Prologue

MAE:

One week ago.

I think it’s a trumpet. 

Maybe the sky gods want a red carpet laid out for them before they arrive on the ground.

But it’s only Kira blowing snot into a tissue, repeatedly, in the living room.

“Arghhhh.” She half groans and half wails, leaving me dumbfounded. 

“Don’t you think it’s too early in the morning?”

She pops one eye open through her aggressive tears, blowing another round of non-existent snot into a tissue. She’s all surrounded. White crumpled paper towels dot every spot on the black tiled floor next to her.

“Men are scum!” she says while crying, but I strain to hear her correctly.

“What? Men are saints?”

The leatherette couch pillow lands in my face for that, and I raise my hands, surrendering.

“Too soon. Got it.”

I sigh, watching her crumble, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

Kira fell for her mated boss, who hid the truth about his family from her. It wasn’t until she had gotten tangled in his messed up life that she found out.

Falling in love is the easy part. The hard part is falling out of it. 

“Kira—”

“Arghhhhh.”

Ranting about her sticky situation, she cries even harder—if that’s even possible. 

“I should really kill him for doing this to me! Just look at me, Mae. I’m dying over a man with a family... I...”

“No, you won’t kill him.” I walk over, expertly avoiding the tissues like they are my arch nemesis. “And you certainly won’t die. Kira, you will get past this, trust me.”

“Mae, he told me he was going to leave her. He said there was no love between them and that he only wanted me.”

I pat her hair down, pulling her to the light brown couch with me. Her head rests on my shoulder, and I hold her close.

It’s been Kira and I for many years since she picked me up at the orphanage. My parents didn’t want me, but a twenty-old, still figuring out her life, did at the time. She took an Omega of no value under her care. I owe her everything.

I certainly won’t take a raincheck at breaking Ivan Holden’s nose. How dare he end things after taking it this far?

“No amount of freedom will get me clean. Mae, I’ve still got him all over me. Just let me die.”

“Kira, if it was someone else who didn’t know your dramatic ass, that last line would have worked big time.” I pushed her head away gently, setting myself free. “I’m going to cover for you.”

“Send my apologies to Sai. I can’t make it today or this week—make sure you call me if anything goes wrong.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I survive the walk past the mess on the floor, grabbing my black leather jacket off the hamper.

“Goodbye, pumpkin. And stay sober!”

She yells after me, but I had already shut the door in her face. After shuffling down the short steps, I cross the lawn, put on my gloves and helmet, and hop on my motorcycle.

The Home comes into my line of sight soon enough. I park at the curb, walking towards the fancy entrance. When I’m about to press the bell button, I notice the breached lock. 

The gate is open.

I frown.

Kira has been working as Sai’s caretaker for a year after his parents confined him to this space because he showed ‘dangerous tendencies’. 

They say he had a mental breakdown and has not been the same since.

The Sai I know and love is the kindest and sweetest person. He makes my heart race each time I see him. He’s the reason I volunteer to come here a lot.

My heart is racing now, but it’s for an entirely different reason. 

Sai. 

Instantly, I place a phone call to an old friend. 

“Hello. X speaking.”

“Boss lady, how’s you?”

“I’m on 47th Avenue, and I need to see the street’s footage from hours ago to now.”

“On it.”

I step inside, darting my eyes frantically around the premises. It’s a three-floor building made up of three A-roofs and windows; still the way I remember it.

When I’m inside the familiar, quiet building, I have just one question.

Sai. Where is Sai?

I hear footsteps, though. I dash into Sai’s bedroom closet and shut it softly behind me. My scent should be everywhere around this house, but the intruder stops in the corridor. They don’t come in here. I still don’t breathe.

“Hello.”

His voice is robotic. He’s using a voice changer, which sounds the alarms in my head harder. 

“Yes, I have the boy already. We will begin the extraction soon.”

The footsteps resume again, but they are leaving the house. I breathe first, then I come out of hiding. My phone buzzes. It’s a video message. 

I fast forward. Five hours ago, a black car pulled up at the gate. Two burly men dressed in black step down from it. They destroy everything in their path. 

Five minutes later, they jostle a struggling Sai out of the Home.

Sai.

My heartbeat picks up. I zoom in on the video, needing to see the family crest these men carry. 

It’s a crow. 

I’ve never seen anything like that around here before, but they have Sai. 

I race for my motorcycle and zoom off in the direction I came. Kira sees me pulling up in our driveway and meets me at the entrance. She stands above the steps. 

I notice she’s no longer crying over Sai’s father. Her eyes are dazed instead. There’s a shadow of grief lurking there.

“Mae.” Her voice shakes, and I understand what that means.

My helmet clatters on the paved ground as I run up the steps, darting into the house and finding the flat television in our living room. 

I see the image on the screen.

It’s a ruined car on a bridge. The camera closes in on Sai’s bloody face. The boy I’m in love with is dead, but it’s not the ghastly crash that killed him. 

There’s a hole in his chest. 

His heart is missing.