By the time Elvis got the news, he had already returned to his unit''s base city. Without even checking in, he booked the next red-eye flight back home.


    When he emerged from the airport terminal, his eyes bloodshot and an aura of cold fury radiating from him, a fleet of identical ck luxury cars was waiting.


    Thaddeus and Gordon were already standing by one of them.


    The two men''s eyes met across the windswept tarmac as snowkes danced in the air, whipping their dark hair around their faces.


    An air of raw, ferocious energy surrounded Elvis.


    "Elvis, get in the car. We need to talk," Thaddeus said, his voice low, his gaze intense.


    Elvis''s eyes, normally a clear ck and white, were now blood-red. "I''m going to find my wife."


    "That''s why I''m here. Get in and let''s talk." Thaddeus turned away, his voiceced with an unreadable emotion. "As desperate as you are right now, you can''t find her, can you?"


    Elvis clenched his jaw, his eyes burning with crimson rage, and got into the car with him.


    The interior was dark and oppressive.


    Although Elsie wasn''t directly rted to Thaddeus, the thought of the girl who had once fought alongside them and the memory of Evadne''s endless tears weighed heavily on his mind.


    "Evadne and I went to the scene where Elsie disappeared. We found blood."


    Before Thaddeus could finish, Elvis let out a roar and began punching the car window over and over, his body trembling uncontrobly. Veins pulsed at his temples, slick with sweat.


    "Elvis, calm down." Thaddeus''s gaze was somber as he wrapped arge hand over Elvis''s bruised and bleeding fist.


    "Did you find out who did it?" Elvis felt like his blood was about to burst through his organs, shattering him from the inside.


    Thaddeus was silent for a few seconds that stretched into an eternity.


    "Elsie found a critical piece of evidence inside The Velvet Haven-a report on that horrifying human drug trial in Elmsworth. She was attacked in the hills behind the property as she was leaving. Your sister and I found her phone there. Since she used to work for Avery she had indirect contact with Chad and Alexia. So, your sister and I suspect that the person who took Elsie is, in all likelihood, Chad."


    The car''s heater was on full st, yet the air felt as if it could plunge them into a bone-chilling abyss. In the darkness, a storm was brewing.


    "I want to kill them both." Elvis turned his head slowly, his eyes a startling red. "Do you have a problem with that?"


    "No." Thaddeus met his gaze, enunciating each word. "But I will stop you."


    "Fuck!" Elvis violently shook off his hand. "Thaddeus, are you fucking kidding me? Do you think I''m joking? My wife is gone! If it were Evadne, would you be sitting here so calm and collected?!"


    Thaddeus''s face was like a frozenke, devoid of any emotion.


    "Heh... I''m such an idiot. I forgot. To


    you, Evadne is now like a pebble tossed into the ocean, incapable of


    into


    making a single ripple.” Elvis''s eyes


    filled with anguish as he force broken smile. "You don''t love her


    anymore. You don''t even care what love is. So you could never understand how I feel."


    Thaddeus''s lips moved, his Adam''s apple bobbing as he swallowed. His voice was raw, as if scorched. "I''m not stopping you from going after Chad because he''s my brother, or because I''m some bystande ignoring your pain. If I let youy a hand on him you''ll have blood on your hands. From that day on, you''ll be a wanted man, living life on the run, never knowing peace. I remember you telling me you wanted a quiet life. You also said Elsie wanted to live in the light."


    *Live in the light.*


    Elvis''s blood-red eyes flinched. He lowered his gaze heavily, a thousand conflicting emotions tearing his heart to shreds.