Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 45996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Gia Golding pauses between songs, her voice warm and bright as she addresses the crowd. "Thank you all for being here tonight under these beautiful summer stars. I have a special surprise for you. Please welcome to the stage my dear friend and fellow artist, Silver Langford. We’re going to sing together, just for you."
The crowd erupts in cheers and applause, the sound rolling over me like a wave. People press closer to the stage, the already thick crowd becoming even denser as everyone moves forward to get a better view. The lights dim for a moment before flaring back up in soft blues and golds. I feel Jace's hand tighten around mine as we try to stay together, but the press of bodies is overwhelming. Someone bumps into my shoulder from behind, and I stumble slightly. His grip slips for a split second, and then the crowd surges again as the first notes of the song start playing.
I lose his hand.
Panic flares sharp and sudden in my chest. I turn, trying to spot him in the sea of faces lit by the stage lights, but the music is loud now, Silver Langford's voice blending with Gia's in a harmony that fills the entire pavilion. People are singing along, swaying, and the movement makes it impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction. I call his name, but my voice is swallowed by the sound of the crowd and the music. My heart pounds harder. This wasn’t part of the plan. We’re supposed to stay together, to fan out but keep each other in sight. The brothers are out there somewhere, searching for Vanguard Helix, and now I’m alone in the middle of all these people with no idea where Jace went.
I push forward, trying to move toward where I think he might’ve gone, but the crowd is like a living thing, pressing in from all sides. Someone steps on my foot. Ow. Another person bumps my arm hard enough to make me drop the small clutch I was holding. I bend to pick it up, and when I straighten the lights seem brighter, the music louder, and I can’t see Jace anywhere. My breath comes faster. This isn’t the excitement of the concert anymore. This is fear. Real fear. The kind that makes my skin prickle and my thoughts race with everything that could go wrong.
That’s when I spot him. The man from the beach. The man with the camera.
I try to turn around, but he gets closer and grabs me. I cling to him as he covers my mouth with a cloth. There’s a chemical smell stinging my nose. I try to scream, but the sound dies in my throat before it can form. My body goes heavy almost instantly, my legs buckling as strong arms catch me and pull me backward through the crowd. I try to fight it, to kick or claw or do anything, but my limbs feel disconnected from my brain. The music fades into a distant hum. The lights blur into streaks of color. I catch one last glimpse of the stage where Gia and Silver are singing together, their voices beautiful and unaware of what’s happening a few rows back in the crowd.
Then everything goes dark.
23
Jace
The music from the stage is loud. I push through the crowd near the left side of the pavilion, my eyes scanning every face lit by the colorful stage lights. The crowd thickened when the song started, people pressing forward to get closer to the performance, and somewhere in the surge I lost Sadie's hand. One second she was right beside me, her fingers laced through mine like they’ve been all night, and the next the bodies closed in and she was gone. My heart pounds hard enough that I can feel it in my throat. This wasn’t supposed to fucking happen.
I pull out my cell phone, my fingers moving fast over the screen as I call Crewe. The line rings once before he picks up, his voice urgent.
"Jace. I saw someone take her. A guy in a dark jacket grabbed her from behind while the crowd was moving. I tried to intercept but there were too many people in the way. He pulled her toward the back edge of the pavilion near the dunes. I lost visual but I’m heading to your location now. Stay put."
What the fuck? Someone took her. Right here in the middle of the concert. Vanguard Helix. It has to be them. They are onto us, onto Billy, and now they’ve got Sadie. My grip on the phone tightens until my knuckles ache. I scan the crowd again, looking for any sign of her pink dress or the way her hair falls when she moves, but there’s nothing. Just faces and lights and the steady beat of the music.