Shattered (The Protectors 11)

“Hurry,” the guy said as he waved us inside. He locked the door and engaged the deadbolt too. It was only at that point that he pushed his hood back.

He could have passed for a woman if he’d wanted to. His thick, straight brown hair hung to just past his shoulders. His stunning face was a unique mix of feminine and masculine features, but it was his eyes that stood out.

They were an eerie shade of blue that was so clear that they almost looked silver. I wondered if he was wearing contact lenses.

I estimated him to be in his mid to late teens at the most.

The apartment was small and shabby with just a few pieces of stained furniture.

“Where’s Maggie?” I asked.

When the man’s eyes fell, I felt it like a punch to the gut.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “No!” I practically yelled. “Where is she?”

“Jace,” Caleb began, but I tore free of his hold and grabbed the young man. “Where is my sister?”

“I’m sorry,” was all he said.

“No!” I snapped. I started to shake him, but Caleb stepped between us and forced me to release him.

“Jace, baby, look at me,” he said firmly.

“He’s lying!” I declared. “He has to be,” I added, my voice breaking.

Caleb’s warm hands closed around my neck. “We need to hear him out.”

I shook my head because I didn’t care. I wouldn’t believe a word this man said to me.

I couldn’t.

“No,” I whispered again.

Caleb turned to the guy. “What’s your name?”

“Silver,” he responded.

I wanted to laugh at that.

A fucking kid with silver eyes named Silver was the one to tell me my sister was gone?

No fucking way.

“Where is Maggie?” I ground out.

“She’s gone,” Silver said quietly.

I reached for him again, but Caleb stopped me. “Tell us what happened,” Caleb said. “Why did you bring Jace all the way here if you knew his sister was dead?” Caleb sounded calm, but I didn’t miss the anger in his voice.

Silver studied us both for a minute, then turned and disappeared through a door that presumably led to the bedroom. I automatically reached for my gun. Maybe it really was a trap – an elaborate trap. Maybe he and someone else were holding Maggie hostage…

My mind spun with different possibilities, all of which had my sister alive and well.

“It’s a trap,” I said to Caleb. My instincts were screaming at me to get Caleb out of there. I grabbed his hand. “We should go.”

Caleb didn’t hesitate to follow me to the door, but we both stopped short when we heard a soft gurgling sound. We turned just in time to see Silver returning to the room.

But not alone.

“Oh God,” Caleb whispered at the sight of the baby in Silver’s arms. I couldn’t move as he approached us. He was talking to the baby, who was watching him with bright eyes. The baby’s little fingers were hanging onto Silver’s hair.

Silver came to a stop directly in front of me.

“Your sister named her Willa. After your grandmother.”

“No,” I whispered as I covered my eyes with my hand. “No, it can’t be true,” I said as I shook my head. But I knew it was.

My sister was dead.

My beautiful, fun-loving, kindhearted, perfect baby sister was dead.

I felt Caleb tug me against him and then his arms were around me. “I’m sorry, Jace.”

I pressed my face against his shoulder and nodded. As badly as I wanted to let go of my emotions, I knew I couldn’t. I forced myself to straighten and wiped at my face. I settled my eyes on my sister’s child.

Her daughter.

I knew Silver could be lying about the baby, but I couldn’t even come up with one reason why he would. And to have known my grandmother’s name? Maggie would have had to have told him that.

“What happened to Maggie?” I asked as I tried to process that the little bundle in Silver’s arms was my last link to my sister.

I had a niece.

I was an uncle.

“I met Maggie about a year ago. She was brought to the house I was living at.”

“Living at?” I asked. “Were you like her? Were you taken?”

“Not exactly,” Silver hedged. “I was sold… by my parents.”

“Sold to who?” I asked.

“His name is Ivan Petrov. He’s a well-known businessman over here. Has ties to the Kremlin. But his business is just a front.”

“For human trafficking?” Caleb asked.

Silver nodded. “He has an estate in Brandenburg. It’s near a lake called Trebelsee. He keeps some girls there… for private parties.”

I felt bile rise into the back of my throat.

“How did you and Maggie meet?”

“I had more free rein than most,” Silver murmured. “It meant I could move around the house more freely than the others. Ivan trusted me with the girls and would have me take care of them when one of the customers got too rough with them.”