“I went to the end of the world to find a cure for him.”
She sits up, her eyes blinking as she soaks in my words, trying to decipher what I’m not saying. Her eyes light up, and her head tilts. She’s smart—it took her less than three seconds to realize what I’m not saying.
“The cure that Siren and Zeke had. That’s why you went after it? For Atlas?”
I nod.
I would have done anything for that boy. I’ll continue to do anything for him.
“Thank you for everything, killer.”
There is so much truth behind her words. But I didn’t do it for her—I did it for him.
She takes my hand in hers, and then we think about the kids the rest of the flight. About Atlas and Rose, who were taken from us. About Declan, who neither of us has met.
And about how together we will do whatever it takes to save them.
I glance at her stomach, and something stirs inside me. I have five lives to worry about—Atlas, Rose, Declan, Liesel, and the baby in her womb.
Liesel and I drop hands as we walk up the porch to Kai and Enzo’s house. Sure, we are together. We’re married. We are in this fight together. But we don’t want anyone in the house to look at us as a couple. We don’t want them to think they somehow were in the right to kidnap us and try to form a bond between us. Our bond has nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with us.
Liesel and I have always been a couple, even when we fought it, even when we hated each other, even when we were apart, even when we lost. It’s always been us—even when being together means a lifetime of pain. There is no stopping us.
We give each other a knowing look before I open the door without knocking and step into the three-story mansion. We don’t have to be holding each other’s hand to gain strength from each other. We don’t even have to be sharing the same oxygen. The strength we possess is from knowing that no matter how much we fuck up, lie, cheat, or kill, we are unstoppable together.
We don’t even have to say we love each other for it to be true. We just always have.
Kai comes fluttering into the hallway. I’m sure her security system notified her of our arrival.
“Living room, now,” I say, marching past her with Liesel right behind me.
Kai nods. She’s not used to taking orders from other people, but if she wants to help, Liesel and I will be the ones in charge, not her.
We walk into the living room, where I find Enzo, Zeke, and Siren already on the couches. Siren’s eyes are puffy, like she’s been crying. Zeke rubs her back in slow circles, like that is somehow going to bring my kids back. Enzo sits sternly, completely lost in thought.
Then I spot Beckett walking in from the kitchen. He looks like a wreck. Puffy eyes, pale skin, a slumped curve of his spine as he walks. The pain he feels is immense—good. He had the most important job. I trusted him. He failed.
He doesn’t apologize. He knows there is no use. There is nothing he can say that will bring my kids back.
Liesel walks over to him. I expect her to yell at him for failing. He deserves it. He deserves to be punched in the face and kicked in the balls. The suffering he’s feeling is nothing compared to what Liesel and I are going through.
Liesel wraps her arms around him. “We’ll get them back. It’s not your fault. We should have known not to trust Phoenix or Maxwell. We’ll get them back.”
He rubs her back with his arm. “No, don’t blame yourself. Blame me.”
“We do,” I say, answering for her.
She shoots me an angry glare.
“It’s okay. I can take it. Hate me, not yourself,” Beckett says.
She shakes her head and then pulls him into the living room. She chooses to sit next to him on the loveseat. Kai sits next to Enzo. I stay standing, looking down at them all.
“Tell me we already know where they took them. Tell me we already know where they are hidden. Tell me we already have eyes on them.” I look between everyone sitting in this room moping, crying, and emotional. The only people who have the right to feel that way are Liesel and me; everyone else has a job to do.
“St. Kitts,” Siren and Zeke say.
“Cancun,” Kai and Enzo say.