Twisted Veil of Devotion

Part 24

ZANE POV

I left the studio with a storm inside my chest.

For a few seconds, after that door closed and she disappeared, I could not breathe. My hands were shaking. My heart felt like it had been ripped straight from my body.

But there was no time to collapse.

Not here. Not like this.

By the time I reached the hallway, my face was calm again. My mask was back in place. The men standing guard outside straightened as I walked past. None of them dared speak.

I walked back toward the ballroom, hearing the faint echo of laughter, music, crystal glasses touching, people pretending to be powerful.

I stopped one of my men.

"Tell the guests the party continues. I will not be returning. There is business."

He nodded and disappeared.

I turned away from the noise and headed to my office.

Inside, the silence wrapped around me. Heavy. Suffocating. I poured a drink I did not taste and started making calls.

"Track the car."

"Find the signal."

"Report everything."

Minutes felt like hours.

Then the reports began to come in.

A chase. Multiple vehicles. Gunfire.

A roadblock.

An explosion.

I closed my eyes, my grip tight around the glass. My jaw clenched as the man on the phone continued.

"By the time our men reached the crash site, she was gone. Someone took her, sir. They were fast. Professional. We... we don't know who."

My jaw clenched.

My voice came out quiet. Too quiet.

"You are telling me you lost her. And you do not know to whom."

"Yes, sir."

The line went quiet.

I didn't shout. I didn't throw the glass. My anger didn't explode.

It sank. Deep. Heavy. Cold.

"Keep searching," I said quietly, and ended the call.

The room felt smaller. The fire sounded louder. Every breath scraped like broken glass.

Someone had taken her from me.

Not the police.

Not Ryan.

Not my enemies I could name.

Someone who moved without leaving a trace.

And then the knock came.

The butler entered with the tray. The red envelope. The seal I had not seen in years.

I opened it.

We have her.
It is time to return what belongs to us.

My fingers tightened around the paper until it nearly tore.

Now I knew.

The Obsidian Order.

And the quiet inside me turned lethal.

RYAN POV