5. ~Skylar~

I stared at the interactive map created by Caspian's tech team on one of the command center screens in the lair. It showed the massive area that his people were scouring in search of Bastian and Caleb and every time an area was covered, the part was shaded in real time to indicate as much.

They were almost fifty-percent of the way through their search and so far they'd turned up nothing.

Shit.

Caspian and Dante were both also delving deep to search out a mole within their empires.

I understood where they were coming from with the information that would have needed to be obtained in order for these kidnappings to occur and for Elijah to have been alerted to the multi-pronged assaults that night, but I didn't buy it. I just didn't buy that Caspian could have missed something like that. In fact, he'd rooted out any problematic elements before that final stage of the war had been finalized from a tactical standpoint. And Dante Mancini was a renowned and experienced businessman. It just didn't fly for me.

There had to be a mole, yes, given the knowledge Elijah was able to gain in order to react and act as he had, but it couldn't be from within either of their organizations.

The bank that King and the Mancini Syndicate were slated to make from decimating one of their main competitors and one as lucrative and as powerful as Bane Industries would clearly be coveted by a hell of lot of other empires and organizations, those with the wherewithal to manage something of such a complicated nature. It was certainly viable that they would want to move in and take it as theirs.

Butwhy give Elijah a heads-up? That wouldn't serve them in any way to obtain the spoils of war if the enemy was still breathing and able to rise again as such.

And for them to be watching, they'd need to know about the intricacies of the war itself, and Caspian hadn't made that public knowledge. The whole thing had been very hush-hush.

So it couldn't be rooted purely in business rivalry or aspirations.

But someone had been watching.

Not from within.

Somebody else outside of their inner circles who somehow had access to that sort of carefully guarded information.

Damien had been in such a position but he would never allow Bastian to be taken like this, never risk him in such an awful way. He'd been disgusted that Jett had taken him that time two years ago, it had never been a part of their deal. As he'd gone to great pains to prove to me when I'd first contacted him during my mission to hunt down Jett.

As I sifted through all the information that Caspian and Dante had gathered between them so far as they fought to put the pieces together and create the bigger picture to it all, I noted just how well orchestrated both kidnappings had been. The smoothness of both, the intricate timing, every little detail accounted for. They had been meticulously executed operations, leaving no discernible trail—which was causing such a major issue with our progress in the search for Bastian and Caleb.

They'd disappeared like ghosts.

I started.

Ghosts.

Meticulously executed operations.

Access to carefully-guarded information.

Outside of their inner circle.

"Oh my God," I choked, as the awful realization slammed into me.

If my hunch was correct, there was only one person who stood a chance of hunting down the bastard and getting the intel we would need to ascertain Bastian and Caleb's location fast enough before so much more time passed of them in captivity at that madman's hands.

My skin was crawling just thinking about it.

I felt sick with it knowing they were at Elijah Bane's mercy.

And it looked like it was because of a certain shithead.

Thinking he'd actually go to these lengths to hurt them… I didn't want to believe it to be true, but I knew that he had a nasty side. I'd just never thought that it would be directed anywhere near me and mine. Not like this. Not condemning my men in this way.

My first instinct was to tell Caspian right away.

But he was already chasing down so many leads, many of which hadn't panned out.

I couldn't risk giving him more false hope.

No, I needed something concrete first rather than me just putting the pieces together without actual proof.

And being who this bastard was, there was only one way for me to get it.

I snatched up my phone and typed in a number I'd memorized years ago as a child as a precaution, an absolute last resort.

Well, it was certainly the time for last resorts now.

Even contacting said person risked putting them in danger if anyone got wind of it, of it exposing them. But at least Caspian was no longer having my communications monitored, so that danger would be muted if my hunch didn't pan out. But if it did it could mean the in we needed to finally bringing the boys back to us.

I fired off a text.

Skylar: Need immediate contact. Critical status.

I put my phone down on the command center desk in what I'd come to term The Jackals Lair, as I continued going through the intel that was constantly being gathered and uploaded to the King Manor server in order to identify patterns and leads. It was how Caspian had known which areas to send his teams out to search. He'd found an intersect point between the two kidnappings and he'd had them fan out from there over an area that covered over five-hundred miles.

My phone buzzed and I got a surprise when I snatched it up to see that a response had come in a lot faster than I'd anticipated. I'd expected at least a couple of hours. I mean, they worked incredibly efficiently and quickly, but they were also always on the move and busy beyond belief—a highly-valued commodity.

