(Keifer's POV)
The silence after the call didn't last long.
It couldn't.
Because the moment I said, "I'm going," everything shifted.
"No, you're not going alone."
Aries' voice came first. Sharp. Immediate. Not a question.
I looked at him, jaw tight. "I didn't ask."
"And I didn't offer," he shot back. "She's my sister."
"She's also the reason they want me there."
"Exactly," Percy cut in, pushing himself off the table with a dramatic sigh. "Which means, obviously, you walking in alone is a terrible idea. And I refuse to let my face attend a funeral this early in life."
Even now.
Even like this.
He still sounded like himself.
But the tension in his voice gave him away.
Angelo stepped forward next, quieter but firm. "We're coming."
Behind them, the rest of Section E shifted too. No hesitation. No debate.
Just decision.
I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to think, not react.
They weren't wrong.
I hated that.
"Fine," I said finally. "But no one moves without my call."
Aries held my gaze for a second, then nodded once. "Deal."
"Got something."
All of us turned toward Edrix.
He didn't look up, fingers moving fast across the keyboard, screen filled with tracking data.
"It's not stable," he said, "but I caught the signal when they called. There's interference, but I pulled a location before it dropped."
"Where?" I asked.
He turned the laptop slightly.
Industrial area.
Outskirts.
Isolated.
Perfect.
"They're jamming most signals," he added. "Once you're close, tracking won't help. You'll have to rely on sight."
Good.
That's all I needed.
"Send it."
"Already done."
The next few minutes moved fast.
Keys grabbed.
Phones checked.
No unnecessary talk.
No wasted time.
The drive felt longer than it actually was.
I didn't speak.
Didn't need to.
One hand on the wheel, the other still holding her bracelet without even realizing it.
Behind me, silence.
Heavy.
Aries sat still, but I could feel it—the anger, the control it was taking not to break something. Percy leaned back, unusually quiet for once, staring out the window, his expression unreadable. Angelo just watched the road, focused.
No one asked me anything.
Because they all heard her.
That voice.
That don't come.
I tightened my grip slightly.
Too late.
Jay.
She would try to stay strong.
Too strong.
Even now.
And that worried me.
Because when she forces herself to hold everything in—
it doesn't make her stronger.
It breaks her.
Slowly.
And if they kept pushing—
My jaw tightened.
They had no idea what they were doing.
"We're close," Edrix's voice came through.
I slowed the car, eyes scanning ahead.
The city was gone now.
No traffic.
No noise.
Just empty roads and dim lights.
Then—
I saw it.
A building.
Old.
Isolated.
Lights on, but not fully.
Controlled.
Planned.
I slowed the car to a stop at a distance, engine humming for a second before I turned it off.
Silence.
Heavy.
Final.
I stared at the building.
She's in there.
That was it.
That was the only thing that mattered.
I opened the door and stepped out.
Cold air hit instantly.
Behind me, doors opened one by one.
No one spoke.
No one needed to.
Because this—
PART 27 — Don't Come Near
(Keifer's POV)
The door opened without resistance.
That was the first thing that felt wrong.
Too easy.
I stepped in first, my eyes adjusting quickly, scanning everything in one sweep—corners, shadows, movement, exits.
Nothing.
The place was empty.
Too empty.
Behind me, I could hear the others step in, slow, careful, but I didn't look back. My focus was already ahead—
and then I saw her.
For a second—
everything stopped.
She was on the floor.
Curled slightly, like her body had just given up trying to hold itself together. Her clothes were creased, her hair messy, falling across her face. Even from where I stood, I could see the marks, the way her body barely moved with each breath.
It didn't look like someone who had just been taken.
It looked like—
they had used her.
Like she had been pushed past her limit and left there.
Small.
That's what hit the most.
She looked… small.
Not weak.
Never that.
But small in a way that made something in my chest tighten hard.
My grip loosened around the bracelet without me realizing it.
She wasn't unconscious.
Her eyes were half open, unfocused, like it took effort just to keep them that way. Every breath looked heavy, like her body didn't want to cooperate anymore.
"Jay…"
The name left my mouth before I could stop it.
Soft.
But it carried.
Her eyes shifted.
Slow.
Like even that movement cost her something.
She tried to lift her head.
Just a little.
Just enough to see.
And then—
she saw me.
I felt it.
That look.
Not confusion.
Not relief.
Something else.
Something that hit harder than anything else in that room.
Why did you come?
It wasn't said.
It didn't need to be.
It was right there in her eyes.
And for a second—
everything else faded.
All I could think was—
she's here because of me.
My fault.
My problem.
And she's the one paying for it.
My jaw tightened, my chest feeling heavier than it should.
"My baby…" the thought slipped in before I could stop it.
I took a step forward.
"Jay—"
I was about to move.
About to go straight to her.
Nothing else mattered in that moment—
not the room,
not the silence,
not the fact that it felt too easy.
Just her.
But before I could reach her—
her head dropped back against the floor.
Like she didn't have the strength to hold it anymore.
A small sound left her lips.
Barely there.
"Plzz… don't come near… Keif…"
I heard it.
Every word.
Even though it was weak.
Even though it was broken.
And that—
that made me stop.
Right there.