Page 198 of The Silent War

She fought them, thrashing, screaming, her body twisting as they yanked her toward the car. She reached for me again.

They shoved her into the back seat, the door slamming on her crying.

I lay bleeding, paralyzed, forced to watch the one thing I swore would never happen. They drove off with her, and I couldn’t move to save her, couldn’t even stand.

I didn’t know who they were.

All I knew was that the car carrying our entire fucking soul had disappeared into the night, and I was too broken to follow.

Another door opened behind me.

Alexander.

He stepped out of the second car like it was a fucking rehearsal dinner.

He looked down at me bleeding on the pavement like I was nothing more than a stain on his shoes.

“You’re bleeding out,” he said. Flat. Matter-of-fact.

I forced air through my throat. “Bastard.”

He smirked faintly, crouching beside me. “I’ll give you credit, Crow. You’re determined. Which is why they added atranquilizer. You seemed the type to take a full round and keep going.”

My chest heaved shallow, broken, so fucking weak.

“By some miracle you survive this…” He checked his watch. “…the next time you see her, she’ll be tied to another house.”

Blood climbed my throat. I swallowed it back, refusing to let it run from my mouth in front of him.

“You’re not the only one who can buy silence. And I can’t risk you and your brother becoming the owners of the Accord.”

Alexander crouched lower, as if we were in some quiet boardroom and not on a bloodstained street.

“You want to know how I knew?” His head tilted. “I spoke to her this week. Just a casual check-in, nothing unusual. But she sounded… happy. Happier than she’s sounded in years. Almost like she did at the Academy.”

His mouth twisted, humorless. “And you should know something, Crow. Adam Dynasty property is always tracked. Especially the daughters. It’s law. She doesn’t know, of course—I never told her. Why would I?”

And their Dynasty called ours fucking medieval.

“I checked her location after that call.” His eyes narrowed. “And sure enough—she was here. Your penthouse. With you and your brother.”

My jaw clenched, every muscle screaming to lunge at him, to rip his throat out, but my body wouldn’t move.

“And then,” he continued, smoothing the cuff of his sleeve, “I hear whispers about your fucked-up dynasty island being prepared. And I put the pieces together.”

He leaned closer, his voice dropping into something colder. “Do you have any idea how much money runs through the Accord? How much power? You think I’d ever let it slide intoCrow hands? I’d ever let my sister—Adams dynasty property—become yours?”

I focused on my hand, trying to will it to get my knife and slice his throat.

“I’d kill her myself before I let that happen. Because that fate, death, would be better than her being cut open, bled, and fucked in front of your Dynasty while they watched. Death is better than her name burned under your crest.”

Rage tore through me, hot and feral. My mouth filled with blood, but I swallowed it back, forcing the word out, broken.

“Bastard.”

“Fitting, isn’t it?” He smirked, as he stood up. “Because I’m the last face you’ll ever see. Not your brother. Not her. Me.”

The words cut deeper than the bullets, colder than the blood soaking through my chest.