The four of them stood in the middle of their driveway in the cold predawn darkness, staring at the empty street where their family had just been torn apart.
Samantha felt her legs give out.
She didn't fall—Kai caught her before she hit the pavement, his arms wrapping around her with desperate strength. But the sound that came out of her throat was animal, raw, a howl of pure anguish that shattered the night silence.
"No, no, no, no—" She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Seven of her children were gone. Just gone. Taken by a woman whose name they didn't even know.
"Sam—" Kai's voice cracked. "Samantha, breathe—"
"They took them!" She was shaking so hard her vision blurred. "That woman just took them and we stood there and let it happen—"
