Page 44 of Requiem
Micah lets out a harsh breath, pacing once before dragging both hands through his hair. “So what, we just sit here?” he snaps. “We just let him drop whatever the hell he’s about to drop and watch Jude get destroyed? He's going to, you know that, right? He knows that if we don't have anything, then Jude is either as good as dead or in prison for fuckinglife.”
No one answers him either. Because no one hasanything.
“Rafe,” I try again, softer now, desperate in a different way. “What do we do?”
His jaw tightens, his gaze flicking back to my phone in my hand.
“Right now?” he says after a beat. “There’s not much we can do. I’m sorry, Emma.”
The finality in his tone hits so hard I feel like I could pass out.
Micah huffs, the sound between a laugh and a curse, before his legs give out beneath him. He drops onto the couch beside Adriana, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his hands covering his face like he’s trying to hold himself together. “This is fucked,” he mutters into his palms. “This is so fucked.”
Adriana is unnaturally still beside him, her shoulders tense, her gaze distant, as if she already knows exactly what Alexei is capable of putting into the world. The only sound left in the room is the quiet, relentless ticking of the clock on the screen.
Counting down.
And we’re just…waiting for it to happen.
I try not to look at it, but my eyes keep drifting back anyway. One hour, forty-eight minutes. Then forty-seven. Then forty-six. I press mylips together and force myself to turn away, but even then I can still feel it ticking in the back of my mind.
I can’tthinkproperly. I'm sure everyone is in some level of shock because no one is saying anything.
I’m supposed to be able to think. To have something useful to say that makes this feel less like we’re all standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting to get kicked the fuck off of it. But all I can see is that video.
Jude’s body jerking against restraints, his face changing when they forced him to look atme,and the sound he made afterward, like his soul was being ripped out of his body. My stomach turns hard enough that I have to steady myself with a slow breath.
No.
I force my eyes shut for a moment, but it doesn’t help. “Adela,” I say, and my voice comes out tight. “How long?”
She doesn’t look up from the screen. Her fingers keep moving, while Nico leans in beside her, murmuring under his breath in a language of codes and warnings I can’t follow.
“I don’t know,” she says finally, not unkindly, just exhausted. “Every time I break one layer, it triggers another. It’s not a system, it’s a trap. A very patient one.”
“We don’t need everything,” Micah says from the couch, his voice rougher now. “Just give ussomethingwe can use. Something we can hit back with.”
“That’s the problem,” Nico mutters without looking away from the screen. “If we pull the wrong thread, we either trigger our location…or a full fucking release. Nolan’s whole system is fucking annoying.”
“So is Alexei’s,” Adela responds swiftly.
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be the best?” Micah asks over his shoulder.
My eyes dart to Adela, but she’s ignoring him, speaking quietly to Nico. But Rafe walks over to stand in front of Micah, suddenly making his shoulders tense. Rafe is intimidating to begin with, but the way he’s glaring down at Micah has goosebumps breaking out over my arms.
“My wifeisthe best,” he says flatly. “In the States. But there are others who are just as good in other parts of the world.”
Micah sighs. “I’msorry—”
“Don’t be,” Rafe cuts him off. “Just don’t ever insult my wife again. We’re doing what we can to help you. We’re beingnice. We could have never stepped in when Rook contacted Nico. I hope you know that.”
Micah nods.
I wrap my arms around myself, feeling my heart pounding out of control.
“I hate this,” Micah mutter. He drags his hands down his face, staring at the floor. “I hate just sitting here.”
I understand that more than I want to.