Riley: Underground.

Skylar: Excavate.

Riley: Wilco.

Relief rolled through me at my contact's response and confirmation that she'd get on it.

When Riley Hutchins set out on a task, nothing could stop her. She was like a fucking machine, honestly. She never failed. No matter what she was up against, she came out on top. It was exactly what was needed now.

I deleted the messages as a precaution, then forced myself to step away from the command center monitors. I'd already been at it for the last six hours non-stop. Not just today either. And, honestly, it was driving me crazy, both watching as the teams covered more ground with nothing turning up over and over, and then me working to analyze all the data but so far coming up empty.

I wouldn't stop, though.

I couldn't.

I just needed to step away for a half hour, eat something and take a break. I needed my mind sharp and clear. Well, as clear as it could actually be with Bastian and Caleb in Elijah Bane's hands.

Stop. Don't go there.

It would just make it harder to focus and keep my shit together if I went down that path.

I made my way out of the lair and headed through the manor, intending to grab a quick bite from some of the leftovers in the kitchen when two loud thuds caught my attention, reverberating through the house from the force of them.

I hurried along, following the sounds to the entrance doors.

Raised voices rang out and I looked to see Caspian storming on through with Dante at his back.

I moved into one of the small alcoves and watched as Dante shoved a hand through his dark brown hair, then shouted at Caspian in a way I'd never heard anybody outside of Caleb and Bastian do. "It was so far over the line!"

"That was merely the beginning," Caspian grunted over his shoulder, not breaking his stride.

"Absolutely not. That will be the end of it, of you stooping to anything like that again!"

"Double standards."

"You're not me! And you most certainly don't want to be either!"

"I'll be whatever it takes to get the job done!"

"That's a dangerous approach to fall into."

"Yet, it's reality."

"What would your father say if he were here?"

Caspian came to a jolting stop.

I could see Dante's words had affected him.

But in the next moment, he blinked it away and shoved it down, then spun around just as Dante was right upon him, thundering, "He's not here! And it's because of that motherfucker! He took my family from me once and now he's trying to do it again! There is no fucking line I won't cross to prevent that from happening, to save them and put Elijah fucking Bane in the ground!"

"There should be," Dante spoke in a calm, even tone. He grasped Caspian's shoulder. "There needs to be."

Caspian shrugged him off and turned to go.

I went to step forward, but a voice coming from the top of the staircase pulled me up short.

"My brother wouldn't want this."

Caspian turned back as Damien descended the stairs. "You don't know what he'd want."

"You know all too well that I do." He grimaced as he made it down the stairs, then approached Caspian and Dante. "I know Seb inside and out and you know that's how I've been able to manipulate and come at him to such great effect over the years."

Caspian's eyes narrowed, but he didn't counter Damien's claims or dismiss them.

Damien took the opportunity to go on, "We'll get them back, but not like this. Defeating a monster by becoming one sounds all well and good when you're not factoring in the aftermath, which, for once, I really doubt you are. It's nearly impossible for you to do when it comes to those you love. The threat is all that you see. The thing is, King, you do this and you won't be the man they all love once they're back here. And then Elijah wins anyway."

"You have no fucking right to talk morality with me."

"I don't, no. But I'm not talking from me. I'm talking from Seb's point of view, how he would view it, how he would make you see the detriment of this path you're headed down. He wouldn't want this for you. Caleb wouldn't either. And let's not forget, with Cal's own issues with the dark, he looks to you for where to draw the line. If you do this, you can't be that for him and he needs it, he'll always need it from you."

I saw Dante looking on, almost seeming as flabbergasted as I was that Damien was being the voice of reason here, that he was actually trying to help with this, of all things.

"You spent a lot of time with Jett. He spoke about his brother, yes?"

Damien followed his train of thought. "I got the lowdown on what he's capable of, yeah."

"And you're still standing here trying to talk me down from approaching this with the swiftest and most effective strategy, knowing what your little brother and your long-time crush are suffering at his hands?"

When Dante moved to speak, Caspian held up his hand. "We've discussed this non-stop for the last hour. My position hasn't changed. It's done." He glared at Damien. "And you don't get to counsel me."

Shaking my head, I stepped from the shadows. "And what about me?"

They all jolted, then Caspian turned toward me.

It took a few moments as the rage in his hazel eyes collided with the understanding in mine, but then it eased off, and he smiled sadly.

I walked to him and took his hand. "Let's talk, okay?"

