, but the moment he speaks, I know. His tone isn’t clipped and efficient like it should be. It’s low. Shaken.

“Killian…”

My stomach drops. “Don’t waste time. Who was it?”

“They just… they just found the body.”

My hands clamp around the wheel, knuckles bone white. “Where? At the Ledger?”

“Yes.”

The word is a nail driven straight through my chest. I cut the wheel hard, tires screaming as I whip a U-turn into oncoming traffic. Horns explode, lights flash, but I don’t stop.

“Is it her?” My voice rips out of me, raw. “Seraphina. Is it her?”

Silence.

“Jaxon!” I roar it so loud the phone nearly cracks in my hand. “Fucking tell me!”

On the other end, his breath stutters. “I—” His voice breaks. “Yes. Sienna found her.”

The world tilts. The city smears past in a blur I can’t see.

“I’m so sorry, Killian.”

The words gut me. I feel the ground fall out from under me, my chest collapsing in on itself. Terror floods every vein, cold and merciless.

I can’t lose her.

Not like this.

Not to him.

I make it there in minutes, the car screaming up onto the curb, tires spitting rubber. I don’t even cut the engine. I tear across the sidewalk, through the Ledger’s revolving door like a missile with one target.

The lobby is chaos. Eve and Elena are crouched around Sienna. She’s sobbing, face blotched and red, clutching at Elenalike she’s trying not to break in half. When her eyes land on me, she almost does.

The bottom drops out of my stomach.

“Where is she?” My voice is a roar, raw, already shattering.

Sienna shakes her head, tears streaming. “Killian—don’t go out there.”

“Where the fuck is she, Sienna!?” I boom, the sound echoing off marble and glass.

Eve’s voice cracks. “Parking deck. Lucian is there.” She’s crying too, and my heart is about to detonate in my chest.

I run. Through the building, past security, slamming my palms against the bar of the heavy steel door that leads into the Ledger’s private garage.