Chapter 257

Lily's Perspective It was hopeless. A goddamned dead end. Aurora and Brett might as well have vanished into thin air. Nearly forty hours had passed since the kidnappers sent that video of Aurora. Silence. No new demands, no threats, nothing. This quiet was worse than constant harassment—a dull blade slowly sawing through our nerves. We'd thrown every resource we had at it. The Moonlight Pack's networks, both above and below board. Ethan's contacts in the police and city administration. Even tentative queries to underground information brokers. Surveillance footage was scrubbed frame by frame. Suspect vehicles were tracked and lost. The industrial district where they'd last been seen was turned inside out, sewers included. Jacob roamed day and night like a caged beast, returning each time with red-rimmed eyes, smelling of dust and despair. Celena forced herself to maintain the pack's daily routines, but everyone could see she was a ghost, her gaze often