Buried in shame. Rising in power

CHAPTER NINE — TAKEN

Mia wasn’t sure when her hands started trembling.

Maybe it was when the men first knocked—too calm, too polite, their smiles cold enough to freeze bone. Maybe it was when the tallest leaned close and asked, “Is Ethan Rose home?”

Or maybe it was the moment she lied.

“No. He hasn’t been here.”

She shut the door fast, heart pounding. But the fear didn’t fade. Instead, it seeped through the house like smoke.

She grabbed her phone again—still no reply from Ethan. She paced, every sound amplified. A curtain swayed though the windows were shut. The hallway light flickered.

Then—creak.

Mia spun around. The sound came from the back of the house.

Another creak.

Her breath hitched. She tightened her grip on the small kitchen knife. Ethan had warned her—without words, but with the panic he tried so hard to hide before rushing out that morning.

Now she understood.

Something was hunting him.

And it had found her first.

A soft tap echoed behind her.

She turned—

A hand clamped over her mouth.

Mia screamed into the palm, kicking, clawing at the arm locking her in place.

“Hush,” a man whispered, his breath warm against her ear. “We don't want to hurt you. Unless he gives us trouble.”

Footsteps approached the hall. Another man appeared—same dead eyes, same tactical uniform.

“Bag her,” he ordered.

“No!” Mia thrashed harder. “Ethan will—”

“He will come,” the man holding her said. “That’s the point.”

A black hood dropped over her head.

Darkness swallowed her whole.

Meanwhile…

Ethan was already running.

He didn’t feel the burning in his legs or the cold air cutting into his lungs. All he saw—again and again—were Mia’s last texts:

“Someone came asking for you.”

“I think I’m being followed.”

“Ethan… I’m scared.”

Then silence.

His pulse roared as he sprinted down her street. The moment her house came into view, his heart stopped.

The front gate hung open.

A window shattered.

Her phone—cracked—lay on the doorstep.

Ethan picked it up slowly.

His chest hollowed out. “Mia…”

He pushed into the house, stumbling through the wreckage—chairs overturned, drawers yanked out, glass everywhere.

“MIA!” His scream ripped through the silent rooms.

No answer.

He staggered into the kitchen—and froze.

A man slumped against the counter. Cole Mercer. Bleeding heavily.

“Cole?” Ethan rushed to him. “What happened?”

Cole coughed, red spilling down his lip. “They… were waiting. Too many of them.”

“Where’s Mia?” Ethan demanded, voice already breaking.

Cole reached shakily into his jacket and pulled out something small—a blood-stained card marked with a crimson symbol.

Ethan’s expression darkened.

The Crimson Vow.

Cole swallowed. “Adrian Hale took her.”

Ethan’s breath turned to ice.

“They want you,” Cole rasped. “They always wanted you. She was leverage.”

Ethan’s jaw clenched so hard pain shot up his temple. “I’m going after her.”

Cole shook his head. “Hale doesn’t trade. He kills. If you show up, he’ll slit her throat just to hurt you.”

Ethan stared at the destroyed house, at Mia’s shattered phone, at the blood drying on Cole’s shirt. A slow, deadly calm settled over him.

“You forget what family I’m from,” he said softly.

Cole’s breath hitched. He knew that tone—Ethan’s Rose blood awakening.

“Your father wanted you out of this life,” Cole whispered.

“He doesn’t get a choice anymore,” Ethan replied. “No one touches her.”

Somewhere Unknown

Mia drifted awake to a cold, metallic smell. Her wrists were tied to a chair, ropes biting into her skin. A dim bulb flickered overhead, revealing a concrete room stained by time—and worse things.

She pulled desperately against the restraints. They didn’t budge.

Two men stood near the doorway, murmuring.

“…Hale says the boy will come running.”

“…and when he does, it’s over for him.”

“…she’s just bait.”

Mia swallowed back fear.

A door opened.

A man stepped in—dark suit, polished shoes, unsettlingly calm eyes. He walked toward her slowly, like a scientist observing a specimen.

“Mia Rose,” he said, tilting her chin up with two fingers. “Pretty. No wonder Ethan is desperate.”

She stiffened. “Where is he? What do you want?”

Adrian Hale smiled—a thin, chilling curve. “I want him to return to his rightful place. And you, my dear, are the leash.”

Mia glared. “He won’t come alone.”

“No,” Hale agreed. “He’ll come angry. Which is exactly what I need.”

He stepped back, hands clasped behind him.

“You see, Ethan thinks he left our world. He didn’t. He was simply… misplaced.”

Mia’s pulse hammered. “If you hurt him—”

“Hurt him?” Hale chuckled. “No. I intend to break him.”

He turned to his men. “Prepare the recording equipment. I want him to hear her scream.”

Mia’s breath caught. “You monster.”

Hale paused at the door. “Not a monster. A teacher. Ethan needs a lesson.”

He left her in the cold, flickering silence.

Mia closed her eyes, tears burning.

“Ethan… please don’t come. Not like this.”

But she knew he would.

He always did.

Back at the House

Ethan lifted Cole carefully, laying him against the wall. His eyes burned—not with tears, but with fury so deep it felt ancient.

“I’m going to get her,” he said.

Cole grabbed his arm weakly. “Ethan—if you walk into Hale’s hands—”

Ethan pulled away.

“Hale doesn’t understand something,” he said, voice low and lethal. “I’m not the scared boy he chased ten years ago.”

He stepped into the shattered doorway, shadows cutting across his face.

“And I’m done running.”

His final whisper was a promise:

“I’m bringing Mia home.”

Whatever the cost.