Page 110 of Vengeful Melodies

I stare at it. Mouth dry. Chest heaving. Hands tighten until the paper crumples in my fists.

Alix is wailing. Sebastian mutters her name over and over, tears streaking his bloodied face. Kaiser rocks back and forth, muttering prayers. Wren screams incoherently.

And I—I am frozen. Trembling, crushed beneath the weight of knowingwe were too late.

“He has her,” I whisper.

But we’re not done.

I feel the rage crawling under my skin, hot, dark, unrelenting. My mind races through every scenario—every second she’s trapped, every way they could hurt her. My fingers curl intofists, nails biting into my palms. My lungs burn. My entire being focuses on the singular, consuming thought:Get her back. Protect her. Kill them both.

I look at Alix, Sebastian, Kaiser. Wren, Grey. We’re bloodied, broken, desperate—but alive.

And we are going tofind her.

And when we do—

Bradley and David will die.

I feel it in my bones. Every heartbeat is vengeance. Every breath is obsession. Every nerve screams her name.

We will not fail.

We will not let them touch her again.

We will kill them both before they even think of hurting her another second.

I swear it.