I balled my fists and ground my teeth, wanting to crack the fucking concrete wall. Ink cleared his throat, distracting me, and pulled a face, telling me to keep my shit together.
I took a deep breath. “It’s all part of the plan.”
“What plan?” The PC’s tone was rubbing me the wrong way, and it took every ounce of control I had to not lash back.
“Just let me do my thing, okay?”
“You said you’ll get my daughter back,” he bellowed through the receiver.
“And I will.”
“We don’t even know if she’s still alive.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. With all the shit that was happening, I was too focused on Alyx and Neon and killing Pythons. I didn’t have time to think how to handle the PC.
“She’s alive. I guarantee it.”
“How? How can you guarantee it?”
Ink pulled out his phone and pointed at the camera before heading down the hall.
“I got pictures. I’ll get a messenger boy to deliver it in a few hours.”
“Granite,” the PC’s voice was hard yet laced with concern, “if I don’t get my daughter back—”
“You’ll get Alyx back. I’ll make sure of it.”
I hung up, and the urge to crush my phone in my palm was overwhelming. How the fuck did I lose control of everything so goddamn fast?
“Who was that?”
Jesus. I spun around, and Alyx stared at me with those innocent blue eyes.
“Who were talking to?”
“No one.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
Alyx squared her shoulders, scrutinizing me. “Who was that, Granite? And why did Ink just take pictures of me?”
“Jesus Christ!” I was on the edge of fucking losing my shit. There was nothing more that could possibly go fucking wrong in one goddamn day.
“Is that the PC’s daughter?”
Oh, my God.I got swallowed into a giant vortex of shit only to get spat out in the most fucked up situationever.
Tanit leaned against the open doorframe, and I stood there, dumbfounded.
I bit my lip, suppressing a sentence that consisted solely of f-bombs.
“Okay,” I held out my hand toward both of them and glared at Tanit, “you get back in your room. And you,” I cut my gaze to Alyx, “that was your father on the phone, and yes, he wants his pretty ballerina girl back. But that’s not going to happen. You can cry, you can scream, you can fucking starve yourself, for all I care, but you are not going back. You are staying here with me, and I am going to get a grip on everything that is going fucking wrong right now, and I am going to make dead fucking sure that not one single person in this entire goddamn house gets hurt again. Ever.”
My heart beat like a jackhammer against my ribs, my nostrils flaring and head pounding. Anger, frustration, uncertainty—it was all swirling around in me, turning me into a goddamn ticking timebomb.
Alyx dropped her arms to her side, her expression unreadable. God, I didn’t mean to be an ass.