No words came as he stared at me.

And then he gave a nod, letting me lead him away.

I caught sight of Damien looking stunned, and Dante tugging at his goatee in clear concern for Caspian's state of mind.

I watchedhim finishing off his second burger as he leaned against the headboard of my bed beside me, eating right out of the wrapper after I'd ordered in takeout.

"You haven't eaten in days, have you?"

He lifted a shoulder. "Seems it slipped my mind."

Things didn't simply slip his mind.

I put my plate with just crumbs left from my burger down on the nightstand. "You're punishing yourself."

He stopped mid-bite and looked at me from out of the corner of his eye. "Excuse me?"

"You're punishing yourself, Caspian. For them being taken, for things not going precisely to plan because of this massive curveball that Elijah threw you."

"Skylar—"

"And most of all, because you think they're suffering due to who you are. Because they're connected to you." I turned to the side, crossing my legs and settling in. "And that's not true. Okay? It's absolutely not. You're too sweet and considerate of them to ever speak it outright—or even to hint at it in any way—but we both know that without you being in their lives, up until the last two years when they were able to grow stronger and find their feet, they wouldn't have made it. They would have fallen for so many reasons."

He finished the last two bites of his burger, then put the empty wrapper down on the nightstand closest to his side of the bed.

"Caspian?" I pushed carefully when he still hadn't responded.

He sighed and shifted to face me. "I appreciate you saying that, but the undisputed fact is that if I hadn't waged this war against Elijah, our boys would still be here with us now."

"You don't know that."

"I surely do, love. Elijah took them to get at me. And he was able to do so because my guard was down, my resources directed toward the multi-pronged assault that night."

"We're talking about the soulless bastard who murdered your parents. He even had Wayne Thorn murdered just in case he happened to take the reins of King in your father's stead. He's a narcissistic madman, his only goal being absolute power. He runs his empire like a fucking dictatorship. He has no moral compass to speak of. He's unhinged, even more so than his demented shit of a little brother—and that's saying something. He could've come at you regardless of whether you'd made the first move. You showed us that video Dante sent you of him discovering Elijah was the one responsible for taking out your parents and Bastian's father, and it was made clear that Elijah always regretted that you'd been able to save King. Let's face it, it was only ever a matter of time before he launched an offensive against you. You had to do this, not only for justice, but for protection. Bastian and Caleb know that, they see it the same way I do. I know it, I know them. And so do you, you're just caught in the storm with all this shit swirling around you and it's threatening to cloud things for you, to obscure the truth and replace it with guilt and lies that Elijah wants you to believe. He's trying to break you through them, Caspian. But he can't. Nobody can."

I reached out and stroked his hair, the way I knew had the ability to soothe him, something Caleb was known for doing with him.

A pained smile curved his lips.

And then he was leaning into me and brushing those lips over mine.

The moment we connected, the kiss escalated, fueled by some really heavy intensity on his end. He thrust his tongue into my mouth, tangling fiercely with mine, his hands fisting in my hair and holding me in place as he took his fill.

I could barely breathe through it, the overwhelming nature of it.

And then he abruptly stopped.

"I can't," he breathed into my hair. "I'm too on edge. I can't guarantee I won't lose control."

I eased back and held his face in my hands, searching his eyes.

There was so much grief, so much agony there. I wanted to soothe it, if only a little, because that could only be achieved wholly once the boys were back with us.

"It's okay. You've let go and unleashed completely on me before."

"That night in the woods, yes." He grasped my hands on his face, shaking his head. "That was different. Caleb and Bastian were present, functioning as failsafes just in case. The way I'm feeling now, I can't… I won't risk it with you."

"I love you, Caspian."

He stroked the backs of my hands. "As I love you."

He eased them from his face, then kissed my palms. "Get some sleep," he said, and in the next moment, he was pulling away entirely, then climbing off the bed.

"You need to as well."

"I will. Soon."

I winced at his non-committal response.

He walked out and shut the door behind him.

I blew out a breath and slumped against the headboard.

"Shit."

I tossedthe blade through the air, watching as it drove into the wooden target in the distance dead-on.

Coming out here and knife-throwing was a way for me to be close to Bastian. We'd spent a lot of time doing this together and we had many happy shared memories of it. It also helped to relieve at least a little bit of the frustration threatening to take me over, the fear for them, and the fact that time kept ticking on by where we couldn't locate him and Caleb and bring them back to us where they belonged. Where we needed them desperately.

