Leon
The snow outside the chopper's window blurred into a white haze, but Leon's mind was sharper than ever.
He reviewed the intercepted coordinates again — the flight path Daniel's jet had taken before rerouting last minute. It landed somewhere in Eastern Europe, a place where shadows outnumbered laws.
"Are you sure she's there?" Leon asked, his voice cold, focused.
Nico nodded beside him. "We traced the signal from Ayla's old phone. She must've turned it on briefly. It's weak now, but it led us to a village near the Carpathians."
Leon exhaled, jaw clenching. "He's keeping her isolated."
Victor, patched in through radio, spoke through static. "Intel says Daniel has a manor up there. Guarded. Remote. No signals in or out. It's a fortress."
"I'll burn the walls down if I have to," Leon muttered.
He was done playing. Ayla had been taken from him. And now that he knew where she was, not even hell could stop him from bringing her back.
⸻
Ayla
The manor was old — stone walls, frosted windows, and the smell of cold damp rot in every hallway. Ayla walked slowly, her wrists still sore from the restraints Daniel insisted on when she arrived. He said it was "for her safety."
He was unraveling. She saw it in the way he spoke to shadows, muttered threats to no one in particular, and watched her as if she might disappear.
"I saved you," he said during one of their dinners, his knife tapping against the plate. "You would've been devoured in his world."
"You mean our world," she corrected softly.
Daniel's smile was unhinged. "Not anymore."
Later that night, Ayla sat by the small, barred window of her room, knees tucked to her chest. Her brother was safe. She kept reminding herself of that. But she… she was a prisoner. Again.
Until she heard it.
A soft vibration under her pillow.
Her old phone.
She had hidden it during the search, left it off for days. But now… maybe it was time.
She turned it on for five seconds — just enough for a signal, a cry for help, a hope.
And she prayed Leon would hear her.