Chapter 934
“My team is on him,” Liam said, nodding toward his security detail closing around the fallen man. “We need to find Victoria. She was the real target.”
“Victoria?” Skye spun around.
The pink dress was gone.
𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺
The emergency lights flickered on, bathing the ballroom in a sickly red glow. It looked like the inside of an artery.
“Backstage,” Skye said, kicking off her heels. “Ethan went backstage. If they took Victoria, that’s where they went.”
She didn’t wait for Liam. She sprinted toward the stage and vaulted over the edge. Liam cursed and followed, his limp pronounced but his speed surprising.
The backstage corridor was a labyrinth of cables and props. A security guard lay unconscious by the prop table.
Skye turned a corner and skidded to a halt.
Ethan was there. He was dragging Victoria by her hair. She was kicking and screaming, her pink dress torn.
“Let me go! My daddy will nuke you!” Victoria shrieked.
“Silence,” Ethan said. He raised a hand — not holding a gun, but a syringe.
“Ethan!” Skye shouted.
Ethan turned, his head cocking to the side like a curious bird. “Skye Sterling. Anomaly detected.”
“Let her go, Ethan. It’s me. Skye.”
“Skye,” Ethan repeated. A flicker of something — confusion? — crossed his dead eyes. “Skye… Blackwood?”
“Yes,” Skye said, stepping forward with her hands raised. “Blackwood. The bread. You were hungry. I gave you bread.”
Ethan winced and clutched his head. “No. No bread. Only the mission.” He snapped his fingers.
Two men in tactical gear stepped out from the shadows, moving with military precision.
“Neutralize,” Ethan ordered.
One mercenary lunged at Skye. She dropped to her knees and slid across the polished floor, dodging his grapple. She grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall bracket.
“Eat this!”
She didn’t swing it. She pulled the pin and squeezed the handle, aiming for his face. A cloud of white chemical powder exploded into the hallway. The mercenary choked, blinded.
“Victoria! Run!” Skye yelled.
But the second mercenary had already grabbed Victoria, throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Skye!” Victoria screamed, reaching out.
Ethan pressed a button on the wall. The freight elevator doors slid open.
“No!” Skye charged through the white fog, swinging the empty extinguisher. She connected with the first mercenary’s knee, hearing a satisfying crunch — but she was too late.
Ethan and the second mercenary stepped into the elevator with Victoria. The doors began to close.
Skye threw herself at the gap, her fingers scrabbling at the metal. “Ethan, please!”
Ethan looked at her through the narrowing slit. For a second — just a second — the mask slipped. He looked terrified. He looked like a little boy who had done something wrong.
“Julian…” he whispered.
The doors slammed shut.
Skye pounded on the metal, screaming in frustration. The elevator hummed, descending toward the parking garage.
Liam and Alistair rounded the corner with guns drawn.
“Where are they?” Alistair demanded.
“Gone.” Skye slumped against the door and slid to the floor. “They took her. They took Victoria.”