Before this, I'd spent a half hour engaged in the special meditation that Caleb had taught me, feeling him there with me through it too. This sense of hopelessness and powerlessness was a trigger for me, threatening to awaken my destructive side, so I'd really needed it to rein myself in.

So much was being tested right now.

And not just for me.

Caspian was right on the edge.

Actually, he'd gone over it, according to the argument I'd overheard between him and Dante earlier.

I snatched up another blade and took aim at the next target.

I was a hair's breadth away from tossing it when a voice pulled me up short.

"Impressive," Dante spoke, walking to me after coming out of seemingly nowhere, his hands shoved in the pockets of a three-quarter length wool coat. "A fantastic outlet also, I would imagine."

I smiled. "It is, yeah." I put the blade down and closed the distance between us, folding my arms across the chest of my blue leather jacket. "Is Matteo settling in well?"

He'd left the mansion for a couple of hours as Matteo was being released from the burn unit and now able to be discharged. Given the situation and him being down, he would be staying at King Manor for protection until he got his strength back and healed all the way. At least he was out of the woods, though, and made comfortable.

"It doesn't take much for him. A television and a streaming service and he's content. Caspian's doctors are also top-notch, so he will be taken care of very well here until he's able to return home."

"Good. I'm glad. I get that he means a lot to you. He's your second in command, right?"

He gave a nod. "I took him under my wing years ago."

"I'm sorry you almost lost him the night of that explosion."

"The important thing is that it didn't come to pass." He stroked his goatee. "Now, Skylar, unfortunately, I'm going to have to put you in an awkward position."

I tensed. "What are you getting at?"

He stepped closer. "We are both concerned about Caspian's current approach and state of mind, yes?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"Given my vocal disapproval, he's cut me out. For me to safeguard him, that can't be, as I'm sure you understand. As such, I've come to you. Did he tell you the meaning of the intel he garnered from Ben earlier?"

I frowned. "He told me it wasn't fruitful, that he wouldn't give anything up. That's not the case?"

"It's not. He wouldn't have stopped if it was. Not in his current state of mind."

"I can ask him, push a little."

"No. He may just double down on the subterfuge and that won't benefit anything. I have another lead to pursue. I received information just now that I'd been waiting on since this began."

"And that's why you've come to me?"

He gestured at the targets in the distance. "You possess the necessary skillset, your ability with a blade being only one aspect. There's also your connections to this particular lead."

"What connection?"

"Raze."

Oh shit. "How does he factor into this?"

"I was able to pull very hard to obtain video footage at the intersect point Caspian identified. It was at this location where the kidnappers switched vehicles into two unmarked transport trucks. It was also at this point that they entered a vast area devoid of any sort of surveillance for us to access—no businesses, no traffic light cams, nothing. However, I was able to trace the seemingly untraceable transport trucks back to Raze. He provided them to what's left of Elijah's people."

"Of course he had. He's so desperate for his club to make it big, he'll grab any opportunity, no matter how unsavory it is, even crossing paths with the likes of Elijah Bane."

"Indeed. Those transport trucks are outfitted with tracers."

"Oh my God," I breathed, as the implication became clear. "This could be the lead to finding them."

"If we can gain access to that information, which Raze keeps highly-protected, given that his transport trucks are used to move illicit materials."

"You're telling me that only he has access?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Information that you could force him to release to us with the threat of the Mancini Syndicate coming down on him. King, too."

"Should we do that, we risk Raze alerting Elijah and him subsequently moving Caleb and Sebastian. You, on the other hand, have the means to convince him to release the intel and to keep it quiet."

I squared my shoulders. "Where is he?"

"His usual haunt."

He reached into his coat. "In case he gives you any trouble, or tries to toy with you, this may prove useful," he said, as he pulled out a little envelope.

I took it as he handed it to me, opening it to find a bunch of photos.

I choked as I took them in.

They depicted a man—or what was left of him—bound to a chair and burned beyond recognition, his flesh basically melted.

"Is this… did Caspian do this?"

"Yes."

"Fuck. This is… beyond brutal."

"Now you can see why I want to do whatever it takes to avoid him committing an act like this again. It isn't who he is, but his grief and desperation have taken the wheel."

"Hence you going behind his back now and coming to me."

"I'm sure you can see that there is no other choice."

I tucked the photos back into the envelope, then slid it into my inside pocket.

"Get me passage out of King Manor and keep it off Caspian's radar, and I'll take care of it."

"Consider it done."