City of Fire and Ink

Happy Hunting

"We have to get her back."

"Seojun, I'm coming over."

"No, Orion, there's no time. We need to go now."

"No. We're not going to waste our time checking every inch of this city when we can be smart about it. We're going to get her back, I promise. Just wait for me okay. I'm on my way right now."

"No, don't you get it, there's no. . . ." Omma reached over and ended the call.

"What the fuck?" I snarled, too blind with rage to register that I was cursing at my mom.

"You're not going to save them like this." Omma had no patience for my bullshit. "You're going to breathe and then you're going to start using your brain. There is a limited number of places Inez could be, where are they?"

I took a breath, the fury scorching my body from the inside out. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. If I genuinely cared about Inez, I needed a plan. "The Cobra stronghold. But I don't know. . . "

"Stop overthinking and just give me ideas." Omma's hand gripped my shoulder so tight it was almost painful.

"Somewhere in East Pardahna. If not the Cobra stronghold than somewhere else that's symbolic."

"What else?"

"Maybe Wonderland. Or Rosales. Since we attacked there, that would be a good place if Apollo wanted to make it mean something."

A banging on the door sent me flying across the room. Adrenaline racked my body so thoroughly that everything was a startle response.

"Seojun, open the hell up." I knew that voice, but Kayla looked at me first before opening the door. I couldn't even manage a response, just a shaky nod.

Aisha burst through the door, blood red hijab immaculate among the chaos of the rest of her. "How dare that fucking bastard go after Inez?" Aisha had actually never met Inez, but I talked enough about them that my relationship was pretty clear.

"He was mad at me." I sank down on the couch. "This is my fault. I pushed him too hard, first by going to the stronghold then this. He's not going to wait for me to kill her, he'll just do it himself."

Aisha yanked me up from the ground. "No he won't. If you're capable of destroying the Cobra stronghold when you're mad about someone you just met, you're capable of a whole lot worse when someone you actually love is a stake. Surely he has enough brains to realize that. He wants to humiliate you."

"I know." Someone shoved some water into my hand and I gulped it down furiously. "I'm just terrified. I can't lose someone else."

"I know sweetheart." Aisha rubbed my back. "But we can make sure that you don't lose Inez. I have people, we can make this happen. Just tell us what to do." Aisha always had a way of calming me down. Maybe it was her naturally unflappable air, but she'd been there for me since we met and even if I was scared, I trusted her.

"Seojun, where are you?" Orion and Rowan were next through the door, practically sprinting through the apartment. Rowan jumped on me in a bear hug, the comforting scent of jasmine tea wrapping around me. "I'm so sorry cariña. But we're here now. We'll make sure that he doesn't touch a hair on Inez's head." I locked eyes with Orion, the tension draining from my body. As much as I loved the others, there was a special bond that I shared with him. Omma would say our minds were cut from the same cloth.

"What's the plan?" Orion asked me. "Are we splitting up?"

"Yes, we're splitting up. I think he's going to drop some false hints, to throw us off the trail."