Chapter 8

EIGHT

My eyes start to water, and my body tries to give into the toxins being pumped into the room, but I refuse. I fight against them to get to her.

I am so fucking angry at her, I want to tan her hide raw for sacrificing herself for us. I know why she did it . . .

Nova. I hear the engines as they speed away.

Fuck! I rock harder, trying to break the chair, when I hear a cough. Jerking my head up, I see Bert opening the front door. He stumbles into the living room, batting away the smoke and shoving open the windows to clear it. When he sees us, he squints, his eyes watering too.

His mouth is twisted in agony, and his hand is pressed to his chest where he’s bleeding. He’s pale and clearly in danger, yet he heads towards us. “Nova?” he croaks.

I try to shout and warn him, but I can’t, and he stumbles over Ana and Sam.

Falling to his ass, he sees the bodies and screams before covering his lips with his hand.

I shout his name, trying to get his attention. With each second that passes, they take Nova farther away, but his eyes are locked on Ana as he cries. “Ana . . . Oh, God.” Turning his head, he throws up.

Somehow, I manage to work the gag down. “Get us free!” I roar. “Nova!”

Nodding, he crawls to us as he cries, grabbing a knife from my boot and slicing my bonds. After, he moves back to Ana, stroking her face. I leave him there as I cut the others free, all of us rushing out the front door to go after our love.

Our girl.

However, our cars are destroyed.

“No!” Jonas roars, going to run, but I grab him.

“Don’t,” I snap. “We need a plan.”

“No—”

“We will get her back!” I yell at him. “Isaac, get Bert and check him over. Everyone else, clear the building now!” I see them hesitate, and I turn on them. “Now!” I roar, and they rush inside as I turn to stare at the driveway. “We’re coming, Nova, I promise.”

* * *

“I failed her,” Bert whispers, his sad eyes focused far away. “I failed Miss Nova, and I failed Miss Ana.”

“You got us free so we can rescue her.”

“Ana is dead. I should have protected her better. I should have protected them both better.”

“We do not have time for regrets,” Jonas snarls.

“Jo—” Isaac starts, but he shakes his head.

“We don’t! Each moment we waste puts him that much farther away from us. Regrets don’t change what happened, only actions do.”

“He’s right,” Bert murmurs. “Go get her and bring her home.”

“How the fuck do we do that? We have no cars.”

“There’s one in the garage.” Bert sits up, wincing in pain. “Bring Nova back. I will not lose them both.”

“You need blood and surgery,” Isaac begins.

“I need my girls!” he snaps, angrier than I’ve ever seen him. “Screw me. Leave me to die and go get her. That’s an order.”

“Isaac, stay with him,” I demand.

“No.” He stands. “I’m going too.”

“I need you to keep him alive,” I implore. “Nova loves him. She can’t . . . I won’t let her lose anyone else.”

The weight of my failure sits heavily on my shoulders, but I push through it, knowing I need to be smart. They need answers and a leader. They need me, so I don’t break, not yet.

Nodding, Isaac sits back down.

“Everyone else, grab your weapons. Let’s get our girl.”

Storming from the room, I load up. Dimitri pulls the SUV around front, where we all hop in.

“Which direction?” Dimitri asks nervously.

“Drive,” is all I say, because honestly, I don’t know. I need to think.

Where would he take her?

It can’t be close. He’d want her far away from us just in case. “Airport,” I mutter. “The son of a bitch will either take her to a boat, which is too far away, or a private jet. Clearly, he’s moving around with them, so get us to the airport.”

“Step on it,” Nico growls, the only words he has spoken.

“Louis,” Dimitri whispers, sharing a look with me as he guns it.

“Don’t. We are getting her back,” I snap at him. “Now focus on driving.”

We are all alert, watching the road as he drives like a madman, covering the distance in half the time we did last time. Leaping from the car, we sprint through the building, only to see a plane taking off with a car parked before a hangar. I hurry over and search inside, freezing when I see a note on the seat.

I unfold it, only to realise it belongs to Nova.

I miss you—Nova.

“She was here.” Slamming the door closed, I look at the plane. “She’s on there.”

“Fuck!” Nico roars, punching his fist into the car before whirling on Dimitri. He grabs him and slams him into it too. “Work your fucking magic. Track her!”

“I need my laptop.”

“Nova,” Nico roars.

“Nico!” I demand. “We need to calm down. We need a plan.”

“Fuck your plans!” Jonas hisses, clenching and unclenching his hands. “Look where it got us.”

I slam my fist into his face before he can react, and everyone freezes. “I am just as lost as you,” I tell them honestly. “I am just as scared and panicked, but right now, Nova needs us, and acting like buffoons will not help. Instead of fighting each other, we need to work together to bring her back. We will find her,” I promise. “We will bring her home, but right now, we need to take care of Bert, look at Jonas’s head, regroup, and come up with a foolproof plan to get our girl back.”

“And then?” Dimitri asks.

“Then we kill her father.”