Page 116 of Broken Wolf Heart
“He’s trying to figure out where he goes from here. What’s left for him besides his anger.” He pauses, then adds, “Vengeance isn’t very fulfilling.”
“He needs hope,” I say quietly. “We all do. But your father?—”
“Will not win.”
I start to say something else.
Then the door bangs open.
We break apart like guilty teenagers.
Andy stands there, out of breath, still in her funeral dress. “Sorry,” she says quickly. “But you need to come downstairs.”
Grey is already up, pulling on his shirt. “What happened?”
“Dr. Severin escaped.”
“What? How?”
“Some kind of distraction outside his home. The guard was knocked out from behind. And the doc is gone.”
“We should have put him in a cell,” I mutter, echoing Mia’s sentiment since the beginning.
“What about the witch?” Grey asks.
“We’re checking now.”
Grey grabs his phone.
“There’s more,” Andy says grimly, and I brace myself.
“Report came in five minutes ago. A patrol reported movement at Capo.”
I’m out of bed and rifling through the closet for something other than a dress. “What kind of movement?”
“Patrol says someone was there. Maybe more than one person. And the power’s back on.”
My blood goes cold. “I told them to shut it down.”
Her expression is hard. “Sounds like they didn’t listen.”
An hour later,the SUV carrying me, Grey, Andy, Mia, and Dutch rolls to a stop outside the rusted chain-link gate. Same gate we shoved through last time. And just like before, the lights are all on. It’s more noticeable at night too. Fluorescents buzz behind two grimy windows, casting a ghostly glow that shouldn’t be there.
The place was supposed to be shut down. Condemned. Watched.
Instead, it looks ready to welcome us back like we’re expected.
My stomach turns.
Dutch steps out first, weapon drawn. He pushes through the sagging gate. It swings open with a creak that drags across my spine. We follow him single file, boots crunching gravel.
Behind us, Crow and Razor climb out of their car and meld into our group like shadows.
The lab looms ahead like a concrete monolith—same cracked paint, same broken windows.
Andy tests the main door. Unlocked. She glances back, face pale.
“Be ready,” Mia mutters.
