No more hoping.

Zane

The night was quiet, the kind of silence that feels almost tangible, wrapping around everything in a suffocating embrace. I lay there in the darkness, the rhythmic sound of my own breathing the only thing breaking the stillness. Sleep was elusive, as it often was these days. Ever since Amanda took Tiana, my mind had been a constant whirlpool of worry and anger. Tonight was no different, and as I tossed and turned, I felt the weight of my thoughts pressing down on me like a lead blanket.

Just as I felt myself beginning to drift off, a sudden thought hit me like a bolt of lightning. My eyes snapped open, my heart pounding in my chest. It was a realization so sharp and clear, it cut through the fog of exhaustion that had clouded my mind for days. Amanda was never going to release Tiana willingly. The hatred she held for me ran too deep, the grudges too old and entrenched. There was only one way this was going to end. I had to rescue Tiana myself.

I swung my legs over the side of the