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Hopelessness settles in my chest, thick and suffocating, as I realize I haveno fucking ideawhere else in the entire world Jonas could be hiding them.
The image of Freya, trapped and screaming, gnaws at my insides. The thought of her at Jonas’ mercy, of what he might do to her, rips through me like a blade.
I’ve never felt this kind of fear before. Not even as a kid, when my grandfather’s cruelty threatened to break me.
This… This is different. It’s paralyzing.
And for the first time in years, I feel utterly lost.
44
MAL
I’ve barely sleptin the last three days.
Ican’t. Not with Freya and Hana still missing.
I’m back in Kyoto, my eyes bleary as I stare at the computer monitor, checking and rechecking the footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras on the night Freya and Hana were taken. I’ve at least managed to narrow down the search little: they had drinks at a cocktail bar on Kiyamachi Street, and the credit card receipt gives me a time and place to start from. But even so, it’s like looking for a needle in a digital fucking haystack.
I’m looking foranything—any flicker of movement, any sign of them. My hands shake as I scrub through the footage, my eyes burning from the strain.
This is getting you nowhere, I think darkly.
Freyais the one who would excel at this, and yet she’s the one who’s missing.
The irony isn’t lost on me.
I thought for sure they’d be at the farm. But that was a dead end. We tried tracing Jonas’ phone to see if we can get a geographic location based off the last ping of his cell connection. But he’s either turned it off or destroyed it after his last call to me, so it’s impossible to trace.
The door creaks open. Annika steps in, her face pale, dark circles under her eyes. She’s as wrecked as I am. She hasn’t slept much either.
Kenzo’s just as bad. Though he’s working through his worry by combing all of Kyoto like a maniac. Word is out all over the city that the Mori-kai is on the fucking warpath, so it’s not like he’s encountering any resistance.
But we still can’t find them. Three fucking days later and wecan’t. Fucking. Find. Them.
“Mal,” Annika says softly, coming up beside me. “You need to rest.”
I don’t answer, just keep scrolling through the footage, one frame at a time. Every second that ticks by is another second wasted, another second Freya’s in danger.
“Mal, seriously. You can’t keep going like this.”
“I have to,” I snap, not bothering to hide the bite in my voice. “I have to find them.”
Shit. Regret slams into me when I glance back and see the hurt in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I mumble. “I just... I have to keep looking.”
Annika smiles wanly. “You’re not going to be any good to Freya if you’re dead on your feet,” she whispers. “Please. Let someone else take a look while you rest.”
I hang my head. “Maybe.”
The door opens again and Takeshi storms in, carrying a couple mugs of coffee. His usual mask of cocky smugness has beengonethe last few days, revealing the monster underneath: prowling, snarling, full of madness and a thirst for blood.
Tak hands each of us a cup of coffee.
“Thanks,” I mutter, taking a sip. I can feel Annika’s eyes on me, watching, waiting for me to snap again.
The tense silence stretches between us as we all focus on the footage. I scroll through frame after frame, the monotony of it starting to blend together. I turn back to Takeshi.
