(Dominic’s POV)
The moment I heard her scream through the comms, something inside me broke.
Static tore through Ava’s channel, sharp and screeching, but beneath it—I heard it. The unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground. Of steel clashing. Of a voice—hers—cut off mid-order.
“Ava?” I barked into the earpiece, already moving, boots slamming into the cold dirt outside the main hall. “Ava, respond!”
Nothing. Just silence. Then a long hiss of distortion… followed by Emily’s panicked voice crackling in.
“We were ambushed—Ava’s—she stayed back—they took her!”
I didn’t wait to hear the rest.
I was already sprinting, the coordinates blaring red in my HUD. The world narrowed into a tunnel of trees, wind, and blood in my mouth. Logan shouted something behind me, but it didn’t register.
