Chapter 59 - The Empty Crib
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I burst into the nursery on the second floor, my pistol raised, ready to empty the magazine into anyone standing in my way.
The room was dimly lit by a single nightlight shaped like a star. The soft, classical music from the baby monitor was still playing. The room was warm, peaceful, and perfectly undisturbed.
I dropped my weapon on the floor and ran to the crib.
It was empty.
"No," I gasped, falling to my knees, clutching the wooden bars of the crib. "No, no, no, no, no!"
Ben ran into the room a second later, freezing in the doorway. He looked at the empty crib, his face instantly draining of all color. He let out a low, guttural sound of pure agony, a sound I had never heard a human being make.
He fell to the floor beside me, pulling me into his chest as I sobbed uncontrollably, my screams echoing through the empty chateau.
They had taken her. The Council of the Seven Spheres had slipped in like ghosts, bought off our security, and stolen our daughter from her bed on her first birthday. We had fought the Vanguard, we had fought assassins, but we were completely helpless against this invisible hand.
As my sobs slowly turned into hollow, exhausted gasps, I looked up.
Resting exactly in the center of Clara’s mattress, where her head had been just hours ago, was a small, heavy object.
I reached through the bars with a trembling hand and picked it up.
It was a solid silver crown. The exact crown depicted in the Phoenix crest.
Engraved on the inside of the silver band were four words:
The true game begins.
May you like
I stared at the silver crown, the cold metal biting into my skin. The overwhelming grief that had shattered my soul mere seconds ago began to rapidly crystallize. It hardened, solidifying into a terrifying, absolute rage.
I stood up, gripping the crown in my fist so tightly it drew blood.
